WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights

Saturday Night's Main Event returned to prime-time NBC with a packed card headlined by an Undisputed WWE Championship match in which Cody Rhodes sought revenge, and Kevin Owens sought validation.

The battle between the former friends was the main event of a broadcast that also saw Gunther defend the World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat match, Liv Morgan put her Women's World Championship on the line, and the latest chapter in Drew McIntyre's bitterness-fueled warpath.

What went down, who emerged victorious and what surprises did WWE have in store in the first Saturday Night's Main Event since 2008?

Find out with this recap of the December 14 show.

Announced in advance of Saturday's show:

• Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin Owens
• Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest vs. Finn Bálor vs. Gunther (c)
• Women's World Championship: Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan (c)
• Women's United States Championship Tournament Final: Michin vs. Chelsea Green
• Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre

(c) denotes champion

Jesse Ventura joined Joe Tessitore and Pat McAfee returned to the broadcast table alongside Michael Cole to kick off the show.

The grudge match between Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre kicked off the show, with a red-hot crowd in Long Island solidly behind the former.

McIntyre rag-dolled Zayn, overpowering him and tossing him around the squared circle and ringside area with reckless abandon. The babyface fought back from underneath, ducking under The Scottish Psychopath and delivering a Blue Thunder Bomb that netted a two-count and nearly blew the roof off the building.

McIntyre rolled to the arena floor, dodging a Helluva Kick. That momentary break allowed the heel to regroup, re-enter the squared circle and flatten Zayn with the Claymore for the pinfall victory.

This was a great way to kick off the show in that it featured two tried-and-true workers, a red-hot crowd that cared about both men and a high-profile story at the center of it. A flawless start to the show.

Result

McIntyre defeated Zayn

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• The throwback nature of the show and the history of the Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum helped make for an unmistakable aura. Kudos to the production team for giving this as much of a vintage feel as possible while not abandoning the many upgrades the industry has undergone in its presentation. 
• Ventura took a shot at Dusty Rhodes' many abs, drawing boos from the fans. He's still got it. 
• McIntyre hurled Zayn over the announce table and into the guardrail ahead of the night's first commercial break.

Iyo Sky hit early and often, dominating the women's world champion Liv Morgan before, throughout, and on the other side of the commercial break. A failed Bullet Train Attack allowed Morgan to seize control with a backstabber that earned her a two-count.

Sky answered with a trio of German suplexes before slipping off the top rope and stunting her momentum. She recovered nicely, finally connected with the Bullet Train Attack, and set up for the Over the Moonsault. Morgan got the knees up, delivered ObLIVion, and scored the victory.

The celebration was short-lived as Rhea Ripley interrupted and came face-to-face with Morgan, a not-so-subtle reminder that The Eradicator was coming for her rival's title.

The match was good but never reached the next level thanks to a few messy spots late, mostly contributed to what appeared to be time constraints. Morgan winning was the right move, no matter how great Sky has been, as the money is in the inevitable showdown between Ripley and Morgan, which will finally see the former regain the title she never lost.

Result

Morgan defeated Sky to retain her title

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• A graphic noted that Sky is 6-2 in title matches. That's a massively impressive statistic and highlights how well she has been protected, even amid some inconsistent booking for Damage CTRL as a whole.
• The heat for Morgan was next level.
• Cole noted on commentary that Morgan has not lost a singles match since March, another spectacular note from the production team that helps put into context her impressive 2024.
• Morgan caught a nasty knee to the face and suffered what appeared to be a potentially broken nose.

The Ring General is still the world heavyweight champion after Gunther defeated Finn Bálor and Damian Priest in a Triple Threat Match.

The action was nonstop, with seamless transitions from one spot to another, all making sense within the context of the overarching story. On more than one occasion, Priest and Bálor cost each other the match.

Ultimately, their obsession with preventing the other from winning kept Gunther alive long enough to deliver a powerbomb to Priest on the ring steps and another to Bálor back inside the squared circle for the pinfall victory.

Hopefully, this puts an end to Priest and Bálor's spot in the world title hunt for now and allows Gunther to move onto something fresh. There are any number of top-tier stars for the champion to work with and for the sake of his title reign, he must.

Soon.

Priest and Bálor are great, but things feel a little stagnant in that particular feud and that isn't anywhere Gunther needs to be right now.

Still, this was an excellent match that the crowd was into and the right guy won.

