Prior to last night’s SmackDown in Atlanta, Georgia, three matches were taped for this week’s episode of 205 Live.
– Brian Kendrick defeated Jack Gallagher
Drew Gulak tried to get involved, but Akira Tozawa made the save for Kendrick.
– Gran Metalik defeated an enhancement wrestler
The name of Metalik’s opponent wasn’t shown. This lasted about a minute. TJP attacked Metalik after the match and stole his mask, then the rest of the Lucha House Party made the save for Metalik and covered up his face with a towel.
– Mustafa Ali defeated Tony Nese in a number one contender’s match
This was made last week after Ali defeated Hideo Itami in a falls count anywhere match. Nese had won a fatal five-way against Cedric Alexander, Lio Rush, Metalik, and TJP the week before that.
They had a really great match — probably the second best of the night behind AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship match on SmackDown. Alexander came out and helped Ali to his feet. Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy stared down Ali and Alexander at the top of the ramp.
The Big Takeaway: Tony Nese picked up a rare victory against Gran Metalik and The Authors of Pain made it two wins in two matches on Main Event since being called up to the main roster.
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Tom Phillips and Percy Watson hosted the show in a two-man announce booth. Phillips replaced Vic Joseph, while Nigel McGuinness was also absent this week, as the pair were over in the United Kingdom covering the WWE UK Championship tournament and the launch of the NXT UK brand.
Tony Nese defeated Gran Metalik (w/ Lince Dorado) (5:03)
Tony Nese has had a fairly rotten couple of years in terms of results in WWE. In 2017, Nese only had 14 singles wins all year – and for a guy who can appear on Raw, 205 Live, and Main Event, that’s got to be demoralizing. This year, he’s only had three and we’re nearly in July.
Gran Metalik is another wrestler who seems to suffer a lot considering his ability and potential to be a star in this cruiserweight division. But the two worked well together here, with Nese finally getting the upper hand after a solid back-and-forth match.
Metalik hit a hurricanrana from off the top rope on Nese but was only able to get a two count. So he got Nese up into a fireman’s carry, but Nese grabbed at Metalik’s mask. He hit a German suplex on Metalik and then nailed him with the Running Nese for the win.
Dorado added little from the sidelines, but Nese was good here notching up his fourth-ever win on this show.
The Authors of Pain defeated Breezango (2:30)
This was as close to a squash as they come on WWE programming these days. Tyler Breeze got in a total of two dropkicks and a superkick and Fandango managed some knife-edge chops, but that was about it.
The Authors of Pain used power moves and postured a lot, making the match longer than it actually ought to have been. They seem to be fairly over, getting a good reaction to their devil-may-care attitudes here.
Inexplicably, in a match that ran less than three minutes, they went through a commercial break. When we returned, Breeze hit the Beauty Shot on Akam for two. Rezar tagged in, elbowed Fandango off the apron, and they hit the Last Chapter on Breeze for the win.
The Big Takeaway: Gran Metalik beat Tony Nese after a beautiful finishing combination. The Revival then stole a win against Heath Slater & Rhyno to close the show.
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Gran Metalik defeated Tony Nese (5:43)
Nese hasn’t had too much luck of late. In fact, he has only clocked up three singles wins since August of last year. His opponent this week was Gran Metalik, who rarely loses on Main Event as of late.
Nese took much of the early going, stopping to posture to the crowd at any opportunity. His physique is pretty remarkable, and he made throwing Metalik around look easy here.
They built to an excellent-looking finish where Nese was going for a superplex and had Metalik on the second rope in the corner. Metalik countered by crotching Nese and then did a rope-walk hurricanrana off the top rope. Metalik then pounced on Nese to hoist him up for the Metalik Driver for the win.
The Revival defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (4:14)
It had been Slater and Rhyno who dealt Dash Wilder many of his singles losses last year when Scott Dawson was out injured. But after beating Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on Monday Night Raw the previous week, The Revival came back to Main Event to notch up another win against some old foes.
Strangely, the heels worked out of what would be considered the traditional babyface corner at the top left of the hard cam screen, but there was no doubt that The Revival were the heels here. Slater and Rhyno took the opening minutes, getting the crowd on their side with Rhyno getting a few ‘EC-Dub’ chants from the expectant pre-Raw crowd.
After the break, Slater had the heat, taking out both Revival men and nailing Wilder with a running high knee and following it up with a neckbreaker. Wilder could only stop the three count by putting his leg on the bottom rope.
After two more near falls from Slater on Wilder, Dawson took out Rhyno to stop the tag and they teased a ref bump where Slater had to go out of his way to avoid colliding with the ref. This enabled The Revival to get the upper hand and hit the Shatter Machine for the win.
