Saturday Night’s Main Event could end up marking a seminal moment in Cody Rhodes’ run in WWE.
On this night, WWE’s purest babyface showed he might just not be who we think he is anymore. Rhodes used the steel chair Kevin Owens brought into the ring to retain his Undisputed WWE Universal championship in the main event as 14,186 fans watched at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night in the return of the iconic franchise to NBC for the first time since 2008
Is it the first sign of a heel coming out in Rhodes or just the champion taking advantage of the situation presented to him?
It feels fitting after Rhodes did arguably the most babyface thing ever by making good on his pledge to bring the famed Winged Eagle belt back for the first time since it was retired with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in 1998.
Rhodes’ use of the chair and the chaos after the show went off the air — which was the best thing that happened all night — will propel this story and Owens’ belief that the champ is the bad friend and ego-driven person he’s been making him out to be.
The match was the culmination of an overall quality night of wrestling — that wasn’t PLE level in major happenings — and a solid start for WWE’s five-year partnership with NBC Universal on the show that first debuted in 1985 on the network.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday Night’s Main Event:
New Rhodes to travel
Things between Rhodes and Owens are far from over and will only get more heated after what unfolded on Long Island. Owens had the championship won, but he had knocked referee Charles Robinson out while countering a Cross Rhodes. So there was no one to count to three when he delivered a Stunner to Rhodes. A second official raced down but not in time.
That ref was also taken out, this time by Rhodes on a Cody Cutter that Owens ducked. A frustrated Owens threw Rhodes into the ring post and went to the outside and brought a chair into the ring. Rhodes, who sold his injured angle early but went away from during so later on, avoided it and followed up a Cody Cutter by rolling his opponent onto the chair with Cross Rhodes to a bit of a stunned crown.
Rhodes looked at the chair before doing it and tossed it out of the ring so the ref wouldn’t see it in heel fashion. Robinson stood up outside of the ring to count to three. Jesse “The Body” Ventura did an excellent job on commentary foreshadowing that Rhodes could potentially “cheat” and use the chair.
What the TV audience saw last was Rhodes celebrating in the ring. What fans on Long Island saw was Owens race back into the ring and attack the champion as he was sent to address the crowd.
Owens then delivered a banded package pile driver and left WWE officials scrambling to get Rhodes on the stretcher. Owens then appeared to walk off the Winged Eagle title, but came back and stood on Rhodes on the stretcher with the belt held high in an incredible visual. Owens would get into a fight with Triple H over the championship near the entrance.
WWE has two choices. They can use Rhodes’ storyline injury to stretch things to the Royal Rumble or book the rematch at Raw’s debut on Netflix on Jan. 6.
Green’s Day
Chelsea Green finally got her well-deserved moment since returning to WWE by beating Michin to become the first Women’s United States champion in front of a Long Island crowd that was behind her 100 percent from the start. Green being married to Long Island’s own Matt Cardona certainly helps and made this the perfect place for her to win her first WWE single championship.
The crowd was chanting “Let’s go Chelsea!” even with Piper Niven running heel interference on the outside. They even popped when Green got her foot on the rope to break a pin.
Green has made the most of every second of her WWE screen time and is one of the most entertaining people on the show. It’s an important moment to show it’s noticed and rewarded. Her title win also means more meaningful TV time and deeper stories for Green, and that is always a good thing.
Niven played a role in the finish, distracting Michin while Green was helpless on the top rope. After Michin kicks Niven off the apron, Green slaps her opponent as she returns to her sitting on the top rope. She then delivered an avalanche Unprettier to win the title to a big pop. Niven lifted Green up on her shoulder in the ring to celebrate.
Triple Delight
The triple-threat match for the World Heavyweight championship was arguably the best match on the card as the three men took you through several fast-paced and hard-hitting false-finish sequences late.
The best was Damian Priest hitting a Razor’s Edge on Gunther out of the corner and Finn Balor following that up with a Coup de Grace, but Gunther kicked out. All three men traded near falls until Gunther had enough.
He put Priest in a sleeper outside the ring before power bombing him onto the ring steps. The champ raced into the ring, kicked Balor hard into the corner and power bombed him on the rebound for the win.
Priest starred in this match in front of his hometown New York crowd. He got a huge pop when he went Old School into a crossbody on Gunther and again when he fought out of the champion’s sleeper attempt. WWE can continue his and Priest’s feud. Maybe Priest will find a tag team partner to challenge Balor and JD McDonagh for the World Tag Team championships.
Quick Work
Loved the pace between Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship as there really was no let-up.
Sky, who was in control most of the match, went for a moonsault from the top rope but Morgan got her knees up and quickly turned it into an Oblivion finisher to retain. Sky got a really good babyface reaction, which bodes well for her moving forward.
As good as the match was, it was just a stop in the road before Morgan faces Rhea Ripley again for the championship. Ripley came out and confronted Morgan as the champ returned and greeted Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriquez. Good job by WWE setting up one of its biggest matches on network TV.
Nifty Nostalgia
WWE made good use of Jesse “The Body” Ventura’s return to the company. In his trademark colorful boas, sunglasses and a snake-skin leather jacket. Ventura spent most of the show on the announcer perch with Raw voice Joe Tessitore setting up the matches before joining the commentary desk for the main event. While his delivery was a touch slow at times, he played the heel commentator well and was set up nicely by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee and delivered a few zingers during the night around Cody Rhodes/Dusty Rhodes and Dominik Mysterio.
WWE did a quality job sprinkling in the nostalgia from the original show open and music, the staging design, the classic WWE logo on the turnbuckles and the referees wearing the vintage attire with the blue shirts and black bowties. While there was no big surprise legend, which was a disappointment, we got to see Jimmy Hart, Tito Santana, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Koko B. Ware
Other Matches
Drew McIntyre over Sami Zayn
McIntyre can erase the first member of the Orginal Bloodline off his list, with Jimmy Uso his next target, as he continues his vendetta against the group.
McIntyre scored the pin when he slipped out of the ring to avoid a Helluva Kick and got Zayn to commit to chasing him to the floor. The Scottish Warrior slipped back into the ring and nailed a flash Claymore on Zayn as he re-entered the squared circle.
How many Bloodline members will Drew get to run through and does he get back to Roman Reigns at some point?
Biggest Winner: Chelsea Green
Biggest Loser: Sami Zayn
Best Match: Finn Balor vs. Gunther vs. Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship
Grade: B