205 Live
Date: February 14, 2017
Location: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Austin Aries, Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo

With Fastlane starting to get close, we have a Cruiserweight Title match set for the pay per view. It’s going to be a battle of England with champion Neville defending against Gentleman Jack Gallagher, who probably won’t be much of a threat to the title but at least the match should be fun. Let’s get to it.

We recap last week’s Fatal Five Way where Gallagher became the new #1 contender.

Opening sequence.

The announcers preview tonight’s show.

Noam Dar vs. Rich Swann

Before the match, Swann says it’s an important night because he’s back on the show and because it’s Valentine’s Day. Since it’s a special night, he’s dedicating this one to Alicia Fooooooox, but she can’t handle this. Dar takes him down by the arm to start until Rich uses his flips to speed things up. A dropkick puts Noam on the floor for some treatment from Fox so Rich does some dancing.

The treatment seems to work just fine as Dar kicks away to take over, earning some loud cheering from Fox. One heck of a kick to the jaw drops Dar but he ducks an enziguri into an ankle lock. Swann has been watching his Kurt Angle Collection on the WWE Network though and flips Dar outside for the escape. Dar gets in a Northern Lariat (with Mauro referring to it as such), only to get caught in a hurricanrana. The Phoenix Splash gives Swann the pin at 7:55.

Rating: C. These two have developed incredibly well in a short time and that’s due to very different reasons. Swann’s athleticism and in ring work have gotten so much better in a hurry and the dancing has taken a backseat, which is the best thing that could have happened to him. On the other hand, Dar is a great example of someone being enhanced by having a great looking valet. They’re a good pairing and that’s what Dar needed.

We get a sitdown interview between Neville and TJ Perkins. Neville gives the closest thing to praise that he’s going to offer by talking about TJ’s win in the Cruiserweight Classic. TJ says he put the cruiserweight division on the mat but Neville wants to know what happened to Perkins when Neville showed up. Perkins wants to know what happened to Neville between NXT and WWE because he seemed to disappear. That’s too much for Neville and threats are made for later.

Video on Gran Metalik losing in the finals of the Cruiserweight Classic. He lost to the better man and is back to prove his worth.

Gran Metalik vs. Drew Gulak

Gulak shakes hands but hits a dropkick at the bell and watches Metalik botch some kind of a springboard. A Sami Zayn chop to the chest into a wristdrag off the top sends Gulak outside and thankfully there’s no botched dive to follow it up. Instead Drew slows it down with an armbar before Metalik mostly misses a double springboard…..something. Drew grabs a Gory Special and spins Metalik into a neckbreaker. Since there’s no lucha libre word for selling, Metalik pops back up and enziguris him to the floor for a springboard dive. Back in and the Metalik Driver ends Gulak at 5:26.

Rating: D+. The botches were strong with this one and it really hurt Metalik’s debut. Sometimes people try to go a little too fast for their own good and that seems to be what happened here. Of course there’s more than enough time for Metalik to fix things up as Kofi Kingston had one of the worst debuts I’ve ever seen and turned out just fine.

Brian Kendrick comes in to see Akira Tozawa and offers to be his mentor again. Kendrick talks to him like an idiot because Tozawa can’t speak English….until he says he knows what Brian is saying and doesn’t like him.

TJ Perkins vs. Neville

Non-title. Feeling out process to start with TJ taking over off a twist of the arm. Neville can’t get anywhere with the arm work so he kicks TJ in the face to escape. Perkins gets two off a springboard crossbody but gets sent outside so Neville can do some high quality sneering. A rather loud missile dropkick puts TJ down for two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Neville gets caught in a jumping neckbreaker, followed by a springboard DDT of all things for two.

The fans chant for Austin Aries as TJ starts in on the arm, only to have his armbar countered into a sitout powerbomb for an emphatic break. Back up and they forearm the heck out of each other until Neville has to escape the Detonation Kick. TJ escapes the superplex and one ups himself by countering the Rings of Saturn into a rollup. Neville will have none of that though and kicks him in the arm to set up the Rings of Saturn for the submission at 12:31.

Rating: B-. This was actually a bit disappointing from what you would expect these two to put together. Perkins is still one of the best performers in the division and Neville is on fire right now. For some reason though the match was just kind of there, which isn’t the performance you would expect out of these guys.

Post match Jack Gallagher comes out for the brawl and, after Neville sends William III to the floor, Gallagher headbutts him down and poses with the title to end the show. Kind of a non-gentlemanly action there, no?

Overall Rating: C-. Not the best show this week as I actually couldn’t remember most of the card aside from the main event just a little while after watching it. The Metalik match was sloppy and the opener was totally forgettable. Gallagher vs. Neville comes off like a filler feud, albeit an entertaining one. That’s not enough for a full show though and it showed badly here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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205 Live
Date: February 7, 2017
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Austin Aries, Corey Graves

It’s time to find out who is next to challenge King Neville, whose original challenger Rich Swann has gone down with an ankle/foot injury. Therefore tonight we’ll be having a five man elimination match to crown a new #1 contender. That has some potential and could make for a good main event so let’s get to it.

We open with a look at the five participants in tonight’s main event with each one getting to say about what you would expect them to say.

Opening sequence.

We open with some breaking news: Tony Nese is injured and out of the match so we have a qualifying match for a replacement.

