WWE Main Event results: Von Wagner vs. Cedric Alexander, Kiana James debut

This week’s red-hot WWE Main Event action was taped prior to Raw in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring the main roster debut of NXT’s Kiana James.

WWE 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke defeated Kiana James in a non-title match

Before the match, Brooke did an inset promo saying she feels like she is coming into her own and wants the competition. This was wooden and fairly awful. James, making her main roster debut, got her own promo which was slightly better, albeit full of WWE-speak.

Unlike with Duke Hudson last week, James (the former Xtina Kay) didn’t connect as a heel with the fans despite her mean scowls and heelish tactics. She has a great look and a physical presence, but is still pretty green.

Brooke won with her spinning neckbreaker to end an otherwise average match. She raised James’ hand afterward and got a forearm shiver for her troubles. Also, there was no mention of the 24/7 title being on the line and as an excellent Main Event Twitter recapper pointed out, why didn’t James just pin her for the title after the attack?

– The continuing saga between sad Shelton Benjamin and R-Truth, well, continued. Truth said everyone has problems but justified his own level of crazy getting him matches against John Cena and The Rock. Benjamin sat stone faced staring straight ahead while Truth talked, eventually standing up, staring at Truth and then leaving.

– Later, Von Wagner confronted Truth about why Benjamin left: “because Truth is an idiot.” He threatened him until Cedric Alexander comes in to defend him as Truth slinks away. Why did Truth’s confidence suddenly disappear minutes after Benjamin left? Maybe this will lead to the long-awaited Wagner vs. Truth rematch.

Cedric Alexander defeated Von Wagner by DQ

Wagner’s look is improving with his longer hair and his beard, but the rest of the package is still very meh. In one forgettable spot, he was supposed to go over the top rope off an Alexander duck, but the timing was off and he just had to jump over. 

Again, the excellent @WordsBig80s points out something about a neck crank that makes its way into so many Main Event matches that I will never be able to unsee:

Alexander eventually rallied from Wagner’s mid-match dominance, hitting three big topes to Wagner on the outside which livened the crowd up. Seconds later, the unfazed Wagner attempted to deliver Snake Eyes to Alexander but botched it, followed by boots in the corner. When he failed to heed the referee’s warning to step away, she called for the…DQ. In a Main Event match.

Wagner continued to beat him down and delivered his finisher. Why couldn’t he have just done that, like, 30 seconds earlier and just pinned him?

Stay tuned next week for the latest in the Benjamin/Truth storyline and whether Alexander gets revenge on Wagner.