WWE 205 Live – January 31st, 2017

Howdy!

Tonight on 205 Live, Noam Dar & Adrian Neville will take on Cedric Alexander & Jack Gallagher in our main event!

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

WWE 205 Live – 1/31/17

Video package to start. Sunday night at the Royal Rumble, the King of the Cruiserweights ascended to his throne as Adrian Neville defeated Rich Swann to become the new WWE Cruiserweight champ! Neville rules, by the way.

We are LIVE from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas! Your hosts are Mauro Ranallo, Austin Aries, & Corey Graves. We’re informed that Rich Swann has not been cleared to compete after the Rumble and the events last night on Raw, but never fear: Jack Gallagher has stepped up to take his place in the main event tonight! Also tonight, marvel at Mauro Ranallo correctly pronounce puroresu, as we’ll see the debut on 205 Live of Akira Tozawa!

But let’s get started with the music of Tony Nese! The Premier Athlete makes his way to the ring as we see his less than sportsmanlike reaction to a loss to TJ Perkins next week. Nese is good, by the way. He just probably shouldn’t talk. And that music signals the arrival of Lince Dorado! The Golden Lynx makes his way to the ring, and let’s get this week started.

Lince Dorado vs Tony Nese

Handshake is accepted, albeit half-assed by Nese. They circle and a lockup goes to the corner, and we get a clean break from Tony, accompanied by some trash talk by Nese. Shhhh, Tony. Just wrestle. You’re good at that part of this. Back to it and Dorado gets a waistlock, Tony reverses it and throws Dorado down, then poses. Trip by Lince leads to a drop toehold right after by Dorado, then La Majistral for one. ‘Rana is snapped off by Dorado on Nese, but Nese sends him to the buckles when Lince approaches in the corner, cross-corner whip by Tony, Dorado goes up and catches a charging Nese with a headscissors, Nese tosses him to the apron. Dorado hits Nese with a shoulder through the ropes and goes to the top, bodypress by Lince gets two. Nese tries for a hiptoss, but Dorado springs off the second rope and catches Nese with a headscissors, dropping down to the mat instead of taking him over. Nese rolls out, Dorado attempts a baseball slide but Tony moves. Right hand is blocked by Lince, shots from Dorado find their mark, Tony rolls back in and slams Dorado to the mat headfirst when Lince follows. Something is off about this match, I’m not sure what.

Tony sends Dorado to the ropes, then drops him with a double forearm for two, then goes across the face with forearms on Dorado before dropping a leg for one. Dorado fires right hands, Nese back at him with a kneelift. Tony sends Dorado to the corner, Lince moves on the Nese blind charge, Nese alley-oops Dorado to the apron on Lince’s blind charge. Kick to the face from Dorado to Nese from the apron, Dorado goes up, Nese somersaults over and pops Dorado with a palm strike across the face on the top rope. Lince is draped on the top now, Nese with a kick into a fireman’s carry, gutbuster by Nese! 1, 2, NO! Bodyscissors by Nese now. Lince frees himself with some open-handed strikes, so Nese goes to a waistlock instead, Dorado goes to the ropes to shake Nese off, Dorado just picks Nese up and drops him down. That looked awkward. Clothesline by Dorado! Another one! He blocks some attempted shots from Nese and slaps him across the chest. Irish whip is reversed by Nese, handspring by Dorado into a Stunner! 1, 2, NO! Lince charges Nese in the corner, Nese moves, Dorado ducks a clothesline and comes off the ropes with a springboard, moonsault by Dorado gets two! Lince charges Nese in the corner now, Nese hits him with a back elbow and goes up, standing dropkick by Dorado to Nese on the top! That gives Mauro the chance to namedrop Okada, to the consternation of Graves. Lince goes up but Nese grabs at the mask of Dorado to stop him and pushes him face first to the mat. Nese hops down and sets Dorado up, running knee to Lince in the corner! We’re done here. (Tony Nese over Lince Dorado, pinfall, 6:12)

WORTH WATCHING? – This match didn’t make Tony Nese any new fans, that I’m willing to bet on. NO, they weren’t on the same page at all here. The match felt awkward in the beginning and the transitions were really, really rough. There didn’t seem to be much of a story or flow to what they were doing out there, it was just move, move, move with nothing behind it. The herky-jerky style of the match was a huge detriment to it. I like both guys just fine, and I’m a fan of Nese, but this wasn’t much at all. Nice to see them getting Nese’s knee over as a badass finisher, because he does make it look good.