Ariya Daivari vs. Mustafa Ali

The winner is added to the main event. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to hit much early on. Then again that’s something you often see in a cruiserweight match. A spinning heel kick gives Ali two and it’s time to head outside since the inside stuff wasn’t exactly thrilling. Daivari drives him hard into the barricade for an eight count before it’s off to the chinlock back inside. Ali gets planted with a spinebuster but avoids the frog splash, allowing him to grab a neckbreaker for two. A quick tornado DDT sets up the inverted 450 to give Ali the pin at 5:50.

Rating: C. This was all it needed to be and Ali going forward is interesting as he’s a face replacing a heel in the big main event. Daivari continues to be one of the least interesting characters I’ve seen in a very long time so Ali, who is only moderately more interesting, is definitely the right call.

Gran Metalik arrives next week.

Lince Dorado vs. Brian Kendrick

Before the match, Kendrick talks about how he’s the gatekeeper of the division and wants to crush dreams (now I can go with this one). That doesn’t include Akira Tozawa though because there’s potential there. Dorado starts fast and sends Kendrick outside for an Asai moonsault. Back in and Kendrick scores with a leg lariat to take over, only to get caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Dorado speeds things up with a high crossbody and the handspring Stunner for two. At attempt at the mask doesn’t deter Dorado but the shooting star….kind of grazes Kendrick’s knees, setting up the Captain’s Hook for the submission at 4:40.

Rating: D+. I still don’t get the appeal of Dorado aside from having a standard luchador running around. His matches aren’t bad but I’d like a little more than generic flips and dives. At least he isn’t pushed as anything special and Kendrick gets to set up some stuff going forward.

Post match Kendrick calls Tozawa out but gets Tajiri and the mist to the eyes instead.

Neville isn’t worried about any of his potential opponents. The disdain in his eyes make this speech even better.

Jack Gallagher vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar vs. TJ Perkins

Elimination rules here and the lights flicker for a bit at the start. Dar gets surrounded early on and Cedric clotheslines him out to the floor. The other four pair off with Ali and Perkins getting the better of it. Jack runs Dar over on the outside and Cedric sunset flips Perkins for two. That leaves Dar and Cedric to slug it out in the ring with Noam getting the better of it but getting dropkicked outside by Gallagher.

Ali gets LAUNCHED over the top with a backdrop and everyone goes down. That means it’s time for William III and the Mary Poppins Drop (thank you Austin Aries) takes everyone down. Dar takes out Jack’s knee back inside but the Lumbar Check gets rid of Dar at 5:18. A snappy looking C4 gets two on Ali but Perkins catches Cedric on the top. Dar crotches Cedric for good measure and the Detonation Kick gives Perkins the elimination at 7:44.

Perkins gets caught in an electric chair from Gallagher, followed by a high crossbody from Ali for two. Ali’s neckbreaker drops Gallagher but the inverted 450 misses this time. Perkins slaps on a cross armbreaker and Ali taps at 9:43. That leaves us with Gallagher vs. Perkins for the title shot and TJ goes straight for the already injured knee.

The kneebar goes on but Jack holds on and gets all the way to the ropes for the break. Jack doesn’t need his knee for the corner headstand and one heck of a headbutt gets two. Both guys are down and it’s another headbutt into the corner dropkick (a bit of a stretch with the bad knee) to give Gallagher the pin and the title shot at 13:57.

Rating: B. This is becoming the standard for the main event on this show and that’s a good thing with a still relatively new show. Gallagher was the right call as he’s not likely to be more than just a one off challenger until the big Wrestlemania title match, whatever that’s going to be. I had a lot more fun with this than I was expecting and it did everything it needed to do.

Neville comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. We’re firmly to the point where this is one of the more entertaining shows all week as they’ve figured out the formula almost to the letter. Just have some entertaining matches and advance the big story in the end. They keep things going for about fifty minutes a week, meaning the show doesn’t overstay its welcome. That’s often how things are best in wrestling and it works very well here too. Good show, but that’s the standard anymore.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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I really need to stop forgetting to post this show.

205 Live
Date: January 24, 2017
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Austin Aries, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for the Royal Rumble and 205 Live actually has a contribution to the card. This Sunday it’s Neville challenging Rich Swann for the Cruiserweight Title and tonight we’ll get to see Neville vs. Cedric Alexander in what has the potential to be a rather entertaining match. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip of last night’s brawl between Neville and Swann.

Neville says last night was his fault because he made the mistake of underestimating Swann. Maybe he showed him a bit too much mercy but he won’t make that mistake again. He’s looking forward to beating Cedric up to prove that this is his show.

Opening sequence.

The announcers preview tonight’s main event.

TJ Perkins vs. Tony Nese

Nese takes him down to the mat with a waistlock to start but a hurricanrana gives TJ two. An Octopus Hold doesn’t get TJ very far so Nese elbows him in the jaw and grabs a chinlock. Back up and TJ’s guillotine is easily muscled over into a suplex as Nese keeps showing off a good balance of power and speed. A middle rope springboard moonsault gets two on Perkins and it’s time to crank on both of his arms.

Nese gets two more off a gutbuster as this match is showing more psychology than you would expect in a cruiserweight match. Graves even gets to point out that Nese is catching a breather while holding TJ in a bodyscissors. It’s like the guy knows what he’s talking about or something. Perkins comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope hurricanrana before the Detonation Kick sends Tony outside. Back in and Tony hits a hard clothesline, only to get cradled for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here and it’s amazing how much better Nese is when he doesn’t have Gulak there sucking all of the charisma out of the matches. Perkins could still be a player around the title division but I don’t know how much Nese is going to be able to do if Neville gets the title on Sunday.

