By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Aired live on July 9, 2019 from Manchester, New Hampshire at SNHU Arena
The show started with a backstage promo from Oney Lorcan talking about all the weapons he can use against Ariya Daivari and how he can do anything in their Anything Goes Match tonight, however he was interrupted by Daivari and the two started brawling as the opening highlight rolled… The broadcast team was Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Aiden English…
The Brian Kendrick came out to start the show and we saw a WWE.com exclusive where the Singh Bros tried to present Kendrick with a ‘Lifetime Achievement award’ so he challenged one of them to a singles match. The Singh Bros entered and Sunil got ready to take on Kendrick…
1. Sunil Singh (w/Samir Singh) vs. The Brian Kendrick. Sunil tried to appease Kendrick with some dancing to start the match, Kendrick feigned a smile before catching Sunil with a right hook. Kendrick stomped on Sunil before picking him up and whipping him to the ropes and dancing himself to taunt the brothers.
An infuriated Sunil rushed Kendrick but was met with a backdrop. He was forced to the outside and as Kendrick tried to follow up, Samir distracted him, allowing Sunil to take control and stomp on Kendrick in the ring. Kendrick was then met with chops and more Bollywood based taunts from Sunil. The brothers distracted the referee again, allowing Samir to smack Kendrick in the face from the outside.
Sunil applied a chin lock for a while, sprinkling in a backbreaker and a middle rope elbow drop attempt. Sunil missed the elbow, allowing Kendrick to take back control with flying kick and a big boot. Kendrick tried for Sliced Bread No. 2, but Sunil managed to throw him off. Sunil wasn’t able to stay out of danger however, as Kendrick quickly locked In the Captain’s Hook to get the submission victory…
The Brian Kendrick defeated Sunil Singh by submission.
After the match, the Singhs jumped Kendrick, only for Akira Tozawa to make the save and drive the Singhs away…
Anish’s Thoughts: A rather bland opening matchup. I didn’t see anything too great here. It honestly felt like I plugged in one of the 2K games and simulated a match.
A highlight video focused on Humberto Carrillo and his life in Mexico and drive to represent Lucha Libre…
2. Jack Gallagher vs. Devin Justin. The match started with Gallagher twirling Justin around the ring using a wrist lock and then tossing him around back and forth before wrenching on his arm with a bridge. Justin flailed about and fell right into Gallagher’s uppercuts and a big boot.
Gallagher wrapped up Justin on the ropes, in a pretty funny spot that I haven’t seen much before. Justin was released from his pretzelized state with a dropkick from Gallagher, before the Brit hit him with a delayed standing suplex. As the match continued, we saw Mike Kanellis storm the ringside area and spread trash across the ring.
Gallagher and Justin stopped wrestling and to take control of the situation, Drake Maverick ordered Shawn Daivari to come to ringside and scare Mike Kanellis off, way to make him look strong. Gallagher was almost rolled up by Justin in the reaction but kicked out and cracked him with a headbutt to get the pinfall victory.
Jack Gallagher defeated Devin Justin.
Anish’s Thoughts: Another nothing match, although the pretzel spot was funny, it didn’t get a massive reaction from the crowd though as they just weren’t familiar enough with a local talent for it to be cathartic. Mike Kanellis looks like more of a loser if that was possible.
We saw backstage that Drake Maverick was trying to console Kanellis, saying that he understands what Kanellis is going through. Kanellis said that Maverick ruined his life and that it was only fair for him to ruin Maverick’s show. I don’t know how interrupting a squash match does that but whatever. Kanellis said that he can’t wait to see how big a fine Maverick gives him for the carnage he will wreak next week. Forgive me if I don’t believe him.
3. Ariya Daivari vs. Oney Lorcan in an Anything Goes Match. Lorcan grimaced to the ring and egged Daivari onwards. Daivari stood on the ramp and Lorcan opted to chase him there and they brawled their way into the ring. Lorcan rocked Daivari with a clothesline and then tossed him out of the ring. Daivari had his face rammed into the stairs and was laid out.
Lorcan immediately brought out a few chairs and dropped them into the ring. Lorcan dropped Daivari in there too and after two running elbows in the corner, he set up a chair in the ring. He took a little too long however, as Daivari was able to recover and throw Lorcan to the outside.