Wrestlers from outside of 205 Live’s regular roster appearing has been a theme of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament, and that’s set to continue next week.
Mark Andrews, who is part of WWE’s planned United Kingdom division, will be wrestling on next Tuesday’s episode as he faces Akira Tozawa in a first round match. In the show’s other tournament match, Drew Gulak will take on Tony Nese.
Tyler Bate appeared in the first week of the tournament, losing to TJP. Roderick Strong defeated Hideo Itami last night to advance to the second round.
A reboot for 205 Live began when Rockstar Spud (now known as Drake Maverick) was announced as the show’s general manager and a renewed focus on in-ring action was indicated. PWInsider reported today that the reboot extends to what’s going on behind the scenes as well, with Vince McMahon stepping aside and “no longer personally putting 205 Live together” as of last week’s episode.
PWInsider noted that Triple H is now overseeing 205 Live after McMahon made the decision to allow him to take over as showrunner two weeks ago.
Cedric Alexander, TJP, Kalisto, and Strong have advanced in the Cruiserweight title tournament so far. After Andrews vs. Tozawa and Gulak vs. Nese, there will be two more remaining first round matches. The bracket for the tournament hasn’t been revealed, but the new champion will be crowned at WrestleMania.
The Big Takeaway: Accompanied by Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke stole a win against Mickie James. In a strong performance, Akira Tozawa got his win back from Tony Nese in a rematch of their 205 Live bout from the previous week.
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Dana Brooke (w/ Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews) defeated Mickie James (4:37)
Brooke has been at the side of Titus Worldwide for the last few weeks here on Main Event, so it was interesting to see her take to the ring instead this week with both O’Neil and Crews at her side. James, who hasn’t appeared on Main Event since July, took the fall having last scored a singles win in October.
The match really wasn’t particularly good until the second half. Brooke dominated the first part of the bout with chinlocks and rest holds, but James eventually took over with a more impressive and interesting move set. James locked in a tarantula at one point and looked to be in line for a win when Brooke had to roll outside for a breather, only to be berated by O’Neil and Crews.
The finish saw Brooke block a roll-up attempt that allowed Brooke to flip over James and apply a weak-looking bridging pin to essentially steal the win. Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness played up the coup on commentary and had kept putting James over as a former six-time champion.
Titus Worldwide made off like bandits, even doing a lap of honor around the ring, while James was left to look on.
Akira Tozawa defeated Tony Nese (5:49)
On 205 Live the previous week, Nese picked up the win over Tozawa after some fierce back and forth, eventually finishing Tozawa with a running knee. The rematch on Main Event saw them face off on a show that Tozawa is yet to lose on.
Once again these two were excellent together. The whole match was a back and forth where you felt that either man could come out on top. They built to a point where both had dominated moments and equaled each other and both went for a big boot and both landed it. They looked glassy-eyed — but it was Tozawa who got up first.
Nese tried a roll-up and a pumphandle slam but Tozawa was quick enough to escape them. Eventually, Tozawa was able to strike Nese with a windmill kick to leave him prone by the corner. Tozawa hit the Drop Zone for the win in what was a really strong bout. It would be good to see these two get more time together on WWE television.
Last night’s 205 Live was a special Halloween-themed episode that took place in Norfolk, Virginia.
The show opened with a recap of the Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa feud that started when Gulak began his transformation into a wrestling moralist, complete with a “No Chants” sign, while promising to save the division from “unnecessary top-rope dives.”
Gulak hammered on Tozawa two weeks ago, beating him with his sign, but last week Tozawa got him back, doing a run-in after his match with Gran Metalik.
This brought us to our first match of the night.
Akira Tozawa defeated Drew Gulak
Gulak grabbed the microphone and screamed “My name is Drew Gulak and where my guls at?” He then mocked Tozawa’s “Ah, Ah, Ah” chant, saying he would put an end to it once and for all. He then welcomed the crowd into his “Drewtopia,” and offered a plan for “a better Halloween,” via a PowerPoint presentation.
Slide number one: No Candy. “Instead, try a sweet potato, they are high in potassium,” Gulak said.
Slide number two: No Trick or Treating. “Your little ones get together and say ‘trick or treat.’ They might as well be chanting. And there is nothing worse than chanting!” Gulak said.
At slide number three, Tozawa ran out to start the match.
Tozawa, who has some great facials, quickly wrapped Gulak up in a leg scissors and took control of the match with kicks, punches, and stomps to the chest in the corner. Gulak played his heel role well, rolling out of the ring to buy time. Gulak crept back in and snuck in a boot to the stomach, followed by a reverse knife edge chop to take back control of the match briefly.