Nese suplexes TJ into the corner post match to knock Perkins silly, followed by a running knee to the head. That sounds rematchish.

Akira Tozawa debuts next week.

Perkins is being helped out.

Sheamus talks about winning the 2012 Royal Rumble.

Brian Kendrick vs. Tripp Bradshaw

Before the match, Kendrick promises to crush Bradshaw’s dreams because the world is a cold and harsh place. Aries wants to know if Bradshaw is any relation to Justin Hawk (JBL’s first WWE gimmick) as Brian pounds him into the corner to start. Tripp’s neck is snapped across the top rope and a big boot makes things even worse. The Captain’s Hook is enough to make Bradshaw tap at 2:04.

Swann tells Alexander to wait for Neville to make a mistake but make sure to save a piece for the Rumble.

Cedric Alexander vs. Neville

Feeling out process to start with Neville grabbing a hiptoss and telling Cedric to get out of his ring. The fans get behind Neville as he slips out of a wristlock and cranks on an armbar. Back up and Cedric dropkicks him out to the floor for a breather. The fans chant for CM Punk out of general annoyance.

A HARD kick to the face puts Neville back outside as this is more offense than anyone has been able to score on him. Cedric takes his sweet time though and gets whipped hard into the barricade. Neville turns the pace way down and starts slowly hammering away, followed by a snap suplex and running forearm for two.

We hit the chinlock for a bit until Cedric fights back up and dropkicks Neville to the floor again. There’s a BIG flip dive which Mauro describes as ostentatious. Aries: “It must be great. It has my name in it!” Back in and the springboard clothesline is only good for two. Neville tries to speed things up again but runs into a Spanish Fly (flipping downward spiral).

The Lumbar Check is broken up though and it’s a deadlift German suplex for an even closer two on Cedric. Neville puts him on top for the superplex but gets reversed into a sunset bomb….which Neville flips out of because he can. The look on Cedric’s face is perfect so he comes back with an enziguri. Cue Noam Dar for a distraction and the Rings of Saturn makes Alexander tap at 13:25.

Rating: B+. Now that worked. The idea of Neville being better than anyone else around the show is a great story but what makes it even better is to have someone get this close and almost have Neville beaten to lose the match at the very last minute. I liked the match a lot better than I was expecting to and it’s one of the better 205 Live matches to date.

Post match Dar goes after Cedric but Neville wants to beat on Alexander alone. Rich Swann comes in for the save and it’s a big pull apart brawl (after several attempts) to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Awesome show here as they packed all this stuff into less than fifty minutes. I don’t know if it’s just following the NXT formula to the letter or what else they’re doing right but dang this was one heck of a show. They’re getting the idea down to near perfection and adding in some more talent like Tozawa is only going to make things better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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205 Live
Date: January 31, 2017
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Austin Aries, Corey Graves

It’s the Neville Era and that means the new champion needs a challenger to go after the title. In theory that’s going to be Rich Swann in a rematch but there’s also Cedric Alexander who almost had Neville beaten until some interference cost him the match. This could go multiple ways and that makes for an interesting show. Let’s get to it.

Long recap of Neville’s rise to the top of the division.

Opening sequence.

Tony Nese vs. Lince Dorado

The cocky Nese takes him into the corner to start and throws Lince down for good measure. A hurricanrana sends Nese into the corner as well and a high crossbody gets two on Tony. That’s enough for Nese who just starts blasting Lince in the face with hard shots, followed by a gutbuster to set up a bodyscissors. That makes sense for him as Nese has the power advantage so hitting Dorado really hard is the right call. Dorado fights back up with the handspring Stunner for two and a good looking dropkick draws an Okada reference from Mauro. Nese shoves him off the top though and the running knee is good for the pin at 6:08.

Rating: C. This is how you build someone up: let them pick up win after win and treat them as above the rest of the talent. It makes the crowd feel they’re important and that’s often going to work better than having some lame angle or a generic promo, especially when Nese isn’t the best talker.

Nese goes after Dorado even more but TJ Perkins makes the save. See? Build Nese up and give him a feud against an established name. Works perfectly.

We look at Swann and Neville brawling last night on Raw, which saw Swann hurt his ankle.

Swann is in a walking boot but Neville comes in and kicks him down anyway. Now that’s a heel.

Gran Metalik is coming. He was on the NXT house show I took in last month and he looked great.

Akira Tozawa vs. Aaron Solow

Brian Kendrick comes out for commentary and Solow is probably best known as Bayley’s real life boyfriend. Feeling out process to start as it seems Tozawa is replacing the injured Tajiri as Kendrick’s new rival. A dropkick and backsplash give Tozawa two and Solow is knocked out to the floor. After the suicide dive knocks Aaron silly, the snap German suplex gives Tozawa the pin at 3:03.

Rating: D+. Good debut here as Solow gets beaten down like the jobber that he is and Tozawa gets to look awesome. There’s only so much you can do in a three minute match and that’s all it needed to be. Tozawa could be a modern day Tajiri with some of those strikes, but that German suplex looked even better.

Post match Aries interviews Tozawa, who doesn’t speak English.

Noam Dar and Alicia Fox come in to see Neville before their tag match tonight. Dar isn’t worried about Jack Gallagher tonight but Neville doesn’t want to hear about it. Oh and keep the love life baggage in the back. He leaves before Alicia can freak out.

