By Jason Powell
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Aired live from Memphis, Tennessee at FedEx Forum
A video recapped the feud between Jack Gallagher and Ariya Daivari… The 205 Live opening aired… Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, and Austin Aries checked in on commentary and hyped Rich Swann vs. Neville for the Royal Rumble and said they would take an in-depth look at their feud on the show. They also discussed the main event, which Aries predicted Daivari would win “because I said so”…
Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander made their entraces for the opening match. As Alexander heading to the ring, Alicia Fox walked out behind him. Cedric shooed her away. She wasn’t happy and yelled “Hey!” a lot and said she destroys guys like Alexander, who is a rookie in her book. Noam Dar came out and tried to get her to leave.
Dar ran back and climbed onto the apron and Alexander saw him coming. Gulak attacked Alexander from behind, then Dar joined him. Alexander quickly came back and tossed both men to ringside, then took them out with a dive. Gulak clipped Cedric’s knee from behind. Dar and Fox left. Alexander limped into the ring and the referee checked with him before starting the match…
1. Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak. The bell rang and Gulak charged Alexander, who caught him with a boot to the face. Alexander continued to sell knee pain. Aries questioned whether he’d be able to perform his Lumbar Check finisher. Gulak performed a dragon screw leg whip over the middle rope and continued to attack it.
Aries acknowledged that Gulak hasn’t put too many wins together on 205 Live and said it would be big if he were able to pull this one out. Alexander backdropped Gulak to ringside at 3:30. A minute later, Alexander performed a moonsault for two. He took his knee brace off. He tried to perform his finishing move, but he dropped Gulak to sell the knee pain. Gulak clipped the other knee from behind and performed a belly-to-back suplex into a bridge for the win…
Drew Gulak beat Cedric Alexander in 5:45.
Powell’s POV: I’m surprised they had Gulak take out Cedric’s knee before the match rather than having Dar do it. After all, the real feud is Cedric vs. Dar. I assume Alexander just gets his win back over Gulak next week. The crowd is beyond flat.
Backstage, Dar motioned to the monitor and told Fox, “Look what I’ve done for you.” She slapped him and stormed out of the room. He enjoyed it… The broadcast team spoke about Dar and Fox, then set up a video package on the Swann and Neville…
The video package focussed on the pre-WWE history between Swann and Neville, and they included older photos of the two of them together. Neville said Swann isn’t on his level. He said they had a good relationship in Japan. Swann said he looked up to Neville because he thought he had integrity and respect for what they did.
Swann said he taught Swann everything he knows. He said it’s not about Swann, it’s about Neville. Swann said he feels betrayed. Neville said “boo-hoo” in response to the idea of Swann feeling betrayed. He said Swann is a champion and should expect it. Neville said there are no heroes and the monsters win.
Powell’s POV: Wow, that was an awesome video that told their story better than weeks of television have. I hope we get more of the down to earth Swann rather than the “outlandish” guy who plays to the crowd.
Mustafa Ali made his entrance… Backstage, Dasha Fuentes asked Tony Nese how he prepared for his match against Ali. He said that was a fair question. He said most people have to train differently, but he is the premier athlete and he’s faster, stronger, and better…
2. Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese. Ali offered his hand, but Nese didn’t take it. Ali grabbed his hand, and Nese flexed with his other arm. Ali flexed after performing a move. “Nothing like flexing your 12-inch pythons,” Aries mocked. Ali performed a rolling neckbreaker for a two count at 4:25. He followed up a short time later with a tornado DDT for another two count.
Nese came back with a German suplex into the corner that drew gaspas from the crowd. He followed up with a running knee to the head and got the pin…
Tony Nese beat Mustafa Ali in 5:55.
Powell’s POV: It’s the revenge of the cruiserweight losers, as Gulak and Nese both have wins. I hope they intend to do more with Nese. The gimmick has potential and he’s obviously good in the ring.
The broadcast team hyped Talking Smack and then discussed Tajiri suffering a right knee injury. Graves said he may not be back in action for “quite some time.” Graves played up a tweet from Brian Kendrick, who called Tajiri a liar and a cheat… A video package aired on Akira Tozawa with Apollo Crews talking about how great he is. Tozawa is still listed as coming soon… An NXT ad aired..
3. Jack Gallagher vs. Ariya Daivari in an I Forfeit match. At 2:40, Daivari grabbed the mic while Gallagher was down at ringside. He told him he needed to quit like all of the loser fans in the building. Gallagher yelled no. Daivari continued to work him over at ringside and asked again. Aries said he would try ripping Gallagher’s mustache off. Funny.
Daivari took his turban and tied it to the wrist of Gallagher around 7:00, then pulled him in for a short-arm clothesline. Daivari used the turban to tie Gallagher’s arms behind his back. Daivari told him to quit. Gallagher told him he is a scoundrel. The crowd came to life with a brief “You’re a scoundrel” chant. Gallagher sent Daivari to ringside, then pulled the turban behind his legs and was able to untie himself.
Gallagher went after Daivari, who recovered and took him to the stage and ran him into the video wall twice before giving him another short-arm clothesline. Daivari went for a piledriver on the stage, but Gallagher catapulted him into the video wall instead. Gallagher grabbed his umbrella William and worked Daivari over with it. The ref asked Daivari if he was done after each blow, but he said no three times.
They went back to the ring, but Daivari quickly tossed Gallagher out the other side. Gallagher caught Daivari with a headbutt to the gutt, then took the headsets from Graves and said that as an extraordinary gentlemen, he should probably move. The broadcast team listened, and Gallagher tossed Daivari over the table.
Gallagher went to the top of the table, but Daivari swapt his legs out from under him. They fought on the floor and Gallagher hit him with a running dropkick into the barricade. Gallagher ran him into the ring and then grabbed a third umbrella, which he brought into the ring. Gallagher took the mic and said that as an extraordinary gentlemen, he would give him the courtesy of forffeiting or he would thrash him within an inch of his life.
“Okay,” Daivari said while getting to his knees. “Jack, I…” Daivari jabbed Gallagher in the throat and then applied the Corbra Clutch. Gallagher was able to yell no several times. He grabbed the umbrella and used it to break the hold, then applied a hammerlock using the umbrella. Daivari forfeited. Graves said the feud came to an end in favor of Gallagher…
Jack Gallagher defeated Ariya Daivari in 13:30 in an I Forfeit match.
Powell’s POV: A strong main event that was far more serious in tone than than usual for Gallagher’s character. He remained true to the character by working in some extraordinary gentlemen talk along the way, but it was a quite the change from the silliness of the duel and the parley. Overall, the show felt flat during the first two matches, but the crowd got into the main event and I believe I even heard a “this is awesome” chant, which is rare for 205 Live.
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