12/11 Shore's WWE main Event live coverage: Dolph Ziggler vs. Curtis Axel

By Chris Shore

WWE Main Event on ION
Taped on 12/9 in Portland, Oregon.

[Q1] My power died for a few minutes right before the top of the hour so I missed the open. When I got everything back, Josh Matthews and The Miz were on commentary and the two title belts hung above the ring as the match was in progress...

1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Curtis Axel (w/Ryback). Ziggler went for the Zig Zag after a flurry of offense but Axel held the ropes. Ziggler hit a drop kick to recover, but he ,issed a corner splash and crashed to the floor into the break...[C]

Shore's Slant: My apologies for the rough opening. The power cutting out was unexpected.

Back from commercial, I realized there were ladders, tables, and chairs setup around the ring as Axel choked Ziggler on the ropes. Axel stalked Ziggler but Ziggler came back with a sleeper hold, followed by the Fameassor for two. Axel recovered and tried for his neck breaker but Ziggler reversed into a swinging DDT.

[Q2] Ryback took a swat at Ziggler to distract him and Axel hit his finisher for the win...

Curtis Axel defeated Dolph Ziggler in about 15:00.

A video recapped Kane booking CM Punk's match against the Shield at TLC...Natalya made her ring entrance...[C]

Shore's Slant: That was pretty good in-ring work, but no real surprise there. I wish they would go back to the Main Event format where they made these matches feel like big damn deals.

2. Natalya vs. Alicia Fox. Natty chained wrestled to start and then Alicia hit a kick to the face for two. Fox worked a head scissor for way too long that Natalya finally powered out of and hooked the sharpshooter for the win...

Natalya defeated Alicia Fox at 5:00.

[Q3] The announce team hyped a replay of the Raw final segment...[C]

Shore's Slant: The announce team tried to set this up as Natty getting on a roll, but since Alicia, nor any of the Divas, mean anything it rings false. It was a decent match, but much like the first, it was also pointless.

Matthews narrated the video replay of the the end of Raw starting with Randy Orton attacking John Cena and the followup... A long video hyped the unification match... R-truth and Xavier Woods made their ring entrance, complete with full rap from Truth...[C]

[Q4] Tons of Funk made their ring entrance as a video recapped the problems between Brodus Clay and Xavier Woods...

3. R-Truth and Xavier Woods vs. Tons of Funk (w/The Funkadactyls). Woods and Clay started but Clay tagged out before they did anything. Sweet T got the advantage and tagged in Clay, who worked over Woods in their corner. Truth got the hot tag and hilt a scissor kick for two. Clay rolled to the floor and Albert told him to get his head straight. Truth dove on them but they caught him. Woods dove on them and finally took them out...[C]

Back from commercial Clay was beating up both men with Truth the legal man. Woods got the hot tag and went to work on Clay. Woods hit the Honor Roll and took out Sweet T. Clay reversed a whip and Truth got the blind tag. Clay hit his suplex throw and Truth rolled him up after for the win...

R-Truth and Xavier Woods defeated Tons of Funk at 12:50.

Post-match, Clay attacked Truth and beat him down. He went to the second rope to hit a splash, but Albert stopped him and told him no. Clay left the ring and played to the crowd as he left...

Shore's Slant: That match dragged like hell after the break, but the finishing sequence was well timed and looked cool. The story about why Clay is pissed off is as stupid as it gets, but I will happily take it if it means him becoming the monster he should be. Thanks for watching along tonight.