205 Live – June 25, 2019: The Right Way To Go
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: June 25, 2019
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Aiden English, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph
Things have changed again with Drew Gulak becoming the new Cruiserweight Champion in a bit of a surprise. What matters most is that he FINALLY won the title after coming up short for months. Now we need a new #1 contender as Extreme Rules is only a few weeks away. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap looks at Gulak winning the title at Stomping Grounds in a triple threat match over champion Tony Nese and Akira Tozawa.
Gulak says you will have to call him champion. Tonight, Nese and Tozawa can fight to become #1 contender. Short and to the point here, which fits Gulak’s new persona.
Opening sequence.
Jack Gallagher vs. Mike Kanellis
Feeling out process to start with Gallagher cranking on both arms but Mike reverses into one of his own and takes him to the mat. That’s fine with Gallagher, who flips back and rotates his feet like he’s riding a bicycle for a series of kicks to Mike’s face. Back up and Gallagher does his handstand in the corner but a Maria distraction lets Mike post him. That’s only good for an eight count so Mike hammers away to let out some frustration.
One heck of a clothesline gets two but Gallagher starts the comeback. He dives into the raised boots though and a Samoan driver gives Mike two. The superkick sets up a rollup with a handful of trunks for two, meaning it’s time to argue with the referee. That’s enough for Gallagher to hit the headbutt for the pin at 7:00.
Rating: D+. They’re trying something with Kanellis but there’s no way around the fact that he’s just not that interesting. His work is average, his talking is fine at best and there’’s nothing to him that makes me want to watch him. I’m not sure why WWE re-signed him, as I can’t imagine how much of an impact he could make in AEW.
Post match Mike tells Maria that this was a mistake and he’s done before walking out through the crowd.
Nese says Drew didn’t beat him for the title so tonight he’s becoming #1 contender and getting his title back.
Tozawa, getting the WHAT treatment from the crowd, says he had a chance to win the title on Sunday and won’t let it slip out of his grasp again.
Drake Maverick calls Mike Kanellis and yells at his voicemail about Mike’s unprofessionalism.
Humberto Carrillo vs. Rob Rollenbeck
Rob goes for a wristlock to start but Carrillo shows him how it’s really done. A whip into the corner lets Carrillo backflip away for some applause, followed by a kick to the face. The high angle springboard armdrag sets up a missile dropkick to put Rob down again. The Aztec press completes the squash at 2:35.
We look back at Ariya Daivari attacking Oney Lorcan last week after getting disqualified in their match.
Daivari says he’s tougher and smarter than Lorcan…and here’s Oney to chair him in the back and beat him down. Oney: “HOW DOES IT FEEL??? HOW DOES IT FEEL???”
Lucha House Party is getting their rematch with the Singh Brothers in a tornado tag.
Tony Nese vs. Akira Tozawa
The winner gets Gulak for the title at Extreme Rules. Nese flips out of a wristlock to start and kicks Tozawa in the ribs for an early one. Back up and a hurricanrana sends Nese outside and Tozawa hits a heck of a cannonball off the apron. Tozawa heads up top so Nese rolls forward and kicks him in the head for two as things get back to even. The bodyscissors goes on to keep Tozawa in some trouble and a waistlock doesn’t really change anything.
Back up and Tozawa kicks him in the face, followed by something close to an F5. That sends Nese outside and now the suicide headbutt can connect. A missile dropkick gives Tozawa two and it’s the Iron Octopus to have Nese in real trouble. That’s reversed into a tilt-a-whirl slam, with Tozawa nearly landing on his head. A spinwheel kick sets up the springboard moonsault but Tozawa gets to the floor. That’s fine with Nese, who hits the running flip dive and the springboard moonsault for two back inside.
They chop it out until Tozawa heads up top, where Nese hits him in the face again. Tozawa is fine enough to hit a Canadian Destroyer for two but the top rope backsplash misses. Nese German suplexes him into the corner for two but the running Nese misses as well. Some kind of spinning sunset flip doesn’t work for Tozawa though as Nese catches him in an over the back piledriver for the pin and the title shot at 14:10.
Rating: B-. Another good match in a series of solid main events of late. This was the right ending because there isn’t likely to be much interest in Tozawa getting another title shot after he lost the fall at Stomping Grounds. Nese makes sense and has become a rather solid worker in the last few months, so this is the right call.
Respect is shown to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This was a step below what they’ve been doing as of late but I still liked it well enough. 205 Live is still a good show and it offers such a nice breather after everything that Raw and Smackdown puts fans through earlier in the week. What we had here was fine and Nese vs. Gulak is usually an entertaining match. Fine enough show, but not a great one.
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