205 Live – June 4, 2019: Everything A Cruiserweight Needs
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: June 4, 2019
Location: Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Aiden English, Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
I don’t even know what to make of this show anymore. It seems like they’re trying to turn Tony Nese into the next big thing around here but I’m not sure that’s going to work. At the same time though, they have the General Manager running around chasing R-Truth and the 24/7 Title on the same show. Hopefully things settle down this week. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Drake Maverick gives us the opening preview, which is an idea that they didn’t really need to stray from.
Opening sequence.
Akira Tozawa vs. Noam Dar
Hang on though as Drew Gulak jumps Dar from behind and takes out his leg. Dar says that it’s broken and Maverick comes out to say that you can’t start 205 Live like this. Yeah you wait until half an hour into the show to break someone’s leg. Maverick swaps in Gulak and we have a replacement.
Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak
Drew is in basic black trunks this time and his hair looks more slicked back. Tozawa puts Gulak down with chops to start and drops the backsplash for an early two. Gulak comes back with some shots out of the corner and a fall away slam for a bit of a change of pace from Gulak’s usual stuff. The cravate goes on but Tozawa slaps out and tries the Black Widow, which is reversed into a suplex.
It’s off to a chinlock as the match slows down quite a bit. That’s broken up as well so Gulak goes with the jumping elbows for two as the announcers talk about him using a different style. The neck crank goes on (Aiden: “The Drew Gulak of old would be grabbing a hold.”) before switching back to a chinlock, which apparently is no longer a hold.
Now it’s a double arm crank as Gulak is certainly mixing up the holds (or whatever Aiden thinks they are). Tozawa fights up and kicks him to the floor, setting up a running flip dive off the apron. The regular suicide dive connects and Gulak is knocked over the announcers’ table. Back in and Tozawa’s missile dropkick gets two, followed by the Black Widow. The hold breaks down but Gulak manages to get his foot on the rope for the break. Now it’s Gulak’s turn to take him down, this time for a Texas Cloverleaf.
That’s broken up as well so they slug it out with Gulak getting the better of it off a hard clothesline. A gutwrench faceplant gets two and it’s off to the nerve hold. Tozawa fights up with a basement dropkick as we hear a producer in a voice probably not meant for us. Gulak counters the top rope backsplash with a superplex and a torture rack neckbreaker finishes Tozawa at 13:39.
Rating: B-. That one actually surprised me as I would have bet on Tozawa getting the pin. Having Gulak in his new, intense style and then lose would have been incredibly stupid but they threw a curve here. The ending is also a little questionable as Tozawa has been set up as the next challenger for a few weeks now. A triple threat is possible and that’s not something we’ve seen for the title very often, so it could work well.
Mike and Maria Kanellis don’t like the idea that Mike isn’t the best. It’s not because he hasn’t been on TV enough because he’s been the best since he debuted here two years ago. He deserves a chance because he’s not complacent. It’s time for Drake Maverick to pay attention to him instead of chasing the 24/7 Title (amen brother) so send him the best competition.
Tony Nese saw what happened in the first match and while he gets that Drake is busy, he’ll listen to whatever decision Drake comes to.
The Lucha House Party is ready for Lars Sullivan and they’ll be ready for the Singh Brothers too.
Oney Lorcan vs. Ariya Daivari
Lorcan takes him into the corner to start to go after the banged up ear, which Daivari grabs in pain. The test of strength goes to Daivari (that’s a bit surprising) but Lorcan fights up (that’s not a bit surprising) and grabs a double arm crank. Daivari reverses into one of his own and the hold stays on for a good while, almost as if they’re trying to stretch the match out to fill in the show.
Lorcan finally flips out and tries the early half and half, which is blocked without much trouble. A middle rope crossbody gives Lorcan two and it’s so quiet that we can hear fans talking in the background. Lorcan works on the arm and tries a cross armbreaker, sending Daivari feet first into the rope. They take turns on the floor and inviting the other to fight, though Lorcan is smart enough to dodge an elbow drop. Daivari is fine enough to get a neckbreaker out of the corner but the elbow is banged up again.
A hard clothesline gets the same and another one cuts off Lorcan’s chops. An Iconoclasm of all things connects for two but Daivari’s frog splash misses. One heck of a running uppercut drops Daivari and the running Blockbuster gets two. The half and half is countered into a superkick but Lorcan is right back with a DDT on the arm. A missed charge lets Daivari get the Million Dollar Dream and Lorcan is down. Now the frog splash can connect but it hurts the arm again. The delay lets Lorcan grab a crucifix for the pin at 15:38.
Rating: B. Lorcan is quite the battling face and Daivari is a lot better in the ring than he is with any kind of character stuff. The arm even played into the finish for a rare surprise. I had a good time with this and it was one of those matches that you only get on 205 Live: entertaining, long and it might actually mean something in the future.
Post match Daivari misses a charge and gets low bridged to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. As usual, 205 Live works best when they focus on wrestling with only minimal storyline advancement. They’re setting up a bunch of people to challenge Nese and that’s the best thing they can do at the moment. None of the challengers are far ahead of the others so let one of them earn it or have Nese fight them at once. Either way, it’s an interesting idea and hopefully they make it work, which might actually happen around here.
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