Neville/Noam Dar vs. Jack Gallagher/Cedric Alexander

Gallagher is substituting for the injured Swann. Only Dar and Gallagher shake hands and it’s Jack vs. Neville to get things going. Neville grabs a headlock but Jack does his handstand walk to escape, which doesn’t sit well with the champ. The much stronger Neville starts in on the arm with Jack doing his spinning reversal.

That earns him a forearm to the face as Neville doesn’t have time for the fanciness. Dar comes in and gets caught in a bulldog headlock takeover out of the corner. It’s off to Cedric to stay on the arm with Gallagher putting on a hold that only a British wrestler could pull off. Neville gets tired of these shenanigans and forearms the heck out of Gallagher from the apron. An even harder dropkick to the back of the head makes things even worse.

We hit the chinlock but Dar makes a blind tag and tries to steal his own cover. That’s just not cool with the champ so Dar lightens things up a bit by working on the arm. Neville comes back in but Dar tags himself in a second time as you can almost feel the beating coming for him. Gallagher’s headbutt gives him two on Dar with Neville having to run in for the save. Dar crawls over for the tag and Neville bails, as he certainly should do. It’s back to Alexander for the handspring enziguri followed by the Lumbar Check for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: B-. Good, solid main event tag here with Gallagher selling quite well and Neville doing exactly what he should have done. One of the most annoying things that happens in wrestling is when the wrestlers stop doing what their character would do for the sake of a nothing tag. Neville has no allegiance to Dar and Noam ticked him off. This makes sense and I can always go for that.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event helps this one quite a bit with the new character and solid psychology being more than enough to make up for a not great opener. The show is rapidly developing its own continuity and feel, which is rather impressive after just ten episodes. Neville really is the king right now and that’s going a long way to help this show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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205 Live
Date: January 17, 2017
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Austin Aries

It’s a good sign that we’re already having a major gimmick match on the show but more importantly it’s something that fits the storyline. Well ok to be fair the really important thing is the fact that Jack Gallagher will be gracing us with his presence and moving on from Ariya Daivari. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of Gallagher vs. Daivari, which has involved knee attacks and accusations of being a scoundrel. Tonight it’s an I Forfeit match because a gentleman would never “quit”. How uncouth.

Opening sequence.

The announcers chat about the upcoming title match and the I Forfeit match. It feels like they’re stalling.

Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander

Alicia Fox follows Cedric out and he doesn’t seem happy about it. Fox freaks out when Cedric tells her to leave so here’s Noam Dar to calm her down. Alicia: “HE’S BEING MEAN!” She calls Cedric a rookie in her book and demands Dar do something about him. Dar isn’t sure so Fox calls herself hot chocolate.

For some reason that’s enough to make Dar go in and help Gulak stomp Alexander but he fights them both off. Cedric dives on Dar but Gulak chop blocks him as we’re still waiting on the opening bell (and for Fox to be quiet). Fox and Dar leave and Cedric can barely stand up on the bad knee.

As you might expect, Cedric says ring the bell and we’re off in a hurry. Drew goes right for the leg and Cedric’s dropkick attempt makes things even worse. A dragon screw legwhip shows that Gulak is smarter than the average boring cruiserweight. Cedric actually manages a hurricanrana out of the corner and Gulak is backdropped out to the floor. Back in and Gulak charges into an elbow, allowing Cedric to hit a split legged moonsault of all things for two. The leg is way too banged up for the Lumbar Check so Gulak takes out the good leg. A bridging belly to back suplex puts Cedric away at 5:47.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I expected to and it continues the Fox/Alexander story with Dar in there on the side to keep things interesting. Gulak really needs a gimmick of some sort as he’s just so boring in everything he does aside from some submission holds. Speaking of which, didn’t he have a wicked dragon sleeper? What happened to that?

Dar tells Fox that was for her so she slaps him very hard. Noam seems to like it.

We get a long and very well put together video on Swann vs. Neville, including a look at their mentor/mentee relationship in Japan. It’s nice to see that match treated as a big deal and since it’s not going to happen on Raw, the build works well here.

Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese

Before the match, Nese says he doesn’t need to worry about Ali because he’s not normal. There’s a rather forced handshake to start with Ali having to grab the hand. Ali works the arm to start before snapping off a hurricanrana. A quick bicep curl (Aries: “Nothing like flexing your twelve inch pythons.”) sets up a spinwheel kick but Nese crotches him on the top and gets two off a gutbuster.

We hit a bodyscissors to stay on Ali’s ribs, only to have him avoid a springboard Lionsault. A jumping neckbreaker gets two for Mustafa and a tornado DDT gets the same. Nese gets tired of playing nice though and German suplexes him into the corner. One heck of a running knee is enough for the pin on Ali at 6:00.

Rating: C. Nese being built up as a midcard heel is a good idea but I was starting to get into Ali with his “my race doesn’t define me” character. If Nese is built up like this going forward, he’s going to be fine against Swann if Rich keeps the title against Neville, though that would be one heck of a questionable decision.

Tajiri and Brian Kendrick have continued their feud on Twitter.

Akira Tozawa is coming.

Jack Gallagher vs. Ariya Daivari

I Forfeit match and Jack is coming to the ring with his trusty umbrella William. Gallagher takes him to the mat and starts a surfboard but switches up to a double stomp to crush the knees. It’s umbrella time but Daivari breaks it over his knee. A side slam sends Jack spine first into the apron but that’s not enough for the magic words.

