Main Event Reax - 2/10/18, Interviews with Titus/Impact management/Booker+Graves, Rey facing fellow legend at NJPW California show, Smackdown name has surgery, assorted WWE press, HBK to be honored, Ride Along preview, next WWE Network Flashback Friday theme, Smackdown live event notes, and Questions on Fallahzuna, Kamala in the WWE HOF, what indie promoters do and don't take care of, and WWE working with indies in the '90s

-- Main Event:
- Hawkins vs. Goldust:
Mr. Main Event is back!! He goes into this match with 160 straight losses, but maybe lightning will strike here.

I'm split on the Goldust/Mandy pairing, since Mandy's already in Absolution.

Pretty fun so far.

I like Curt being fired up.

Ha. What if he ended his losing streak with a rear chinlock of all things?

I don't know if mocking your opponent is a good move when you've lost as much as Curt has. Heck, I'd be willing to pay someone to lie down for me at this point.

Pretty solid ending.

- Kalisto vs. Ariya:
Nice mat work to start.

These two work together pretty well.

And now Kalisto's getting comfortable enough to fly.

Using someone's mask to take them down is just downright dirty.

Kalisto's ALMOST got him, but Daivari's not going down just yet.

A rollup winning a cruiser match would be funny.

Not bad at all! 

Titus O'Neil discussed his work inside and outside of WWE. Here are some highlights:
- I can't give Titus enough credit for all his philanthropy. That's a great use of the platform he's been given.

- Amazing story about how he got where he is now and his goals as an ambassador.

- I like Titus' approach to not being booked prominently. Ultimately, it's a job. Being paid to be something of a bit player is better than being not paid. It sounds like he could be making more money elsewhere, but he enjoys WWE.

- There was definitely a feeling Titus was given too much of a push too early for someone so inexperienced, and that bred some resentment. I see why people who have worked harder at wrestling for longer are upset at that kind of thing, but the boss made a decision to hire Titus and a decision for others to work with him. Everyone wants to be WWE Champion, but not everyone can be. If the boss wants you working with a former football player, that's what you need to do.

- Darren was very selfless. That's great to hear.

- Darren and Titus complemented each other really well as partners and as opponents. Both men helped the other be successful.

Rey Mysterio vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger is set for NJPW's California show. That's a BIG get for NJPW. They've got some real potential to make waves in the U.S. going forward, and it looks like they're pretty savvy about the U.S. market.

Impact management talked to Newsweek:
- "The world's number two (wrestling) company" sounds like a stretch. In the U.S. during their Spike deal, sure, but worldwide is a pretty big claim.

- 2017 was a mess for Impact, but I think some of that was inevitable as they didn't have the money to keep certain big names. I'd like to think things would have gone better if Jarrett was able to stay onboard.

- There's barely any buzz around Impact. Best of luck in turning that around.

- It's going to be tough to build wrestlers, as once WWE has them on their radar, there's not much Impact can do to keep them.

- EC3 definitely benefits from being able to keep that name.

- Being able to make money on live events is definitely going to be a key to revamping business. They can't charge for attendance at Universal Studios.

- I'm more than willing to give them time to get Impact moving in a positive fashion. The company still gives a platform to a good number of talented wrestlers.

Tamina Snuka had surgery on a torn rotator cuff. She's expected to miss around six months. She's lasted longer than I've expected, given that she just turned 40.

Finn Balor and Sasha Banks worked with the Special Olympics in Canada. That's awesome.

John Cena will chaperone a high school dance as part of a contest. That's a little weird, but I know there are a lot of high schoolers who would love to see Cena there.

Some NXT stars took part in a "Polar Plunge" for the Special Olympics in Florida. NXT does a lot of good work for the area.

Shawn Michaels will be honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club this year. That's really cool!

Booker T. and Corey Graves discussed their issues. Basically Booker was playing around to get people talking, and is happy to not be on commentary anymore. I was kind of hoping it would lead to something goofy between the two at Mania. At least they had fun with the whole situation, though.

A new WWE Ride Along with Elias and the Balor Club will debut after Raw. That sounds really fun.

WWE Network's "Flashback Friday" theme this week will be wrestling presidents, i.e. Jack Tunney, Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Herd, and Roddy Piper. That would have been the perfect opportunity to feature the current United States president, but they don't want to stir up any controversy by promoting such a controversial figure.

Some Smackdown live event notes:
- Primo is teaming Mike Kanellis with Epico out. They're losing to New Day on this loop.
- Dolph Ziggler is back on live events, losing to Shinsuke Nakamura. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If there was, Bahh would be the, what, 53rd member of that family to enter wrestling?

2. I don't know if Kamala would be able to attend. Unfortunately, they're probably going to wait for him to pass rather than showcasing an ailing double amputee.

3. Basically things are more taken care of for more established wrestlers than for people still making names for themselves. The more prominent a star, the more perks they can get.

Nothing to add to 4.

5. Also, some of it was for the wrestlers involved to get more experience and polish as workers. That's a classic carny wrestling story about indy promoters booking wrestlers for non-existent shows, though.

More wrestling tomorrow.