Daivari tried to introduce a trashcan, but Lorcan managed to smack it away from him. Daivari kept control however and pulled a ladder and a chain into the ring. Daivari used the chain to pull on Lorcan’s face, leaving Lorcan clutching his mouth. Daivari then propped Lorcan up to chop him and whip him into the ladder. Lorcan managed to counter however and managed to slug Daivari into the ladder.
Lorcan then leant the ladder against the ropes and got Daivari in suplex position. Daivari blocked it however and ended up chopping Lorcan onto the ladder. Just when he tried to hip toss Lorcan into it, Lorcan countered and for the second time sent Daivari flying into the steel.
The two continued to go back and forth, with Daivari managing to smack Lorcan’s face into the turnbuckle with a chain wrapped around it. Lorcan didn’t stay down no matter how much Daivari scraped his face with the chain. So finally, Daivari set up the ladder in the corner once more. But before that, he locked in a camel clutch on Lorcan using a set up chair as leverage.
Just as Daivari attempted to smack Lorcan’s head into the chair once more, Lorcan countered and tripped Daivari into it. Lorcan slowly took control, striking at Daivari and then hitting him with consecutive running blockbusters. With Daivari knocked to the outside, Daivari hit a tope to the outside and rolled him back into the ring.
With the crowd chanting ‘We want tables’ Lorcan obliged and tried to set one up in the ring. Daivari managed to hit Lorcan with a superkick coming in however and left him laying outside. Daivari tried to follow up with a running axe handle from the apron, but in a nice callback, Lorcan tossed the trash can at him that was still outside.
Lorcan then rammed Daivari into the steps once more and slapped him with the trash can lid and heaped chairs on top of him. Daivari did well to sell each chair as it landed on him. Lorcan then set up a couple of chairs on the outside by the turnbuckle. He took too much time setting up the bed of chairs however as Daivari was able to get his bearings and smack Lorcan with the trash lid. He then propped Lorcan up on the stairs to try and suplex him through the chair bed, but Lorcan countered with a headbutt and attempted a powerbomb.
Lorcan came out on the wrong end however as Daivari caught him with a painful looking backdrop onto the chair bed and straight through the floor. Daivari then set up the table on the inside and brought Lorcan in. He also set up a ladder for good measure parallel to it. Daivari climbed the ladder and from (almost) the top hit a spash onto Lorcan.
Lorcan just managed to get a shoulder up, and Daivari cried in frustration at Lorcan’s resilience. Daivari went and got another table and as he tried to set it up, a leg broke, I think a little symbolic of this match, a lot of effort for little reaction.
Daivari then brough in a third table and placed it next to the other one and then Lorcan ontop of it. Daivari headed to the top rope for another splash, but Lorcan countered with a superplex through the tables to get the pinfall victory.
Oney Lorcan defeated Ariya Daivari in an Anything Goes Match via pinfall.
A promo hyped up the Cruiserweight championship match between Drew Gulak and Tony Nese at Extreme Rules…
Anish’s Thoughts: This was a really well put together promo, I don’t understand why this didn’t play at the beginning of the show to set the tone. Playing it at the end, many people will have tuned out already. As for the match, Lorcan and Daivari put it all out there and worked hard. However, it was evident that the crowd wasn’t the most into this match. There was certainly a minority making some noise, but it didn’t feel like a really invested crowd. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the build, as Lorcan and Daivari have been getting a lot of screen time.
This crowd wasn’t the best and that combined with a very long match made it hard for the crowd to get invested and elevate the match. Objectively speaking, the match was really good and could have been the blowoff to this feud, but because the reaction wasn’t there I don’t know if it will be. Overall, this was a rather dragging episode of 205 Live. Even though that last match featured cool spots, it just didn’t click with the crowd. The show was very oddly structured and was generally a very middling watch. Hopefully it picks up after Extreme Rules.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast With Jason Powell featuring guest Jim Ross discussing his role in AEW, Tony Khan as a leader, whether Ross knew Shawn Spears was going to hit Cody with a chair shot to the head, working with Excalibur and Alex Marvez, his new book and speaking engagement deal, and much more.
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