Last week on 205 Live: Humberto Carrillo beat Jack Gallagher and his highlighted hog by disqualification due to Drew Gulak interference. That lead to Jack headbutting Drew in the face. Tony Nese defended his Cruiserweight championship against Buddy Murphy before Buddy got shipped off to Smackdown Live.
Cold Open
Tony Nese narrates the show opening instead of Drake Maverick. I am trying to get into Tony Nese but he is as colorful as mayonnaise on white bread. Tonight we get a fatal four way for the number one contender.
205 Live this year has lost almost everyone of their top talents. Itami left, Ali, Cedric and Buddy Murphy got called up and there is probably someone I’m forgetting. This brand is snake bit. Everyone that is able to make some traction, or a name for themselves leaves the brand. Either by being drafted or leaving. So hard for the purple brand to grow.
Drake Maverick is on commentary for the opening number one contender match. Drake is thanking Cedric for what he has done for 205 Live. Meaning he will probably lose to Oney Lorcan tonight.
Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Mike Kanellis vs. Ariya Daivari
- Man, I do not get why Lucha House Party opens every show with a promo. I really think it’s to get them better on promo’s but I really have no idea. The new catchphrase is “IIIIIiiit’s LUCHA TIME”
- Daivari comes out with his three gimmicks at once and Mike and Maria come out with their gimmick of love. I feel like Kanellis’ story with his character has changed and gotten less nuanced. Now it’s just “he needs opportunity but keeps losing”. His nickname is now “The Opportunist”
- I love 205 Live because of their ability to weave stories in the ring with story lines out of the ring. Multi-man matches are really hard to tell a cohesive story. It is also pretty hard to cover without just going move for move.
- The match starts and Daivari rolls out of the ring, which is a smart move, let the other dudes wrestle. Once Akira clears the ring and goes for a dive, Daivari comes in and lariats Akira. That leads to everyone hitting one more or so.
- The commentary team doesn’t really put over the characters or story either, this is like a number one contender match but realy it’s just wrestling for the sake of wrestling.
- Daivari talks Mike into splitting up and attacking both Metalik and Akira. Daivari is showing us that he is the smartest wrestler in 205 Live.
- Mike Kanellis cut all of his hair off. Which I think is a smart move, because like Tommaso Ciampa before him, once you look just like HHH, you will probably get a push. I mean talent really fucking helps too, but bald with a big beard is just as necessary.
- Classic multi-man miscommunication. Mike and Ariya fight about who should win and Daivari powerbombs Kanellis onto the floor out of the ring. Ariya even refused to take his jewelry off.
- We are getting to what could be described as the second act. Lots of big moves and nearfalls but we haven’t entered the portion of the match where everyone hits their finish.
- Shit gets wild when Metalik jumps over the top rope and hits a huricanrana on Ariya off the apron onto Mike Kanellis. Tozawa hits a dive afterwards.
- Tozawa was trying to get the crowd to “AHH” with him, but it seem that ship has long since passed.
- Akira goes to hit his finish but Maria Kanellis gets involved and that gives “The Opportunist” an opportunity to turn the tides of the match.
- The opportunity was almost wasted when Tozawa and Kanellis fought on the top rope and Akira won. Kanellis dodged the finish, then dodged Metalik’s attack by having Gran elbow drop Akira.
- Daivari throws Mike out of the ring and gets the win.
And I’m Like… Drake Maverick puts over Ariya Daivari. Saying he has been undefeated in 2019, he earns a title shot and he has been around since the beginning of the brand. The match was a multi-man match. Can’t say much else.
Oney Lorcan cuts a promo about how Cedric is an anchor for 205 Live. Oney wants to be the anchor and Lorcan was once told by Alexander that he will be the future of 205 Live.
Cedric cuts a promo about how he has been drafted to Raw. Alexander is all about building his legacy. He talks about how he will always be a part of 205 Live.
Oney Lorcan vs. Cedric Alexander
- The match starts off with some catch wrestling. The story is simple. Cedric Alexander has been the foundation and the face of 205 Live, Cedric at one time told Oney that Lorcan will be that dude. But, as long as Cedric is here, he won’t be. This is Cedric’s last match because he is now drafted to RAW. So this is Oney’s only chance to win and prove he is worthy of filling Cedric’s shoes.
- Cedric is good at mat wrestling, but he can’t hold a candle to Oney. The former Biff Busick is better than wrestling, he is beyond wrestling.
- Alexander figures out that he can’t win by out wrestling Oney, so he uses his speed and strikes to gain an advantage.
- A chop battle ensues and both men are getting rocked. Oney shaved his whole ass head and face and is just really weirding me out.
- Alexander tries to continue his momentum by diving to the outside. That gave Oney the opportunity to throw Cedric into the barrier. Then throws him into the LED board and now Oney is in complete control.
- Oney got caught with an offensive flurry by Cedric for a nearfall which brought us into the third act of the match. A big chop battle followed by many fast paced and high impact moves. Don’t forget the surprised faces after the kick out at two, those happened a lot as well.
- Lorcan and Cedric’s timing and footwork are impeccable. If only they had characters the crowd were invested in. Like, if this match happened at a Takeover? It’d be a stone cold classic.
- Oney hit a powerbomb but when he went for the pin, he put his arm around Alexander’s leg, then when Cedric kicked out, Oney transitioned directly into a single leg crab. I remember the first time I had ever witnessed that transition a decade ago and it popped me huge, now I get upset when I catch the set up because I know there will be a kick out after the pin attempt.
- This is 205 Live though, so you know they had to battle on the top rope. Cedric won that bout and finished it off with a flip over the top rope onto Lorcan. Both men are spent.
- Now we get a face slap battle while both men are on the apron. It’s similar to the final two in a Royal Rumble match. Lorcan hit a half and half suplex on Cedric on the apron. Then Lorcan threw Alexander into the ring as the commentary team was freaking out. The urgency was real and Oney hit another half and half suplex to get the victory.
And I’m Like… Real good. Real, real good match. These guys left it all out there and Cedric put on a hell of a last performance. Oney Lorcan is now the heart and soul of 205 Live. The crowd is singing his theme song as Oney and Cedric shake hands. The singing turns into “thank you Cedric” chants. The future of 205 Live is upon us. I am excited to see what happens. Not excited for Cedric though, it’s already a given that he will be lost in the shuffle. Apollo Crews all over again.
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