Jack is driven back first into the barricade and Daivari DEMANDS the forfeit because no one cares about him. Back in and Daivari rips at Jack’s face but realizes that bending the bad back around the post is a bit better idea. Aries suggests ripping off the mustache. Not a bad idea actually but not exactly a gentlemanly action. With nothing else working, Daivari grabs his scarf and ties Jack’s wrists behind his back.

As you might expect, that’s not a problem for Gallagher as he headbutts Daivari in the chest and climbs over the scarf to escape. With Ariya down, Gallagher pulls out a second umbrella because any good gentleman has a spare handy. They head up to the stage with Gallagher being sent into the screen but he manages a catapult into the same screen. That’s not enough to make him give up either so they head back to ringside.

Gallagher actually goes over to commentary and recommends that Graves and company move. Daivari is launched over the table and a running dropkick against the barricade allows Jack to grab William #3. Gallagher offers Daivari a chance to forfeit before the real thrashing begins. Daivari says ok but gets in a shot to the throat. We hit the cobra clutch but Gallagher grabs William #3 to break out. A good shot with William sets up a crossface chickenwing with William tied in Ariya’s arms for the forfeit at 14:19.

Rating: B-. I know I say this every week but there’s a great story here if you replace Daivari with, I don’t know, a dead goldfish to upgrade the charisma and interest. He’s just a warm body out there doing heelish things while never once seeming intimidating. Give Gallagher a proper bully to work off and it’s a thousand times better. As it is, it’s just a solid performance from Gallagher who is playing way beneath his skill level here.

Overall Rating: C+. The show was fine but really nothing worth seeing. The big gimmick match at the end helped but the show was much more there than anything else. It says a lot when the champion being gone feels like a big deal and that’s what happened here. Swann and Neville make this show feel important and without them the show is just fine instead of really interesting TV.

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205 Live
Date: January 10, 2017
Location: Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, Austin Aries

With less than three weeks before the Royal Rumble, it’s pretty clear that we’re getting Neville vs. Rich Swann for the title at the pay per view. All we’re waiting on now is the official announcement and there’s a good chance that it’s going to be set up here. We’ve also got the ongoing issues of Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar over Alicia Fox. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap looks at Dar vs. Alexander with Cedric coming this close to blaming Fox for his losses and Dar being all creepy as he tries to steal her.

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar

It’s amazing how much good a story can help out a match like this. Well that and Alicia Fox being on camera too. Before the match, Dar says the kiss from Alicia last night didn’t deter him and he’ll have her soon enough. Feeling out process to start with both guys being a bit tentative until Cedric just punches him in the jaw.

Noam isn’t sure what to do so they head outside with Cedric firing off some chops. An elbow to the face makes Alicia very happy but Dar is smart enough to kick Alexander in the chest while he tries a Tajiri handspring. Dar works on the arm due to all the strikes he’s had to deal with so far. A cross arm choke keeps Cedric in trouble before Noam splashes the arm.

We hit another armbar for a bit until a hard elbow drops Dar. Cedric tries to go up but springboards into a Fujiwara armbar (on the wrong arm but nice try). The arm is crushed under the steps until Alicia gets in Dar’s way, allowing Cedric to hit one heck of a baseball slide. Now the springboard clothesline works a bit better and Cedric kicks him in the face for good measure. Alexander goes up top for a moonsault but Fox pulls Dar out of the way. As Alicia looks very confused, Dar knees Cedric in the face for the pin at 12:35.

Rating: B-. Well that was odd but in a good way. They’ve gotten me to the point where I want to see what’s going to happen with the story and I really didn’t expect that. Fox could be awesome as the woman who switches sides by turning on Alexander but I’m not sure if that’s where they’re going. That makes the story just a bit better, which is a surprising touch.

Fox slaps Dar and leaves with Cedric as she still looks confused.

Akira Tozawa is coming soon. That’s a good thing.

Brian Kendrick vs. Sean Maluta

Kendrick is annoyed at Tajiri for spraying the mist last week and promises to take it out on Maluta. Sean actually grabs some rollups for two and a basement dropkick puts Kendrick on the floor to set up a flip dive. Back in and Maluta is sent into the buckle so Kendrick can grab a cobra clutch. That doesn’t last long and Maluta gets in a reverse DDT but misses Rolling Thunder. A gordbuster and Shining Wizard give Maluta two more but his frog splash (because it’s always a frog splash, 450 or shooting star) hits knees. The Captain’s Hook makes Maluta tap at 4:43.

Rating: C+. Maluta continues to be someone with a lot of potential which hopefully he’ll get to build on someday. The idea of Kendrick being all cocky and almost losing because of it was the right call. Then again the idea of Kendrick in general tends to completely deflate me as he’s just not that interesting but such is life in WWE.

Alexander yells at Fox and breaks up with her. Fox gets all whiny and freaks out because no one breaks up with her. This is some combination of bad and amazing but I’m not sure which is better.

Here’s Jack Gallagher for his parley with Ariya Daivari. Gallagher lays down his umbrella (named William) and offers Daivari some tea or biscuits but Daivari wants to get to the point. Jack thinks his honor has been besmirched and asks for negotiations to begin. Daivari thinks Gallagher wants to surrender because people like Jack are always going to lose. Gallagher: “Pardon?”

