By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live on WWE Network
Streamed live on March 13, 2020 from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
They had a cold open that opened the show with the elimination match. Jon Quasto and Aiden English were on commentary. Before the match started, it was revealed that The Singh Brothers would be with team 205 Originals at ringside. It was also revealed that the fifth member of the NXT team was Kushida…
1. Tony Nese, Mike Kanellis, Jack Gallagher, Brian Kendrick, and Ariya Daivari (w/The Singh Brothers) vs. Isaiah Scott, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, Tyler Breeze, and Kushida in a 10-man tag team elimination match. The match kicked off with Kushida in the ring with Nese, the two circled each other and locked up with Kushida trying to take Nese down but getting out muscled pretty quickly. Nese took some time to show off his abs as always and then got back into it.
Kushida took control of Nese’s arm for a little while, trying to wear him down, but Nese reversed and grabbed a front face lock. The two went back and forth like this for a little while, until Kushida was able to build some distance and goad Nese into rushing at him, locking in a headlock and transitioning to a handspring back elbow.
Nese then tagged in Kanellis, who immediately brought him to the ground and then tagged in Lorcan who executed a tag team arm breaker on Kanellis with Danny Burch. Lorcan and Burch continued to tag in and out, taking control of the match for a little bit. However, Kanellis at one point was able to tag Nese back in who almost turned the tables on Lorcan, but Lorcan tagged in Burch and it was back to square one for the NXT originals.
Burch uppercutted Nese to the outside and rolled him back in. On the outside, the Singh brothers distracted him, however Burch was still able to get into the ring and lock in an armbar on Nese. Kanellis broke it up and prompted a brawl as all ten men got into the ring and started a large scale fight. The Singhs got involved as well, distracting Burch long enough in the ring for Nese to rack Burch with a camera and cover him to get the elimination.
Danny Burch was eliminated by Tony Nese.
Nese and Breeze were now legal, and the originals took advantage of a stunned Breeze to isolate him and go to work. Kanellis and Nese tagged in and out to wear down Breeze with tag maneuvers, including a toe trip knee strike. Nese and Breeze slogged away in the ring for a bit, however Nese tagged in Gallagher who took over and pounded on Breeze. Gallagher then managed to roll up Breeze and in sudden fashion he eliminated Breeze via pinfall.
Tyler Breeze was eliminated by Jack Gallagher.
Gallagher then squared off with Lorcan and the two went at it for a little bit, however Gallagher tagged in Kanellis who went back and forth with each other dodging and landing chops in the corner. Lorcan urged Kanellis to keep chopping and the two laid strikes into each other until Kanellis was able to hit a superkick and did not tag in his teammates out of arrogance, prompting dissension between Nese and Gallagher. This distraction prompted Kanellis to be eliminated as Lorcan rolled him up.
Mike Kanellis was eliminated by Oney Lorcan.
In the confusion Daivari took control of Lorcan and he and Brian Kendrick tagged in and out to keep Lorcan under pressure. Daivari hit a Neckbreaker at one point and after this got a two count, he grabbed a chin lock to squeeze the air out of Lorcan.
Daivari kept the lock on for a while until eventually Lorcan was able to strike Daivari’s head and break it. The two then tagged in Isaiah Scott and Kendrick respectively and they rushed at each other. Scott kicked Kendrick’s chest on the ropes and then elbowed Daivari off the apron, which allowed Kendrick to toss Scott out of the ring. Kendrick then tagged in Gallagher who rocked Scott with knees. Daivari tagged in and tried to exchange with Scott, however Scott was able to roll both him and Kendrick up in quick succession.
Ariya Daivari and Brian Kendrick were eliminated by Isaiah Scott.
Before the Daivari and Kendrick left the area, they tossed Scott into the turnbuckle and rammed Kushida’s head into the announce table. Gallagher and Scott were the legal men in the ring, with Gallagher furiously elbowing the grounded Scott. He then charged at Scott angrily, who took advantage and tossed Gallagher over the top rope.
The stunned Gallagher tumbled back into the ring, where Scott tagged in Lorcan who tried to hit Gallagher with a half and half suplex. Lorcan was too eager however and Gallagher was able to hit a suplex of his own and a headbutt to take out Lorcan. Gallagher then rolled in Kushida into the ring after taking out the entire ringside area. Gallagher hit the running dropkick and went for a pin but Kushida managed to just kick out.
Kushida managed to tag in Scott, who after a brief brawl with Gallagher, was able to hit the ‘House Call’ jumping side kick to the head of Gallagher. Scott went for the pin but also got a two count. Kushida and Swerve then hit a simultaneous running kick into the corner on Gallagher. With Gallagher down, Scott hit the arm stomp as well as a wheelbarrow slam, armbar combo to get the submission and the overall victory.
Isaiah Scott, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, Tyler Breeze, and Kushida defeated Tony Nese, Mike Kanellis, Jack Gallagher, Brian Kendrick, and Ariya Daivari to win a ten-man elimination match.
After the match, final survivors Kushida and Scott had a staredown, giving the indication that they will have a rivalry of sorts in the near future…
Anish’s Thoughts: Obviously, this is a strange scenario, but these guys all did a phenomenal job of making this match still feel important after all the build up, even in an empty arena. The fact that one out of every three 205 Lives are done in front of a rather unresponsive crowd actually made this show a little less eerie than Smackdown was just before. That being said, it was still strange.
The dynamic between the teams was rather clearly established with the 205 Live Originals being positioned as a dysfunctional heel team whose inward strife led to their eventual downfall. I don’t think anyone’s elimination made them look really weak, and more than anything, Kushida, Scott, and Gallagher all came out of this looking very good.
Overall, I expected this to be a one match show considering they had advertised the ten man tag, and they did make the best of it, not belaboring the point to try and make a one hour show. I hope like all wrestling fans and people in general that this pandemic is short for this world and that there will be a very limited number of Smackdowns, Raws & 205 Lives from the PC. Stay safe and in the words of Braun Strowman. WASH THESE HANDS!
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