Previously on 205 Live, TJP lost another match to Gran Metalik, Jack Gallagher is still mad at Hideo Itami, and Goldust beat three members of The Drew Train by himself.
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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE 205 Live for January 23, 2018.
The Elephant In The Room
If you’re a regular reader of this column I’m sure by now you already know about the situation with Enzo Amore. It’s always a tough spot when the champion you’ve built the brand on for the past several months is just gone. It seems odd that they’d have Daniel Bryan make this announcement, considering that 205 Live is a Raw brand, but I guess it makes sense that Kurt Angle doesn’t travel on Tuesdays. Also, I feel like they wanted to throw Daniel Bryan out there in a “hey, I’m the person you like the most, so I’m going to use all my goodwill to hope we can all just move on from this.”
How cursed is this Cruiserweight championship match? They were building up to a Rich Swann/Enzo Amore match, but Rich had his own unpleasantness, so they restarted and build for Cedric Alexander to take his place. Then Zo gets the flu and has to miss time. Then Zo gets hurt in a match. Then Zo … I don’t know what the plan is now, I doubt WWE knows either. I just hope that this unfortunate situation can kind of act as a soft reboot for 205 Live. Start some new feuds, create some new character motivations. And perhaps now is the time for the rise of the Gulaktic Empire.
Best: Everyone Hates TJP
The post-Enzo era begins with some good lucha things. Welcome back Lince Dorado, looking like Tiger Mask’s non-union Puerto Rican equivalent. I’ve heard some complaints about opening what would probably be the most watched episode of 205 Live with a six-man tag match with no storyline, but the thing is, there are really only three storylines currently on 205 Live. Cedric vs The Zo Train, Jack Gallagher vs Hideo Itami, and this new TJP vs Gran Metalik thing. 205 Live really was The Zo Show, and removing him and all references to him really puts the writers in a bind.
This was a really solid match. It started a little slower than I would have liked, but once it got going it was pretty great. I would normally harp on Daviari and Tony Nese being all buddy buddy again after Davairi’s previous betrayal, but given the circumstances, I’ll let it slide. The finish shows the most important thing – regardless of face or heel alignment, nobody likes TJP.
Worst: With All Due Respect, Stop
I don’t get it. I love Jack Gallagher. I love Hideo Itami. But man, they just aren’t working for me. I feel like anyone who isn’t a high flyer in 205 Live has to wrestle this watered down “WWE style — just smaller” kind of match. It does such a disservice to both men here. Besides The Zo Train, Jack Gallagher and Hideo Itami have gotten the most tv time for this feud over the last month or so, and the crowd just doesn’t care.
A nitpick, and I think it’s maybe just me, but Hideo’s pre match promo talking about how he didn’t mean to hurt The Brian Kendrick just seems wrong. I mean, in kayfabe, you didn’t accidentally knee him in the face. You did it on purpose because that’s what your move is. It’s like when someone like Cesaro uses a deadlift suplex. It’s impressive because we know that he’s not getting any help from his opponent, but in kayfabe no one ever is getting help from their opponents on a suplex. Just something that jumped out at me a bit.
Anyway, Hideo picks up the victory with his new finisher. It’s not great. They didn’t include the finish in the WWE Fan Nation video, but it’s a dragon sleeper position into a kind of codebreaker kick to the head.
I don’t know, man.
Best: MOTY
This was awesome. This is what 205 Live should be moving towards. I didn’t know what they were going to do with Cedric after the whole Enzo situation, but I think WWE knocked it out of the park with “let him actually wrestle a competitive match with someone who can actually wrestle.” I really recommend you track down and watch this whole match if you haven’t already. I’ve said a lot during my time recapping 205 Live “it was a good match, but if you gave these two fifteen minutes that could do something great.” And they did!
Mustafa Ali has that pure baby face thing down, like Ricky Steamboat or pre sarcastic skanking Sami Zayn. And Cedric really turned up the intensity as the match went on. I could see either one of these guys holding the title and running with it for a while. It’s a common complaint for 205 Live tapings that the crowds are exhausted and can’t get up for the show, but Cedric and Mustafa proved that great wrestling can get any crowd.
We get a new GM next week, and I hope they can use this opportunity to take what has been working, drop what hasn’t been working, and move forward to create a better 205 Live. And as much as I love Drew Gulak, I really hope they don’t make him the GM. I need to see him eventually win that Cruiserweight title.
