A rivalry between former friends and a pair of matches featuring American Made and hopefuls from developmental made up this week’s WWE Main Event.
But there was little to be hopeful about by show’s end.
We Meet Again
The show kicked off with a rematch between former friends Giulia and Kiana James. They last met on the June 26 episode of SmackDown, with Giulia prevailing.
It wasn’t until the end that the pace picked up. James scored a false finish after a superkick followed by a Falcon Arrow. Giulia avoided James’ standing moonsault before answering with Arrivederci and putting James away with a Northern Lights Bomb.
Commentary teased that the winner could be in line to earn a spot in the upcoming ladder match for the Interim Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. While James’ loss could rule her out, it’s hard to see where Giulia would fit after being away from the ring for a month.
Despite the hype surrounding Giulia’s arrival in NXT and, later, the main roster, her act has yet to translate in WWE. With James in her rearview mirror, as commentary suggested, Giulia needs a program that shows why WWE invested in her.
Going Through the Motions
Main Event’s next two matches saw stars from WWE’s developmental system take center stage, with NXT’s Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux taking on American Made’s Creed Brothers.
In past episodes, I noted that Julius Creed looked sad, which made for a depressing performance. Here, he showed up looking like that disgruntled coworker who clocks in, skips the small talk, and gets straight to work.
After taking Legacy down, Julius flashed an uninspired pose, as if it was mandatory before resuming his attack. At least his brother Brutus tried interacting with fans.
Legacy and DVD gained support from the crowd, thanks to their offense. DVD hit a picture-perfect standing Frankensteiner. He and Legacy came together for a stereo standing moonsault on Brutus. Near the end, Legacy wiped out the Creeds with a springboard dropkick.
But it was the Creeds who went on to victory after hitting Legacy with a Brutus Bomb into a powerbomb by Julius.
With WWE’s tag team division in a weakened state, this is the Creeds’ time to step up. But for some reason, Julius looks like he’s bothered to be there and going through the motions. I did catch him coaching up DVD during the match, so maybe the Creeds’ contribution to WWE is helping others improve.
Choo on This
“Summer school with Ivy Nile” continued as Nile faced Evolve’s Wendy Choo.
As she usually does, Nile looked good, delivering wicked strikes to Choo. But things broke down near the end.
It’s tough to tell where things went wrong, but as Choo went for a Snooze Button, her version of a Full Nelson slam, she barely got Nile up. The finish saw Nile try to run Choo’s head into the top rope, but Choo barely grazed it.
Ultimately, American Made’s “Pit Bull” put Choo down with a spinning ura nage to earn the win, her third straight on Main Event — all against developmental stars.
A regular on Main Event, Nile is often a highlight of the show. Once the bell rings, her work takes off. But as a character, her mannerisms seem rehearsed to a T, especially the way she pulls away from fans when coming to the ring.
As for Choo, consider this.
She’s a 12-year veteran who’s been in WWE’s developmental system for seven years. Instead of moving up, the 34-year-old wrestler moved to Evolve, where she developed a “sleepy psycho” gimmick, as announcer Blake Howard described it.
Now, her presentation is as bland as ever. Granted, she was the Evolve Women’s Champion, but her reign was short. The closing moments of this match did not instill me with hope for Choo, who may have reached her ceiling.
The Final Bell
By the end of Main Event, I wasn’t particularly excited about where most of the featured wrestlers seemed to be headed.
When Giulia tried to fire up the crowd, I heard clapping and chanting, but ringsiders looked subdued. James got a positive reaction that appeared more sincere, which was surprising since she was the heel. Of the two, I believe James has a better upside because of her character work, but she needs to flesh out what her persona is.
Unless you watch this show, it’s easy to forget that the Creeds still work for WWE. Out of sight, out of mind isn’t a good thing, which could make them expendable. That says a lot, especially since WWE’s tag division needs more teams.
Legacy and DVD make for an exciting combo, but they’ll need something that ties their presentation together. Regarding Choo, she also appeared on TNA Impact Thursday, where a full-time return could be in the cards.
Of everyone featured, Nile may be the star with the best outlook. Her regular work with rising talent suggests WWE sees her as their “on-the-job” trainer. She replaced Bayley in WWE’s advertising for its SummerSlam Tryout Experience, which may be another sign of Nile’s role as a big sister to future stars.