Apparently Gallagher is fine with these negotiations not being peaceful so they agree to an I Forfeit match to wrap up their feud once and for all. Daivari signs but throws William, meaning the jacket comes off. Gallagher: “I hope the Queen isn’t watching.” The brawl is on until the referees come out to break it up.

Rich Swann vs. Tony Nese

Non-title. They start fast for a change with Swann flipping over Nese and dropkicking him out to the floor. Nese shows some intelligence by dropping Swann ribs first across the barricade to take over. A bodyscissors sets up a gutbuster for two and Nese squeezes the ribs again. Rich gets up and pops him in the face a few times before a hurricanrana gets two. Nese sticks to the game plan though with a legsweep and stomp to the ribs. Swann grabs a tiger bomb for two and the spinning kick to the head ends Nese at 7:32.

Rating: C. Swann needed a clean win like this and that’s a good sign going into the title match against Neville, which is all but guaranteed at this point. Nese is a good choice for a dragon to be slayed and that’s what we got here. It’s still not a good sign for his title reign when Neville is this hot as a heel but it’s been nice while it lasted.

Post match Neville comes out to challenge Swann, who insults Neville’s ears in response. Neville says he’s not getting in the ring with Swann unless it’s a Cruiserweight Title shot. Swann is fine with that and says name the time and place. That would be the Royal Rumble so Swann says it’s on to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The important thing about this show is the idea of actually setting something up for the future. It’s not just a bunch of random matches anymore as they’re advancing stories and making things a little more interesting than the old six man tags that dominated the early episodes. I’m not dreading the show anymore and I’m starting to look forward to seeing where some of this stuff goes, which is a very positive sign.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

205 Live
Date: January 3, 2017
Location: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, Austin Aries

I’m starting to get attached to this show and a lot of that is due to Neville. This heel character has been outstanding so far and it’s easily the best thing he’s done so far in WWE. It needs to lead to a Cruiserweight Title win over Rich Swann at the Rumble but I have a feeling they’ll keep it on Rich for the sake of….I’m not sure really. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of Neville vs. Swann last week with the champ losing a non-title match.

Opening sequence.

Swann is injured so tonight it’s TJ Perkins filling in against Neville.

Tajiri vs. Sean Maluta

Tajiri still looks so strange without the goatee. Maluta grabs a headlock to start and hits a good looking headbutt. For some reason Maluta charges into the corner, earning himself a Tarantula. Some VERY hard kicks to the head drop Maluta and the handspring elbow puts him down again. The Buzzsaw kick ends Maluta at 2:52. This was basically saying “Hey, remember Tajiri? Here he is again.”

Post match here’s Brian Kendrick to welcome Tajiri back. He’s so glad to see someone who takes this serious and thinks they can take this show over. They shake hands but Tajiri mists him. Aries: “That’s not kale juice!”

Neville is tired of how he’s been treated and all the discrimination against him over his accent and looks.

Video on Tony Nese.

Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese

Before the match we get a recap of last week’s Gentleman’s Duel and all its glory. Nese has Gulak in his corner. Gallagher spins out of a wristlock and bounces out of a headscissors. We get the headstand in the corner with Jack jumping out because he’s that awesome. Not that it matters though as Ariya Daivari comes in for the DQ at 2:25.

Daivari destroys Gallagher post match.

Cedric Alexander wants Alicia Fox to be a little more careful. Kissing ensues.

Mustafa Ali vs. Noam Dar

Ali grabs a hammerlock to start and follows with a good looking spinwheel kick to the jaw to send Dar outside. As they come back in, Dar scores with a dropkick to the side of the head. It’s time to start in on the arm as the fans are way quieter than they probably should be for a cruiserweight match. We hit an armbar with a knee on Ali’s face until he grabs a tornado DDT to put both guys down. A neckbreaker keeps Dar in trouble until Ali flips right into a Fujiwara armbar. That’s reversed into a crucifix, followed by a kick to the face and that sweet inverted 450 for the pin on Dar at 6:20.

Rating: C+. This was a snappy little match and that’s the kind of thing this show needs. Well, aside from a better timeslot and more personalities but you get the idea. Making Ali a face is an interesting idea and I’m glad they’re doing it instead of just going with the simple idea. Not a bad match here and it worked fine.

Dar says he wants Fox because she’s always welcome in his corner.

Video on Akira Tozawa.

Neville vs. TJ Perkins

Neville now has the angry, slower music. Before the match, TJ says he’s going to deal with this bully with a punch to the face. Perkins won’t shake hands either and it seems to work fine here as a headscissors puts Neville down. A Rey Mysterio wheelbarrow bulldog and another headscissors sends a frustrated Neville to the floor.

Back in and Neville goes with the classic KICK HIM IN THE HEAD style, including a missile dropkick for two. That means a chinlock and for once it’s fine to go to a replay here. The middle rope Phoenix splash misses though and TJ can speed things up to take over for the first time in a good while. A corkscrew plancha and a high crossbody give TJ two. The super hurricanrana gets the same as the fans are starting to get into this. Perkins kicks him down again but gets crotched on the top. One heck of a superplex puts TJ away at 11:34.

Rating: B-. I love Neville’s psychology here as it doesn’t make sense to have him do all the flips that are going to pop the crowd. A superplex isn’t a huge move but it looks good enough to feel devastating. I’m still digging the heck out of the character and this was the kind of victory that Neville needs: beating the top names and being just a few steps ahead of them no matter what.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m liking this show quite a bit more lately now that they’ve actually figured out a formula instead of just going all over the place with whatever they feel like doing at the moment. This was a good way to help build Neville into the monster heel who should take the title soon enough, though again I think it’s going to be Swann retaining on gut instinct alone.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Told a buddy I’d pass this along.  Check it out if you can afford to donate to a good cause.