Post-match, Nese gives us some posin’ as we see the highlights from the match. Man, people have been kicking out of stunners in Texas this weekend. Austin must have used up all the juice that move had. Back now, and Nese has decided to beat up on Lince Dorado a bit more, hitting him from behind and tossing him back in the ring, then hits a NASTY looking German suplex to the buckles on Dorado. His head looked like it bounced on that bottom buckle. Aries: “I might even say this was uncalled for. I’m not sure yet.” Okay, he’s growing on me a bit. Nese seems pleased with his work, but the music of TJ Perkins hits, and here comes the former CW champion rushing the ring. Perkins hits a Benadryller to send Tony running for the hills as Perkins and Nese stare at each other from the ramp.

Back to the announcers as they talk about Neville winning the title on Sunday at the Rumble, and that takes us back to Raw last night, as Swann offered the hand; Neville would have preferred he take a knee instead. Adrian attempts to punish him for his insolence, but Swann is ready and fires away, then dives onto Neville on the outside.

We’re in the back with Swann now; can he give us an update on his injury? Swann: “Well, I’m still waiting on a more detailed prognosis, but as you can see (camera pans down to show his crutch and walking boot) I hurt my ankle last night kicking Neville’s crown off his head!” Now, that may be a shock to the WWE Universe, because they saw Swann standing tall last night! It was a shock to Swann, too, until he got to the back and took his boot off; let’s just say that he got a new boot after that. He’ll be back soon, but until they, he’s gonna watch his boy Jack Gallagher – Neville has something he wants to say, as he’s joined us in the interview now. When is Swann going to learn his place? No matter what circumstance, Swann is always going to end up in the same place: down! Next time, Neville suggests, he should stay down. Rich wants us to know that, bum ankle or not, Neville will never keep him down! Neville disagrees with that sentiment and shoves Rich to the ground.

Video package on Gran Metalik! He’s coming soon!

Elimination Chamber ad.

WWE Shop ad.

“I’m a man with a plan!” That’s the music of “The” Brian Kendrick! And his plan, apparently, is to join us on commentary for the next match. And there’s some unfamiliar music, but all becomes clear as we see that Akira Tozawa has arrived! Tozawa makes his way to the ring as we see his opponent, Aaron Solow, is already in the ring. Solow might best be known to wrestling fans as ‘Bayley’s fiancee’, but after this match, I assume he’ll also be known as ‘That guy that Tozawa slaughtered.’

Akira Tozawa vs Aaron Solow

Handshake is accepted, with a grin on Akira’s face. Shoulda hugged him. Waistlock by Tozawa to start, Akira takes him down to the mat in a loose front facelock, then back to the waistlock. Aaron transitions into a standing side headlock, Tozawa elbows out of that and shoots him off, Aaron off the ropes with a sunset flip, Akira rolls through and just levels him with a kick. Senton from Akira gets two. Palm strike by Akira, chops by Akira. Tozawa fires himself up and fakes a shot to get Aaron to cover up, then slaps him in the head immediately after. Hee! I rather like this man. Akira goes to the ropes to get Solow, but Aaron drops him with a cheap shot. Solow takes Akira to the corner and lays in with kicks and rights, but takes too long to follow up as Tozawa comes out of the corner with a kick to the gut. Shots from Tozawa are countered with a spinning back kick by Solow, Aaron off the ropes, Tozawa snaps off a ‘rana to send Aaron to the apron, then a flying forearm sends Solow to the floor. Akira runs the ropes, tope suicida through the ropes to Solow! Solow tossed back in and Akira goes up, leaps over a charging Solow, and decides he’s officially had enough of this idiot as a snap German suplex from Tozawa snaps Solow in two and keeps him down for three. (Akira Tozawa over Aaron Solow, pinfall, 2:58)

WORTH WATCHING? – There were only two goals here: one, let Tozawa show off for a few minutes, and two, set up Kendrick as his first feud. The match itself was absolutely nothing, so NO, you shouldn’t go out of your way to watch it or anything. Find one of his matches from the CWC and watch that instead. The important thing is that he’s here now, and once he disposes of Kendrick I hope that he and Neville stiff the ever-living SHIT out of each other.

