Previously on 205 Live, The Lucha House Party once again squared off against the team of Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa, Tony Nese destroyed a jobber, Buddy Murphy continued to show why he is the best kept secret in WWE, and Drake Maverick got us ready for the Cruiserweight championship match at WrestleMania, which was won by Cedric Alexander.
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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE 205 Live for April 10th, 2018.
Worst: The Last Post-WrestleMania Debut
WrestleMania week is finally drawing to a close. After a whirlwind of activity, including a Hall of Fame ceremony, NXT Takeover, WrestleMania itself, Raw and Smackdown (not to mention the other hundreds of hours of wrestling related activities in New Orleans) we are down to the last hour of official WWE WrestleMania week content. We have already had a return from The Undertaker and many notable debuts on both Raw and Smackdown.
Who would be making the leap to 205 Live? Would a returning Neville try to reclaim his place as King of the Cruiserweights? Is Johnny Gargano ready to leave his finished business behind in NXT and make the jump and become main roster adjacent? No, of course not. But we did get the debut of “Showtime” Percy Watson to fill in for Nigel McGuiness the next two weeks, then to stay and become a permanent member of what was the best commentary team in WWE right now. Yay?
Death, Taxes, And The Lucha House Party Face Itami And Tozawa
Hey everyone! A member of the Lucha House Party is facing a member of the team of Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa. This is, of course, setting up a tag match next week between the Lucha House Party and the team of Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa. 205 Live is many things, and consistent is definitely one of those things.
I can’t give this match a worst, though, because both of these guys are great in the ring together. Akira Tozawa might be the most naturally charismatic wrestler on the show. It’s no wonder Titus scooped him up to be a part of Titus Worldwide. There isn’t too much to say about this match other than it was predictably good. They have wrestled enough to know each others’ moves and have counters for their counters. Next weeks tornado tag has to either be a blow off for now or lead into something bigger with the tag division, otherwise what are we even doing?
I’m super hyped for that tornado tag, though. The last tornado tag was Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann facing “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick, and it brought the house down. Speaking of which …
Best: The Man With The Plan
You know what? Forget all that stuff I said about Percy Watson. THE Brian Kendrick is back and that is fantastic news. Now there are THREE tag teams. Baby, you got a division going. It remains to be seen if seeking vengeance against Hideo is truly beneath Gallagher and Kendrick (it’s not) and they might just be inserting themselves into the tornado tag next week. Drake Maverick, let’s get that tag team tournament eliminator started ASAP.
Best/Worst: Go 2 Sleep
Drew Gulak, you magnificent son of a gun. After giving puppet-turned-into-a-real-boy Mark Andrews an extra week to get himself up to 100% for their match, the Microsoft Office enthusiast is out in a fine silk robe and seems ready to finally give us one of his famous Power Point presentations. Except he doesn’t, because it seems this is neither the time nor the place. God, it’s like he gets off on being withholding.
I can’t take Mark Andrews seriously. He reminds me of CGI pre Super Serum Chris Evans in Captain America. Just a head sitting on a distractingly small body. This makes most of his offense just completely unbelievable. I know the deal with pro wrestling is that we agree to suspend our disbelief about how these people are attacking one another, but Andrews is making it really difficult. When he gets in the zone and starts with his hundred hand slap routine, it just screams “annoying little brother.” If they don’t let him start flying around and moving faster than everyone on the roster, I don’t see him making much of an impact.
Tony Nese’s Fosbury Flop, though, is one of the best moves on the show, and I’m really looking forward to a real Nese/Gulak feud soon.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the crowd. The crowd sucked. I get it. A lot of the people who made it through to 205 Live on Tuesday had watched more live wrestling in one week than most fans do in a year. They couldn’t just make it all the way until the end. I assumed it was a Beachballs Part II situation, but I guess someone fell asleep in their chair and that became the most interesting thing in the world. I wouldn’t care as much, but I just know that the kind of people that travel to WrestleMania are the same kind of people that go online and complain about how bad random (*cough* Milwaukee) Raw crowds are. Anyway, I’m glad you not dead random audience guy.
Best: Business Casual Is About To Pick Up
After a series of stops and starts, including unfortunate injuries, illnesses, someone being retconned from existence, and an exciting tournament — Cedric Alexander is finally the Cruiserweight champion. He comes out in great business casual attire (I’m no sartorial expert, but are you supposed to match your shirt with your belt?) to soak up the cheers from the crowd.
Having the closing segment be a promo, I thought this is where we might get a Neville or Gargano debut, and when Mustafa’s music hit and he came to the ring dressed in all black, I thought the worst. They can’t possibly be turning him heel already? It was heartening to hear the crowd chant “Mustafa!” and “One More Match” with the kind of zeal and fervor usually reserved for people who take a nap at wrestling shows.
Buddy Murphy has one of the best finishes in the company, but they need to work on getting the timing down. It’s one thing to realistically have an opponent trying to fight their way out of your move in a match, but it really strains the element of surprise when two people have to pretend not to hear you struggling five feet behind them.
That minor quibble aside, I am SO on board for a monstrously-large-yet-still-under-205-pounds-somehow heel Murphy trying to take that newly won title from Cedric. I feel like 205 Live is finally going to have an established upper and middle card scene, and the rumored tag titles can go a long way in establishing that further.
Next week: Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik face Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa in a tornado tag match, and a returning The Brian Kendrick joins “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher in tag action.
