By John Moore
WWE 205 Live on the WWE Network
Aired August 29, 2017 in Little Rock, Arkansas at Verizon Arena
The intro video was a highlight package of the Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher feud. It included the beatdowns between the two leading to the duel that Kendrick set up. The duel was a ruse by Kendrick and therefore Kendrick set up a subsequent No-DQ match for this episode…
The 205 Live opening theme played. Enzo Amore was added to the opening video. Vic Joseph and Corey Graves checked in on commentary. Joseph did his obligatory line of calling this show “The most exciting hour in television”. Joseph and Graves talked about the world buzzing around Enzo Amore’s debut on 205 Live. Graves said this so was having “one of the biggest main events on 205 live” which was Cedric Alexander, Gran Metalik, and Enzo Amore vs. Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, and Noam Dar. Graves said this match “can redefine the whole division”…
John’s Thoughts: Graves has to be sarcastic with his quotes, right?
1. Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher in a No Disqualification Match. Gallagher wore his dress shirt and pants for the match along with some gloves. Kendrick yelled at Gallagher that Kendrick was a fighter. Gallagher didn’t lock up and instead went in with early strikes. Kendrick gained breathing room with a back elbow. Kendrick tried to blindside Gallagher with an umbrella shot but Gallagher caught the umbrella and gave Kendrick a headbutt.
Kendrick retreated to the outside. Gallagher gave Kendrick a high hesitation dropkick to send Kendrick over the barricade. Gallagher tossed Kendrick around the production area. Gallagher threw a storage case at Kendrick. Gallagher slammed Kendrick on the ramp video wall. Graves noted that this has been one sided up to this point. Kendrick tried to rest at the side of the ring but he got hit with a Gallagher baseball slide. Gallagher beat down Kendrick on the commentary table.
Kendrick found a kendo stick under the ring and turned the tables on Jack while Jack was setting up the announce table. Brian Kendrick tied up Gallagher’s feet in the apron rope and gave Gallagher some more strikes. Kendrick showboated a bit to the crowd. Kendrick took the ring bell to the center of the ring and gave Gallagher a DDT on the ring bell. Kendrick used the Kendo Stick to lock in the captain’s hook. The referee called for the bell due to Gallagher being knocked out.
Brian Kendrick defeated Jack Gallagher via ref stoppage in 7:31.
Kendrick made it to his feet using the kendo stick to prop himself up. Joseph talked about Kendrick showing a vicious side to himself.
Dasha Fuentes was backstage to interview the heel trio of the main event. Dar said he underestimated Enzo on the prior night’s Raw. Dar said Enzo didn’t beat him, Dar beat himself. Dar tried to make the excuse of him partying too hard. Gulak said Enzo was coming to 205 to tarnish its name. Gulak said Enzo couldn’t cut it in the Cruiserweight Division. Gulak wanted Tony Nese to chime in but Nese was distracted counting his abs. Nese said he understands that Enzo is in the same weight class as him but he didn’t look as good as Nese. Gulak said Enzo’s debut is going to be his last ever match…
John’s Thoughts: I’m not sure how to judge this match. On one hand, it’s great that a heel not named Neville is allowed to get some heat. On the other, this feud does nothing for me at this point. Just like most feuds on 205 Live, they don’t lead to PPV or even Raw payoffs. 205 is the C-Show filled with hopelessness. Here’s hoping Kendrick can move on and Gallagher can move out of 205. Kendrick could use the bragging rights and Gallagher is too good for this show! Sadly, I don’t think this was the end of the feud. ugh.
TJ Perkins came to the ring wearing crutches and a leg brace. One reason it’s tough to figure out whether he wants to be called TJ Perkins or TJP is he wears a shirt that says “TJ Perkins”. Rich Swann made his way to the ring for a match against Ariya Daivari. Daivari had a Picture-in-Picture promo where he talked about dedicating his match to Olympians again. He went back to dedicating the match to Hassan Yazdani…
2. Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari. Swann did some dancing to start. Daivari did some mat wrestling to take Swann down. Swann made it to his feet into a wristlock on Daivari. Daivari and Swann traded pressure on the wristlock. Swann did a reverse worm and kip’d up into a headlock. Swann showed some agility in landing a dropkick on Daivari. Perkins was rooting for Swann in a condescending fashion.
Daivari hit Swann with several kidney punches. Swann blocked a kidney punch with a forearm to the face of Daivari. Swann kicked Daivari in the gut and followed up with a flip guillotine legdrop. Swann hit Daivari with a rolling thunder frogsplash. Daivari kicked out of the pin attempt and rolled to the outside. Daivari gave Swann snake eyes on the announce table. Daivari stole one of TJP’s crutches. TJ limped up and stole the crutch back. Swann made the rollup to pick up the win.
Rich Swann defeated Ariya Daivari via pinfall in 4:29.
As Swann celebrated in the ring Daivari went to the announce table to attack TJ P. Daivari gave Perkins a gut shot with the crutch. TJP “miraculously” recovered and took down Daivari. Perkins hit Daivari with a rolling sobat. Swann got up and acknowledged Perkins’ faking. Swann jokingly handed Perkins a crutch. Perkins was pissed at his cover being blown. Perkins gave Daivari a detonation kick. Joseph talked about how it looks like we’re going to see a Swann and Perkins rubber match soon…
John’s Thoughts: I’m not trying to be Debbie Downer on this show overall, but the undercard is the epitome of treading water. To pull out a positive, I think Daivari has moved a notch up from the Nese and Gulak level. He’s probably higher than Kendrick due to him beating people like Neville and Swann. Still, I would rather see Swann, Perkins, and Daivari on NXT rather than this show. Look at that “injury” payoff. It made Perkins look like a comedy character in a cheap sitcom.