So, if you saw 205 Live, you may have seen someone that lingers around my profile. John Yurnet known outside WWE as Mr. 450 is pretty much the top wrestler in Puerto Rico and also works in Mexico’s Lucha Libre ELITE. The man in 2014 was responsible for a boom in wrestling on the island after years of it just existing with no interest.

On 205 Live, his first time ever wrestling in a main roster WWE show, live no less, he blew out his meniscus on the first move. It’s a lingering injury. Something hard to cover when wrestling in Puerto Rico is as low and slimy as it gets. After announcing he would be selling his wrestling gear to raise funds, a Go Fund Me was started in order to help pay his bill.

Seriously, this man is a fantastic worker and I believe he can be something notable inside the WWE. Unfortunately, this happened when he was at the cusp of finally achieving his dream. If you can lend any help, it would be greatly appreciated.

The link is here: https://www.gofundme.com/7e-mr-450s-medical-expenses

205 Live
Date: December 27, 2016
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Austin Aries, Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo

We’re starting to get in a groove around here and that’s the best thing that can happen for a show that has only been around about a month. Tonight’s big match is a non-title showdown (which WWE has gone out of its way to make seem like a title match) between Rich Swann and Neville, the latter of whom is likely to become #1 contender should he win. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of Neville’s heel turn and subsequent path of rage.

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese

Alicia Fox and Drew Gulak are the seconds. Nese powers him up to start but Alexander moonsaults into a headscissors, followed by a dropkick to the chicklets (as Mauro called them). A big throw puts Cedric on the floor and Tony’s missile dropkick gets two back inside. The showing off continues as Nese drops down and nips up to avoid a clothesline, leaving Alicia to play cheerleader.

We hit a chinlock for a bit before Cedric speeds things up with a Tajiri handspring elbow into a kick to the head. That means it’s time for Gulak and Fox to get into the required argument, capped off by Drew hitting the ground and claiming Alicia shoved him (she never touched him). The referee actually ejects her, allowing Nese to palm strike Cedric for the pin at 6:04.

Rating: C. Alexander is one of those guys who has grown on me so much since he’s been in WWE. The twenty pound weight loss has done him a lot of good, though some of that might have to do with getting away from Ring of Honor and the really stupid Veda Scott story. Nese is being built up in a nice way too, which is what we need around this show.

Noam Dar brings some mistletoe for Alicia, earning himself a slap to the face. Dar tries again and gets slapped a second time, though he doesn’t seem to mind.

Earlier today Renee Young sat down with Neville, who doesn’t like being left out of the Cruiserweight Classic. WWE and Americans in general are intimidated by his greatness. When he was in Japan, Swann was his young boy and Neville isn’t putting up with him here. Renee can’t understand what he says at the end and that’s enough of this interview.

Mustafa Ali vs. John Yurnet

Yurnet is better known as Mr. 450 and has been on NXT a few times. John seems to get injured early on with his right leg looking immobile in a hurry. He’s willing to keep going though and tries a sunset flip but the referee insists on checking it out. Ali hits a quick reverse DDT and finishes with an inverted 450 at 2:12. The finisher looked cool but it’s clear that Yurnet wasn’t wrestling at 100% here.

Post match Mustafa says he’s from Chicago and isn’t going to let all the prejudice against him define things. All he’s going to do is keep racking up wins and let those speak for themselves. Simple, yet effective.

Video on Ariya Daivari, who is certainly a scoundrel and thinks nothing of Jack Gallagher.

It’s time for the gentleman’s duel, which I don’t think counts as a match. Gallagher comes out in a suit while Daivari is wearing gear. There’s a table with some flowers and various weapons in the ring. Gallagher lists off some weapons, almost all of which can be found in a game of Clue, plus an umbrella and a teapot. Daivari picks the lead pipe but Gallagher will fight with an umbrella.

We’re not ready to go yet as Jack insists on standing back to back and taking five paces. Daivari tries to cheat but Gallagher knows it’s coming and proceeds to use the umbrella for a low blow and a leg trip. Gallagher shrugs off a beating and hits his running corner dropkick to send Daivari running. If Daivari had ANY personality, this would be really entertaining. As it is, it’s just something else to add to the highlight reel for when Gallagher becomes a star.

Tajiri is back next week.

Rich Swann vs. Neville

Non-title and Swann doesn’t even dance when he gets to the ring. Rich goes right after him to start and takes the fight to the floor for a right hand to Neville’s jaw. A dropkick frustrates Neville as we hear about Swann being Neville’s young boy in Japan. Neville gets fired up with a forearm to the face and sends Swann into the barricade a few times to really take over.

A hard ram sends Swann’s bad back into the LED apron and Neville follows by mostly missing a big flip dive. Back in and we hit a chinlock, followed by a standing shooting star to make the back even worse. A missile dropkick gets two and Neville is just toying with him. The USA chant only seems to get on Neville’s nerves until a hurricanrana sends him outside.

Swann follows him out with a Phoenix splash of all things and a tiger bomb gets two. One heck of a superkick knocks Neville out on his feet and Swann’s Fantastic Voyage gets a very close two. A loud kick to the head gets a third straight two but Swann gets crotched on top. One heck of a superplex knocks Swann silly for the pin at 13:55.

