205 Live – December 3, 2021: That’s Why NXT Is Where It Is
205 Live
Date: December 3, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph
The show’s future might be in jeopardy as the Cruiserweight Title is doing wacky things like getting rid of the weight limit. That makes me wonder if the Cruiserweight Title has much of a future and it is certainly nice to have that as a possible development. The title hasn’t needed to be around for a long time, but nowhere near as long as this show. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Ivy Nile vs. Erica Yan
Diamond Mine is here with Nile, who cranks on a headlock to start. A sliding knee to the ribs has Yan in more trouble and there’s a suplex to put her down again. The double arm crank goes on but Yan fights up and spins her into a sunset flip for two. Nile kicks her into the corner though and an enziguri sets up the choke to finish Yan at 4:19.
Rating: C-. Pretty much a squash here, with Nile getting to keep her feet wet. That being said, I’m not sure how much good you get out of a showcase match against another NXT rookie who gets beaten up all match. It’s almost like they need their NXT house shows back so they can have some matches with some time instead of these nothing TV matches.
Draco Anthony is still in that coffee shop, where his actions will speak louder than his words.
We look at Boa attacking Solo Sikoa and Malik Blade on NXT.
Boa vs. Draco Anthony
This is monster Boa again. Nigel calls Boa a former assassin, though it’s hard to imagine him taking out anything but interest in a show. Anthony grabs a headlock to start and drop toeholds him down for a bonus. Boa fights up and kicks Anthony down to take over as commentary talks about NXT UK. Some knees to the ribs set up a butterfly suplex and the nerve hold goes on. Anthony fights up and hits a swinging neckbreaker but Boa grabs the Tongan Death Grip for the pin at 3:55.
Rating: D+. Freaking Boa man. You have Anthony get some intrigue going with that coffee shop vignette and then he loses to Boa. I know they want to make Boa into a thing but was there NO ONE ELSE he could beat in this match? I’d hope they have a better excuse than “no one watches 205 live so it doesn’t matter”, but I can’t imagine there is a better reason.
We look at Joe Gacy getting a waiver on the Cruiserweight Title weight limit for his title shot at WarGames. The title can’t be long for the world at this point.
JacketTime vs. Creed Brothers
Before the match, Malcolm Bivens promises to end Joe Gacy at WarGames. Julius takes Jiro down to start and drags him into the corner to start the beating. Brutus comes in to roll Jiro around, only to have him get up and make the tag to Kushida. That actually doesn’t work either at first, as Julius sends him flying. Kushida is back up to knock Julius into the corner but Jiro gets knocked off the apron hard.
Back in and Brutus grabs a bearhug as we hear about his crimes against microwaves. The brothers alternate knees to the ribs until Julius sends him flying with a gutwrench suplex. An inverted bearhug sets up another planting for two on Jiro, who manages to roll over for the tag to Kushida again. A moonsault/slingshot Swanton combination hits Julius but Kushida is sent outside. That leaves Julius to belly to back suplex Brutus into a moonsault on Jiro, setting up a standing moonsault for the pin at 8:57.
Rating: D+. I really couldn’t get into this one as it was a bunch of waiting around until the Brothers put Jiro away. That makes for some long feeling sequences because there was no way Kushida was taking the fall and JacketTime wasn’t winning. Your mileage may vary on JacketTime, but it hasn’t exactly been clicking in the ring so far.
Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t their strongest show and the fact that it was the longest in recent memory probably had something to do with that. This show works best when it is in and out in a hurry (and to be fair, this was only 35 minutes). These matches don’t have stories to them and they are little more than just waiting around until the fairly clear finishes. It might work well for some stars, but look at the amount of experience the squashers have combined. Not a good show, but this is about as close as these people are going to get to house show matches at the moment. Now figure out why NXT is not so great.
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