Tozawa countered with a stiff elbow, but Gulak regained the advantage after an Irish whip reversal. Gulak hammered him with elbows and a clothesline in the corner. Tozawa reversed the action with a standing hurricanrana and then a belly-to-back suplex.
Gulak rolled out of the ring and Tozawa hit an amazing headbutt after diving through the ropes.
Tozawa battered him inside the ring some more and then hit his back splash off the top rope to get the victory.
Next we got a promo package and an interview with Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander, where they seemed to be headed toward an Alexander turn. Next was footage from Raw, where Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore beat up on Kalisto, which led to Raw GM Kurt Angle booking a Survivor Series title match between Amore and Kalisto.
Rich Swann (w/ Cedric Alexander) defeated Brian Kendrick (w/ Jack Gallagher)
Alexander and Swann both came to the ring dressed as clowns, with Doink the Clown’s music playing.
Swann’s red clown nose fell off just as the match was about to start. The two tried to lock up in a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, but Swann was wearing giant clown gloves, turning the spot into comedy. Swann’s rainbow-colored wig fell off and he put it back on. The wig fell off again, as the match degenerated into one clown spot after another. When Kendrick tried to whip Swann into the ropes, Swann’s glove fell off and Kendrick was frustrated.
Kendrick became increasingly frustrated, which led to him making mistakes. Swann showed off his agility in the match, demonstrating a high leapfrog, then a big dropkick. Kendrick threw Swann outside of the ring. Gallagher looked like he was going to hit Swann with his umbrella, but Alexander walked over and backed him off.
Kendrick controlled the match when Swann entered the ring again, but Swann rallied, showcasing some impressive aerial moves, including a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
He hit a flip over the top rope to the outside on Kendrick. Swann then hit a twisted splash off the middle rope for the win. Gallagher tried to interfere, but he was knocked off the apron by Alexander. A good match, despite the clown comedy at the beginning.
Mustafa Ali defeated Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, and Gran Metalik in a Fright Night fatal four-way match
Daivari looks to have taken over Austin Aries’ attire. He cut a promo about joining forces with Amore and then started speaking in Persian before he was interrupted by Ali, who was throwing out candy to the audience members.
Ali spent the first part of the match giving his opponents candy. Nese refused, saying “I don’t eat candy.” He slapped the candy out of Ali’s hand as the match started. Pumpkins were set up on the ring apron.
Ali and Metalik put on an acrobatic clinic that, for a moment, resembled Ricochet and Will Ospreay, but then it was broken up by Nese and Daivari.
Daivari eventually found a bowl of candy on a table at ringside. Fishing through it, he discovered a Gran Metalik mask. Daivari put the mask on and then mocked Metalik by doing his cartwheel and rolling moves. Ali broke it up.
In a bizarre spot, Ali removed Daivari’s mask and then put it on a ringside skeleton. He threw the masked skeleton on Daivari, setting up Metalik to hit a dropkick on the skeleton and Daivari.
At ringside were candy corn kendo sticks. Daivari and Ali grabbed them and started to unload on Ali. Nese then started throwing pumpkins at Ali from a sit-up position.
The match ended with Daivari falling into a bucket of apples, Ali shoving a Twix bar into the mouth of Nese, and pumpkins flying everywhere. Nese found a black bag under the ring that during the 1990s hardcore era would have been filled with thumbtacks. On Halloween in 2017, it was filled with candy corn. Nese dumped the candy corn on the table and attempted a powerbomb, only to have it reversed into a back body drop by Metalik through the table.
Ali eventually won the match after he found a broom, put it through his legs, and dove onto Nese for the three count. Ali celebrated with the skeleton after the match.
The Big Takeaway: Curt Hawkins took the pinfall as he and Dash Wilder lost again this week to continue both of their respective losing streaks. Akira Tozawa also got a win over Tony Nese in a fairly ordinary main event.
I mentioned a few weeks back that Curt Hawkins has been without a win since the night he returned to WWE. Well, he is now playing this up in his ring entrance on Main Event. Over his music, Hawkins’ recorded voice says, “his 118 match losing streak is going to come to an end right before your eyes.” And, of course, it didn’t.
Wilder is also without a win since his Revival teammate Scott Dawson was struck down with an injury in June, and it didn’t get any better for him here. However, his tag partner took the loss — when Rhyno nailed Hawkins with a spinebuster — to take the streak to 119.
Slater and Rhyno fared well with the pre-Raw crowd. They have been performing without each other for a number of weeks now, but, reunited, they went over well here. Rhyno did the power moves, Slater played babyface in peril, and Hawkins brought out the inner trash-talker in Wilder. Overall, this match was fun while it lasted.