Enzo Amore was chatting with Cedric Alexander and Gran Metalik. Enzo said if anyone was questioning his residency on 205 Live he’s here to prove that he’s permanent on this show just like a permanent marker. Enzo started to write on the border of a portable whiteboard with is marker. Cedric said he respect’s Enzo’s enthusiasm, but he and Metalik have been in 205 Live since the beginning (what? It took forever for Metalik to show up!). Enzo said no one should worry because they make a great team. Enzo said it was just like his mother’s cooking in making a great pizza pie, that’s amore. Enzo called Cedric the dough that rises to the occasion when the heat is on. Enzo said Metalik was the cheese with spice and kick. He called Metalik “Pepper Jack”. Enzo said he brings the sauce, like marinara… [C]
Enzo made his entrance after everyone else. Enzo did his full entrance routine which the crowd responded well to. Enzo said everyone was about to witness the realist debut in 205 history. Enzo said on Raw he put is Jordans in Dar’s Jaw which makes him Jaw-done. Enzo said Dar was introduced to Jaw-done-zo (Nese had the perfect reaction of how that joke didn’t make sense). Enzo asked Drew why he was standing in the ring looking like Captain Underpants. Enzo said he get’s the deal with Tony but the match is going to be done quick so Nese can get back to Chippendales. Enzo then said there was one word to describe the three in the ring. It was “S-a-w-f-t. Sawwwwwwwwft”.
John’s Thoughts: That was not Enzo’s best material on the mic; but… given how great his delivery is, he can compensate bad material with solid delivery. If say, babyface TJ Perkins delivered those lines, he would have got a “what” treatment, but Enzo got huge cheers during his pauses. That Captain Underpants lines was campy as hell yet it got a huge laugh from the crowd. So far, Enzo has been a plus for 205 Live as far as Live experience is concerned because now fans have something to look forward to, one of Raw’s most over entrance routines.
3. Noam Dar, Tony Nese, and Drew Gulak vs. Enzo Amore, Cedric Alexander, and Gran Metalik. Enzo started off in the ring against Drew Gulak. Gulak mocked Enzo. Gulak pressured Enzo into the corner. Gulak locked in a rear armbar on Enzo while also jawing with Enzo. Enzo managed to break things up. Gulak blocked Enzo’s double leg takedown by keeping a distance. Enzo got a rope break and kicked Gulak in the gut. Enzo tagged in Cedric.
Neville was shown watching the monitor (in that weird WWE way of watching at a 90-degree angle). Nese tagged in and did his usual thing of showing off stopping the match to show off his biceps. Cedric and Tony showed off agility with Cedric gaining the upper hand with a headscissors, dropkick, and kip up. Enzo tagged in and gave Nese an axe handle. Nese took down Enzo with a dropkick. Nese toyed wtih Enzo while yelling at him. Enzo hit Nese with a surprise reverse STO. Everyone ran in. Cedric and Metalik hit Dar and Gulak with stereo Tope Con Hilos to the outside.
Enzo teased a Tope but Nese caught him with an axe handle in the ring. Nese mocked the Enzo dance. Enzo managed to tag in Cedric. Cedric hit Nese with several lariats and a back elbow. Gulak distracted Alexander enough for Nese to land a chop block. Enzo distracted the ref which allowed Dar to sneak in a cheap shot. Gulak locked in the chinlock of doom on Alexander. Alexander made his way to his feet and staggered Gulak with a back elbow. Alexander grounded Gulak with a handspring roundhouse. Nese and Metalik tagged in. Metalik caught Nese with a superkick and Sling Blade. Metalik hit a missile dropkick on Nese for the nearfall.
Metalik kicked Nese from the apron. Gulak pulled out Nese from Metalik’s senton bomb. Alexander took down Gulak and Nese on the outside. Enzo made the tag to Enzo who hit Nese with a crossbody. Enzo hit Dar with Eat Defeat. Enzo beat Tony Nese with a rollup with his feet on the ropes for leverage.
Enzo Amore, Cedric Alexander, and Gran Metalik defeated Noam Dar, Tony Nese, and Drew Gulak via pinfall in 9:53.
The babyfaces celebrated as Tony Nese argued to the referee about Enzo’s cheating. Neville was shown laughing in a cartoony way backstage 90 degrees in front of the TV. This closed out 205.
John’s Thoughts: This is a very interesting line that they are walking with Enzo on 205. Enzo is not known for his workrate, so much that it was Big Colin Cassidy who was the workhorse of the tag team. Enzo was clearly hidden in this match behind Metalik and Alexander and was in a three minute match the night prior. This is where Enzo can get some in-ring seasoning by working with some of the best in-ring wrestlers in WWE. That said, it’s going to be tough once he has to put on a match at the “Neville Level”. That said, it looks like they are going to make a story about Enzo’s greenness in the ring with the heels yelling about his inexperience and him picking up the win via cheating.
This was an underwhelming 205 Live of sorts, but it should have been expected. I kinda expected a hotter Gallagher vs. Kendrick match and hoped to see better work from Enzo in-ring and on the mic. Luckily for the live crowd, the bad jokes just flew over everyone’s head and Enzo’s golden delivery saved him. Enzo is going to be a treat to the live crowds, just like Ron Killings or Road Dogg, but this progression is going to be an intriguing story that can either end in failure or success depending on where 205 Live is in a month or so. I’ll have more thoughts in my members’ exclusive audio review.
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