WWE Main Event results: Jones vs. Theory, Kai vs. Aliyah

  • James Cox
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Aliyah defeated Dakota Kai (5:28)

Two NXT debutants came out here at Orlando’s Amway Center and the crowd couldn’t have looked less interested. There was a polite ripple of applause of Aliyah and a quiet cheer somewhere in the back for Kai.

They tried to get all their stuff in for the short time they were given and worked hard, but this felt very stop-start and spotty. Aliyah took an opening and then the balance tipped to Kai before they traded finishers.

After Kai kicked out of a northern lights suplex, they seemed to lose their way and their timing was off. 

The finish saw Aliyah hit a brutal looking DDT on Kai where her head was planted the wrong way and she just laid still afterwards. They didn’t show a replay and just cut straight to the Raw rehash.

Overall, this was good until the last minute or so. It was nice to see some of the women on the roster get a chance on this show for once.

Odyssey Jones defeated Austin Theory (5:27)

A lot has changed in a year. Last June, Theory teamed with Murphy on Main Event after a few months of semi-regular Raw appearances. Paul Heyman, then executive director of the flagship show, had taken a shine to Theory. Fast forward to August 2021 and Murphy is gone, Heyman is no longer in that post and Theory is back on NXT.

Jones hasn’t worked under this moniker for long. As Omari Palmer, he joined WWE in early 2019 and in June of this year, he started working under the new name. It’s not a change I’m a fan of, but what do I know?

This was a slow encounter with Jones playing the giant that Theory was trying to slay. After trying several things, Theory tried to take Jones’ legs out and then slapped on a chinlock that sucked the life out of the building.

After the break, Theory tried hoisting Jones onto his shoulders and got slammed to the mat. Jones went up to the second rope, fought off the Theory’s attack, and then absolutely annihilated him with a splash for the win.

It should have been more of a squash than it ended up being, but the crowd seemed to like what they saw.

Final Thoughts:

I have been saying for weeks that what Main Event needs to be is a training ground and platform for rising stars. It was great to see fresh faces this week, but the matches were tepid and the crowd sweetening was heavy-handed. The galvanizing effect of returning to live TV seems to have worn off and quickly.