The finish started when Rhyno got the hot tag. Hawkins blind tagged in while Wilder was wheeling from the onslaught, but Slater saw it and dumped Wilder outside so that Rhyno could focus on Hawkins, who he nailed with a spinebuster for the win.
Akira Tozawa defeated Tony Nese (4:56)
Tozawa hasn’t been on Main Event since April, but he’s such a pleasure to watch. Here, he was all action and took the match 100 miles per hour. Nese is a good foil for Tozawa’s pace and made it look like he was going to take the spoils until he got caught trying something on the top rope and Tozawa was able to hit the Drop Zone.
There was a spot here where they teased an early finish with Nese lying prone and Tozawa in position for the Drop Zone, but Nese rolled out of the ring. Tozawa’s response was amazing: he leaped off the top rope and — as he landed — began sprinting into the ropes and then dove through them headfirst at Nese. It was both breathtaking and really quite dangerous at the same time.
Otherwise, it was Nese using his physique and strength to try to dominate Tozawa and the match was punctuated by Tozawa’s efforts to get the crowd riled up. When the finish came, it felt a little early, but Tozawa seized the opportunity and got plenty of hang time on his impressive finisher, the Drop Zone.
The Big Takeaway: Dash Wilder made it three losses in three weeks, then Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik put on a beautiful display in the main event.
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Heath Slater defeated Dash Wilder (5:35)
Two weeks ago on Main Event, Dash Wilder was beaten with relative ease by Rhyno’s spinebuster. Last week, he and Slater went back and forth in a fairly by-the-numbers bout with Slater getting the win with the Smash Hit. This week, Wilder lost again. To Rhyno. With the spinebuster.
Nigel McGuinness was nowhere to be seen on the show and, instead, we were back with Corey Graves alongside Vic Joseph. Graves has a way of drawing you into matches and he really knows his wrestling and calls moves well, but McGuinness is better at putting the talent over.
Wilder is comfortable on his own, here, but lacks the kind of charisma at this stage of his WWE run to be carrying a match with a veteran like Rhyno. Rhyno sold a lot as Wilder took the match until the finish, where Rhyno fired up to hit his big moves.
The match was what you’d expect. It was slow and full of rest holds and Wilder’s quick pin attempts. Rhyno made Wilder look strong and powerful, but he finished him with the spinebuster in the end without too much concern.
Rhyno still seems to exist off the nostalgic pop that hasn’t faded too much, but without Slater the act is less fun for pre-Raw matches like these on Main Event.
Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik defeated Drew Gulak & Tony Nese (4:25)
The Cruiserweight tag match once again saved the show, bringing some pace, action, and invention to an otherwise run-of-the-mill episode. The finish was awe-inspiring from Dorado, who finished Gulak with a magnificent springboard shooting star senton.
Gulak, who is now clean shaven, had a few matches on Main Event over the summer months, but is now without a win on any show, televised or otherwise, since the end of May.
Dorado and Metalik speak for themselves. They’d be fantastic together on the main roster and could easily find a position in the tag team division. They did a great spot here where Metalik was teasing a springboard attack on Gulak on the outside, but the distraction meant that Dorado was able to fly at him with a seated senton. They did similar things a couple of times in the match and it proved to be very effective.
The match was far too short, but the finish made up for it. Metalik flew over the top rope onto Nese on the outside, while Dorado stunned Gulak on the top rope to set him in position for a huge springboard shooting star senton. Graves’ exclamation of “good lord!” after he landed it said it all.
The Big Takeaway: Kalisto grabbed a win against Rhyno in the opener, then Gran Metalik lost his second straight match on Main Event, this week losing out to Tony Nese.
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Kalisto defeated Rhyno (5:38)
A series of rarities kick off the show this week: a rare babyface vs. babyface match saw an unlikely fist-bump of appreciation between the two on the bell here. Moreover, this is Kalisto’s first appearance on this show in almost exactly a year — it was June 26th last year when he last performed on Main Event, beating Viktor in singles competition.
This was as you would expect for a giant vs. luchador match. Kalisto tried to unsteady the enormous frame of Rhyno, who pinged Kalisto around the ring like a rag doll. Occasionally, Kalisto would catch Rhyno, as he does a couple of minutes in with a hurricanrana. Rhyno is so stunned that he rolls outside and takes a walk.
Rhyno then works over Kalisto’s lower back, sending him from pillar to post, playing the heel by mocking his “lucha” arm chant. Kalisto immediately gets payback, though, as he nails Rhyno with a spike rana for two. Rhyno fights back with a second rope suplex, but Kalisto has enough to kick out.