Post-match, Kendrick looks stunned by Tozawa as Aries gets in the ring to interview Akira. Aries ruins any good will he built up with me by quoting Chris Tucker from Rush Hour; you know which line, it’s the only line that anyone remembers from the movie. Tozawa responds in Japanese, because he doesn’t understand English! It’s HILARIOUS! Or the opposite of that, not hilarious. Anyway, Kendrick recovers enough to congratulate Tozawa for beating Aaron Solow as Akira celebrates on the top of the ramp.

In the back, Neville is pacing back and forth with his title as he’s joined by Noam Dar and Alicia Fox! Man, it’s been WAY TOO LONG since I’ve seen Alicia Fox on this show; thank God she’s back! Dar is just here to congratulate Neville for his win and for taking out Swann for interrupting Neville’s coronation ceremony; tonight, Neville, Dar, and Alicia Fooooxxxx are guaranteed a victory! Are they supposed to take Jack Gallagher seriously? Neville wants to make something clear to Dar; he doesn’t need Swann to be injured to guarantee victory, Neville himself is the guarantee of victory! And as far as he and Dar go, he never wanted to be Dar’s tag partner, he never wanted Dar’s help, last week with Cedric or tonight! So don’t screw it up! Dar says hey, whatever you want; whatever you say goes, champ! Good, Neville says – one more thing; he doesn’t care about Dar’s love life, so he can leave his baggage at home! With that, Neville stalks off as Alicia goes only slightly nutso on Dar for being called baggage.

Neville as the cruiserweight that just HATES all the other cruiserweights is gold. I hope he never loses the title if he can keep this up.

Wrestlemania Dallas WWE 24 ad.

We’re back to some fireworks heralding the arrival of the King, as Adrian Neville makes his way to the ring! Noam Dar is out next, and he did indeed leave Alicia in the back. Neville stares daggers at Noam as Dar comes to the ring, and that’s his PARTNER. And there’s the music of Cedric Alexander! He makes his way out, to be followed by the music of Jack Gallagher! He’s being introduced as ‘Gentleman’ Jack Gallagher now, because the WWE thinks that everyone is DUMB and needs everything absolutely spelled out for them. Jack is out with trusty umbrella William and the crowd actually reacts slightly to him, which is a good sign that at least someone is getting over.

Jack Gallagher & Cedric Alexander vs Adrian Neville & Noam Dar

Handshake between Dar and Gallagher, but nothing for Neville and Alexander. Ring that bell! Looks like it’s going to be Neville against Gallagher to start, and the crowd chants for Jack, because he stands out and is interesting and therefore actually over. Circle and a lockup, Neville takes Jack to the corner, clean break by Neville and we’ll do it again. Side headlock by Neville now, then a takeover by Neville to go to the mat. Jack escapes with a handstand, then takes Neville down to the mat with a wristlock takedown, then applies a standing version. Neville pulls the hair of Jack to back him to the ropes, then gets a wristlock of his own off that, taking Jack to all his knees and stepping over the arm. More torque on the wristlock from Neville, who transitions into an armbar now, Gallagher back to his feet and he spins out into a wristlock of his own that drops Neville, Gallagher gets one. Jack back to the arm again, wristlock to armbar to wristlock, then they do a nifty reversal sequence with both guys rolling through counters from the other before Neville just slugs Jack in the face. Hee! Gordian knot solutions! Front facelock by Neville, and Adrian backs into his own corner and tags in Dar.

Dar in as Neville glares at Noam before getting out of the ring. Dar with shots and he takes Gallagher to the corner with a shoulder. Cross-corner whip by Noam, Jack stands on his head on the buckle, then goes over the top of Dar on a charge, Gallagher hops up and takes Noam over with a tornado side headlock. Back to their feet and Jack tags in Cedric, who comes in with an armwringer on Dar. He snaps Dar’s arm over his shoulder and keeps on with a wristlock, putting some torque into it before transitioning into the armbar. Dar pulls the hair of Cedric and backs him to the ropes, Irish whip and they both run the ropes now, and Cedric ducks a Dar clothesline before taking Noam over with a headscissors and hitting him with a dropkick for two. Alexander controls the arm of Dar and takes him back to the corner, and there’s a tag to Jack. Gallagher comes in and takes Dar down to the mat with a leg-assisted hammerlock, allowing Jack to preen for the crowd. He bends back the other arm of Dar now, then slowly leans back until Dar’s shoulders are on the mat. 1, 2, no! Jack goes back to the arm as Dar grabs the hair of Jack to take him to the corner. The ref backs Gallagher away, and that allows Neville to fly in from the other corner to drop Jack with a forearm. Dar takes advantage, rushing Gallagher in the corner with shots, then over to the heel corner for a tag to Neville, who comes in with a forearm to Jack. Adrian takes Jack to the buckles, then hits a VICIOUS dropkick to the back of Gallagher’s head. That looked nasty, and it gets two. Alexander and Neville get into it from the apron, and if those boys want to start a feud, I’m not complaining.

