By Chris Shore

WWE Main Event on ION
Taped on 1/15 in San Antonio, Texas.

[Q1] The opening video aired, followed by the pyro, and Michael Cole and The Miz opened the show from ringside. Randy Orton's music hit and he made his ring entrance. Antonio Cesaro was out next waving a giant American flag. A video recapped his MizTV moment with Ric Flair from Raw…

1. Randy Orton vs. Antonio Cesaro. Cole quickly jumped into the new nuance in Cesaro's character in that he loves America but hates Americans. The match started as a grinding brawl with both men hooking headlocks and other basic moves. Orton tossed a charging Cesaro over the top rope and then hit a back suplex onto the barricade. Cesaro recovered and whipped Orton into the stairs…[C]

Back from commercial, Cesaro killed a hope spot with a gut wrench suplex for a near fall. Cesaro hit a double axe handle off the top and bowed to Miz.

[Q2] Cesaro continued the attack and hit a driver for two. Orton started a comeback and put Cesaro on the top rope for the top rope superplex. Orton had to crawl over to make the cover for a nearfall…[C]

Back at 17:30, the two men traded blows in the middle of the ring. Orton got the better, but Cesaro reversed a whip and hooked a sleeper. Orton hit a side suplex to break the hold, and Cole asked if this could be the turning point in the match. They went back to trading blows, and Cesaro hit several European uppercuts in a row. He whipped Orton to the corner, and Orton came alive with a clothesline. Nice work, Cole.

Orton started his comeback and got the crowd hot. He setup for the rope DDT, but Cesaro slipped out and dropped Orton on the mat. He followed with the popup uppercut for a good nearfall. Cesaro jumped off the second rope for another axe handle, but Orton drop kicked him out of the air.

Orton hit the rope DDT and setup for the RKO. That's when The Shield jumped the railing. Cesaro split and The Shield each went to a side to surround Orton. Miz climbed in the ring and stood with Orton. The Shield dropped down for a moment to regroup and then attacked. Reigns hit a spear on Miz to take him out, while Orton took the triple powerbomb.

[Q3] After the Shield left, Cesaro hit the Neutralizer on Miz. Cesaro took his belt and flag and posed over Miz…[C]

Randy Orton defeated Antonio Cesaro by disqualification in 23:42.

Shore's Slant: Pretty good match between Cesaro and Orton, but I would have liked the full treatment of videos and hype. Since that has become the standard on this show, it's very noticeable when it isn't there, and it made this match feel less important. So a good match with poor execution.

A video recapped Rock vs. CM Punk from Monday…The Primetime Players made their ring entrance as Cole showed he was alone after Mix got beat up. Brad Maddox jumped the wall and joined Michael Cole on commentary…

[Q4][C] The Usos made their entrance and brought back the ceremonial dance…

2. The Primetime Players vs. The Usos. Maddox and Cole essentially no sold the match and talked about Maddox not being an announcer. Maddox sent the show to commercial, even though it didn't go to commercial. Maddox started talking about the weather and traffic and then welcomed us back to the show. It took almost two minutes for them to call more than one move in the ring. Unreal. PTP went to the floor and the Usos tried to slid into them. Titus moved, but Young hit the announce table and then the show really did go to commercial…[C]

Back from commercial, the Usos were in charge as Maddox brought the show back in an over the top manner. Cole reminded him to call the action, but spent most of his time interacting with Maddox instead of calling the action. Maddox did a fake ad read just before Young hit a northern lights suplex for two.

PTP tool control for just a moment, but the Uso in trouble knocked Young to the floor and hit a drop kick on Titus to tag out. They took out Titus and hit a dive on Titus on the floor and on Young in the ring for the pinfall victory. Maddox took the headset off and said he had to leave. Cole closed the show without any hype for next week…

The Usos defeated The Primetime Players at 12:05.

Shore's Slant: I'm of two minds about the commentary. On one hand, it was very entertaining. This is what I was talking about when I said I saw what WWE saw in Maddox. It's incredibly charismatic and smooth as silk on the mic. That said, I hate when they shit all over a match just to get something else over. I'm not saying they are wrong to do it per se, but I personally think there are better ways to do this. At any rate, don't watch this match for the action. It was mediocre at best/ Or maybe it just seemed that way because the announcers were doing other things.

Overall a disappointing episode of Main Event. The main event didn't get the good build we are used too, and while Maddox entertained me, the second match was brutal to sit through. The crowd even died. Thanks for watching along 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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