3/21 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Neville vs. Mustafa Ali, Nese vs. Perkins, Tozawa squash, more Austin Aries

WWE 205 LIVE
AIRED MARCH 21, 2017
UNCASVILLE, CONN. AT MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
Report by Joey Galizia (@RamJam89), PWTorch Contributor

Announcers: Tom Philips, Corey Graves

Joey G here. I discovered today that my finisher would be a discus-big boot. Just thought I’d share that. Anyway, let’s do this.

Show opens with highlights of last weeks Fatal Five-Way elimination match determining the #1 contender for the Cruiserweight Title. The competitors included Brian Kendrick, T.J. Perkins, Tony Nese, Akira Tozawa, and the greatest man who ever lived Austin Aries. A.A. would win the match with his roaring elbow (pinning Kendrick last) and will now challenge LORD NEVILLE at WrestleMania.

Now live we see Neville backstage being interviewed. He is asked why he challenged Mustafa Ali to a match this evening. The king says that he was disrespected by Ali, and tonight will serve as a message to anyone who decides to try this terrible sin again. He doesn’t expect Aries to pay attention, but he will remind the division that HE IS THE MASTER. (Great now he’s a Sith Lord.)

“Hail the Crown” plays. GET ON WITH IT.

Tom Philips and Corey Graves welcome us to the show. (Ranallo is out sick this week. DON’T TELL TAZZ.) They address the ending of SD Live, and lay out our plans for the evening which includes the aforementioned Mustafa Ali and Neville match, and an address from the challenger Austin Aries.

T.J. Perkins comes out first. (He really needs a victory.) T.J. now comes out with sunglasses on and hands them to a young fan just like Bret Hart did. (Bret Hart could probably out-dab you punk.) His opponent is the posing machine Tony Nese. (Seriously he’ll probably pose at least three times in this bout.)

They go for a handshake but Nese pulls away at the last second. (YOU’RE A MONSTER.)

(1) Tony Nese vs. T.J. Perkins

Tie-up. Nese gets the upper-hand than poses. (Called it.) Nese takes down Perkins with some belly slams but Perkins counters with an arm-drag, a dropkick, and then a deep arm-drag into an armbar. Frankensteiner by Perkins sends Nese to the outside. Suicide plancha by Perkins to the outside.

Back in the ring Perkins locks on the spider lock and then transitions into a cover. Two-count. Nese uses his strength and lifts Perkins and lays him down with a gut-buster. He pins but only gets a two. Another. Two count. Irish Whip by Nese and T.J. hits the turnbuckle hard. ANOTHER POSE. Body-scissor. Nese is in complete control.

Crowd starts a clap to get Perkins back into it. He escapes the hold but Nese hits him with a lariat and continues to work on the head and neck. Nese wears down Perkins with a rest hold. (It’s lasted nearly 3 minutes and the crowd and this reviewer are getting restless.)

Toss to the corner. Nese hits three body kicks. Philips commends him for his methodical dissection of Perkins. T.J. finally takes advantage of a mistake and catches Nese in a neckbreaker. Turnbuckle elbow, springboard cross-body and a bulldog by Perkins. Nese rolls to the apron and forearms Perkins. Sprinb-board moonsault and Nese lands it! (About time.) Nese goes for a  backdrop but Perkins shifts his weight and hits a jumping crescent kick. Perkins goes to the top rope but Nese pushes him off. Goes for the flying knee but Perkins catches him for the catapault kick. Nese grabs the ropes. Cross-armbreaker by T.J. Nese escapes! Inverted lung-blower by Perkins. A cover but only two!

Perkins lands a wrecking ball dropkick. Detonation Kick attempt but again Nese escapes. They end up in the corner and Nese hits a German suplex into an exposed turnbuckle. Running knee and Nese gets the win.

WINNER: Tony Nese in 9:57

The “premiere athlete” poses after his victory. Graves doesn’t think anyone in the division wants to mess with Tony Nese right now and he could be right.

Backstage we see Drew Gulak in a suit! Dasha asks him what he meant by his comments last week. Gulak says he was frustrated by his loss, but that 205 still needs to change. He blames the WWE Universe for cheering the “wreckless action” that could possible break the division. Gulak says he has a solution, but walks away before telling us what it is. Corey Graves says that he LOVES the wreckless action because that’s what makes 205 Live so much fun. (No kidding Corey.)

Commercial break. Tom Philips gives special thanks to Pitbull for providing the WrestleMania song. (I DO NOT.)

Akira Tozawa comes out looking ready for action. Clip from last nights Raw showing Brian Kendrick with Akira’s passport. The lesson Brian was “teaching” was that Tozawa shouldn’t leave his items on the ground.

His opponent is a local talent.

(2) Akira Tozawa vs. Local Talent

Akira hits his quick-German for the win.

WINNER: Akira Tozawa in 4 seconds

I LITERALLY blinked and missed the entire match. Graves says, “Let’s watch the entire match since we have the time.” Tozawa grabs a microphone and calls out Kendrick. The crowd starts chanting Tozawa’s signature “HA” chant. When Brian doesn’t come out Akira says that he will come to him. As he begins to leave he gets blind-sided by a member of security. Surprizzzze it’s Brian Kendrick. Sliced-Bread on the outside and Tozawa is down again at the hands of the man with the plan. Lesson 8: “Appearances can be deceiving.” (So over this lesson plan but that was cool.)