The finish sees Kalisto dodge Rhyno’s charge so that he can tuck around the back and nail him with the Salida Del Sol for the win. This got pretty good in the last few minutes.
Tony Nese defeated Gran Metalik (3:20)
In a short match here, Gran Metalik once again lost after a reasonable amount of dominance. He rolls out of the way from Nese’s attempt at a top rope senton in the early going and dumps Nese outside. He then uses a top rope springboard senton onto the matting outside as we head to a break.
Metalik has the heat as we return. He nails Nese with a running bulldog and follows it up with a rope-walk missile dropkick. He goes up top and hits an elbow drop, but Nese kicks out at two.
Metalik looks to finish it with the Metalik Driver, but Nese ducks out of the way and uses the ropes to break the hold. He German suplexes Metalik into the turnbuckle and then finishes him with a running knee strike in the corner. This was fine, but it was quick.
The Big Takeaway: Rhyno returned to this show with a win against Titus O’Neil, and the team of Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado entertained against Drew Gulak & Tony Nese in the main event.
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Rhyno (w/ Heath Slater) defeated Titus O’Neil (5:15)
This was Rhyno’s first appearance on this show since last November. This week he is over with the pre-Raw crowd. He and Slater burst out of the curtain ready to fire things up. Rhyno and O’Neil exchange power moves to begin with as O’Neil takes the early going.
As Slater cheers him on outside, Rhyno gets some hope, hitting a shoulder block and then tossing O’Neil over the top rope to the outside. O’Neil manages to reverse things there and gets a near fall after rolling Rhyno back in the ring and hitting a big boot.
O’Neil slows things down with his usual chops and strikes in the corner, but Rhyno gets the heat with shoulder blocks and a belly-to-belly suplex for two. O’Neil hits a knee strike, but he misses a charge and runs into a spinebuster for the win.
Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado defeated Drew Gulak & Tony Nese (6:57)
Gulak comes out with a megaphone and a hand-made sign that says “No Fly Zone” on it. Although it’s an improvement on his normal entrance, it doesn’t seem to either generate heat or a reaction of any sort from this crowd.
Nese and Dorado start things off together with Nese overpowering Dorado in the early going. Dorado then hits a sunset flip and a rana and tags in Metalik. They use a series of quick tags and double team Nese with dropkicks. Gulak manages to shove Dorado off the top rope as we head to a break.
Dorado is maintaining the advantage as we return, but quickly Gulak comes in and stomps all over Dorado. He and Nese work quick tags, cutting the ring in half and isolating Dorado in their corner. Dorado hits the desperation superkick and makes the tag.
Metalik then hits his patented ropewalk elbow drop and Dorado hits a handspring cutter. The heels get clotheslined to the outside and Dorado and Metalik nail them with top rope dives. The finish then sees Metalik come back inside to hit the Metalik Driver on Gulak for the win.
Titus O’ Neil scored a win over Curtis Axel, and the team of Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik came up short by losing to Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari.
Show Recap —
Titus O’Neil defeated Curtis Axel
Curtis Axel runs out fired up to face Titus O’Neil. Corey Graves talks about The sky being the limit for the Titus Brand. Axel circles O’Neil before getting tossed into the corner. O’Neil slaps his head before eating kicks and then a mudhole stomp in the corner. Axel lands a running shoulder block in the corner before kicking him down out of a corner charge for two.
Graves talks about how a good showing on Main Event might mean that you can eventually get title shots or move higher on the card — offering up two valid reasons for this show being around still despite its prime being long gone.
O’Neil slugs Axel down before tossing Axel’s shoulder into the buckle. O’Neil dominates for a bit, but Axel lands chops and kicks to regain a bit of an edge. A dropkick sends O’Neil down before a Perfect neck snap gets a nice pop. A running knee lift hits and gets two for Axel.
Axel goes up top, but gets taken down by O’Neil with the Clash of the Titus to win. The finish looked impressive, and he does the Sky High quite well.
A recap then aired of the past two Raw angles between Dean Ambrose and The Miz. The women’s fatal four-way from Raw aired as well.
Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese defeated Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado
Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado come down to face Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari — so this is 3/4 of the main event from last week’s show. With Daivari being switched in, I’ll guess that he eats the fall here.
Dorado starts off hot with a sunset flip off the shoulders of Daivari to get two. Nese comes in to face Metalik, who uses a variety of backflips to get a rana and uses that to get a springboard elbow off the ropes for two.
Nese hits a running trip near the ropes and gets pulled to the floor. Nese hits a leg drop for a near fall before Daivari tags in and clubs away. Nese comes back in to kick away at Metalik before his cover is broken up by Dorado. Metalik flips onto Nese’s shoulders to hit a big DDT.
