By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live
Taped November 6 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Streamed on WWE Network on November 8, 2019
The broadcast team was Tom Phillips and Aiden English…
1. Brian Kendrick vs. Mansoor. Pretty big pop for Mansoor at Full Sail to start the match, although Kendrick had some chants for him as well. The match started with Kendrick taking control and kneeing Mansoor into a corner. Mansoor rolled out of the way of a clothesline and hit a head-scissors whip followed by a dropkick to push Kendrick to the apron.
While at the apron, Kendrick removed the padding on the turnbuckle, allowing him to kick Mansoor’s hand into the raw steel when he came over. Kendrick then knocked Mansoor to the outside and kicked the arm into the barricade. Kendrick took advantage of the hurt Mansoor and stomped him in the corner before targeting the arm more with an armbar on the ground.
The crowd rallied behind Mansoor, allowing him to escape the hold. Mansoor went for a superkick but Kendrick caught it and thrust him to the mat, Mansoor tried to handstand to block it, but his arm gave out in a really nice bit of selling. Kendrick pounced on the arm again and locked a Fujiwara armbar in. Mansoor was able to wriggle out and hit Kendrick with a jawbreaker to get some space.
Mansoor followed up with some raucous chops to get the crowd hyped up. Mansoor went for another superkick, was thrust down, but this time was able to handstand using just his good arm! Mansoor used this to hit Kendrick with a Falcon Arrow to get a two count. Mansoor and Kendrick then battled to their feet, with Kendrick trying for Sliced Bread No.2.
Mansoor flipped out of Sliced Bread and hit a Death Valley Driver, getting a two count. Mansoor tried to pick Kendrick up for a reverse DDT, but Kendrick reversed it into a tiger suplex onto Mansoor’s back. Kendrick tried for follow up with a Captain’s Hook, but Mansoor forced a running exchange. Kendrick tried for a Powerslam, but Mansoor reversed this and rolled him up for the victory.
Mansoor defeated Brian Kendrick.
Anish’s Thoughts: This match was really fun. Great opener between two guys who clearly had the attention of the Full Sail crowd. Mansoor got a really great reaction given his lack of TV time outside of Saudi Arabia. There was a great story throughout the match of Mansoor’s arm being targeted and a simple story like that tied it together. Cool stuff, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one being run back and just more of Mansoor on NXT in general
2. Angel Garza vs. Tony Nese in a No. 1 contender’s match for a shot at the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. This match was replayed from NXT television. Nese and Garza started off the match with a couple quick grappling exchanges ending in a stalemate. Nese and Garza locked up again, this time Nese kicked Garza’s arm and dragged him to the ground using a modified Omoplata. Garza rolled out and tried to take control, but Nese hit him with a Belly-to-Back front Suplex and taunted him.
Nese and Garza then ran at each other, with Garza managing to hit Nese with a flying head scissors. Nese then chopped Garza as he tried to take his tights off for the crowd. Nese and Garza exchanged chops before Garza landed a takedown and hit some ground and pound. The two then got to their feet and slugged it out to the corner, where Garza propped Nese onto the top rope.
Nese tried to hit a Sunset Bomb, but in a pretty funny spot, Garza slipped out of his tights and Nese hit the Powerbomb on them. Yes, Nese Powerbombed pants. The crowd popped big for this and we went to break. After the break we saw Garza and Nese head to the outside where Garza hit a Moonsault to the floor.
In the ring, Garza hit a backbreaker to get a two count. Garza tried to strike Nese after this, but Nese instead hit Garza with a Pumphandle slam. This only got a two count, so Nese tried for another, but Garza reversed this into a Lungblower. Garza tried to head to the top rope but Nese forced him to the apron and then to the outside where he hit a DDT on the concrete.
Nese rolled Garza back into the ring and hit a 450 splash, but Garza just managed to get his foot on the bottom rope. Nese and Garza got to their feet and slugged it out until eventually Garza was able to hit a rope rebound Powerbomb, which earned him a two count. Garza then went to the middle rope and hit a backflip kick to Nese. Garza picked Nese straight up right after and hit the Wing Clipped (Double Underhook Package DDT) to get the pinfall victory.
Angel Garza defeated Tony Nese.
After the match, Lio Rush came to shake Garza’s hand but was met with a slap for his efforts…
Anish’s Thoughts: Another great match, though it was from NXT two days ago, so it was a little strange to see. Nevertheless it was a good match that clearly moved Garza closer to the title and set up their title match. Nothing to complain about in this match, Garza and Nese went at it and delivered a very compelling number one contenders match.
3. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush vs. Raul Mendoza in a non-title match. In a rematch from last week on 205 Live, we saw Lio Rush take on Mendoza again, this time in Full Sail. The match started off hot with Mendoza trying for a running dropkick off the bat. Rush and Mendoza quickly went to the outside with Mendoza hitting a corkscrew tope to prompt 205 chants.
Mendoza quickly followed up with a spinning neckbreaker on the stunned Rush. Mendoza ended this combo with a lionsault to get a two count and keep Rush under pressure. Mendoza followed up by whipping Rush into the corner, but this allowed Rush to kick Mendoza and head to the top rope, but Mendoza whipped him off.
Mendoza locked in a moving Cattle Mutilation, rubbing Rush’s face into the mat multiple times. Rush sold pretty well and had the crowd on his side. This allowed Rush to get his bearings and get some momentum, hitting Mendoza with a kick to the head. The two got to their feet and exchanged strikes, with Rush hitting Mendoza with two clotheslines to set him up for a handspring back elbow.
Rush continued the offense with a suicide dive, before rolling Mendoza back into the ring and hitting a springboard stunner. Mendoza kicked out of the subsequent pinfall attempt and rallied to hit Rush with a modified Falcon Arrow. Rush kicked out and prompted Mendoza to head to the top rope. He couldn’t hit the Phoenix Splash as Rush rolled out and caught him with the Spinning Killswitch maneuver that he used to use, getting the pinfall victory…
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush defeated Raul Mendoza in a non-title match.
Anish’s Thoughts: A third great match on this show, with Rush and Mendoza putting in a performance that at least matched their effort from last week. This one seemed a little shorter, but given that they squeezed three matches into this show, I think we got our money’s worth on a stacked 205 Live from Florida. A couple of very good 205 shows in a row, and I have to give credit to Rush for a lot of it as his presence as champion has made the belt very coveted, with a lot of people emerging as challengers in credible fashion. Props to Rush for having great title matches as well to bolster the whole show. Hopefully we get more of the same as we go forward.
Be the first to comment