WWE Sunday Night's Main Event Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

WWE returned to Peacock for the first-ever Sunday Night's Main Event special, headlined by a WrestleMania 42 rematch between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.

That match headlined a jam-packed card that could have doubled as a live event special, at least on paper.

Did the card deliver, and how did each match grade out?

Find out the answers to those questions and more in this recap of the primetime special.

Lineup

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Announced in advance of Sunday's show were:

• Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
• Oba Femi vs. Bron Breakker
• Lil Yachty vs. Baron Corbin
• Charlotte Flair, Tatum Paxley, and Alexa Bliss vs. Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin
• A live performance from Quavo

Lil Yachty vs. Baron Corbin

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Last Time in Action: Baron Corbin defeated Carmelo Hayes (SmackDown, August 14); Lil Yachty has never wrestled a WWE match

Played to the ring by his fellow rap superstar, Quavo, Lil Yachty took to the squared circle Sunday night with one goal in mind: last five minutes in the ring with United States Champion Baron Corbin to earn Trick Williams a United States Championship Match.

He did just that.

Corbin predictably steamrolled Yachty, outside of a few teases of offense for the underdog, and had him beaten more than once. His hubris got the best of him, though, and Yachty crotched him on the top rope as time expired, passing the test.

The Nomad responded by chokeslamming him through a table in time for Williams to hit the ring for his title opportunity.

Result

Lil Yachty survived the five-minute time limit

Grade

C+

Top Takeaways

• This was exactly what it needed to be. Yachty showed enough to keep the fans invested and Corbin's arrogance cost him. The match was a lot of fun and the crowd was red-hot for all of it.
• Corbin is, and has been, criminally underrated by fans for so long that performances like this, where he worked his ass off to sell the story against an untrained rapper, fly under the radar. He was great here in what served as further evidence of why management trusts him to walk back in the door and win a title right away.

United States Championship Match: Trick Williams vs. Baron Corbin

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Last Time in Action: Trick Williams lost to Baron Corbin (SmackDown, August 7); Corbin lost to Lil Yachty (Sunday Night's Main Event, September 6)

Still smarting from the humiliation of failing to defeat Lil Yachty in five minutes, Corbin faced the unenviable task of immediately defending his United States Championship against Williams.

He weathered the storm early, worked over Williams to the midway point, and survived a late-match cyclone boot by kicking out at the last possible second.

None of it was enough.

Williams regained the United States Championship in a molten-hot match that saw him survive a shot to the face with the title belt, then rock Corbin with a Trick Shot to secure the win and his second reign with the gold.

Result

Williams defeated Corbin to win the title

Grade

B

Top Takeaways

• Williams and Corbin have deceptively strong in-ring chemistry. The match at SummerSlam may have underwhelmed but the rematch on SmackDown last month and this were exponentially better. This was a fantastic match that played on spots from their previous encounters and the crowd erupted for Williams regaining the gold.
• Does Corbin quietly move out of the championship picture or hang around? One would think they have accomplished all they could with the Williams-Corbin story for now, so perhaps it would be best for him to graduate to the WWE title picture, after the company wraps up the five-way feud currently ongoing.

Oba Femi vs. Bron Breakker

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Last Time In Action: Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar (SummerSlam, August 2); Bron Breakker defeated Joe Hendry (Raw, August 3)

Paul Heyman introduced the battle for WWE's future between Oba Femi and Bron Breakker, and both men shined in a hard-hitting, physical battle.

The Ruler dominated early, overwhelming The Badass often and leaving him reeling. The second-generation star fought his way back into the match, taking Femi over the announce table and mounting a comeback that saw him showcase his own strength and fury.

Late in the match, Femi survived a spear, sent Austin Theory sailing through the commentary table, and withstood an attempted brass knuckle shot following interference from Logan Paul and Maxxine Dupri.

As he prepared for the victory, though, Femi caught a nasty chair shot to the back from the returning Bronson Reed. The Auszilla delivered three Tsunamis to Femi, split only by a pair of spears from Breakker.

One last Tsunami from Reed put a bow on the heels' beatdown of The Ruler while also serving as a message to the rest of the Raw locker room that The Vision is still very much a threat.

Result

Femi defeated Breakker via disqualification

Grade

B+

Top Takeaways

• Femi blasted Breakker with a chop to the chest on the ring apron that sounded like a rifle shot. It was an extraordinary visual and audio moment.
• Theory continued to be the rag doll for The Vision, taking the big bumps that the others in the group either will not or cannot at this point. His flat-back bump through the commentary table made for a fun moment late.
• This match was exactly what it needed to be: physical warfare featuring two young stars vying to be the guy moving forward, with a surprise return to propel the story forward. Reed looked great, here, so much so that he may have actually overshadowed Breakker in the closing minutes of the segment.