Neville back to Jack now, as he puts on a brief chinlock before snapping off a suplex. Running forearm to the face of Gallagher gets two. Neville goes up, missile dropkick hits Gallagher! 1, 2, Alexander makes the save! Snapmare by Neville now, elbow to the top of Jack’s head, and we get a chinlock from Neville. Jack quickly back to his feet, blind tags himself in and Neville hits Gallagher with a flying forearm. Dar covers for two. Neville is none-too-pleased about Dar tagging himself in as Noam goes to work on the arm of Jack. Dar snaps the elbow of Jack over his shoulder and keeps on it, picking Jack up by the injured elbow and suplexing him with it, which was pretty cool. Dar drops another knee across the arm of Jack, then mocks Cedric while ripping away at the nose and eyes of Jack. Dar takes Jack back to his own corner and tags in Neville. Adrian in a spinning back kick for two, then a kick to the chest of Jack. Neville steps on the face of Gallagher, then sends Jack to the buckle, and Dar tags himself back in again. Neville’s look of “Why are you TOUCHING me, asshole?” is truly a thing of beauty. Dar back in with left hands to Jack now, suplex attempt is blocked with a small package by Jack for two. Dar tries again and Gallagher just DROPS him with a headbutt! Gallagher falls on top of Dar! 1, 2, Neville makes the save!

Neville hits Alexander on the apron with an enzuigiri to send him to the floor, then tells Dar sarcastically that ‘he’s all yours!’ before going back to the apron and wanting a tag. Dar tries to pull himself up on the ropes and goes for Jack instead of tagging Neville in, and eats a back drop as a result. Both guys need to tag, Dar’s going to make it…..Neville shorts the tag from Dar! Man, he must have meant it when he told him that it was all his, I guess. Neville takes a walk, saying that Dar had his chance. Dar can’t believe it, and in the meantime, Gallagher has made the tag to Alexander, and Cedric comes flying in with a forearm to Noam. Irish whip is reversed by Dar, so Cedric does a handspring off the ropes into the spinning roundhouse kick! Dar has had enough and decides to follow Neville to the back, but Gallagher has recovered enough to stop that and toss him back in to Cedric, and the LUMBAR CHECK~! kills Noam deader than dead. (Cedric Alexander & Jack Gallagher over Noam Dar & Adrian Neville, pinfall, 13:06)

WORTH WATCHING? – This was fun and a good way to end the week here. Cedric finally gets a pinfall on Dar, Neville continues to just hate every other cruiserweight in the division, and Gallagher got a ton of time in the ring. YES, this was fun wrestling that paid off a few stories and introduced a few more, as they can spin out Dar/Gallagher, Neville/Gallagher, & Neville/Alexander matches from here; hell, they can even do Dar/Neville if they want, as Neville left Dar high and dry because he’s just that spectacular an asshole. Jack Gallagher as the face in peril was really interesting and well-done; Jack can sell and his slight frame makes him a good guy to take a beating, plus his comeback moves are awesome (that headbutt spot was fantastic), so give me more of that and less goofy ‘tie a guy up like a pretzel spots’ from him, please. Thanks.

Post-match, Alexander and Gallagher celebrate over a fallen Noam Dar, as we see the replays of Neville walking out on Noam. And that’ll do it for 205 Live this week.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Good main event this week, with the rest of the show being mostly angle advancement, with Nese getting a win and the Tozawa debut. The Akira thing was interesting, as I didn’t exactly expect a ****classic in his debut or anything, so I wasn’t let down; but Kendrick as his first opponent is kind of meh. I was kind of hoping for someone like Ali. Overall, the main event was pretty much everything here this week, unless you’re a completist and want to watch Akira’s debut, you can skip the front part of the show pretty comfortably and just check out the main.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter