Previously on 205 Live, Kalisto faced Akira Tozawa in their never ending war, The Man With A Plan The Brian Kendrick returned, Drew Gulak defeated Mark Andrews with superior mat based wrestling, and Buddy Murphy interrupted Cedric Alexander’s title winning celebration.
Remember that With Spandex is on Twitter, so follow it. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. I’m on Twitter, too. Give me a follow if you want.
Hit those share buttons! Spread the word about the column on Facebook, Twitter and whatever else you use. Be sure to leave us a comment in our comment section below as well. Your help and participation means a lot.
And now, the Best and Worst of WWE 205 Live for April 17th, 2018.
Best: Dinero Time
First, what the hell is Mustafa wearing? I didn’t understand it at Mania and I’m still not on board with it here. I liked Glacier as much as the next guy, and I guess his normal gear was Mortis inspired, so this is the next logical step, but man. If I’m wrong let me know, but I think it looks pretty lame and out of character for everything they’ve been building for Mustafa Ali. (Cedric’s Black Panther get up, on the other hand, was perfect, because he is the “soul” of 205 Live and the Soul Stone is def in Wakanda.)
That being said, welcome back to the show Daivari Dinero! Daivari might have been the wrestler who was damaged the most in the post Zo Train derailment, as he and Drew Gulak were the two with the most defined characters. Drew is definitely doing just great for himself these days, but it seemed like Daivari lost all of his momentum. I absolutely love his character, though, and hearing that he still gets an allowance from his father just makes him the ultimate heel to me. Check out this promo he shot a couple of weeks ago:
https://twitter.com/AriyaDaivariWWE/status/978425376388145152
I hope we get to see more character stuff from Daivari in the future.
The match was pretty good. I think at this point it would be impossible for Mustafa Ali to have a bad match. Even though the winner was never in doubt, Mustafa still made Daivari look good. Mustafa Ali might be the best seller in the company right now, and he makes everyone’s offense look good. He could probably even make Mark Andrews’ fired up angry slaps look good. Maybe.
Best: Weight Weight Don’t Tell Me
Buddy Murphy didn’t make weight, which isn’t too surprising, considering he’s obviously like 230 pounds of pure Australian muscle. I’ll ignore the logistics of him failing to weigh in for a match happening over a week away when the normal policy is the weigh in the day before, and focus instead on the good news that comes out of this – next week we’re getting a gauntlet match to determine who will face Cedric Alexander for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble. My money is on a WrestleMania rematch with Mustafa Ali, but you never know.
Best: The Man With The Plan
THE Brian Kendrick is back teaming with “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher to face the formidable team of “Local Competitors” There wasn’t much to this jobber squash match, but the in ring return of Kendrick will get an automatic best from me. With Gallagher and Kendrick, there are now two heel tag teams to the one face Lucha House Party. I can see maybe keeping Tony Nese and Mark Andrews together, or bringing in more of the U.K. division to fill out the tag ranks.
Best: Tornado Tags
205 Live and amazing main events – name a more IIconic duo.
This is another one of those times where there is so many awesome things happening where all I can say is “go back and watch the whole match.” Lince Dorado is my favorite luchador on the roster, and he has really been able to shine in this feud. And it’s good to see Gran Metalik break out the all black “El Verdugo” look for the big matches.
A thought I had during this match – when the Cruiserweight tag belts finally arrive, what if all tag title matches were contested in tornado rules? It would lead to constantly amazing matches, and would help set 205 Live apart. It could even be a thing where a non-205 Live tag team comes to compete and aren’t able to keep up with the faster paced tornado action. Play to the strengths that make you unique.
Hey here’s some GIFs:
Lince’s face said it all after that four man corner spot, mask and all.
I have liked the dynamic between Tozawa and Itami, where Hideo is a total heel all of the time and Akira acting heelish while also being one of the most likeable people on the roster. The finish came after an accidental kick when Hideo was again trying to take the mask off of his opponent. If we aren’t going to start a tag division after all, I can see a Itami – Tozawa feud working. It could go a long way in getting Hideo Itami over as a heel.
The finish was a thing of beauty. I love when stereo splash spots time together perfectly.
Once again, 205 Live has the TV match of the week.
Next Week: Per GM Drake Maverick, there will be a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight championship at The Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
