WWE Saturday Night's Main Event - Best and Worst - Triple H gets physical, legend returns after nearly 15 years
WWE pulled out all the stops to make Saturday Night's Main Event feel as nostalgic as possible. The entranceway was narrow, like in the early days of the show, forcing security to accompany stars to the ring.
Referees wore the traditional blue shirts with bowties and big earpieces. However, most of the matches felt like overflow from an episode of RAW. Drew McIntyre cleanly defeated Sami Zayn to open the night.
Chelsea Green made history by becoming the inaugural Women's United States Champion. Some off-air angles followed the show, like Triple H getting into it with Kevin Owens.
They would have been better served on the actual Saturday Night's Main Event broadcast. While some angles moved forward, like Finn Balor losing after shooting his shot, some things fell flat. Here's the Best and Worst for WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event.
#3. Worst - Michael Cole's "unbiased" journalism hurts the opening match
Michael Cole claims to be an unbiased journalist/commentator but he's anything but. He rebukes anyone with an issue with Roman Reigns or his actions over the last four years.
His overwhelming bias reared its head during McIntyre and Zayn's match to open Saturday Night's Main Event. Cole tried to shift the blame to Solo Sikoa instead of Reigns. He forgot that Sikoa debuted by interfering on Roman's orders.
The match didn't set the world on fire, and it was great to hear Cole keep playing the fanboy role of The Original Tribal Chief at Saturday Night's Main Event.
He later claimed that a heel, Liv Morgan, was in the running for superstar of the Year. Pat McAfee then questioned why she'd be in that conversation due to the "damage" she's done this year. Perhaps he's selectively unbiased.
#2. Best - Jesse "The Body" Ventura is back after nearly 15 years
Jesse "The Body" Ventura's involvement in Saturday Night's Main Event was announced earlier. His return to WWE came after a 15-year hiatus. It was refreshing to have a classic heel analyst counter current-day announcers.
He questioned if Cody Rhodes was Dusty Rhodes' son because of his abs. The Body also praised Liv Morgan for fighting with a busted nose, claiming that Dirty Dom can pick women.
It was refreshing to have a true heel commentator rather than someone repeating what officials tell them to say. Ventura actually agreed that Cody somewhat betrayed Kevin Owens by randomly teaming up with Roman Reigns.
He claimed that superstars should stay true to their friends, to which Cole called Ventura out for being biased. It was a true pot-meeting-the-ketch comment over commentary.
#2. Worst - No surprises or returns on a rather pedestrian night of booking
One staple that can put a premium live event or episode of RAW or SmackDown over the top is having a big surprise or a massive name returning to the ring. Charlotte Flair or CM Punk could have popped up at any point.
Becky Lynch could have shown up to let fans know she's back in the fold. There wasn't interference in any of the matches where it would have been logical. Raquel Rodriguez and Dominik Mysterio always help Liv Morgan.
The Judgment Day did nothing during the World Heavyweight title Triple Threat Match. After zero surprises at Survivor Series and only McIntyre's return on the following RAW, a big surprise could have helped improve Saturday Night's Main Event.
#1. Best - Chelsea Green and history are a good combo
In the early stages of the Women's United States Championship match, Cole did a good job of rehashing the history between Green and Michin. Both made names for themselves in TNA and won the Knockouts Championship.
He also reminded fans that Michin competed in the first two Mae Young Classic tournaments. The two have good chemistry, which helped the match flow better than some recent contests.
She even hit one of the more innovative versions of her finisher, flipping off the top rope over Michin to land the Unprettier. Green is one of the most unselfish WWE performers.
It is easy to do whatever is needed to sell a moment or put someone over. It was great to see her rewarded for her hard work and attention to detail, such as getting her long legs to the ropes to break a pin. The fans certainly approved of her win.
#1. Worst - IYO SKY loses clean at Saturday Night's Main Event
IYO SKY had to wait almost a month to get a title shot she earned by winning a Battle Royal weeks before WarGames. After a rather average match that again felt like it should have been on RAW, Morgan beat The Genius of the Sky cleanly.
Instead of protecting a top star with outside interference or Morgan cheating, bookers hurt SKY's credibility with such a clean loss. It was obviously a filler match, so Rhea Ripley could trot out after to stare down at Morgan.
However, It shouldn't have come at SKY's expense. She's too talented, and Rodriguez and Dominik were present. Interference would have saved her aura.
#1. Best/Worst - Jesse Ventura sticks up for Kevin Owens during overbooked main event
Kevin Owens told his side of the story but mostly found people like Cody Rhodes and Michael Cole brushing off his feelings. That frustration helped the main event. The storytelling from their previous encounter also sold the new rivalry.
It was one of the few matches at Saturday Night's Main Event that actually felt like a special occasion. What made things wonky was two referees getting inadvertently knocked out.
The decision was likely so that Owens had a reason to complain further while Rhodes and Cole claim he lost cleanly. The problem is that he didn't lose cleanly.
Owens did bring the chair into the ring, but Rhodes used it to hit his finisher for the win at Saturday Night's Main Event.
This was after Owens had The Champ down for the three-count without a ref in sight. Jesse Ventura pointed this out, yet Cole called him out for being biased.