Previously on 205 Live, Cedric Alexander had an ultimatum to answer from Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick, Akira Towzawa returned to consternation of Drew Gulak, and Enzo Amore got himself disqualified to retain his Cruiserweight championship.
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And now, the best and worst of 205 Live for October 31st, 2017.
Best: Halloween Havoc
Drew Gulak is taking a break from his plan for a better 205 Live to take down the biggest threat to our nation on October 31st – Halloween. After putting together another excellent power point presentation, we learn the ways to improve Halloween are getting rid of the candy and the trick or treating, which honestly makes sense to me. I know Drew is still totally okay with dressing up in costumes for Halloween. I’ve never been so interested in Sasha Banks than I am right now …
Gulak faces a returning Akira Tozawa, who I think definitely supported the no candy rule at some point in his past. Tozawa beats Gulak with his beautiful top rope senton, which I feel probably looked even more impressive back when Tozawa was pushing 305 Live.
Worst: Tears Of A Clown
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. Great clown Rich Swann is going to wrestle The Brian Kendrick tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor … I am Rich Swann.”
Last week Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick cut a great promo asking Cedric Alexander to embrace his cruel nature and leave that clown Rich Swann behind. This week, because it’s Halloween, they decided to quadruple down on that clown comment, and Rich Swann comes out as a literal clown. The announcers reference Doink the Clown, and I am now obligated to mention how, when he first debuted, Doink the Clown was an amazing gimmick and was able to be legitimately unsettling and menacing.
I feel like this week was a step back for all the parties involved. I know that holiday shows can sometimes exist outside of regular storylines, so hopefully next week we get back on track. I need Cedric to examine himself and realize the true nature of his cruelty, if for no other reason than I have so many Cruel Intentions references to make. Did you know they made two sequels to that movie? I own all of them.
Best: Fright Night
First, a best for Fright Night having one of the greatest movie posters of all time. When I got home last night the remake of Fright Night was on tv. Not so great. Watch the original, you’ll like it.
As for the main event, I’m a sucker for these holiday gimmicky street fights. Give me a Fright Night Street Fight or a Miracle on 34th Street Fight and let people get hit with jack o lanterns or Christmas trees and you’re getting a best from me. I don’t know when Daivari became one of my favorite people on the mic, but it happened.
This might have been my favorite holiday gimmick match ever, and that’s saying something considering Alberto Del Rio once hit Santa Claus with his car. They were able to make their characters work within the match. It even made me care about boring ass Tony Nese going full on Tony Perkins. Doing situps while chucking pumpkins at Mustafa Ali? Sign me up.
Like Brandon said in his Best and Worst of Raw review of the Trick or Street Fight, these kinds of matches live or die by how willing the crowd is to get into it, and the crowd tonight was INTO IT, getting all kinds of chants going. Getting Tony Nese to eat candy got a legit pop. That’s crazy. I think my favorite part of the match was the bag of candy corn. If we weren’t living in the PG era that definitely would have been some hard candy.
Mustafa Ali finally picks up the pinfall with a flying broom legdrop and what a great sentence that is. I have a lot of friends that give me grief for my wrestling fandom, the typical “you know it’s fake, right?” stuff we’ve all gotten all our lives. When people ask me why I like wrestling there are a couple of matches I usually show them. Ric Flair and Sting fighting to a time limit draw at Clash of the Champions. Kurt Angle throwing Shane face first through a plate glass window. Steve Corino going 0.9 Muta against Jerry Lynn at Heatwave. I think I’m going to add cruiserweights smashing pumpkins on each other’s heads to that list.
See you next week. I hope you had a good Halloween.
