Previously on 205 Live, the cruiserweights traveled to the U.K., where Jack Gallagher insulted the home crowd, stars from the U.K. division were able to shine, and Enzo Amore beat Tyler Bate clean.
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And now, the best and worst of WWE 205 Live for November 14th, 2017.
Best: Cruelty Free Cedric
Thankfully it’s not Halloween and we’re not overseas, so we can get back to the Gallagher/Kendrick Alexander/Swann feud proper. To recap: Jack Gallagher turned on the crowd, deciding he didn’t like being a cartoonish caricature of a dandy Englishman. He started wrestling in street clothes and being generally even more awesome than he already was. He and The Brian Kendrick decided that Cedric Alexander is too good of a wrestler to pal around with Rich Swann, and have promised to bring out his cruelty and have him join them in hating the crowd. Also clown makeup was involved.
Continuing this story we get this tornado tag match, which was fantastic. I argue that 205 Live routinely puts on the best wrestling matches on WWE television, and this is a perfect example of that. All four of these guys can go in the ring, and it’s fun watching them just cut loose with no rules. Tornado tag matches can suffer from pacing issues — you can’t build to the hot tag when there is no tagging — but they worked well to isolate Swann and Alexander.
Cedric hits the Lumbar Check on Kendrick to pick up the win, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here. I still think this is going to end up with Swann turning on Cedric and joining up with The Gentlemen With a Plan. Which then can hopefully lead to finally pushing Cedric Alexander already.
Best: Daivari Dinero
Daivari, the Persian Drake, is so money on the mic right now. Mustafa Ali comes out to tell Daivari he looks stupid, which, I mean, have you looked in a mirror Mustafa? You’re great in the ring but sartorial choices aren’t exactly your strong suit.
This was a good match — given the people involved it pretty much has to be, but it leads to my biggest complaint with 205 Live right now. What is Mustafa Ali doing? He doesn’t have a story to speak of right now, which is ridiculous. He’s such a great wrestler and such likeable guy. I know they can’t push everyone for the title at the same time, but right now Ali is just treading water so hard.
Worst: Chekhov’s Cake
It’s Kalisto’s birthday, and as a gift he gets promo time to start the show. He’s taking on Drew Gulak tonight, who he calls “Mr. Captain Underpants” and gives me some real George Michael “Mr. Manager” vibes.
Drew Gulak is the best thing going in the company right now. Everything he does hits the perfect note. The way he follows behind Enzo, calling a birthday party a “commemoration”, his earnestly asked “How are you doing?” Just perfect. I love the odd couple pairing between Zo and Drew, with Drew being oblivious to how annoying he is to Enzo.
The match was good. Again, Gulak is gold. Little things like talking to Enzo during the match, jumping from the bottom rope so as to not break his own rules, and especially singing the best Happy Birthday song since CM Punk traumatized Rey Mystereo’s family. Still I need to give this a worst, though, just because of that cake.
You can’t tease a cake spot over and over throughout the match and then not deliver. That’s just story telling 101. You even had the crowd chanting “We want cake!” Instead, this cake is magically transported backstage where Kalisto lamely pushes Enzo’s face into it. Some poor arena employee is going to have to stay late and clean that up, you jerk. I also love Kalisto slapping his thigh on the kick to Enzo and getting frosting all over himself. Way to expose the business.
We’re five days away from Survivor Series, where Enzo and Kalisto will settle this on the Kickoff Show. Thanks for reading.
