By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on the WWE Network
Taped September 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado at The Pepsi Center
205 Live started off with a recap of last week’s title match… After the show’ opening promo, Noam Dar came straight out in all Milky-Way Galaxy attire and after the broadcast team of Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson all waved hi on the air, Lio Rush came next looking very in his element.
Anish’s Thoughts: So for the second week in a row 205 will not be live, and to be honest it may be to the show’s benefit having a crowd that isn’t so tuckered out. I definitely like the importance that Drake Maverick’s voice gives the title. His announcement of a face-to-face between the champion and challenger for WWE Super Show-Down also helped with that. He was also pretty effective at making Mustafa Ali seem like a real underdog fighting from the bottom.
1. Lio Rush vs Noam Dar. Rush started the match off playful, hitting Dar with a cheap shot and running and rolling round the ring and the outside to evade the Scotsman. It was quickly apparent that Dar was focusing on wearing down Rush’s legs. It didn’t last long though as Rush broke up the action by hitting Dar with a springboard moonsault to the outside.
Rush then took control, and as he started fighting back the commentators made mention of Dar’s surgically repaired knee. It was an interesting dynamic that both men were somewhat working each other’s legs, although being a cruiserweight match, I guess it didn’t take away from their high flying too much. Dar hit a nice looking northern-lights suplex to regain the momentum in the match, at which point the crowd started chanting for Lio. As Dar went for a soccer ball kick, Rush slipped it but got caught in an ankle lock and another northern-lights into the turnbuckle.
Dar then went for the Nova roller, but Rush rolled out of the way himself and forced Dar to strike with him. This allowed Rush to surprise Dar with a pair of kicks to his knee and jaw that kept him supine. Rush took advantage and hit a springy looking frog splash to get the win.
Lio Rush defeated Noam Dar.
Anish’s Thoughts: This was a smart way to open the show, and a smart way to ensure that Rush and Dar didn’t go balls to the wall and reveal all of their cards just yet. Both men could do more, and it’s good to save that for a bigger show or a bigger stage. Good, classic storytelling with Rush taking advantage of an injury to get the win. I was rather surprised as to how much Rush was being cheered, especially since he was using some heel tactics. All in all, it was a good opening match.
We then cut to Drake Maverick, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander backstage as Maverick hyped up both men for Alexander’s championship defense in Murphy’s home country of Australia. Alexander talked about how it was pride and his love of the cruiserweight division that allowed him to beat Murphy last time. Murphy retorted by questioning the ‘advantages’ that Alexander had, i.e. that their last title match was in Alexander’s backyard with his mother in the front row. Murphy stated that in his hometown of Melbourne, he would become the next champion.
Anish’s Thoughts: A very short and sweet little promo that didn’t outstay its welcome and it got to the point. The main roster could certainly learn from this sort of presentation, especially for non title or lower tier feuds.
2. Brian Kendrick (w/Jack Gallagher, Drew Gulak) vs Tony Devine. This match lasted all of 10 seconds as Kendrick rushed the ring and with Gallagher and Gulak watching, Kendrick hit a big boot and locked in the captain’s hook to get the rapid submission victory. After Devine was beaten, Gulak took over and wailed on Devine in the corner. Gulak also hit him with a vicious looking rope hung punt kick. Kendrick and Gallagher feigned concern for Devine, but of course they changed tune quickly and threw him out of the ring. The three heels posed in the ring and quickly left.
Anish’s Thoughts: Quick and simply heel heat on these three guys. It didn’t make Kendrick look strong or anything like that particularly, but it did show that they are all angry men who are looking to take it out on anyone in their way. On the other hand, it did sort of show that they simply didn’t have anything big for these guys here tonight. Hopefully they can give these guys a solid story to sink their teeth into from here.
Next, we saw another very quick promo, this time by Mustafa Ali. In the locker room, Ali simply stated that he was determined to overcome Itami and that he would “Be The Light.” I cannot stress how much the main roster could benefit from just simple and short promos like this, rather than over scripted and long-winded interviews with Renee Young or Charly Caruso.
After the break we then had another promo, this time by TJP. It was one of those weird selfie promos, with TJP wearing a Lucha Libre mask. TJP said that he has wrestled around the world in a mask and that he understands the tradition. However, right after that he stated that there is no tradition behind wearing a Halloween mask to the ring. Clearly, they’re going forward with this Lucha House Party vs TJP feud as they announced TJP vs Kalisto for next week. It’s a really shallow attempt to give this feud meaning by leaning on the Mexican mask culture, and it didn’t really do anything to get me invested in their story.
3. Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami. Mustafa Ali came out wearing his fantastic looking Sub Zero ring gear, really emphasizing his “Be The Light” gimmick. Itami came out with a contrastingly plain entrance. Effective stuff however, and the juxtaposition of Ali’s flashy blue with Itami’s blood red ring gear and arena effect was a nice touch, although it was probably unintentional. I did also like the announcer’s referencing their last match in which Ali was injured, forcing Drake Maverick to stop the match, it was a nice bit of foreshadowing that put the idea in my head that Itami is dangerous, and Ali is battle worn.
Itami started off the match in typical heel fashion, avoiding engaging with Ali and taking his time outside the ring. Ali gave chase however and tripped him and pulled him outside the ring where he started chopping away at the Japanese legend. Ali showed off a little, using a backflip to evade a strike from Hideo and dropkick and a Frankensteiner to land some initial offense. Ali also hit an impressive looking leg-whip wheel kick on a standing Itami to knock the Japanese legend out of the ring.
Itami recovered outside of the ring and whipped Ali’s head into the corner post with a sick metal thud, incapacitating the Chicago native. Itami took his time wearing down Ali, just landing a few strikes on him before getting him back in the ring for a two count. Rather surprisingly, the crowd seemed to have a fair amount of Itami fans, as he was being cheered almost as much as Ali in the early stages. Itami switched up his strategy and locked in a single leg Boston crab, but Ali made the rope break. Itami then kicked Ali outside of the ring and continued attacking Ali with kicks against the barricade.
Ali was able to rally a little, and even hit Itami with a powerbomb, and an impressive tope con-hilo to the outside, prompting “205” chants. This didn’t last long though and eventually Itami walloped Ali with a falcon arrow from the middle rope, although even this didn’t put Ali away. Ali managed to reverse another top rope attempt from Itami and hit a frog splash onto his legs. Ali then maintained his aggression, hitting a hard looking 450 splash as Itami laid prone on the apron. After that devastating maneuver, neither men were able to continue, and the match ended in a double countout.
Mustafa Ali fought Hideo Itami to a double count-out.
Anish’s Thoughts: A solid match that showcased Itami’s striking ability and his viciousness, all the while building likability for Ali as both men put in a lot of work to build a story. Ali’s head being the focal point of the match was a nice way to go about things, and it was a good bait and switch as it didn’t end with a stoppage for Itami or Ali rallying back, but rather with both men being unable to continue. There were some pretty gnarly looking spots in the match, especially Ali landing right on top of Itami’s hips with his frog splash reversal, and the 450 on the apron that took them both out.
Overall, it was a pretty good episode of 205. It wasn’t fantastic, but no doubt they’ve had at least one really good match every week, and this time was no different. I like the fact that they’re invested in long term storytelling and more than that, they built a solid one hour show using a variety of segments. Hopefully they have something planned for Itami and Ali, who are some of the best workers on the roster. If you can’t watch the whole show, definitely watch this match because as double count-outs go, this one was a ten.
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