By Anish Vishwakoti, ProWrestling.net Staffer, (@AVX_9001)
WWE 205 Live (Episode 259)
Taped in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Streamed November 26, 2021 on WWE Network
The show started cold with Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness welcoming us to the show and the entrance of Valentina Feroz. McGuinness wore an Andre Chase shirt to set up for later…
1. Valentina Feroz vs. Elektra Lopez (w/Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde). Being escorted to the ring by the rest of Legado Del Phantasmo, Lopez calmly walked Feroz down and even let her grab a hold of her arm but just shucked her off. Lopez smiled through Feroz’s grapples and simply picked her up and hit a swinging uranage. Lopez then squeezed the traps of Feroz and threw her to the ground, stomping on her and interspersing some more slams.
Lopez tried to run at Feroz in the corner who got out of dodge and used the space to hit a huracanrana and a dropkick for a two count. Feroz tried to follow up after the dropkick with a crucifix pin but Lopez caught her and hit a swinging Thunderbomb to get the pinfall victory…
Elektra Lopez defeated Valentina Feroz.
Anish’s Thoughts: Feroz has been built up well over the last few months so while this was a little bit of a surprise seeing her get smashed like this, I think it was also effective at making Lopez look great. I also don’t think Feroz looks bad either, it simply highlights the gap in level between her and Lopez.
2. Erica Yan vs. Amari Miller. The two circled and locked up quickly and exchanged back takes before Miller earned some control with a headlock. Yan reversed eventually and shot off the ropes, hitting Miller with a shoulder block and a pair of hip tosses before grabbing an arm lock. Yan kept Miller guessing with the arm locks and got in Miller’s face before whipping Miller to the corner.
Yan went over to the apron and Miller used this time to trip her and hit a big chest kick before rolling her in for a one count. Miller then rolled Yan up in a crucifix but only got a one count. Miller then quickly transitioned to a chin lock, but Yan snapmared her off and prompted a pin exchange but no dice for either.
Yan was able to hit a standing suplex and got a pair of one counts. Yan then tried for a Death Valley Driver, but Miller got off her shoulders and hit a running boot followed by the Snap to Knee Jawbreaker to get the pinfall victory…
Amari Miller defeated Erica Yan.
Anish’s Thoughts: While Yan didn’t win this match, she and Miller worked together well in order to give Yan a little bit of a spotlight on her personality. The rest of the match was pretty standard, but allowed Miller to showcase her moveset while Yan got her personality over. So the match did its job and, while it wasn’t a barn burner, it was interesting enough to keep me engaged.
Before the main event, Andre Chase came out and made fun of Solo Sikoa, saying that he was going to teach Sikoa that you win fights with your brain, not your fists. Chase said that tonight the streets are no match for Andre Chase University.
3. Andre Chase vs. Solo Sikoa. Chase started the match with his University sweater on and locked up with Sikoa, trying to take his back. Chase didn’t try and stay in the hold for too long, pushing Sikoa off and taunting him. Chase then escaped a wrist lock from Sikoa and taunted him again, this time infuriating Sikoa to the extent that he kicked his legs out from under him and tossed him to the outside. Sikoa then followed Chase to the outside and rammed his head onto the apron before rolling him back into the ring.
Chase tried to swing at Sikoa but had his hands caught, allowing Sikoa to hit a series of head butts. Sikoa tried for a Samoan drop but Chase jumped off his shoulders and hit a foot stomp and swinging Neckbreaker for a failed pin attempt. Chase then hit a scoop slam and showed off to his student section while stomping Sikoa. Chase then tried to pick Sikoa up and managed to power through some strikes to hit a Russian leg sweep and a chin lock.
Chase kept the chin lock on strong, but Sikoa was eventually able to shuck him off and trip Chase and hit a running Senton followed up by a corner elbow and spinning wheel kick for a two count. Sikoa then set Chase up in the corner but Chase rolled out of the ring and draped Sikoa on the ropes before hitting a Tornado DDT for a two count.
Chase then tried for a submission but Sikoa kicked him off and hit a Samoan drop before going to the top rope and hitting a big Splash for the pinfall victory…
Solo Sikoa defeated Andre Chase.
Anish’s Thoughts: This was a fun back and forth match which saw Sikoa get a great win over an annoying Andre Chase to really please the crowd. Sikoa looks great and reminds me very much of his brothers early days back with the face paint and I say that in the best way possible. I hope we see more of him on 205 Live, however I would not be surprised if he ends up on the main roster sooner rather than later. Chase has a great gimmick as well and he is great to play off, I hope they really give him a chance to run as I think with some good booking, Andre Chase University is a great way to get himself and others over in an entertaining way.
This was a fun show, although I have to say in some ways the show as a whole was less than the sum of its parts as it just seemed like three matches thrown together all of which were fair to midland. There wasn’t a hook throughout the show and while each of the matches were good, none of them really built on each other which I think held the show back a little bit. Props to all the competitors though as they each delivered, if anything it is WWE’s lack of investment in 205 that holds back the show.
Another mediocre episode of NXT Dark!