Kester's 7/24 WWE Main Event Live Coverage Review: Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre vs. Sin Cara, Damien Sandow vs. Justin Gabriel

By Ryan Kester

Main Event on Ion Television
Taped earlier in Laredo, Texas.

[Q1] Zeb Colter cut a brief promo before the first match about how he saw people winning across the Rio Grande from his hotel room the night prior. Colter accused Sheamus of sneaking into the country and the crowd for cheering him.

1. Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Colter). Swagger right to work focusing on Sheamus' injured leg. Sheamus began to mount a bit of offense, but Swagger knocked Sheamus to the floor and threw him into the steel steps. Swagger tossed Sheamus back into the ring… [C]

Back from the break, Swagger continued his assault on Sheamus' leg. Swagger took a moment to showboat, and Sheamus made him pay by hitting an unaware Swagger with an electric chair drop.

[Q2] Sheamus started working his way through his offense, and he connected with Irish Curse for a near fall. Swagger regained control and went for the gutwrench powerbomb, but Sheamus shoved him off and dumped Swagger to the floor.

Swagger fought back into the ring and locked in the Patriot Lock. Sheamus managed to make it to the ropes. Swagger tried to wrap Sheamus' leg around a post, but managed to pull Swagger into the post face-first. Swagger stumbled at ringside for a spell, reentered the ring, and walked right into a Brogue Kick. Sheamus covered Swagger for the pinfall victory…

Sheamus defeated Jack Swagger in 15:25.

A recap of Cm Punk and Paul Heyman's exchange on Raw aired… [C]

Ryan's Reaction: That was a good match. Both men need a shakeup for their characters, but they told a good story in the ring and it worked well.

2. Drew McIntyre vs. Sin Cara. McIntyre and Sin Cara jockeyed for control until Heath Slater managed interfered and pulled Sin Cara to the floor.

[Q3] McIntyre got in some offense, but Sin Cara made a quick comeback and hit a huracarana on a kneeling McIntyre that smashed McIntyre's face into the mat. Sin Cara covered McIntyre for the 1-2-3… [C]

Sin Cara defeated Drew McIntyre in 3:21.

Ryan's Reaction: Good match, but both guys have been undercard acts for so long that it's difficult to get wrapped up in the action, even if the work rate was solid.

A recap of John Cena and Daniel's Bryan's contract signing and Daniel Bryan's gauntlet match aired…

Damien Sandow made his entrance and put over his Money in the Bank ladder match victory and mocked the crowd for being losers. He said he would bear the burden of the Money in the Bank contract for the betterment of the fans. He smirked and finished with "You're welcome."

[Q4] [C] 3. Damien Sandow vs. Justin Gabriel. Sandow and Gabriel fought for control in the early going. Gabriel managed to hit a flurry of offense and went for his 450 splash, but Sandow jumped on the ropes and Gabriel tumbled to the floor… [C]

Back from the break, Sandow threw Gabriel into the corner and continued to focus his offense on Gabriel's midsection. Sandow hit the Elbow of Disdain for a near fall.

Gabriel began to make his comeback and hit Sandow with a springboard missile dropkick from behind for a near fall of his own. Gabriel hit an STO and went up top for the 450, but Sandow made it to his feet.

Sandow hit a full nelson slam moments later for the pinfall victory.

Damien Sandow defeated Justin Gabriel in 10:45

Ryan's Reaction: WWE needs to find a finisher and stick with it. This is at least the third he's gone through since his debut, and he could use a bit of consistency as they build him towards his eventual cash in. Overall, this show was ok. There was certainly some solid wrestling involved, but like many recent Main Events, the latter half of the show suffered from shorter matches that involved WWE's jobbers. The final match was better than usual, but Sandow should be going through a jobber with a much easier effort than that with where WWE has him positioned.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter.