By Colin McGuire, ProWrestling.net Contributor
WWE 205 Live
Taped earlier in the week in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Streamed August 14, 2020 on WWE Network
Vic Jospeh and Drew Gulak were on commentary…
1. “Ever Rise” Matt Martel and Chase Parker vs. Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza (w/Santos Escobar). The show opened with no check-in from commentary and the entrance of Legado del Fantasma, and Santos Escobar, who was wearing his normal black blazer with a few gold chains around his neck. Wilde donned a hat that read “Legado” in staggered letters and actually looked kind of cool.
Parker and Martel made their entrance next as the commentary team reminded us that they declared themselves the “best team in 205 Live history” after beating Marquis Carter and Mikey Spandex last week, which, in the grand scheme of things, probably doesn’t qualify anybody to be the best of anything in anybody’s history, but we digress.
Before long, Martel started yelling “What are we waiting for?” before getting worked over by Mendoza, who eventually got his chops in. Martel hit a nice-looking back elbow before a blind tag from Wilde saw him enter the ring. Wilde eventually landed a DDT before slapping Parker, who previously tagged in, across the chest. Parker then had his hands stepped on as Joseph proclaimed Wilde had what he called “cutthroat charisma.”
After some offense from Mendoza and Wilde, Parker fired up and got the hot tag after countering into a quick body-slam. Martel landed a really good-looking drop-kick before tagging in his partner, who only had a handful of seconds to recover from his beatdown. Ever-Rise went for their Codebreaker modification finish when they were cut off as Mendoza pulled the top-rope down to get Parker out of the ring.
From there, Wilde and Mendoza completed their Russian Leg Sweep with a hard-looking kick to get the pinfall…
Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza of Legado del Fantasma defeated “Ever Rise” Matt Martel and Chase Parker in 5:49.
McGuire’s Musings: The teams worked hard, but if I’m not mistaken, weren’t Ever-Rise working as heels last week? This week, didn’t it appear as though they were working as babyfaces against the heels in Legado del Fantasma? Either way, I was surprised that Martel and Parker got in as much offense as they did, while Mendoza and Wilde looked good for being crossover artists, what with NXT and all. The right team went over, but it’s hard not to think Martel looks like somewhere between Matt Hardy and at least one of the Young Bucks.
A recap of last week’s Tony Neese vs. Danny Burch match aired, with the focus on the return of Ariya Daivari, who beat down Oney Lorcan (who, if I may say, has the best Twitter follow in the business). As a result, Jake Atlas challenged Daivari on social media this week, and that’s about all anybody really needs to do to book something on 205 Live these days.
A SummerSlam ad aired, and I guess it’s going to be in an empty arena? That’s what they say. Let’s hope at least some people wear masks…
2. Jake Atlas vs. Ariya Daivari. “I missed him so much,” said Gulak. “Mr. Daivari is feeling good,” he added, and he’s probably right. Atlas made his entrance while doing the Larry Zbyszko arm wave. Man, the ’80s were great. “Being a WWE superstar is all he ever wanted to do,” was what Joseph said Atlas told People magazine. Dream achieved.
A quick lockup resulted in some heel tactics from Daivari before Atlas took him down in another head lock as piped in crowd noise appeared to rule the sound. A shoulder block from Atlas took Daivari back down before Daivari hair-pulled Atlas to the turnbuckle. Another headlock from Atlas resulted on some mat work from both wrestlers. “Who’s got it now?” Daivari asked before Atlas offered up a half cartwheel, getting his opponent back into a headlock.
Daivari worked on the offensive with a kick as they wrestled to the outside. A hard hit on the commentator’s table inspired Gulak to note, “Good to see you, man,” to Daivari. Joseph questioned Gulak’s journalistic integrity. Gulak and Joseph fell into a conversation about the respect Daivari has for his opponents. A flying forearm slowed things down.
Atlas countered with some slaps as he made his comeback. He eventually connected with a German suplex. An enziguri kick led to a two-count. Atlas ran into a kick from Daivari. Atlas then drove Daivari head first into the mat with something that looked like a Skull-Crushing Finale.
Atlas landed a blockbuster from the top rope before Daivari rolled outside the ring. Atlas then went with a dive through the ropes. As they moved into the ring, Daivari side-stepped Atlas and threw him into the middle turnbuckle. Daivari then went to expose the top turnbuckle before the referee stopped him. Atlas went for a rollup and got a two-count. Daivari was successful with a thumb to the eye and then went for his hammer-lock lariat to get the win.
Ariyal Daivari defeated Jake Atlas in 10:08.
McGuire’s Musings: It was hard not to expect Daivari to win, considering how it was his return and all. Atlas looked good for being the sacrificial lamb and there were moments that allowed him to shine more than some of his previous matches. It looks like Daivari will be the leading heel of 205, and I don’t think it’s irrational to wonder if perhaps he could align with Santos Escobar and create a dominate faction in 205 (if all the rumors are true, WWE is trying to re-create its success from the Attitude Era factions, and this could be a good start in addition to the Hurt Business and whatever Retribution is). In all, it was a good program that moved forward some stories while confusing others (honestly, what the hell is Ever-Rise supposed to be?). With Daivari back, though, things could get interesting.
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