10/3 Shore's WWE Main Event live coverage: New show on ION features Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel vs. Zack Ryder and Santino Marella in a tag team tournament match and WWE Champion CM Punk vs. World Champion Sheamus

By Chris Shore

WWE Main Event on ION
Taped on 10/2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Q1] The opening video aired. Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes" is the theme song. I'm already a fan of this show. Michael Cole and The Miz started the show in the ring. They hyped the champion vs. champion main event, and setup a CM Punk video that is probably from his new DVD. Backstage, Matt Striker asked Punk about his match with Sheamus. Punk said he was going to beat Sheamus and get the respect he deserves. Heyman said Punk would win because he was the best in the world. They walked off and Striker threw it back to Cole and Miz.

Cole and Miz tossed it backstage to Josh Matthews, who asked Sheamus about the match. Sheamus put over Punk, but said he was going to kick Punk;s head off and win tonight. Matthews set up a video that hyped Sheamus. Sheamus made his ring entrance after the video…[C]

Shore's Slant: Holy shit. That was awesome. Seriously, that was the best opening I have seen to a WWE show since…well, it's been so long I can't remember a time. I was skeptical when Cole and Miz debuted in the ring, but they gave this match a legit big fight feel with these interviews and video packages. I'm legit stunned at how good it was.

[Q2] Punk made his ring entrance and Lilian Garcia gave us old school ring introductions…

1. CM Punk (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Sheamus. Both men had a moment of control to start. Sheamus went to the top rope and Punk shoved him to the floor…[C]

Shore's Slant: The first commercial was for Main Event and featured The Miz, so it looks like Miz will be the full time color guy for this show. I might be jumping to conclusions there, but it sure seems that way.

Back from commercial, Punk was hitting forearms on Sheamus like Sheamus does in the ropes. Sheamus hit a hangman, but Punk drove him into the turnbuckle to maintain control. Sheamus suddenly hit an axe handle and ran a series that ended with a power slam for two. Punk rolled to the apron and Sheamus tied him up for the forearms. Punk immediately hit a roundhouse kick and covered for a near fall. Punk sold surprise into the break…[C]

[Q3] Back from commercial, Punk pulled the pad off the middle turnbuckle, which allowed Sheamus to tie him in the ropes and finally hit his forearms. He followed with white noise for a good nearfall. Punk came right back with the high knee in the corner and bulldog for two. Punk went for GTS, but Sheamus grabbed his leg and dropped him into a Texas Cloverleaf. Punk made the rope and Sheamus backed up for the Brogue Kick. He charged, Punk hit a drop toe hold, and Sheamus hit the exposed buckle. Punk rolled him up with a handful of tights for the victory.

Post-match, Cole babyfaced Punk's cheating ways. Strike climbed in the ring and asked Sheamus about the loss. Sheamus said it was wins like that keeping Punk from getting the respect he wants. Sheamus said he was going to take this loss on the chin, but next time, Punk would take a Brogue Kick on the chin. The announce team hyped hearing from Punk about his victory after the break…[C]

CM Punk defeated Sheamus at 18:02.

Shore's Slant: An OK match. There was nothing technically wrong with it, and they did a nice job of making it feel special before the match, but it lost that steam quickly for me. That's a shame seeing as how that was the first time these two have met (according to WWE, yell at them if that's wrong). I do like the idea of interviewing Punk right after the win too. We'll see how this plays out.

[Q5] Cole introduced CM Punk again and Matthews asked Punk about the way Punk won. Heyman jumped in first and asked Matthews if beating the World Champion didn't get Punk respect, what would. Matthews said there was growing pressure for Punk to face John Cena at Hell in a Cell. Heyman blew him off and Matthews left…

The announce team hyped Big Show vs. Randy Orton for next week. Striker interviewed Big Show who said he was going to knock Orton out… The brackets were shown for the tag tournament. Santino Marella and Zack Ryder made their ring entrance while a cut-in promo had them doing comedy…[C]

Shore's Slant: Heyman was good, no real surprise, but hit was also smart because Punk has already said his peace. This has been a pretty good show, but it's funny how this feels like overkill after the three hours from Monday and the knowledge of two more hours on Friday. Oversaturation is not their friend right now.

2. Santino Marella and Zack Ryder vs. Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd. Santino started with a little comedy and tagged in Ryder. Ryder played the baby in trouble as Kidd and Gabriel showed some fancy tag moves. Ryder suddenly reversed a whip and hit the Broski Boot in the corner. He tagged Santino, who hit the Cobra for the win…

Santino Marella and Zack Ryder defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd at 4:02.

Shore's Slant: A much better hour of TV than Superstars was, even at the beginning. I like the different feel of the show, and the matches worked well. It is still too much wrestling in a week, but at least they made an attempt to give this a different feel as much as possible. The question will be: How long will they stay with this? Remember, Superstars featured Undertaker vs. Matt Hardy for its first main event, so don't let this first show lull you into believing this is the status quo. I hope it is, but only time will tell. Thanks for watching along with me tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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