By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Aired live on July 16, 2019 from Worcester, Massachusetts at DCU Center
By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Aired live on July 16, 2019 from Worcester, Massachusetts at DCU Center
The broadcast team was Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Aiden English… The show started with a recap of the WWE Cruiserweight Championship match at Extreme Rules, showing Drew Gulak successfully defending against Tony Nese. A Gulak promo aired with him saying that he had erased all doubt about who 205 belongs to. Gulak welcomed everyone to his 205 Live…
1. Akira Tozawa (w/Brian Kendrick) vs. Samir Singh (w/Sunil Singh). Tozawa and Samir started off by exchanging strikes, with Samir getting the jump on Tozawa and stomping him in the corner. Tozawa managed to get to his feet and retaliated with a jab and some stomps of his own. Samir managed to trip him and continue his stomps and took the time to taunt Tozawa with a dance.
Samir then whipped Tozawa across the ring and nabbed a headlock. He wasn’t able to hold onto it for long however and Tozawa managed to reverse into a fireman’s carry slam and a dropkick to knock him out of the ring. Tozawa then followed up with an apron dive onto Samir. Tozawa tossed his opponent back into the rings and tried for a top rope maneuver but Sunil distracted him. The distraction didn’t make a difference however as Tozawa just kicked off a rushing Sunil and rolled him up for the pinfall victory.
Akira Tozawa defeated Samir Singh by pinfall.
After the match, the Singhs attacked Kendrick and Tozawa, but the babyfaces got their way and ran the Singhs off while also managing to steal their Boscar trophy from them…
Anish’s Thoughts: Pretty standard opening match. The Singhs’ antics get older as the weeks wear on. Good job by Tozawa to keep the crowd into it during the match.
Another video aired to hype up Humberto Carrillo, showing his skills in the ring and his passion for Lucha Libre…
2. Mike Kanellis vs. Jackson James. Kanellis got to work on the local talent, whipping him int the corner and then across the ring for a spinebuster. We saw Maria watching from backstage as Mike laid down strikes on the local talent in the corner and then brought him to he center of the ring where he hit his neckbreaker finisher to get the pinfall victory.
Mike Kanellis defeated a local wrestler by pinfall.
Anish’s Thoughts: Finally, a victory for Mike Kanellis. That’s all I can say.
After the match, Kanellis asked Drake Maverick to come to the ring. Kanellis said that he wanted to prove to his wife that he is a man by winning the WWE Cruiserweight Title. He also said he wanted to kick Drake Maverick’s ass. Maverick said that Mike needs to be accountable and went through a rundown of everything that had gone wrong for Kanellis in recent months. Kanellis countered by mentioning that Maverick has yet to consummate his marriage.
Kanellis made fun of Maverick’s pursuit of the 24/7 Title and said that he is an embarrassment to 205 Live. Kanellis and Maverick yelled insults further with the conclusion being Maverick was infuriated and ended up laying into Kanellis and dropkicked him…
Anish’s Thoughts: I guess we will see Maverick back in the ring very soon. Kanellis doesn’t look any better for it however. As of right now, I can’t see this going well for him.
A recap of Oney Lorcan and Ariya Daivari’s match from last week was shown. We also saw a recap of the last match between Jack Gallagher and Chad Gable from a few weeks ago that ended in a count-out victory for Gable…
3. Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable. The two men shook hands before getting into it, with Gable tripping Gallagher and going for a headlock before Gallagher wiggled out and looked for wrist control. They settled eventually with Gable flipping Gallagher to clinch a headlock.
The wrestlers went back and forth from here with Gallagher countering Gable’s strength with agility and vice versa for Gable. After a stalemate stand-off following a long series of holds, Gable hit a takedown and then propped Gallagher up and bounded him to the ropes. Gallagher avoided a pop up attempt from Gable and slugged him onto the top rope.
Gallagher then whipped Gable across the ring, but Gable used two arm drags to settle on an arm lock. Gallagher used his wiles to wriggle out and lock in a body scissors however. This didn’t last long though as Gable lifted him up and hit an impressive one armed powerbomb.
With this little bit of space, Gable tried for an ankle lock, but Gallagher kicked him off and Gable had to settle for a hammer throw into the corner and a pinfalled that garnered a two count. Gable kept the pressure on, rattling Gallagher with dragon screws and a standing deathlock, wearing down Gallagher’s legs.
Gable tried to go for a single leg Boston crab, but Gallagher struggled out once more. Gable changed strategy and attempted two uppercuts, the second of which Gallagher reversed into a backslide. Gallagher used this momentum to hit Gable with a delayed vertical suplex, although this only got a two count. Gallagher tried to rush Gable again but Gable managed to avoid a kick and Gallagher settled for a kimura.
Gable managed to roll Gallagher onto his shoulders, prompting a kickout and a release. Gable couldn’t take advantage however as Gallagher hit him with a middle rope dropkick and tossed him over the top rope. Gallagher then hit a dive to the outside and when he tried to follow up with another, Gable got out of dodge and quickly picked up Gallagher for a German suplex.
Gable didn’t want to win by count-out though so he rolled Gallagher back into the ring. Gallagher went for a small package but Gable kicked out and responded with a Tiger Bomb and then locked in the Ankle lock. Gable hooked his legs in, but Gallagher rolled out and used hammer fists on the grounded Gable to break the lock.
The two men got to their feet and exchanged strikes with Gallagher landing a rope rebound headbutt. Gable managed to kick out as Gallagher fell onto him, the two got up slowly and went strike for strike with Gallagher almost hitting a running dropkick into the corner and Gable reversing into an awesome looking Canadian clutch DDT. Gallagher kicked out of this so Gable positioned Gallagher for a moonsault. Gallagher got the feet up and hit the running dropkick on a stunned Gable, but when he went for the pin, Gable got a foot on the ropes at 2.9.
Gallagher then propped Gable up on the top rope and tried to weaken him with strikes. Gable fought back and when Gallagher tried for a super German suplex, Gable shifted the momentum and hit a cross body. With Gallagher stunned from the cross body, Gable performed a German suplex of his own and held the bridge to get the pinfall victory…
Chad Gable defeated Jack Gallagher by pinfall.
Neither man could stand and they were drenched in sweat, both looking completely exhausted. Gable extended his hand to pick Gallagher up and the show closed while the crowd applauded both men as Gable exited the ring and Gallagher showed disappointment…
Anish’s Thoughts: This match was simply stunning. The crowd and the announcers gave both men a standing ovation. This match was a showcase for both 205 Live and Chad Gable. Overall, though, this show was a weird one. It had a very underwhelming opening match and while Drake Maverick got a good reaction based on his apparent return to the ring, I am not confident that this storyline with Kanellis is the right one to get involved with.
The Gable vs. Gallagher main event was something special though, and it is absolutely worth checking out. Undoubtedly, it will be one of the best matches of the week on WWE/NXT programming and both men deserved that crowd reaction they received. My weekly Dot Net Members’ Exclusive 205 Live audio review will be available shortly.
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