The Big Takeaway: Jack Swagger took 5 minutes of offence from Tyler Breeze to then immediately win with his move, while Kalisto pretty much did the same in the main event against a mystery opponent.
*****
Jack Swagger beat Tyler Breeze (5:30)
As he was coming down to the ring, I realized the huge problem with the Tyler Breeze character in WWE: for the majority of fans watching him on Raw, they won’t have seen him on NXT and so have no idea who he is. To them he must literally just be a guy with a selfie stick who hails from a ‘seasonal residence’ and wears fur. They’ve barely heard him speak. They don’t know why he’s such a dick. They don’t even know why he’s now single. Truth be told, WWE never even gave him a fair shot on the main roster.
Jack Swagger meanwhile is quietly going about his business in this lower mid-card hell and should be due some kind of reboot soon, surely. As he makes Breeze use the ropes to break his hold, ‘we the people’ chants start up, because Swagger is relatively well liked, the company just does little to explore or exploit that.
A headlock by Breeze is shaken off and he is then barged out of the way. Breeze goes outside and, after a chase, he attempts a cross body but is caught. Swagger then misses his charge to the corner and is posted. An enzugiri by Breeze floors him but Swagger kicks out at two. Breeze takes over now with stomps and kicks. He goes up top for punches and Swagger tries to go for a power bomb but Breeze reverses it into a hurricanrana. He then hits a quick leg drop but again can only get a two count.
Breeze then applies a front face lock which takes out a good two minutes of match time in a five and half minute match. Finally, Swagger launches Breeze off him and gets the heat. The Swagger Bomb gets countered, though, and Swagger takes a knee to the face. He goes for the ankle lock but Breeze pushes him off and lands the Super Model Kick, for a false finish. Breeze goes up top, but the cross body is again caught and so Swagger is able to put on the Patriot lock for the win.
Kalisto beat Konnor (w/ Viktor) (7:00)
The suspense over the mystery opponent built up earlier in the show seemed hardly worth it when Konnor came out with Viktor. Given the limited roster, they’ve been using them as singles on the show for a while now. Kalisto was doing double duty here, anyway, because he was on Raw later.
Konnor tries to manhandle Kalisto right from the bell, but he is out-done by kicks and then a neat drop kick. After a flying forearm and a hurricanrana, Konnor finally goes to ground him. Kalisto goes onto the apron and punts Viktor, but turns around and gets thrown into the post and out onto the matting. Konnor poses and we head to a break.
Kalisto is rammed into the dasher boards, as we return, and then rolled back in for a two count. Konnor scoop slams Kalisto, launching him into the ropes, twice. After kicking out of the cover, Kalisto rolls outside. While the ref is distracted, Viktor throws him back-first into the apron and then rolls him back inside.
After a long side headlock, Kalisto makes his comeback and dodges the charge from Konnor. He hits a springboard seated senton and a spiral cross body and then uses a suicide dive to take out Viktor on the outside. He leaps up onto the apron and hits Konnor with the SDS for the win.