Result

Gunther defeated Bálor and Priest to retain

Grade

B+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Cole found a way to insert a Mets/Juan Soto reference in on commentary, during noted Yankees fan Priest's entrance. It was only a matter of time. 
• Bálor delivered a chop in hopes of breaking up Gunther's Boston Crab. Instead, it annoyed The Ring General, who swatted him down.
• Priest and Gunther always bring the physicality to their matches and this was no different.
• The Archer of Infamy took a page out of The Undertaker's book, breaking out "Old School" and ending with a crossbody block.

History was made Saturday night as Michin and Chelsea Green battled to crown the first women's United States champion.

A back-and-forth match culminated with Michin's preoccupation with Piper Niven ultimately costing her the opportunity to etch her name in the history books. First, she delivered Eat Defeat on the floor, seemingly taking Niven out of the picture.

Moments later, Niven made her presence felt, providing one last distraction that Green took advantage of, seamlessly coming off the top rope and directly into position for the Unprettier. She delivered her finish and scored the win and title.

This, like the women's title match earlier in the show, suffered from a more rushed nature, but may have been better. The chemistry was obvious, the crowd was hot for Green, and the finish was executed well, leading to the crowd-pleasing moment that saw the heel secure the championship.

Given the interaction between Michin and Niven, this is likely just the start of the rivalry between these two. How far it goes and whether the former finally wins the title down the line remains to be seen.

Result

Green defeated Michin to win the title

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Not only did Green sport gear that had her face all over it, she also paid tribute to her husband, Matt "Zack Ryder" Cardona with a one-legged look straight out of The Broski's 2009 look.
• Cole noted that Green made her TNA Wrestling debut, losing to Michin. The best in the business, folks. A great recall that adds to the moment.
• "Let's go Chelsea" chants broke out. They, and every ounce of support for the character from the WWE fans, is a testament to her ability to take a seemingly ridiculous persona and make it the most of it.

Cody Rhodes successfully retained the Undisputed WWE Championship over Kevin Owens Saturday through admittedly questionable means.

Late in a grueling main event, Owens introduced a steel chair. With two referees having been knocked out, Rhodes prevented the challenger from utilizing it, then proceeded to deliver Cross Rhodes on it. He slid the chair out of the ring to hide the evidence, made the pin, and Charles Robinson counted the fall before declaring The American Nightmare the winner.

The match was great, as to be expected, but the finish was a bit odd.

Perhaps it was intended to further the narrative that "Kevin is right," but it came across like Rhodes cheating to win the match. First-time viewers who did not know any better might even believe Rhodes was the bad guy in this story based on the fact that it was actually him who cheated his way to victory.

The question will be how the finish is followed up on.

Owens is going to trumpet his version of things, which is that Rhodes is the cheater and schemer, not him. He is going to demand a rematch and probably get it at Royal Rumble. Will he ever actually win, though, is the question.

Will Result

Rhodes defeated Owens to retain

Grade

A

Top Moments and Takeaways

• The winged eagle version of the WWE Championship is far too beautiful to put back in a vault somewhere. A flawless design from the late, great Reggie Parks.

• Ventura thrived on commentary. There are some who were just born to be a color commentator and The Body is one of them. He surprisingly meshed very well with McAfee and Cole.
• Ventura planted the seeds of the Rhodes match against Gable, and the ankle injury from it, playing a role in the contest. It came to fruition when The American Nightmare completed a tope sucida but came up holding that same ankle.
• Owens mocked Rhodes' father, the late Dusty. It earned him a Bionic Elbow from the champion.
• Rhodes delivered an RKO to Owens onto the announce table, which did not budge.

WWE's return to primetime was mostly a success.

The look and fell of the show was outstanding. It had enough nostalgia to capture the older audience and enough new production to make it standout.

The in-ring work was mostly good, though the timing was adversely affected in some situations by the constraints of working primetime network TV.

If there was one complaint, it was that there was nothing that happened on this show that did anything monumental enough to convince fans to tune into Raw or SmacKDown to witness the fallout.

This was a great opportunity to convince new eyes to check out the product and the lack of a major angle or finish had it feeling like a high-production episode of Raw or SmackDown rather than a can't-miss broadcast.

Expect that to change come January with the net special.

Overall, it was still a fun watch and more than a bit nostalgic for longtime fans.

Grade: B+