Special Edition: WWE Saturday Night Main Event Review
Another PLE Review (I love doing these)
Guess what happened over the weekend? Another PLE (although hybrid type) took place! And can you guess what that means? Well, another review!! Yaaayyy!
This one was really neat to me! It was like a PLE but more like an episode of Raw/Smackdown. It was only two hours with commercials, so there was a lot to fit in with a shorter time frame. We had five matches that were announced for this one, and they were bringing back a retro event. Now, I won’t focus too much on the retro aspect, especially with the legends being in the audience. Why? Because I don’t know them, or well enough to talk about them.
I did really like the theme of it. The music was retro. I think the logo on the turnbuckles was the old logo, too, right? I also thought Cody wearing the old belt was a very neat touch. I would like to see more of it somehow.
So, let’s get to reviewing each match!
Drew McIntyre vs Sami Zayn (Uso hehe)
Prediction: Drew McIntyre (he’s my Tribal Chief 😹)
RESULT: DREW MCINTYRE
Thoughts & Ranking: 4/5
I have been happy since Drew McIntyre came back. And boy, he came back with a vengeance! Our dragon slayer is out to…well, kill dragons now. He’s taking down anyone who’s fought with CM Punk at War Games. I’m loving it. I can also tell how much fun he has being a villain.
This match was everything you would expect. For Drew to come out with cause as much damage as he could. A nice clean match, which he also deserves. I would like to see him get a shot at the belt again; I felt like he got robbed of it.
As a Canadian, I love Sami too. But it made sense that he would lose this one. Sorry, Sami!!!
A nice clean match to start, what I could say a very clean PLE!
Iyo Sky vs Liv Morgan
Prediction: Iyo Sky
RESULT: LIV MORGAN
Thoughts & Ranking: 4/5
Another 4-star match. Iyo, to me, is always fun to watch. I’ve loved her since getting into the sport. And then to have a Liv Morgan clean win!! No interference from Raquel or Dom! NOW when she goes up against Rhea, it would make a lot more sense. She’s a good wrestler, but if you have her constantly run away or get help, she starts to look weak. Can’t be looking weak if you’re champ, you know?
I really wanted to see Iyo win, which is a bit of a hot take. But I’m totally cool with Liv winning, especially if it was that clean. She also didn’t run away when Rhea showed up. She stared her down, with her bleeding nose, I have to say, that was pretty badass.
Annnnd now, we have Iyo in the mix! Couldn’t have Liv and Rhea run that show. Iyo, in my biased opinion, is such a good addition to have compete for the belt. My guess is, Iyo will now win Rumble and go after Rhea at Wrestlemania. What do you think?
Gunther vs Damien Priest vs Finn Balor
Prediction: Damien Priest
RESULT: GUNTHER
Thoughts & Ranking: 4/5
It’s looking to be a consistent night of matches, based on my ratings. Another hot take, I wanted Damien to win the belt. My El Campeon! But Gunther winning? I still love that. I love Gunther. With Cody being a face, it’s cool having a heel hold the other belt. This match was a lot of fun, it had everything from high energy, to powerful chops, and everyone was just so good! I wouldn’t have been mad if Finn won it, either.
Side note, Finn coming out with that bag over his head, reminds me of my cat, Nezuko, walking around the house with a paper bag over her head.
Oh, not to mention, this was another clean match! Usually, there’s so much drama that happens in these PLEs, not this one apparently! Everyone got the fight they deserved!
Chelsea Green vs Michin
Prediction: Chelsea Green
RESULT: CHELSEA GREEN
Thoughts & Ranking: 4/5
Sure, I’ll give this a 4 as well. Why? CHELSEA WON!!! A Canadian to win the first-ever Women’s US Belt!! Let’s go Canada! Chelsea is such a good character, and I’m so glad she has a belt now! Had it been Bayley? God, that’s such a safe and boring choice. Michin? I hate to say it, but gross! What even is her character? I don’t understand it, and I feel she botches a lot.
Had Tiffy won it? Well, she’s already Miss Money in the Bank. And my guess for her is, that she’ll be cashing in at the Netflix debut and becoming champ for Mania! That’s my prediction. So, you can’t have her hold two belts.
Back to Chelsea; I can’t wait to see how obnoxious she gets now with that belt in her hand. I’ve always liked her and Piper. They’re definitely the team I don’t want to see broken up. But yeah, I’ve been rooting for Chelsea since this belt was announced, and I’m so happy that she did!!
Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens
Prediction: Cody Rhodes
RESULT: CODY RHODES
Thoughts & Ranking: 4/5
Okay, this might not be the cleanest match of the night. Cody putting Kevin onto the chair? Cody, Cody, Cody…that wasn’t clean! But that’s okay! Storywise, I love that these two did not hold back this time, as promised. Because remember that first match they had? Kevin didn’t go all out. He held back.
Speaking of Kevin, I love him as a heel! His shirt choices have been phenomenal! First, the Stardust shirt on Smackdown? Then he shows up to Saturday Night Main Event with a Golddust shirt? Theeeeeen, to top it off, he shows up to the match with his face over Cody’s picture and changes the text to ‘The Canadian Nightmare.” That was just brilliant!!! I want that shirt!
This whole match was so much fun. So much back and forth. I love that Kevin mocked that Dusty Rhodes move, too (or what I like to call it—the Franky from One Piece move). With Cody slamming Kevin on the chair at the end, perhaps it sets up for a heel Cody in the future. He would be so much fun to see as a bad guy! Then he would really be the American Nightmare (orrrr Homelander hahaha)!! But, no rush on that. I want his turn to really break people’s hearts.
Now, let’s talk about the moment when we went off air. Kevin comes back and does that piledriver thingamajig on Cody?! That was insane! I can see why that move is banned. Although, it can be reserved for the veterans who know what they’re doing, and only do it for story. Don’t spam it, because that was shocking!
Then you had Kevin run off with the retro belt! Now with Cody out for the next few weeks, at least until Netflix premier. It’ll be cool to see Kevin flaunt that belt around. It’s such a nice belt; it deserves to get some screentime, so this would be the perfect opportunity, right? Plus, Kevin ALMOST won that! Had the referee not gotten thrown out of the ring, perhaps, he would have been the new champ! Either way, we can look forward to a third match between these two in the near future.
SNME: An Almost Clean PLE
With no surprises and no drama, this PLE delivered on giving people the right amount of everything else. Great matches with a strong roster. The whole thing got a consistent 4 out of 5 for me. No weak matches, but also nothing mindblowing. It was just pure fun, and nostalgic for the older fans.
Now, to look forward to the Netflix Premier! That one is going to be crazy!!!
What are your thoughts?
If a paid sub isn’t your thing, and you wanna help support my work, purrhaps you can buy me a coffee or a can of tuna for Nezuko. 🥰🖤
I did not expect Kevin to pin Cody just like that.
Raw on Netflix is going to be crazy!!
I felt the same way about this PLE as Crown Jewel. It's nice to get clean matches that don't have interferance all the time so we can move on from certain rivalries and solidify current champions and this one did just that. If there's twists and betrayals all the time then they're no longer shocking. As I'm sure they are saving plenty of that for Netflix debut and rumble.
I loved seeing Gunther be dominant, and Liv getting a clean win without Judgement day. Chelsea being crowned is well deserved. But also don't mind the KO cody rivalry to continue as it shows cracks on Cody's face character using the chair!