WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Results, Winners, Live Grades, Highlights from Tampa
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of Saturday Night's Main Event on May 24 in Tampa, Florida.
With a late addition to the card on Friday's SmackDown, SNME ended up with a total of five matches. Here's a look at the rundown for the card:
—John Cena vs. R-Truth (Non-title)
—Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre (Steel Cage)
—Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul (World Heavyweight Championship)
—Zelina Vega vs. Chelsea Green (United States Championship)
—Sami Zayn and CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker
Did Green recapture her U.S. title? Did Cena destroy the man who has idolized him since childhood? Who emerged victorious from the cage?
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Saturday's show to find out.
CM Punk and Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker
1 of 6
After a few minutes of filler and an introduction by Joe Tessitore, Rollins and Breakker made their way to the ring for their match against Punk and Zayn.
Zayn has a special quality only a few people have. It's hard to describe it, but guys like Eddie Kingston, Kevin Owens and Adam Page have it too. Something about them makes the crowd love them almost unconditionally.
As soon as Punk hit the ring last, all four men started brawling. The Visionary and The Underdog from the Underground ended up starting as the legal men, but Breakker tagged in quickly and hit his flying clothesline from the apron onto the announce desk.
We returned from a break to see Zayn being double-teamed in the opposing corner. Punk got a big pop when he tagged in and took it to Rollins.
They battled through another commercial break, which came very quickly after the first one. Paul Heyman got involved by grabbing Zayn's foot. The ref was too distracted to see Bronson Reed show up and put Punk through the barricade.
Breakker hit a Spear on Zayn to get the pin and the win for his team, but the biggest development was seeing Reed join the new alliance.
These are four guys who each have their own unique style, but with three veterans and a young, hungry talent like them, it would have been shocking if they put on anything less than a good show. Adding Reed at the end was the icing on the cake.
Result: Rollins and Breakker defeated Punk and Zayn
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—The classic SNME theme WWE uses is very nostalgic. The red, white and blue ropes help with that, too.
—Jesse Ventura hilariously asked if Mike Tyson was going to take another dive tonight.
—If WWE wants Rollins to get booed more, they should change his theme so the crowd can't sing along with it anymore.
—Punk hitting a Code Red was a fun surprise.
—Punk and Rollins coordinated their gear colors, which you don't often see with random teams like this.
Zelina Vega vs. Chelsea Green
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The Women's United States Championship was on the line when Green challenged Vega in an attempt to regain the title she held first. As always, Alba Fyre and Piper Niven were at ringside for Green.
They started with a quick sequence of takedowns and counters. Vega had the upper hand until Green powerbombed her on the floor for a near-fall.
Green eventually made a miscalculation and allowed Vega to begin mounting some offense. Unfortunately, a failed 619 from Vega completely stalled her momentum and got some jeers from the crowd.
A few moments later, Vega hit a Code Red from the top rope to get the win and retain her title. This was shorter than expected and had one big mistake at the end, but other than that, this was decent.
Green was busted open and bleeding in the ring as she complained about losing.
Result: Vega defeated Green
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—Green's gear was great. She and Cathy Kelley had a funny exchange about it during the pre-match interview.
—It was interesting to see the stat that Vega has a 4-0 record against Green before this match.
—The powerbomb on the floor sounded brutal with how Vega hit the ground. She was smart to cradle the back of her head.
—Vega messing up the 619 lost the crowd a bit.
John Cena vs. R-Truth
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R-Truth came out to Cena's music wearing his own version of Cena's gear for his match against the 17-time champion.
Cena hit a clothesline before the ref could call for the bell, so the match started with Truth on his back. He looked disgusted as he listened to the crowd chant.
Truth escaped the AA and began using Cena's own moved against him, including an AA for a two-count. Cena eventually recovered and hit the AA for the win.
This was short but it was exactly what we expected it to be. Cena decisively beat the only guy who still had faith in him following his heel turn, and then he hit him with the title belt just to pour salt in the wound.
Result: Cena defeated Truth
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
—Jimmy Hart and Bushwhacker Luke were in the crowd.
—Truth lost a few earrings during the match and Cena picked them up and dropped them on him.
Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest
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The penultimate match on the card saw McIntyre and Priest step inside a steel cage in the hopes of finally ending their feud once and for all.
The Archer of Infamy got the first hit and tried to build some momentum, but McIntyre fired back with some chops to the chest that echoed in the arena.
They began using the cage to inflict damage almost immediately, with Priest being flung into the wall as we went to a break. We returned to see them fighting as both men climbed the wall, but they made their way back down.
The Archer of Infamy survived the Claymore and began to fight back with a flurry of strikes. McIntyre hit Priest's own South of Heaven chokeslam, but he still couldn't get the pin.
A chair was brought into the ring and both men used it to their advantage. Priest used a steel chair to hit a Conchairto before he casually strolled out of the cage to get the win.
This feud has had a handful of great matches. This might not have been the best in their series, but it was definitely a worthy entry. Both Superstars came away from this looking like tough competitors despite one having to lose.
Result: Priest defeated McIntyre
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—Cena did a great job in a backstage segment with Jey before this bout took place.
—McIntyre was not holding back with his chops.
—Ventura thinking Pat McAfee is only the second commentator to wrestle is hilarious. He clearly hasn't watched WWE regularly in decades.
—Cole referencing Edge on commentary was surprising. It seems like WWE might not mind if former stars who are in AEW are mentioned occasionally.
Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul
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The main event of Saturday Night's Main Event saw Uso defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Paul, who Cena seemed to want to see win the title to continue his quest to ruin wrestling for everyone.
Jey applied a headlock to start and hit a shoulder tackle before a few uppercuts. Paul hit a blockbuster from the middle rope to take control.
The match started with a little less than 15 minutes left in the show, so we knew this would not be a battle of attrition. It would be a relatively standard bout with a few standout spots.
As Jey prepared to win with a splash, Cena showed up and pulled the ref from the ring. He attacked Uso as Paul looked on confused. Cody Rhodes' music hit and he ran to the ring to fight Cena off.
Paul missed Rhodes with the brass knuckles and ate a spear from Uso before he hit another splash for the pin and the win. It looks like we will get a tag match between these four men at Money in the Bank.
Result: Uso defeated Paul
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—Paul is someone WWE can never try to book as a babyface. He is too disliked for his antics for him to win over the crowd.
—Paul's springboard moonsault looked pretty good.
—Jey slowed down way too much before his failed suicide dive. He telegraphed that Paul would counter it.
The Final Word
6 of 6
Saturday Night’s Main Event gave is a solid two hours of wrestling, but we would be lying if we said this felt like a PLE. It was more like an elevated episode of WWE TV than anything else, which made sense because that is exactly what it was.
Cena vs. Truth was probably the weak point of the show due to its length and predictability, but it was fun for what it was and gave Truth a chance to shine a bit.
The cage match was fun, Reed joining Rollins’ group to end the tag bout was a great move, and Vega and Green did solid work with limited time in their U.S. title match.
However, all eyes were on the final match as Uso defended the world title against one of the most hated people in all of WWE.
There was a moment when it looked like WWE might actually book a title change, but Rhodes saved the day by helping Uso retain. It capped off a decent but mostly average SNME.
Grade: B
