SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE 205 LIVE
MAY 30, 2017
ATLANTA, GA. AT PHILIPS ARENA
REPORT BY JOEY GALIZIA (@RamJam89), PWTORCH SPECIALIST
Announcers: Tom Philips, Corey Graves
JG here. Missed you all last week. But the road took me to some exotic places. (In this case exotic is Cincinnati. Don’t ask.)
Show opens with highlights of the intense rivalry between King Neville, and the man at the A-Double level….Austin Aries. The promo package mashes clips of their encounter at Wrestlemania, their rematch at Payback, and the countless attacks A.A. has had to endure at the hands of Neville and his lackey T.J. Perkins. However, Raw this past week saw Aries defeat Neville with the Last-Chancery submission in a tag-match, which sent the King into a rage.
“Hail the crown.” I did not miss this song last week.
Graves and Philips welcome us to the show. They discuss how vital the submission was that A.A. scored over Neville, as it was his first tap out (and clear defeat really) since joining the 205 roster.
Noam Dar and his bae Alicia Fox are out first. Clips of Raw’s matchup between Dar and Swann are played.
The duo get on the mic and call Atlanta a dump, and how they complete each other. Fox and Dar say that true love will conquer all when they win the mixed tag match against Swann/Banks.
This brings out their Extreme Rules opponents. (BO$$ ON 205 already makes this one of the better shows in a while.) Banks and Swann say that they dance better, dress better, and will beat down Noam and Alicia on Sunday. Fox and Banks exchange some words about a weave. They need to be pulled apart from one another, which kick starts amatch that we’ve seen 1,000 times already.
(1) Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar
Swann opens with a knife-edge chop. Dar tries to retreat but Swann chases him and throws him back in the ring. Swann hits a dropkick after landing a standing front flip. On the apron Dar kicks out Swann’s leg and takes control. (Alicia celebrates like her man just won the belt.)
Rest hold by Dar. Swann tries to power out but eats a backdrop. Sasha is certainly pulling her weight, getting the crowd to clap and chant for a comeback. Dar responds by yanking on Swanns beard and wretching his arm over his shoulder.
In the corner Swann evades an Irish-whip but then gets bulldozed by Dar with a running uppercut. Dar goes for another backdrop but Swann lands on his feet and responds with a backdrop of his own. Dar goes up on the middle ropes but Swann catches him with a frankensteiner. Center of the ring Swann hits a flipping leg drop. Cover but only two.
Rolling Thunder by Swann but Dar had it scouted and rolls him up! Only a two! Cradles him again! Another two. Swann goes for an enziguri but Dar transitions it into an ankle-lock. Swann counters which sends Dar to the outside. As Swann tries to get up Alicia Fox trips him and he falls hard. This brings Sasha over and her and Alicia start trading blows. SASHA RIPS OUT SOME OF HER HAIR. Back in the ring Dar surprises Swann with a shining wizard and scores the victory.
WINNER: Noam Dar in 8:17
Graves believes that this will give Noam and Alicia a great deal of momentum going into Sunday. (Realistically they gave this to Dar since Swann and Banks will win on Sunday.)
Commercial for Extreme Rules. (#teamSAMOAJOE)
Talking Smack preview. All the competitors from the women’s fatal-5way (that never officially happened) will be appearing.
Back from break and Dasha is with Cedric Alexander. She asks him how he feels about Alicia Fox and Noam Dar. He believes in Karma, and at Extreme Rules the “extreme fools” will get what’s coming to them. He says he’s been gone for 3 months, and he didn’t come back to focus on a failed relationship. He has to make up for lost time.
His music hits and out he comes for our next match of the evening. His opponent, Corey Hollis, is already in the ring.
(2) Cedric Alexander vs. Corey Hollis
Tie-up. Hollis snags the arm but Cedric uses his quickness to escape. Nice sequence where Cedric counters a head-scissor by landing on his feet, then follows up with a dropkick.
Hollis surprises Cedric with a stiff punch, and then a chop block to the recently recovered knee. Hollis locks in a straight-jacket submission. Cedric escapes. Hollis goes for another chop block but runs into a knee. STIFF ELBOW BY CEDRIC, followed by a springboard clothesline. Lumbar-check and it’s over.
WINNER: Cedric Alexander in 5:00.
Philips and Graves shoot us back to the LONG feud between Brian Kendrick and Akira Tozawa, and how it FINALLY all came to an end in last weeks street fight. (I really hope they use this momentum for Akira to propel him into the title scene.)
Ad for NXT. (Seriously, Takeover Chicago could be the best, if not top 3 Takeovers of all time.)
Mustafa Ali comes out for what should be the final matchup of 205. It was announced earlier that he would be facing off against Drew Gulak, and the latter viciously attacked Ali for doing too many high-flying moves. (YUP.)
The human-torture device comes out. That nickname doesn’t seem to suit him anymore, as he now has his stupid “no fly zone” sign, and a megaphone.
He starts pandering to the audience…
BUT ALI TAKES HIM OUT WITH A TOPE CON HILO OUT OF NOWHERE.
(3) Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak
Ali opens up with a large variety of offense. Clotheslines, kicks, and a beauty shot to send Gulak to the outside. Ali gets on the apron and lands a running knee to Gulak’s face. (Drew is loudly panting and it’s hilarious.)
After a few knife-edge chops Drew lands some strikes, but Ali has too much momentum.
Back in the ring Gulak takes advantage with some kicks. Ali goes for a tornado DDT but Drew pushes him off the ropes and he hits hard on the apron.
In full control, Gulak wears down Ali by working the leg. Leg DDT and a cover but only a two. Ali gets his comeback in though, hitting a hurricanranna, and his signature roll-through neckbreaker. He goes to the top and hits s cross-body, but Gulak uses the momentum to get a lateral press cover and the win.
WINNER: Drew Gulak in 8:04
Graves tells us that Gulak now owns two victories over Ali because of his high-risk arrogance. Philips sends us to Dasha who is backstage with Gulak. Drew says that the victory wasn’t for him, but for the future of 205. “Efficiency and class is what wins matches, and Ali needs to learn that high-flying doesn’t pay, staying grounded is the way.” (I have a love hate relationship with this dude. He’s way better than this silliness, but God bless him for committing.)
Austin Aries enters with his trusty banana. He tells us that since last night his social media has been blowing up. Not because of his new health book, but because of the “tap heard around the world.” Everyone saw what happened to Neville when he was locked in the Last Chancery. HE TAPPED OUT. Oh and in case you didn’t see it, A.A. rolls the footage of said tap out. Then he shows it again, and then when the crowd asks for it, he shows it yet again. (Utterly amazing how great he is at working a crowd.)
Aries then says that it shouldn’t have been the first time Neville submitted, because at Wrestlemania Neville thumbed him in the eye, and at Payback he got himself Disqualified.
This brings out Neville, who says that his submitting was a once in a lifetime (Cena/Rock?) moment that will never happen again. He then goes on to call A.A. a disease, and that on Sunday he will rid him of 205.
T.J. Perkins attacks A.A. from behind. Aries hits him with the discus-fivearm, but Neville runs in and dropkicks the injured leg. He then locks on the rings of Saturn onto Aries while T.J. stomps the injured leg. A.A. passes out from the pain. Philips wonders if this will be the same fate that awaits Aries at Extreme Rules as the show goes off the air.
JG FINAL ANALYSIS: A step in the right direction, which isn’t saying much considering how poor 205 has been in recent weeks. The cameo of Sasha Banks definitely sparked more crowd interest, and she did a fine job at keeping the WWE Universe involved in a matchup between Dar and Swann that has happened more times than I can count. Her purpose was also well served at promoting the mixed-tag match for Sunday’s PPV. Nice to have Cedric back, who cut a fine promo and scored an easy win in a fun/quick squash match. (More of that please.) Ali and Gulak will never work for me because the angle is so far beyond stupid that it’s not even worth wasting energy thinking about. The final segment, although a little confusing considering how they’ve convinced us that Jack Gallagher would watch Aries’ back, was another reminder at how difficult it has become for anyone to defeat Neville, especially now that he has a crony in T.J. Perkins. Give tonight’s episode a watch, and hope that they build off whatever little momentum 205 has left.
READ PRIOR 205 LIVE REPORTS HERE.
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