205 Live – October 31, 2018: Heart And Soul And Ribs And Everything Else
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: October 31, 2018
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
It’s time to get back to the title picture as we have a big time #1 contenders match this week. This time around it’s Mustafa Ali facing Tony Nese to find out who will be challenging Buddy Murphy at some point in the future, and for once it could go either way. Nese is on a roll but Ali is the heart and soul of this show. That makes things a bit more interesting for a change so let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap looks at last week’s falls count anywhere match which set up tonight’s #1 contenders match. Also tonight: Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher.
Opening sequence.
Jack Gallagher vs. Brian Kendrick
Fallout from last month when Drew Gulak (on commentary here) and Gallagher kicked Kendrick off their team. Gallagher slaps him in the face to start and bails to the floor, only to get caught with a baseball slide. Well what was he expecting standing in front of the apron like that? Back in and Gallagher gets two off a snap suplex and grabs the double arm crank with a knee in Kendrick’s back like a true British villain. A backbreaker gets two and Percy questions what Gulak will do when Gallagher no longer serves his purpose.
Kendrick tells Gallagher to bring it so Gallagher misses a charge in the corner. That means a leg lariat and a tiger suplex into the Captain’s Hook. Gallagher gets a boot in the ropes for the save and grabs a choke of his own, sending Kendrick to the ropes as well. Back up and Kendrick hits a superkick, drawing Gulak off commentary. That brings in Akira Tozawa (tag match ahoy) to take him out, leaving Kendrick to hit Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 6:18.
Rating: C-. This feels more about setting up a tag match for later on and that’s fine. I was a little skeptical about this feud but at least they’re doing something with it instead of just going through the motions. I’m hoping it’s not mainly a way to push Kendrick, who hasn’t really done much for me and should be helping move people up more than anything else.
Cedric Alexander isn’t happy with not being in the #1 contenders match but Drake Maverick tells him that he’ll get a title math when Drake says he’s ready. Though disappointed, Cedric goes with it.
Gran Metalik vs. ???
I think you get the idea here. Metalik backflips past the bald jobber and hits a reverse Sling Blade. The rope walk elbow completes the squash at 1:05.
Post match Metalik poses but TJP runs in and steals his mask.
Buddy Murphy says that since we’re in the UK next week, he should annihilate Mark Andrews. He’s not worried about Tony Nese becoming #1 contender.
Mike and Maria Kanellis aren’t happy with the suggestion that Mike’s win was tainted last week. Maria dismisses the interviewer (Maria: “I’m better than you anyway.”) when TJP comes in. He welcomes the two of them to the show but Maria tells him to shut up. She knows he’s trying to get protection from the Lucha House Party…and they might be interested.
Tony Nese vs. Mustafa Ali
#1 contenders match and Ali has almost everything taped up. Nese, being smart, kicks him straight in the bad ribs and takes over early. Ali is fine enough to dropkick him off the apron but the dive is countered into a fall away slam onto the ramp. The bad ribs are dropped onto the barricade and Ali is in a lot of trouble. Nese puts a knee into the ribs for two and stomps away some more as you can’t fault him for his strategy. Ali’s tornado DDT is countered with a shot to the ribs and a northern lights suplex to cut him off in a hurry. The bodyscissors goes on again, followed by a spinning kick to the ribs to put Ali in even more trouble. Ali manages to pull him off the middle rope for a breather and gets two off a sitout powerbomb. The rolling X Factor sends Nese to the floor and Ali is crazy enough to use the running flip dive, which of course bangs up his ribs even worse. A high crossbody gives Ali a delayed two and he superkicks Nese on both sides of the head for two more. Nese kicks him off the top but Ali runs to the corner for the tornado DDT and another delayed near fall. Ali gets caught on top for the Dean Malenko super gutbuster and Nese’s frustration gets even worse when Ali kicks out again. The bandages on the ribs are ripped off but Ali grabs a jackknife rollup for the very fast pin at 13:26.
Rating: B-. It’s not as good as Ali’s usual stuff but 205 Live has done something that the regular shows can almost never do: make a character that I want to see win. Ali is one of the best characters WWE has done in a very long time and I want to see him pull off the title win. They need to do that at some point and I hope it’s not all the way at Wrestlemania. This was another good match, and while I’m surprised Nese didn’t get the win, I’m glad Ali did.
Post match Nese goes after Ali again but Cedric runs in for the save. Cedric throws Ali’s arm around his neck in what looked a lot like the setup for the Lumbar Check but it’s just for support. Very nice fake out there. Anyway Buddy Murphy comes out and stands next to Nese so look for the tag match in a few weeks.
Overall Rating: C+. This show set up a bunch of stuff for the future, though it seems to be more tag matches than anything else. The stories are starting to get better and having some fresh blood with Mike and Maria helps out a lot. As long as they actually get to do something with those people, everything will be fine. Ali is carrying this show a long way, and that’s what matters most. Good show here, and I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here.
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