On the kickoff show, the Raw women’s team is already fighting themselves when Ruby Riott brings up Anvil’s sunglasses. Why did SmackDown pick Mandy Rose and not Nikki Cross?? Lame.
On the kickoff show, the Raw women’s team is already fighting themselves when Ruby Riott brings up Anvil’s sunglasses. Why did SmackDown pick Mandy Rose and not Nikki Cross?? Lame.
TJP goes right for Kalisto’s mask but instead gets his ass beat by the luchadors. He and Mike Kanellis eventually gain control, with Maria screaming like a banshee at ringside. Kalisto gets the hot tag and smacks TJP across the face with his foot. Mike Kanellis makes a blind tag, pulls Kalisto to the outside, and gives him a Russian Leg Sweep into the barricade. I don’t ever remember seeing that move before.
Now it’s Lince Dorado getting the hot tag, and he cleans house. TJP’s face has to be sore from all the kicks. Dorado hits three moonsaults in a row on TJP, one from each of the three turnbuckles. That was really cool, never seen that before. Kalisto and Dorado hit tandem moonsaults to the outside on their opponents, but they didn’t look great. TJP gets the knee bar on Dorado but Kalisto breaks it up.
TJP got Dorado’s mask AGAIN. But Dorado had on a second mask! Hurracanrana by Dorado on TJP for the win! They outsmarted TJP, great finish.
Match Rating: Eight Gold Medals
Lio Rush rips on Cedric Alexander for training with the rookies in the WWE Performance Center. They’ll have a match next week.
Morrell gets some big kicks in early, but after Rush knocked Morrell off the top turnbuckle, Rush gets MEAN. He throws Morrell into barricade with a ton of force then is all over him back in the ring. He hits the Final Hour frog splash for the win. Impressive. He cuts a promo and dedicates this win to the man who inspires him, Cedric Alexander.
He changes his tone, and says nobody works harder than Lio Rush. This is Rush’s best promo.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
Lio Rush Promo Rating: Eight Roddy Pipers
Mustafa Ali cuts a promo on the street. He’s a really good talker. Murphy responds and says there’s no happy ending in this fairytale, and you can’t stop the unstoppable.
Mustafa Ali Promo Rating: Seven Stone Colds
Buddy Murphy Promo Rating: Seven Roddy Pipers
Mark Andrews did a standing Shooting Star Press and landed on his feet. There’s a reason I call him Rubber Man. After some awesome stuff in the early going from Andrews, Murphy drops him face first on the turnbuckle, and now things slow down. Murphy controls him for a while but Andrews absolutely spikes Murphy head first with a reverse hurracanrana. Then Andrews nails a suicide dive that sends Murphy flying over the announce table.
Andrews does some more awesome flippy shit, including a STANDING PHOENIX SPLASH. HOW THE HELL DOES HE DO THAT?!? Andrews gets caught and Murphy hits a power bomb for a two count. Andrews counters Murphy into a Stundog Millionaire and tries for a Shooting Star Press, but Murphy gets the knees up, then hits a huge kick to the face and Murphy’s Law on Andrews’ limp body for the win. Both of these guys are great, Andrews is unbelievable.
Match Rating: Seven Gold Medals
Overall Show Rating: Seven Gold Medals
Grudge match! I’d be surprised to see Kendrick come out on top. Gallagher is dominating the match. He’s extra vicious tonight, determined to destroy his former friend. Kendrick himself is especially motivated to get revenge. Drew Gulak is on commentary, and Percy Watson chides him for not being the one to get in the ring with Kendrick himself. Gulak avoids the question and mocks Watson instead. Typical mean heel!
It’s still hard to watch Joe Anoai’s announcement from last week. It puts a lump in my throat every time I see it.
It’s the 100th episode of 205 Live!
They do a great job of recapping how Mustafa Ali and Hideo Itami have reached this point in their feud, why they are feuding in the first place, and each man’s mindset throughout. It’s excellent storytelling, and is so much better than “we’re going to have these two guys wrestle because they’re both here.” You hear both men’s reasons and motives, get emotionally involved, and pick a side. Textbook stuff.
Continue reading “205 Live Review, 10/24”
A terrific match announced for tonight: Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander. I’m getting Ten Gold Medals ready for that one. Hopefully it lives up to my expectation
Two guys with excellent technical skills. Not a lot of guys can frustrate an opponent the way Gallagher can, but Tozawa almost equals him in that department. Unfortunately for Tozawa, Gallagher has backup in Gulak and Kendrick that run interference and provide distractions. Following a Kendrick distraction, Gallagher begins picking Tozawa apart with the body manipulation that he’s known for.
It’s been a great buildup to tonight’s Cruiserweight Championship rematch. Gulak vs. Alexander is the best feud 205 Live has had in its short history. Gulak has been great since he stopped doing PowerPoint presentations.
Very entertaining to see Tozawa knock down Gallagher and Kendrick each with once punch. Very different styles here and Tozawa’s offense is an explosive flurry while Kendrick is slow and methodical. It’s a perfect matchup.
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