Rating: B. I liked this more than I thought I would and the ending was the right way to go. Swann’s back was messed up and his last run was all built on adrenaline, meaning it made sense for a big shot, especially one on the back, to be enough to cut him off for good. This also sets up the rematch with the title on the line and that’s going to be one heck of a fight, especially if it makes pay per view.

Post match Neville kicks him in the head and hammers away. He finally leaves and demands his crown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show is starting to find its groove and if I just have to sit through a fifteen minute match between people I care about week after week, so be it. If you can tweak the formula just enough and keep people like Lince Dorado off the show, everything is going to get a lot better in a hurry. The show isn’t quite there yet but it’s gone from a task to get through to something I’m enjoying and that’s a very good sign going forward.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

205 Live
Date: December 20, 2016
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Austin Aries, Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves

We’ve actually got a hot story around here as Neville returned on Sunday and turned full on heel for the first time in his WWE career. This included beating up Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann, which set up a tag match on tonight’s show. Neville will team with Brian Kendrick to face Swann and TJ Perkins. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Sunday’s title match and Neville’s turn, including the tag match being set up last night on Raw.

Opening sequence.

Ariya Daivari vs. Lince Dorado

Dorado flips around a lot with Aries accurately saying it’s wasting energy. Daivari grabs a neckbreaker for two and drives a running knee into the back. We hit the chinlock as this isn’t the most interesting match so far. Dorado gets up and hits a Tajiri handspring into a Stunner, sending Daivari outside for a big flip dive. A springboard hurricanrana puts Daivari down but Dorado gets shoved off the top, setting up a frog splash to give Ariya the pin at 5:37.

Rating: D+. As interested as I am in the main event tag (which has a limit), this is a good example of everything wrong with the division. There’s almost no interest in the match, the wrestling was nothing all that special and Daivari is a rather dull character. Dorado is the most generic luchador in a long time and it doesn’t make for a strong match as a result.

Daivari says Jack Gallagher is a scoundrel.

Kendrick comes up to Neville in the back but Neville wants nothing to do with him until they’re out in the ring.

Tajiri is coming.

Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

Speaking of uninteresting characters. Cedric, with Alicia Fox in his corner, works on Gulak’s arm to start and knees him in the face for good measure. Gulak sends him throat first into the middle rope and does something like a curb stomp with the shin instead of the foot. A chinlock doesn’t last long and it’s Cedric coming back with his springboard clothesline for two.

In a pretty scary bump, Alexander grabs a vertical suplex and takes Gulak over the top for a crash to the floor. They’re lucky they landed right there. Gulak shoves Cedric into Fox and we’ve got a bad ankle. Cue Noam Dar to carry Fox off, leaving Cedric to hit the Lumbar Check for the pin at 5:35.

Rating: C. The wrestling was better here and both guys were trying but Gulak just isn’t interesting in the slightest. Cedric has the talent and there’s something there with the Fox story but it’s still fairly low level by comparison to a few of the others in the division. Alexander could make the jump up the division ladder but he’s going to need a stronger story.

Cedric runs off to find Fox. Gulak blames Fox for the loss because women do not belong on 205 Live.

Video on Jack Gallagher.

Fox is getting her ankle iced and thanks Dar for having her back.

Neville/Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins/Rich Swann

Neville blasts Swann in the face to start and the aggression is really flowing early on. Swann gives a look that suggests he can’t handle this as the announcers talk about how awesome Neville has been since Roadblock. You know, the show TWO DAYS AGO. Kendrick smiles as Neville forearms Rich in the corner but a forearm allows a blind tag to Perkins.

TJ actually gets in some offense before Kendrick comes in, stares at Neville, and chokes on the mat. A good looking spinning kick to the face puts Kendrick down, followed by a slingshot hilo for two. There’s an interesting story here with Neville being the scariest thing in the match and Kendrick being the only one the good guys can beat.

The still banged up Swann tags himself in and manages a few clotheslines on Kendrick. A Flatliner cuts Swann off again though and Neville deadlifts him into a German suplex for two. Some weak rights and lefts have little effect on Neville but a superkick gives the champ a near fall (though the replay shows the lack of contact).

Neville pops right back up and clotheslines Swann inside out but the champ gets over for the hot tag. Perkins fires away on Perkins and the Detonation Kick sets up the kneebar. It’s Neville making another save but Swann tags himself in and kicks Neville in the head. A double superkick gets two on Kendrick as everything breaks down.

Perkins and Neville wind up on the floor, leaving Sliced Bread #2 to set up the Captain’s Hook on Rich. This time it’s Perkins making a save, leaving Neville to kick Swann in the head and talk a lot of trash. TJ tags himself back in and dives into an enziguri, setting up the Red Arrow for the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. The wrestling was good here but this was completely about the storytelling. Neville looks about 900 miles ahead of the rest of the division and the beatdown of Swann was the perfect way to make that come alive. I completely got into the story here and Neville pinning Perkins and covering him like it’s an annoyance instead of a victory is great. Neville is just killing the character so far and that’s some great potential for this division.

Overall Rating: C+. The opening two matches didn’t do much for me but that main event saved the show. Unfortunately this brings up the obvious problem: there’s not enough (at the moment) for a whole show but this stuff doesn’t work on Raw. Since putting it on Smackdown is COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION AND WE SHOULDN’T EVEN ASK ABOUT IT EVER AGAIN for some reason, this is probably the best of the remaining option.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6