By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Streamed live on January 31, 2020 from Tulsa, Oklahoma at BOK Center
The show started with a recap of Worlds Collide where the newly rebranded NXT Cruiserweight Championship was won by Jordan Devlin in a great four-way match. The broadcast team of Jon Quasto and Aiden English mentioned that ringside smelt like dog food which amused me, and then we saw a recap of Brian Kendrick’s alliance with Ariya Daivari…
1. Joaquin Wilde vs. Raul Mendoza. The former DJZ returns to 205 Live and kicked off the show against Raul Mendoza. The two started with a strong lockup before trying to take each other’s back. Wilde and Mendoza went back and forth with each being able to hold the other in a couple of locks for a little bit. After a fast paced flurry and stalemate, Wilde grabbed a headlock before clotheslining Mendoza out of the ring.
Wilde tried to follow up with a dive but got caught with an elbow by Mendoza back in the ring. Mendoza rocked Wilde with a couple of strikes and then grabbed a chin lock to drag Wilde to the ground and wear him down. Wilde eventually built a little space with an elbow and hip tossed Mendoza over the top to the outside.
Wilde followed up with a tope and rolled Mendoza back into the ring before hitting two clotheslines. Wilde tried to follow up with a top rope dive, but Mendoza hit him with a dropkick and hit a spinning Uranage followed by a moonsault to earn a two count.
Mendoza tried to follow up with a series of strikes, but Wilde managed to get out of dodge and he hit Mendoza with a Rewind Rana and a lungblower, followed by the ‘Wilde Thing” (pull back double foot uppercut) to get the pinfall victory…
Joaquin Wilde defeated Raul Mendoza.
After the match, Wilde showed good faith by shaking Mendoza’s hand and helping him out of the ring…
Anish’s Thoughts: As quick as this match was, it was definitely a fun way to kick off the show. Mendoza and Wilde had a great exchange and I think Mendoza doesn’t look any worse for wear for being caught out by Wilde like that. Wilde’s attempt to imitate a DJ air-horn multiple times in this segment was a little annoying, but apart from that he has the makings of a good face on 205… or a really annoying heel.
2. Danny Burch vs. Brian Kendrick. The match started with Burch running at Kendrick and scaring him out of the ring. Burch was wary of Daivari, allowing Kendrick to roll out again and buy some time. After a distraction from Daivari, Kendrick tried to get a hold of Burch but unsuccessfully. Daivari provided a second distraction on the outside, but even this didn’t give Kendrick the advantage as Burch whipped him about the ringside area.
Eventually, when Burch broke the count and tried to get Kendrick who was on the outside, Kendrick tossed Burch over the announce table and gained control. Kendrick distracted the referee, allowing Daivari to sweep him onto the apron. Kendrick used this distraction to target and stomp on Burch’s leg for a while. Eventually, when Burch was on the apron, Daivari tried to sweep him again, but Burch knocked him away and fired up to take on Kendrick.
Burch used this time to strike Kendrick with elbows and hit a top rope dropkick, even with his hurt knee, which earned him a two count. Burch and Kendrick then went back and forth trying to roll each other up, eventually leading to Burch locking in a crossface, but Daivari interfered and dropped an elbow on Burch, leading to a DQ…
Danny Burch beat Brian Kendrick by disqualification.
After the match, Kendrick and Daivari double teamed and beat down Burch, and tried to wrap a chair around his hurt leg. They couldn’t do too much damage however as Oney Lorcan’s music hit and the Star Destroyer returned to 205, brandishing a chair to save his tag team partner.
Anish’s Thoughts: Obviously, the point of this match was to reintroduce Lorcan to 205 Live and it did so in a very effective way. There was no reason to disjoin him from Burch and giving Burch the backup of Lorcan to deal with Kendrick and Daivari is sensible. No complaints here.
3. Tyler Breeze vs. Angel Garza. Before the two locked up, Garza made sure to call Breeze an ‘ugly man.’ As they locked up initially, Garza got the better of Breeze and shoulder blocked him to the ground. Garza also took the time to steal Breeze’s pose and let him know that he was the prettier one. Breeze responded with a running shoulder block of his own, followed by the two having a running exchange and stalemate.
Garza tried to take his pants off, but Breeze kicked him to the outside and the two had a quick game of cat and mouse between the canvas and the floor, with Garza winning out and gaining control of the match. Garza propped Breeze between the second and top rope and kneed him in the gut before using a knee to the back to try and break Breeze down.
Breeze struggled, but Garza just propped him in the ropes again and kicked him before ripping his pants of to reveal trunks. Garza then propped Breeze in Tree-of-Woe position to hit him with a running knee. Garza then used a grounded abdominal stretch to continue his wearing down of Breeze. Prince Pretty struggled out of this and he and Garza rattled each other with running strikes until Breeze knocked Garza down and managed to get a two count.
Breeze then propped Garza up on the top rope and when Garza pushed him off and tried for a dive, Breeze splattered him with a great Supermodel kick. Garza just kicked out in time and managed to catch Breeze on the follow up with a knee to the face. Garza tried to pin him but only got two, and even after trying a rope rebound cutter only got another two count, leaving Garza frustrated.
Garza got up to his feet and dropkicked Breeze into prone position, trying for a top rope dive. Breeze kept rolling out of the way however, and finally Garza tried to hit a springboard moonsault but Breeze got the feet up. Breeze tried to capitalize with a jumping huracanrana, but Garza reversed and caught him in the Wing Clipper to get the pinfall victory.
Angel Garza defeated Tyler Breeze.
Anish’s Thoughts: As much as I would hope that this wasn’t the last match between them, based on how this match went, I don’t think we will see Garza vs. Breeze for a little while. Breeze took a definitive loss against Garza, and even if he didn’t manage to hit Garza with everything, this seems like the way to keep Breeze on the outskirts of the title picture for just a little while longer.
The loss to the former champion by no means derails Breeze especially as he continues to get a good reaction and this is a good win for Garza, who was never pinned to lose the title. It was mentioned that Jordan Devlin would be on 205 Live next week so I look forward to that and I hope we get some clarity as to whether the Championship will be mostly seen on 205 Live, or if it will be split with NXT/NXT UK.
Overall this was a good show with some good matches and a lot of story moving forward. Everybody came out of this show looking better which is always nice to see so hopefully we get more of that moving forward.
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