Last week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, before Raw. It featured NXT's Cora Jade, the return of Joe Gacy, and wasn't a standout show.
Dexter Lumis defeated Joe Gacy (5:11)
This was fine, but the crowd wasn't much into it and thus it felt quite tepid.
Gacy worked Main Event last November against Cedric Alexander and looks fine with main roster company. His match last year was much stronger than this, but it doesn’t help that Lumis doesn’t sell very much as part of his gimmick when you’re trying to give fresh faces a chance.
Gacy’s gimmick is a little odd for my taste and, although Lumis does seem to be getting over to some extent, he doesn’t really do much for me either. Lumis seems to be channeling the Undertaker at times, no-selling certain things and turning around to glare at his opponent with wide eyes.
They worked a pretty standard match, but Gacy does move well for a bigger athlete. His handspring into a clothesline that he used here is a testament to that.
At one point, Gacy appeared to try to recruit Lumis by saying that he could have given him a chance, but Lumis was having none of it and nailed him with a few strikes to the gut.
After Gacy locked in a couple of rest holds, he went once more for his clothesline, but Lumis caught him and finished him with his as-yet-unnamed side slam that looks suspiciously like a Rock Bottom.
Nikki Cross defeated Cora Jade (7:14)
It was good to see Jade make her main roster debut in front of her home crowd, but their match wasn’t much to write home about.
At only 23, Jade is still relatively new to this, and she and Cross had a few difficulties towards the end. Having worked a few 205 Live tapings and the odd dark match on SmackDown, this was probably her most notable main roster outing to date.
They gave Jade an inset promo as she made her way to the ring carrying a kendo stick. She said she had been running NXT for a long time and that she was about to become the number one woman in all of WWE. The crowd popped for her as she was introduced as hailing from Chicago.
After some neat early mat work, Cross was slamming Jade’s head into the turnbuckle when she stopped her and hit her with a high knee that sent her to the floor outside. Jade postured to the crowd and we went to a commercial break.
Jade was in control after the break, but this is where they really lost the crowd. After the heat segment, they didn’t really come to life for Cross’ comeback either.
There was a neat spot where Jade reversed a bulldog into a pin attempt, but they lost their way after Cross came off the second rope with a tornado DDT. Jade had Cross in a full nelson and then just dropped on to her back. They conversed on the mat together and then went to the finish.
It looked like Jade was bleeding from the mouth as they teased a superplex. Cross fought her off and came off the top rope with a crossbody to get the win.
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Final Thoughts:
It was a nice moment for Jade to get to work in front of a packed Allstate Arena, but she will be disappointed that the match didn’t quite work out as planned. These things happen and she certainly has time on her side.