6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (25 Jan - Results & Review)

1. A Rushed Series Of Moves

Maybe it was the two commercial breaks dividing the match, but the World Heavyweight Championship bout between Gunther and Jey Uso was not as “awesome” as fans indicated during Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Jey has been a perplexing case study. His connection with the fans in the arena is palpable and undeniable. He’s absolutely “over” with them, and they’re clearly invested in everything he does in the ring. However, if you’re watching Uso from the comfort of your own couch, unless you’re ride-or-die with him, it’s impossible to deny that many of his matches are lacking. And that shouldn’t count as a total knock on him. Jey’s energy and fire will continue to carry him far, and deservedly so.

Saturday’s world title match was a paint-by-numbers performance rather than a piece of art. Jey and Gunther traded chops, punches, kicks, and home run swings throughout. Uso scored several near-falls and kicked out of the Ring General’s biggest shots, all popping the crowd like crazy.

It was all performative and manipulative, which isn’t a bad thing – wrestling is in large part the art of sucking the crowd into the action, regardless of quality. Still , this was merely adequate, with the crowd turned up to 11.

If anyone bought the near-falls, look no further than the rapid-fire end sequence, with Gunther kicking out of a spear-splash combo, only to immediately counter another spear with two powerbombs for the win as the show went off the air.