Backstage we see Jack Gallagher and Rich Swann in some VERY snazzy suits. Noam Dar shows up and pulls out a red dress and asks if any of them had anything to do with it. Swann says that whatever Noam wears in his own privacy is his own business. Ariya Daivari is with him. The segment ends when Noam Dar challenges Rich Swann to a match-up next week. Swann accepts.

Commercial Break #2. Promo for the 6-man tag match on tomorrow’s NXT. Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, and No Way Jose. If that excites you then the Jetsons movie trailer afterwards should kill your buzz.

Austin Aries makes his way to the ring. He’s opening a banana to eat, and then decides to just hand it to a fan. Graves is all like, “WHAT A GUY.”

Now in the ring A.A. (looking fly AF) ensures us that tonight’s interview will go much better than Raw. He ensures that by eliminating Neville from the interview, and interview himself instead. First question is why does Neville call himself King. His response… is that Neville is trying to over-compensate for low self-esteem and other deficiencies. Second question is what makes A.A. think he’s on Neville’s level. His response… he’s not on his level. He’s on the A double level. Third question is what is the most embarrassing information he’s discovered about Neville in his time as an expert journalist. Neville comes out before he can answer.

Neville rushes the ring with a microphone and says that he’ll put A.A. in an early grave if he keeps this up. Aries says that the last time he interrupted an interview he bow’d him out. ELBOW’D THAT IS. (I’ll be here all week. Tip your waiter and try the veal.) He then calls Neville a “Debbie-downer” which starts a chant.

OMG. A.A. says that he’s going to join the commentary team for the Ali and Neville match! Corey Graves is ecstatic. He says that A.A. is the second best commentary partner he’s ever had….next to Michael Cole. (I literally LOL’D.)

Quick break with an ad for Goldberg vs. Brock.

Philips and Corey welcome Aries back to the table. Graves says it’s like having two peas in a pod, and also Tom Philips. (I’m literally in heaven.) Mustafa Ali makes his entrance. Him and King Neville share some words. Both dudes seem pissed.

Ali says Neville will remember his name as he offers a handshake. Neville declines.

(3) Mustafa Ali vs. Neville

Tie-up. Shoulder block by Neville. He opens the ropes and tells Ali to leave for his own safety. No budge. Test of strength but Neville kicks Ali and locks in a vicious headlock. On their feet and Ali goes for a bulldog but Neville smashes him to the ground.

At the table Aries says he won’t be able to provide too much color commentary because he’s focused on Neville. Neville mouths off at A.A. Mustafa takes advantage of that opening and hits a rolling clothesline and a series of dropkicks. He goes for the cover but Neville kicks out quickly and looks PISSED AF.

To the corner and Neville is laying into Ali with stomps Stone Cold style. Irish-Whip and a back body drop that elevates Ali WAY HIGH. (Looked awesome.) Cover but only two. Neville’s in complete control and wears Ali down.

Aries says he is going to take his experience and make the most of his championship opportunity. Neville locks on a camel clutch/sleeper hold combo. Transitions to a headlock. Ali whips him to the apron and kicks Neville to the outside. Springboard twisting cross-body and both guys are down. Neville is back up first and in the ring. Ali just beats the count.

Elevated dropkick and now the pace picks up. Enziguri and the rolling neckbreaker by Ali. Cover but only two. Ali picks Neville up but Neville surprises him with a forearm. Ali reciprocates then goes for a tornado DDT which Neville blocks (showing great strength) and atomic drops him on the ropes. Neville goes for a top rope frankensteiner. ALI HITS A SPRINGBOARD SPANIGH FLY FROM THE TOP ROPE. A COVER. Neville kicks out. (My god that move.)

Ali goes up for his inverted 450. Neville moves. AN INCREDIBLE TORNADO DDT BY MUSTAFA!!! (Kid is on fire.) He goes up for his finisher again but again Neville moves. Neville lands a crescent kick and now Ali is knocked out. TOP ROPE GERMAN SUPLEX. This is awesome chants start and MAN do they deserve it.

Neville gets to his feet and has that “I want to hurt you badly” look. He pulls Ali out and slams his head into the ring post. Neville drags Ali’s limp body in front of the commentary table provoking A.A.

Back in the ring and Neville locks on the Rings of Saturn for the submission victory.

WINNER: Neville by submission at 14:57

Neville runs right into the face of Austin Aries. They stare at each other but neither throw a punch. (Good call.)

Graves tells his friend Aries that 12 days from now that could be his fate. He then ends the show by saying Neville vs. Aries could be one of the greatest cruiserweight matches of all time.

JG FINAL ANALYSIS: Woah. Another unbalanced episode, but there was a LOT more good than bad. T.J. Perkins and Tony Nese put together a decent opening bout which went a little long but involved a fantastic finishing sequence. Akira Tozawa got a fun squash win but was outsmarted YET AGAIN by Brian Kendrick. While I am vastly over the lessons that Kendrick is forcing us to learn this one was the most well thought out, and garnered him the most heat to date. The remaining 25 minutes were excellent. Austin Aries displayed his charming cockiness that worked so well for him as a heel but also found new depth in seeing how big a threat Neville really is. Graves was doing a stand-up job at reminding Aries that Neville may be easy to poke fun at, but the fun ends as soon as the bell rings. All of this detailed progression should not take away a from the VERY intriguing main event. While the fight included many exciting high-spots there was also layers of psychology that told a story in the ring and outside of it. A definite must-watch if you expect to be fully involved in the build to Wrestlemania. ALSO A SPRINGBOARD SPANISH-FLY. JG OUT.  

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 3/14 WWE 205 LIVE REPORT: Tony Nese vs. T.J. Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Austin Aries headlines