Jacob Fatu takes next step toward stardom on Saturday Night’s Main Event

A look at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Toni Storm’s night on AEW Collision, PFL’s trip to Dubai, and BKFC’s record-setting night at KnuckleMania

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Saturday Night’s Main Event felt like a glorified house show, with one notable exception

There are those moments in professional wrestling that grab hold of you.

We witnessed one last night on Saturday Night’s Main Event, when Jacob Fatu cut a backstage promo and then stomped to the ring to dominate Braun Strowman.

Fatu is the key the evolution of WWE’s Bloodline. He presents as a serious threat for anyone in the company–and that includes Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk–and he is destined to eclipse Solo Sikoa as the leader of the new Bloodline.

I suppose I understand the reasoning behind affording some protection to Strowman, but I would have had Fatu win the match instead of getting himself disqualified. But all was forgiven in the aftermath, where he made an emphatic statement with back-to-back-to-back picturesque moonsaults from the top.

Despite losing the match, Fatu firmly won over the crowd. His future is incredibly bright, and the long wrestling veteran is finally in the right place at the right time in his career.

Here are the results from SNME:

• Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax to retain the Women’s World Championship

• Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus to retain the Intercontinental Championship

• Braun Strowman defeated Jacob Fatu by disqualification

• Gunther defeated Jey Uso to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

And here are more takeaways from last night, which felt at times like a dressed-up house show:

• Corey Graves should have been on the broadcast alongside Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.

Jesse Ventura doesn’t sound quite right when breaking down the current talent, but it is nice to hear his voice back on WWE programming. It would be a pleasure to hear him call a match beside Graves, who has built himself into the best color man in the industry.

McAfee adds a lot to WWE, but he simply isn’t as good on the headset as Graves–and he is better when he has Graves to play off of.

• I’m done with Nia Jax in the world title picture.

It was painfully obvious as to who was winning this match/WWE

Rhea Ripley opened the show with a victory over Jax, beating her with a Rip Tide. And that should be all for Jax in the world title picture. She certainly does her job very well as a heel, but after being in the title picture and/or champion since July, it is time for current champions Ripley and Tiffany Stratton to build stories with different opponents.

• There were plenty of legends in the crowd last night.

Courtesy WWE

That list included “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Dory Funk Jr., “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Mark Henry, Madusa, Arn Anderson, and Tully Blanchard. You’ll notice that a few of those stars were once employed by AEW (Henry, Anderson, and Blanchard), but are now back aligned with WWE.

• Speaking of legends, one of the best lines of the night was when Ventura poked fun at the Steiner Brothers during the Bron Breakker match.

To be fair, Ventura showed his time away from the product when he noted that Honky Tonk Man must have been the longest reigning IC champ (which he was, of course, until Gunther dethroned him of that title). I personally enjoyed Ventura noting during the show’s open that a win from Sheamus would cement him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. Stakes make matches so much more compelling, so that was a nice addition from The Body, even if there is no real objective measurement for gaining admission into the HOF.

• Speaking of highlights, Shawn Michaels was sensational in his role last on SNME.

Shawn Michaels captivated the crowd in San Antonio/WWE

Michaels owned the moment each time he spoke into the microphone, but his facial expressions were also phenomenal. Kevin Owens attacked Michaels and would have hit a package piledriver on him had it not been for the save from Cody Rhodes (who have turned a fairly benign feud from last summer into one that is not exceptional), which led to Michaels hitting Owens with some Sweet Chin Music. If we know anything about Owens, he was likely advocating backstage to take the kick.

• One more note on Michaels:

Since they were both in the building last night, here is a match between DiBiase and a 19-year-old Michaels… and it’s even called by Jim Ross.

• As for the main event, it felt overlooked.

The best moment came in the closing sequence, when Jey Uso hit two spears and an Uso Splash on Gunther for a near fall. Despite commentary giving their best effort, it never felt like Uso was going to win.

Uso’s pursuit of a world title continues/WWE

There was no time for a world title change. It was no different than what we saw last month in the Rhodes-Owens match. That lack of time removes a lot of the suspense.

The finishing sequence saw Uso’s third spear was converted into a powerbomb, and Gunther hit another for good measure to get the win. It was barely executed before going off the air, which confirmed the belief there was no time allotted for a new champion’s celebration.