Reviews

WWE 205 Live Review 04/18/17 by Mark McAllen

TJR Wrestling

Welcome to the twenty-first episode of 205 Live! This week’s episode comes from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Wow… that’s a terrible name for an arena.

The opening video package highlights TJ Perkins’ recent turn to the dark side and alliance with Cruiserweight Champion, Neville.

We get a nice opening pyro display as the commentary team of Tom Phillips and Corey Graves welcome us to the show. They let us know that tonight’s main event will be Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins.

Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese

The match started off slow. Any time Tozawa started getting the upper hand, Nese would retreat to ringside to catch his breath, get back in the ring and reset. Nese locked Tozawa in a rest hold as The Brian Kendrick is seen making his way to ringside. Nese holds Tozawa straight up in the air for a while, flexing while doing so, and throwing him ab first into the ropes. Nese looks for another stalling suplex, but Tozawa fights out of it with a head scissors takedown sending Nese to ringside. Tozawa follows s up with a suicide dive before rolling Nese back in the ring for a pin attempt, but Nese kicks out at two.

Nese throws Tozawa into the ropes, when the referee’s back was turned, Kendrick was about to kick Tozawa in the face, but the referee turned around in time to prevent Kendrick from doing so. While the referee was talking to Kendrick, Nese went over to see what was going on. While Nese was distracted, Tozawa rolled him up for the win after about 6 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Akira Tozawa

Post-match, Kendrick looks shocked and enters the ring to apologize to Nese. However, Nese is angry with the loss and attacks Kendrick. Tozawa then gets on the microphone and tells Kendrick he just taught him lesson number three: always have eyes in the back of your head.

Evaluation: This match was nothing special. Same old stuff we’ve been seeing from this Tozawa/Kendrick rivalry for several weeks, just this time Tozawa is the one teaching Kendrick “lessons.” What Tozawa is doing is using the lessons Kendrick taught him, against Kendrick. I’m ready to move on from this rivalry as it’s gone on too long and feeling way too repetitive.

Rich Swann reveals why he sent gifts to Alicia Fox

Rich Swann enters the ring and is about to address Alicia Fox, but he’s immediately interrupted by Noam Dar. “The Scottish Supernova” calls Swann a stinking little rat. Now Fox interrupts Dar and tells Dar that he’s immature, his cologne stinks and that she’s been using him. Fox told Dar she never really cared about him and if she hears Dar say Alicia Fooooooooxxxxx one more time, she’s going to snap. Fox tells Dar to get out of the ring because they are through. Dar does as Fox says and leaves the ring with his head low.

Now that Fox is alone in the ring with Swann, she thanks him for all the gifts. Fox said it’s now time to give Fox what he deserves. Fox leaned forward to kiss Swann, but Swann dodged her. Swann asked Fox if she remembers Cedric Alexander. Swann said Fox broke Alexander’s heart and left him hanging for Dar, just like she left Dar hanging. Swann said he wanted to prove a point and show people the kind of person Fox really is. Swann left the ring, leaving Fox all by herself.

Evaluation: So, you mean to tell me that the whole point of this storyline was to let the audience know that Fox is a rotten person? The bad news is Fox’s time spent on 205 Live since the show’s inception has been a giant waste of time. The good news is that Dar, Swann and Alexander are all free from Fox and can finally move on to bigger and better things.

Mustafa Ali makes his way to the ring for a one-on-one match, and his opponent will be Ariya Daivari. Daivari is shown flashing a necklace, sunglasses and a fancy looking shirt. A video clip is also shown from earlier of Daivari pulling up to the arena in a nice car. I guess he’s going with a rich-guy gimmick now.

Mustafa Ali vs. Ariya Daivari

My pre-match predication would be that Daivari wins since he’s sporting a new gimmick. Ali gets a hold of Daivari a couple times before Daivari retreats and looks disgusted that Ali touched him. Ali takes down Daivari a few times and goes for quick pin attempts, but Daivari kicks out each time. Ali dropkicks Daivari which sends Daivari outside. Ali somersaults over the top rope onto Daivari and then rolls Daivari back in the ring. Daivari counters Ali and drops Ali back first onto the apron right outside the ropes.