Dorado and Daivari come in, with Dorado hitting a series of lariats before hitting a big overhand chop to the chest. A quebrada gets two for Dorado.
Nese tosses Metalik out before Dorado hits a superkick to Nese and a spinebuster from Daivari gets two. Dorado hits the handspring stunner — sending him outside, so the faces hit stereo Asai moonsaults. Dorado goes up, but gets tossed into the barricade by Daivari and eats a big lariat to win this. The heels have once again won on Main Event!
A recap of Braun Strowman’s destruction of Roman Reigns airs before the Strowman vs. Big Show match from Raw is shown in full.
The Big Takeaway: Big Cass destroyed Titus O’Neil, who at least booted Enzo Amore on the floor. Tony Nese & Drew Gulak then got a surprising win over Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik.
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Big Cass defeated Titus O’Neil
Enzo Amore mixes up his usual promo by responding to “How you doin’?” with “Great — thanks for asking!” Sometimes, just small changes in the routine really help out and prevent every intro from feeling the same, and that helped this out a lot.
Tom Phillips and Corey Graves are on commentary, and their NXT chemistry is back — it’s a shame it’s for a secondary show. Cass hits a big fallaway slam that sends O’Neil outside, where he kicks Amore on the floor.
Cass beats up O’Neil on the floor before tossing him in the ring and missing a Stinger splash. O’Neil clubs away before a long chinlock, but eats a pair of knees. Cass hits a big slam and an Empire Elbow before the big boot ends it.
Seth Rollins’ speech from Raw is shown in full. Roman Reigns’ interview with Michael Cole, and the subsequent beating from Braun Strowman is shown in full as well. Strowman came off as such a badass beating up Reigns and then the sheer ridiculousness of him tipping over the ambulance put things over the top.
It did an excellent job putting Strowman over, but hurt Reigns, who always had a chance to at least be in the fight — but couldn’t stand up to Strowman.
Drew Gulak & Tony Nese defeated Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado
The babyfaces come out first, followed by the heels and their incredibly generic theme music. Gulak hits a knee to the gut of Metalik before chopping away. Metalik hits a double backflip into an armdrag off the ropes to Gulak.
Nese goes for Metalik, but eats an elbow — giving Gulak a chance to lock on a dragon sleeper with a bodyscissors. Metalik escapes and dropkicks both men to the floor before Dorado hits an Asai moonsault. Gulak hits a sloppy swinging powerbomb into the barricade.
Nese and Gulak double team Metalik, who fights back with chops. A calf kick hits Gulak and allows Metalik to tag in Dorado. Dorado hits a moonsault block for two, before a frog-style crossbody on Nese gets a near fall.
Dorado hits a two-man Lethal Injection with a stunner instead of a cutter. Metalik walks the rope to moonsault on Gulak before Nese gets two off an O’Connor roll. Nese crotches Dorado before hitting shotgun knees in the corner to win.
The show closes with the Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose match from Raw.
This was a solid little show — it’s a shame that it’s relegated to obscurity without a global TV deal because it was a fine showcase for the cruiserweights on this episode. It was neat to see the heels actually win the main event, especially given that they’re two of the most bland guys in the division and it would be easy to assume the faces would win.
Austin Aries won a fatal five-way elimination match, earning a Cruiserweight title shot against Neville at WrestleMania. Alicia Fox continues to get gifts from a mysterious benefactor, all while Noam Dar attempts to claim the gifts as his own. Mustafa Ali continued to build momentum, scoring a win over an increasingly frustrated Drew Gulak.
Show Recap —
Neville started out the show, talking about how he was robbed of his WrestleMania moment last year, and to top it all off he had been forgotten by each and every member of the WWE Universe. He said people in the five-way tonight vying to win a shot at his title are irrelevant. At WrestleMania, he will make them regret having such foolish ambitions.
Mustafa Ali’s music hit, and he glanced at Neville as he headed to the ring to start off tonight’s in-ring action.
Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak
This had quick action and was mostly just a backdrop to showcase Ali. He comes off as someone they can do something with — he has some charisma, a unique moveset, and has a cool finisher. He picked up the win with the inverted 450 splash.
Gulak wasn’t happy after the match, taking a mic to vent. He said week after week he does his best work in that ring and that he’s tired of being frustrated. He’s not the problem, he is not the one that needs to change. The problem is 205 Live, and this needs to change.
Ariya Daivari was getting ready backstage when Noam Dar walked in, saying he’s tired of Rich Swann getting the one up on him, hence why he requested a rematch tonight. Daivari said he doesn’t need a motivational speech. Dar said they need to win this tonight.
Noam Dar & Ariya Daivari defeated Jack Gallagher & Rich Swann
This had good action, especially when Swann was in, but the crowd was just dead for this match. Swann was distracted by Daivari and walked right into an enzuigiri by Dar for the win.
Dar said each week he spoils Alicia Fox with beautiful gifts. The real gifts, however, cannot be bought — they come from the heart. And tonight, his gift to Alicia was this win…and a teddy bear that was randomly delivered right in the middle of the sentence. The mystery man mystery continues.
Austin Aries defeated Brian Kendrick, Akira Tozawa, Tony Nese, and TJ Perkins in a fatal five-way elimination match to become the number one contender for the Cruiserweight title
The early part of the match had mostly everyone out of the ring while others traded submissions on the mat. Aries went up on the top rope but Kendrick shoved him down near the barricade. Nese followed that up with a running knee into Aries, his head smashing into the barricade.
In the ring, TJP eliminated Nese with the armbar. Nese didn’t like that and laid out TJP. Tozawa took him out, but Kendrick flew in, grabbed an unsuspecting Tozawa, and planted him with the Sliced Bread to eliminate him.
Kendrick continued his spree by sinking in the Captain’s Hook on TJP, but he escaped as they made their way to the top rope. Aries came in and took them both down. Kendrick soon managed to get TJP back in the Captain’s Hook and submitted him. Kendrick then put it on Aries but TJP broke it up. Aries tried to go for the roaring elbow but instead struck TJP.
Kendrick followed that by hitting Sliced Bread but Aries kicked out. Once again, the Captain’s Hook was applied by Kendrick. Aries made it to the ropes but it couldn’t be broken as it’s an elimination match.
They both got up on their feet, but Aries was the first to react, hitting the roaring elbow and pinning Kendrick to become the number one contender.
Final Thoughts —
This was a dead show for the most part; this was one of those weeks where the crowd just didn’t seem to care, though it picked up in parts for the main event. With the WrestleMania match for this program now set, I’m looking forward to seeing how momentum continues to build toward Aries heading into the grandaddy of them a-er, I mean, the Ultimate Thrill Ride, WrestleMania.
Austin Aries made the transition from announcer to in-ring competitor, taking on and defeating Tony Nese in the main event. He’s made it clear that he wants Neville’s Cruiserweight Championship, but Neville has his own plans for the title match at WrestleMania.
Alicia Fox continues to get lovely gifts, and while Noam Dar says they’re from him — are they really? Brian Kendrick continued to play mind games with Akira Tozawa, who again was denied a match against Kendrick.
Show Recap —
They opened up with the big Raw angle from yesterday, where Austin Aries sent Neville reeling after being constantly berated by him during an interview.
Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves are calling the action tonight.
Austin Aries started the show, conducting his own interview. He talked about how as a kid he was told if you wanted to make a statement, go to the strongest guy in the room and punch him in the face. That guy now? Neville. He declared that Austin Aries, expert journalist, is no more as the expert in-ring competitor is here.
This brought out Neville. He thought last night was a lapse in judgment, but now thinks Aries has gone off the deep end. He asked if Aries thinks he’s on his level. Aries said he doesn’t think he’s at his level, because Neville is at the A level while he is at the double A level.
Neville said think of your next career move wisely. Aries said he doesn’t need to be at the commentator’s table, in fact Neville can come down here to the ring and make it two days in a row where he got punched out.
Neville said Aries doesn’t have the right to share the ring with him, in fact he doesn’t even need a finger to lay a hand on him. After all, Aries has made plenty of enemies in the back. Neville won’t fight him, but said there’s a locker room out there ready to do just that. Aries said he makes plenty of checks and cashes them in every time, so he’s calling out anyone who feels that way.
Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher were backstage when Noam Dar walked in, saying their gestures were cute, but not as cute as Alicia Fox. Dar was wondering who bought those flowers for Fox last week. Swann said he thought Dar bought them.
Dar walked that back, saying of course he did, he just wanted to make sure they take notice about his match later tonight, because one day they might just come across someone as wonderful as Alicia Fox.
Jack Gallagher & Rich Swann defeated Ariya Daivari & Noam Dar
This was pretty decent, but just a standard WWE tag team match. Gallagher headbutted Daivari then laid him out with a running dropkick. Swann followed that with a kick and the phoenix splash for the win.
After the match, a guy walked out and delivered a heart-shaped box of chocolates to Fox. Dar frantically took a mic and said the guy was late, then said no chocolate in the world was sweeter than Alicia Fox. It seems like they’re building up some sort of mystery admirer gimmick.
Brian Kendrick was interviewed, saying that if Akira Tozawa wanted a fight, he was going to get one.
