205 Live – October 31, 2017: This is Halloween
205 Live
Date: October 31, 2017
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
It’s time for another night of cruiserweights, which really could go anywhere. We’re also on a rare holiday show, which should mean some Halloween style shenanigans. Of course that’s not how things work in WWE world, where they had the Halloween style match on Monday instead of Tuesday. As in the Tuesday that was HALLOWEEN. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Drew Gulak’s dreams of a Drewtopia being derailed by Akira Tozawa. This didn’t sit well with Drew, who attacked Tozawa, including hitting him in the throat with the NO CHANTS sign. We also look at Gulak defeating Gran Metalik and Tozawa saving Metalik from a knee injury.
Opening sequence.
Drew Gulak comes out for a match and asks where his ghouls are. We’re still not ready though, because Drew has some ideas for a better Halloween in the form of a POWERPOINT PRESENTATION! First up, no candy, as it gives us fat children. Second, no trick or treating because it sounds like chanting, which doesn’t need to exist. Slide #3 gets cut off though and it’s time for a match.
Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa
Tozawa wastes no time in kicking Gulak in the face, followed by another one to the chest for good measure. Some stomps in the corner look to set up a dive to the floor but Gulak moves before Tozawa can jump. Back in and Tozawa headfakes him into a right hand to the face. A charge only hits boot though and Gulak slowly stomps away.
It’s off to something like a camel clutch with a neck crank until some kicks get Tozawa out of trouble. Tozawa loads up the top rope dive but Gulak rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive for two instead. The injured throat flares up though and Tozawa can’t capitalize. A shot to the throat gives Drew a near fall but a kick to the head puts him down again. Now the top rope backsplash gives Tozawa the pin at 6:00.
Rating: C. I can’t imagine this is the last match between the two, even though Tozawa won completely clean. Gulak has something with this gimmick but he needs a few more wins to go with the idea. There’s a long list of talent on the show but for some reason they’re not used as jobbers all that often. Try that for a change and maybe you’ll get some results.
We recap Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher telling Cedric Alexander to drop Rich Swann before they drop him for Cedric.
Swann and Cedric are ready for whatever Kendrick and Gallagher have for them. If they want a clown, that’s what Swann will give them. Swann has a clown nose and this can’t end well.
Mustafa Ali talks about Trick or Treating. It’s Halloween you see.
We look at Kalisto easily defeating Gulak last night, only to get beaten down by Enzo Amore.
Kalisto gets another Cruiserweight Title shot at Survivor Series.
Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann
And yes, Swann and Alexander are clowns, with Swann having a full on clown suit, the Doink music and a Doink Titantron video. How do I know this is going to be a long match? Swann dances a lot before easily taking Kendrick down and making him slap himself in the back of his head.
We get a big clown wig (to go with the big clown gloves, which are bigger than Swann’s head) but Kendrick knocks it off Swann’s head. A poke to the eye (How did it fit in with gloves that big?) has Kendrick in trouble as the fans don’t seem pleased. Kendrick finally manages to send him outside so Gallagher can get in some cheap shots. Back in and Kendrick gets two off a suplex as the crowd is rapidly dying.
Swann fights back with some clotheslines and a super hurricanrana for two. With the fans chanting what sounds like something about the Joker, Kendrick grabs a reverse suplex for two of his own. A butterfly superplex of all things gives Kendrick two more but the kickout barely gets a murmur from the crowd. That’s enough for Swann who scores with a dive, followed by a spinning kick to the head. The Phoenix Splash ends Kendrick at 9:33.
Rating: C+. The match was good enough but egads the crowd dying like that wasn’t a good sign. To be fair though, can you blame them? When Swann comes out like a clown, thereby completely leaving out the most popular part of his character, how are they supposed to react? Good match, but bad idea in general.
Gran Metalik is ready to win the main event.
Mustafa Ali vs. Gran Metalik vs. Ariya Daivari vs. Tony Nese
One fall to a finish with a bunch of Halloween decorations around the ring, much like Monday’s tag match. Before the match, Daivari sucks up to Enzo (not here) and runs down Norfolk. Ali counters by offering everyone candy, which Metalik raises his mask to eat. Nese slaps the candy out of Ali’s hands (makes sense) and we’re ready to go. Metalik launches Ali into a dropkick to put Nese down so the good guys go at it, making sure to not run over the pumpkins on the apron.
A handspring armdrag is reversed and it’s an early standoff for some applause. The villains return though and it’s time to head to the floor for some weaponry. Back in and Ali chucks a pumpkin at Nese’s face (McGuinness: “It’s complex carbs. He’s ok with that.”) before trying to force a piece of candy into Nese’s mouth. Daivari comes back in with a spinebuster for two on Ali as Metalik makes the save.
With Ali down, Daivari heads outside and throws some candy out of a bowl but finds a Gran Metalik mask. Daivari puts it on and does some flips, earning some slaps from Ali. The villains get together with a candy corn kendo stick and tie Ali in the Tree of Woe. Instead of the situp kicks though, Nese uses pumpkins like medicine balls and throws them at Ali’s ribs. Ok that was pretty clever.
Metalik’s save is knocked out of the air by a stick shot and an angry Daivari pours candy over Ali. The expected heel miscommunication sees both guys go down so it’s Metalik hitting a reverse powerbomb for two on Ali. A quick Tower of Doom puts Ali down, allowing Daivari to hit the frog splash for a very near fall. For some reason Daivari brings in a table, only to be laid on it in short order.
Nese blasts Metalik with the stick and pulls out a black bag. He pours the bag onto the table and finds….candy corn instead of tacks. Funny bit there. Metalik is ready with a sunset bomb through the table but Daivari breaks up the cover. Ali is right back with a pumpkin to Daivari’s face, followed by a guillotine legdrop (with a broom of course) for the pin at 12:56.
Rating: B-. For a completely goofy match, this was perfectly acceptable and even a lot of fun at times. They were working hard and that’s about all you can ask for in this kind of situation. Ali is someone they’ve protected for a few months on here and while he’s not going to get anywhere, he’s getting something out of it, which is more than most people can say.
Overall Rating: C+. This felt like a throwaway show but it was certainly entertaining. It’s about an hour with three good to quite good matches that don’t really mean anything but at least they made them quite fun. If nothing else it was nice to have a show without Enzo dominating everything, which is the case far more often than not anymore. Good show here.
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