Daivari brings Ali back in the ring and keeps control with chops in the corner followed by a big spinebuster. Daivari goes for the cover but Ali kicks out. Ali starts getting momentum back with a dropkick, spinning back heel kick and his signature rolling neckbreaker. Ali goes for the cover, but Daivari kicks out at two. Ali heads to the top turnbuckle, looking to hit his finishing move, the inverted 450 Splash. However, Ali becomes distracted by Drew Gulak who starts walking down the entrance ramp with a big sign that says “No Fly Zone.” Gulak also has a megaphone in hand which he starts chanting, “I’m not lying, no high flying” into. While Ali is distracted, Daivari capitalizes with a big clothesline for the win after about seven minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Ariya Daivari

Evaluation: This was a match the very much felt like two guys just going through the motions. Nothing about this match was special. It felt like many other forgettable cruiserweight matches. Two matches have taken place tonight and both have ended due to a distraction from someone not in the match. In regards to Gulak, I like that he has an actual character now and he’s being given time to talk. As of right now, I’m still hopeful that Gulak’s old-school wrestler gimmick can work since it feels fresh. WWE just can’t make Gulak out to be a joke or comedy character.

Backstage, Dasha Fuentes asks Gulak what just happened. Gulak says the future of 205 Live is bright, but that Ali’s high flying antics do not have a place in that future.

Its main event time.

Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins

During the traditional cruiserweight division pre-match handshake, TJ Perkins spits in his hand before extending it for Aries to shake. Aries slaps Perkins’ hand away from him. The bell rings and we’re underway. Both men quickly trade counters, with Aries eventually getting the upper hand. Aries looks for the Last Chancery early, but Perkins escapes the hold and retreats to ringside.

Aries nails Perkins with a suicide dive before throwing him back in the ring. Aries heads to the top turnbuckle, but Perkins knocks Aries off and goes for a cover, but Aries kicks out right away. Aries continues to attack Aries on the mat, then places his foot on Aries’ chest for a cover, and dabs while doing so. Perkins hits Aries with a springboard cross body and goes for another pin to no avail.

Perkins runs at Aries, but Aries ducks and starts gaining momentum with an uppercut, pendulum elbow and a side slam. Aries places Perkins through the middle rope and hits him with a reverse neckbreaker. Aries goes to the top turnbuckle, looking to hit the 450 Splash, but Perkins rolls out of the way and puts Aries in a kneebar. Aries struggles but eventually gets his hand on the rope, breaking the hold.

Both men make it to their feet and start slowly trading punches. Perkins hit an awkward looking double chicken wing gut buster. Perkins put Aries on his shoulders, looking for the Detonation Kick, but Aries escapes and lands a big forearm on Perkins. Aries heads to the top turnbuckle again, and this time connects with the 450 Splash. Aries goes for the cover, but Perkins gets his foot on the rope. Aries pulls Perkins away from the ropes and covers him again, but Perkins kicks out. Aries immediately locks Perkins in the Last Chancery, but Perkins gets his foot on the ropes, forcing Aries to break the hold.

Perkins rolls out of the ring. Aries throws Perkins back in the ring, and as Aries tried getting in the ring himself, Perkins hit him with a dropkick. Perkins goes for the Detonation Kick again, but Aries escapes and hits Perkins with the Discus Fivearm for the win after about twelve minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Austin Aries

Evaluation: Another good 205 Live main event. This was a fun match, with good nearfalls and some exciting sequences. If you give Aries and Perkins over ten minutes, they’re going to deliver and they proved that tonight. Big win for Aries as he’s on his way to facing Neville for the Cruiserweight Title at Payback on Sunday, April 30. Although Perkins lost, it helps continue the story of Aries always having the edge on Perkins and taking his opportunities away from him. Another good effort form TJP. I’m really liking him in his heel role.

Post-match, Neville looks furious and ready to hit the ring. Aries taunts him and Neville runs to the ring and starts going at it with Aries. Aries gets the upper hand and locks in the Last Chancery, but Perkins breaks it up and lays the beat down on Aries. Neville throws Perkins off of Aries and beats down on Aries himself. Neville nods at Perkins, almost as if giving him an order, and Perkins hits Aries with the Detonation Kick. Referees come out to try and stop the attack, but Neville locks in the Rings of Saturn submission on Aries as Perkins sits in front of them and watches. 205 Live goes off the air with Neville and Perkins staring down at a dazed Aries.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’d consider this a below average episode of 205 Live. Although the main event was good as usual, the other two matches fell flat and the Swann/Dar/Fox segment was boring.

I like the post-match attack from Neville and Perkins. I like the dynamic between Neville and Perkins, how Perkins lets Neville just throw him around, and sits down and watches as Neville almost chokes out Aries. They’re both very good in their heel roles and I feel like they’ve really figured out what suits them best.

I included a lot of my detailed thoughts about the show in my evaluations above, so I’ll end this on that note.

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That’s it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and if you like this review feel free to share it with your friends.

Picture used above is courtesy of WWE.com.