Akira Tozawa made his way to the ring. Brian Kendrick followed, but remained on the outside. He said he was a man of his word, saying Tozawa would fight a Brian Kendrick — but the guy he’s facing spells his name “Bryan Kendrick.” So he’s not fighting The Brian Kendrick, but A Bryan Kendrick.
Akira Tozawa defeated A Bryan Kendrick
Tozawa finished Bryan quickly with a snap German suplex.
Dasha Fuentes interviewed Neville, asking what he expects out there tonight between Austin Aries and his announced opponent, Tony Nese. Neville asked if she didn’t hear what he said out there earlier. He put down Aries again and brought up that Nese is no walk in the park. He said only one man will face him at WrestleMania, and next week that will be decided on 205 Live.
Austin Aries defeated Tony Nese
Aries controlled the match early. He hit his knee on the outside while landing, but quickly recovered. Nese caught Aries on the top rope, put him in the torture rack position, and laid him out with a gutbuster.
Aries came back and hit the pendulum elbow. Nese countered with a deadlift one-armed powerbomb. Aries took control again, hitting a suicide dive to the outside and finished off Nese with the roaring elbow for the win.
This was a good match and a great showcase for Aries as he instantly came off as looking like someone who should be in the top mix.
Final Thoughts —
This was a good show, doing a great job of transitioning Aries from a commentator to a top guy in this division looking for his title shot.
It should be interesting to see how the WrestleMania match develops; it very much looks like it will be Aries vs. Neville, which sounds like the best match you can do for 205 Live’s biggest match of the year. The question is, where would that leave the other cruiserweights?
Jack Gallagher continued his momentum by defeating Tony Nese in the main event. Brian Kendrick took the easy way out in securing a countout win over Akira Tozawa. Noam Dar defeated Mustafa Ali with Rich Swann on his mind, and Austin Aries introduced his own highlight package, apparently indicating he’ll make his in-ring debut soon.
Show Recap —
We started off with a recap of the Raw contract signing from last night. Neville called Jack Gallagher a caricature of what Americans view Englishmen as, but Gallagher said he was raised this way, this is who he is. Neville pie-faced him and it led to a brawl, with Neville being sent reeling.
The Brian Kendrick defeated Akira Tozawa by countout
This was fine while it lasted, but you knew this was going to lead to this kind of finish. Tozawa had the advantage early. Kendrick smacked Tozawa’s head against the ring post for heat. Tozawa came back with a great suicide dive to the floor.
Kendrick escaped under the ring. Tozawa tried to drag him out, but Kendrick smacked Tozawa’s head on the mat and tied up his feet for the countout. Tom Phillips asked if the win tonight was enough for him. Kendrick said no, Tozawa has been disrespecting him and tonight he learned a lesson.
Dasha Fuentes was with Noam Dar. She asked if he felt uncomfortable about what happened last week when Rich Swann dissed Alicia Fox. He said no, but Swann should be ashamed.
Noam Dar defeated Mustafa Ali
Solid match. It’s pretty disappointing they can’t do something more with Ali as I think he’s far more talented than his push would indicate, but that is the lay of the land.
Ali launched off with a big tope con hilo. Dar kicked Ali in the shin, falling flat on his face on the apron for heat. Dar honed in on the arm and worked it over. Ali tried for the imploding 450 splash but Dar escaped under the ropes. Ali lifted up Dar, but Dar instead kicked him from below, sending Ali face first into the turnbuckle. Dar followed with a knee strike for the win.
Austin Aries cut off Corey Graves and said there have been many impressive superstars on 205 Live, but nothing like this guy. And hey, in fact, it’s an Austin Aries highlight reel. If and when he decides to climb back in the ring, he says, he will be on top.
Jack Gallagher was exercising backstage with his umbrella when Dasha came up and asked how he’ll prepare for tonight’s match. He said consider tonight a preview of what will go down at Fastlane.
Jack Gallagher defeated Tony Nese
Pretty good match. The crowd was dead for a lot of it, but once Gallagher did the headbutt people got into it. Nese worked over Gallagher at the start of the match. Gallagher reversed Nese into a roll-up then headbutted him to a huge reaction.
They fought on the top rope as Nese fell in a tree of woe position, but he came back and landed a Spider German suplex. Gallagher came back and planted Nese with a big time superplex. Gallagher followed that with the running dropkick and scored the win.
Final Thoughts —
This was a by the numbers show. Nothing bad, but nothing memorable, either. The build to the Cruiserweight title match was pretty good on Raw, but no Neville the next night was pretty weird. Also, where was Gran Metalik, who made his debut last week? For a product that’s been labeled the most exciting show of the week, this episode really wasn’t.
