Last week on 205 Live: Tony Nese won a quality mach against Kalisto, advancing in the Buddy Murphy Classic. Drew Gulak and The Brian Kendrick had a banger of a scientific match that had Gulak coming out on top and also advancing in the BMC.
Cold Open-
Drake Maverick welcomes us to the show and recaps the Tony Nese and Drew Gulak victories. Next week is Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese. This week is Humberto Carrillo vs. Oney Lorcan. Drake says he wants to bring the best to 205 Live and that is why he invited Lorcan. The main event is Cedric Alexander vs. Akira Tozawa. Both men are former champions and are favorites to win the tournament. Alexander and Tozawa have never faced one-on-one.
Oney Lorcan vs. Humberto Carrillo
- It’s nice that 205 gives a reason for Oney to be in the tournament. It’s most likely because, just this year, 205 Live’s roster has lost Hideo Itami, TJP and Mustafa Ali. The roster was already like 12 people big so that’s legit 25% of the roster.
- Oney gets a video package, highlighting who he is and how he wrestles. I wonder how many people watch 205 Live but don’t watch NXT. Like what 205 viewer hasn’t watched Oney? Is there any out there?
- Oney Lorcan vs. Buddy Murphy is a match I need to see.
- I wonder how many people in the crowd saw “Oney Lorcan” show up on the titantron and not understand how to read or say his name.
- Carrillo gets a bit of a backstage promo where he holds a HD camera like it’s a cell phone. Speaks some Spanish and English. It sucks that he may never be a giant star because he isn’t fluent in English. I wonder if WWE will ever get past that hump.
- Aiden English talks about how beautiful Carrillo is.
- Lorcan has the ability to make every move matter and the match feel like a “fight” and not a choreographed battle. There was a spot where Carrillo went for a back kick and Lorcan rushed Humberto to get a waist lock on Carrillo. It was a little sloppy but it added realism to the sequence.
- Carrillo did a standing backflip and it woke the crowd up a bit but Lorcan threw on another headlock to bring the crowd back down.
- Oney is hitting very strong and aggressive strikes. He is really taking it to Humberto by suplexing Carrillo on the outside of the ring.
- The camera cuts to Gulak and Gallagher watching this match in matching shirts of Humberto’s giant face on white T’s. They are amazing. Like the Ellsworth one but better and not glorifying a pedo.
- The story of the match is Humberto trying to create distance to unleash his explosive offense and Lorcan keeping close quarters with submissions and strikes to wear Humberto down. Very good chemistry and style clash.
- Carrillo has the most beautiful arm drag in wrestling right now.
- These guys are having a great match, but I don’t know if they’ve got the crowd invested yet. The reactions haven’t been building as the match and story has been building. Usually after some high spots and nearfalls there is an uptick in noise, but not during this match.
- Lorcan hit a got dang fisherman suplex on the apron!!!!
- They got the crowd. It took a vicious strike battle and a huge nearfall after a powerbomb, but that third gear got the crowd reacting.
- Carrillo went for a moonsault off the top but got caught with a boot to the face, followed by a mean lariat and a half and half suplex for the finish. Oney Lorcan wins with an upset.
And I’m Like… Damn. Humberto was my pick to win the whole tournament, but I wasn’t paying attention to the story. The story is Humberto vs. Gulak and we are on the journey to get there. Carrillo NEEDED to lose by doing something high risk for the story to progress. Oney getting the win is fantastic and he will face Alexander or Tozawa, which will be a banger as well. Very good stuff here.
Mike and Maria Kanellis are backstage complaining that they didn’t get a match in the tournament. Drake said that Kanellis has a horrible win/loss record, so Maverick booked Mike vs. local talent. Mike and Maria are offended.
Mike Kanellis vs. Colby Corino
- Mike jumps Colby before the bell rings. It’s nice to see Steve’s kid in a WWE ring. Colby has made a name for himself by joining back up with the Ugly Ducklings and starting a group in Evolve called “The Unwanted” with Shane Strickland, Joe Gacy and Eddie Kingston.
- Mike just beat the hell out of Colby and the match never took place.
And I’m Like… It was cool seeing Colby on WWE television. This isn’t really following the mental narrative of Mike Kanellis but it took another step in fleshing out the character.
Tony Nese cuts an HD camera selfie promo about how he is laser focused. Nese has never defeated Drew Gulak and Tony is ready this time.
Cedric Alexander cuts a promo in what looks like Velveteen Dreams promo area. Cedric says that he cares about 205 more than anyone and needs to be champion.
Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander
- Commentary are really putting over how, last year Cedric was a champion and undefeated for most of the year. That this is a redemption tour for Cedric based on how 2018 ended.
- The pacing starts off very slow, meaning that this match is gonna be longer than normal. Commentary is putting over how Akira has never been more focused and motivated. Those are the stories going into the match. Redemption vs. unmitigated focus.
- Aiden says Akira hit a “deep arm drag” which brought up questions from me. Is there a shallow arm drag? Do deep arm drag’s hurt more? What qualifies as deep?
- Akira hit multiple arm drags and commentary said “arm drag” almost 10 times. Really putting that move over tonight.
- Five minutes in and there is still a lot of basic wrestling. Pinfalls after drop kicks and stuff like that. Real slow to start off, many wear down holds. The crowd is “Woo’ing” to pass the time while others are trying to support Tozawa or Cedric. It’s pretty weird right now.
- Cedric is beginning to work over Tozawa’s mid-section. Alexander is starting to wrestle a little meaner and more heelish. It’s different.
- The pace is quickening as the strikes are starting to become more prevalent. The wrestling portion of the match has morphed into a strike battle and the crowd is starting to make some noise.
- After a simple suicide dive from Tozawa, the crowd chanted “205”. That’s crazy, that after some very good basic wrestling, one dive gets that chant. While the first match of the night left it all on the line and couldn’t muster a reaction. That says a lot about star power and fan investment. Cedric and Akira are more known names and it shows.
- The match gets in the second gear with both men hitting signature moves and heavy strikes. Lot’s of reversals and near falls. Both men are getting desperate. These two are the ones with the biggest hearts and most fighting spirit on 205 and they are going all out, it’s tremendous.
- Akira gets a nearfall by doing a reverse rana after jumping off the top rope onto Alexander’s shoulders. Another “205” chant followed by “This is Awesome”.
- Tozawa almost had the match won after putting on the octopus hold. Cedric almost tapped out and it’s anyone’s match right now. Of course 205 Live needed the obligatory top turnbuckle battle.
- Alexander ended up getting knocked off the top rope but catching Tozawa mid-air after pulling Akira off the top rope, and hitting the Lumbar Check… wow.
And I’m Like… Good match, a few segments, great match. That’s the 205 Live formula and it’s wonderful. I’ve now gotten into the habit, when watching 205 Live, of expecting 20 minute matches and never being disappointed in the quality. This is the best WRESTLING show on television right now, and I can’t believe how much mileage this show can get with such a shallow roster.
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