SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE 205 LIVE
MAY 8, 2018 ON WWE NETWORK
BALTIMORE, MD
REPORT BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson
-The show opened with a video package that highlighted tonight’s matches. In it, Lucha House Party, The Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher, Tony Nese, Buddy Murphy, and Mustafa Ali cut selfie promos on how they would be victorious.
Heydorn’s Analysis: I like this type of opening to the show. Out of the gate, everyone got a chance to say a few words and those words centered around winning. It sets a good tone for the cruiserweight brand that is different from the others.
-From there, the show open ran and Vic, Nigel, and Percy welcomed the audience to the program. They hyped a big fight feel for the match between Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali. Then, Lucha House Party’s music hit and the action started.
(1) GRAN METALIK & LINCE DORADO vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK & JACK GALLAGHER
Metalik and Dorado got a small response which was supplemented by lucha chants because Kalisto came out with them. Kendrick and Gallagher were out next and got a similar small response.
Before the match officially got underway, Drew Gulak’s music hit and walked to the top of the ramp. Vic Joseph sold the moment as a very big surprise. Gulak proceeded to join the commentary team at ringside.
Heydorn’s Analysis: This is a nice moment for Gulak to really show off his personality.
The match began with Gallagher and Dorado in the ring as Kalisto worked to get more lucha chants from the the audience. On commentary, Gulak said he was out there to judge the talent on 205 Live and called Lince Dorado, Lince Dorito. From there, Gulak and the announce team had a discussion as to why Gulak was jealous of the high flying skills of the Lucha House Party.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Great work on behalf of Gulak and the announce team. Joseph cued Gulak up perfectly and Gulak hit a home run with how he responded. Gulak sounds really comfortable out there and creating that differentiation between him and other cruiserweights like Dorado and/or Metalik makes him stick out. He also sounds like jerk in tearing down their style which lines up nicely as a heel character.
In the ring, both competitors felt each other out in the early part of the match and exchanged offensive shots. They then engaged in a series of spinning pin attempts that yielded two counts each time. After, Dorado tagged Metalik into the match and he hit a flying clothesline out of the gate. After that, he covered for a two count. Out of the pin, Metalik tossed Gallagher to the outside and then connected with a flipping dive over the top rope. On commentary, Gulak said that Metalik wasted time in flying high and said that that type of offense isn’t what 205 Live was all about.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Great pace here in the ring and more great work on commentary. Again, Gulak drove a large wedge between him and the high flying style of the LHP. He’s laid a nice foundation for a story.
After the big move, Metalik rolled Gallagher back into the ring, but then was hit from behind by Gallagher who had made a blind tag into the match, before the dive. From there, Gallagher and Kendrick owned the match and dominated Metalik with submission and calculated strikes. Gallagher and Kendrick tagged in and out like a well oiled machine during this and kept Metalik trapped in their corner. Metalik made a handful of attempts to reach Dorado, but each time he came up short. Finally, Metalik connected with an enziguri to drop Kendrick and made the tag to his partner. From there, Dorado came in hot and connected with a spring board splash which he followed with a hurricanrana and springboard stunner. After the stunner, Dorado went for the pin, but Gallagher stopped it. Then, Kendrick was able to connect with Sliced Bread and tried to make a pin, but Metalik stopped it. After that exchange all four men ended up fighting with Dorado and Metalik getting the upper hand with stereo kicks and suicide dives. Then, Dorado climbed the top rope and connected with a shooting star press on Jack Gallagher for the 1,2,3 win.
-After the match, on commentary, Drew Gulak said for Dorado to try that on him.
WINNER: Dorado and Metalik at 7:49
Heydorn’s Analysis: Solid tag match between four good workers. The moves were crisp and the pace was fast which led to an entertaining bout. That said, there wasn’t much heat behind it as their wasn’t a story between the two teams. The real story was Drew Gulak on commentary. He was tremendous and articulated his disdain for the high flying style very well. Based on his commentary, a feud between him and Lucha House Party appears to be brewing.
-A special selfie promo aired from Mustafa Ali. He was walking along train tracks and called Buddy Murphy a bad dude and barrier. He then said he was built to break down barriers. Ali then said his match with Murphy was about him clearing the way and that Murphy had two options – to move, or be made to move.
-From there, Murphy was shown talking to Tony Nese backstage and Nese told him good luck. Murphy was then interviewed and said that he only has one blemish on his 205 Live record and that was a loss to Mustafa Ali. He then said he would rectify that and that he hoped the champ would be watching.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Two successful promos if you ask me. Ali has really found a nice tone with his selfie promos and has truly made the most of those segments. He looked credible and likable. On the flip side, Murphy looked arrogant and bully-like. Because of both, a nice psychological foundation was set ahead of their match later on.
-A commercial aired for Something Else To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard on the WWE Network.
(2) TONY NESE vs. KEITH CLAYBALL
Out of the commercial, Nese hit the ring first and did his standard ab counting entrance to virtually no response from the audience. Clayball was already in the ring as Nese entered it. The match began with Nese and Clayball circling each other in the ring. They tied up and Nese easily tossed Clayball roughly into the corner. From there, Nese delivered stiff chops to Clayball’s chest before whipping him into the ropes and kicking. With Clayball down, Nese played to the crowd and they reacted with boos. Nese then draped Clayball over the ropes, hung him upside down, and then stomped him in the mid-section. After, he kicked Clayball while doing ab sit-ups and then posed. From there, he went for a big boot, but Clayball moved which sent Nese into the ring post. Clayball tried to maintain momentum, but Nese quickly snatched it back with a well-timed shoulder tackle. Out of that, he hit a second one which made Clayball fall to the outside. Nese responded with a running forearm to the face and followed that up by tossing Clayball back into the ring. From there, Nese hit his running knee for the 1,2,3 win.
WINNER: Nese at 3:03
Heydorn’s Analysis: Squash match alert. Like the last couple weeks, I like the use of it here. Nese needed a win and this was the avenue to get that. The match was what it was, but Nese showed a ton of light on his running knee finish. That has to be tightened up.
-After the match, the announcers praised Nese and then said there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding another 205 Live star, Hideo Itami. From there, a video aired for Itami that detailed his history with the WWE and featured talking points from the likes of Triple H and Paige. The video also featured content from Itami himself and he said he hated tagging with Akira Tozawa. From there, it recapped the events from last week in which the two seemingly broke up as a team.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Ok, this wasn’t perfect. It was, however, a step in the right direction. Itami needs this type of help hyping himself up. He can’t cut a decent promo and videos like this are how he can begin to connect with the audience. Itami was clear in why he hated tagging and was also built up by the words of Triple H and others. Plus, the story with Tozawa is cued up and ready to go after last week’s events. Well done.
-A commercial aired for this week’s NXT TV episode on the WWE Network. After, a commercial aired for the new season of Camp WWE.
-Out of the commercial, Drake Maverick was shown checking his phone backstage. He was then interuppted by the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Cedric Alexander. Maverick asked Cedric if any of his animosity toward Buddy Murphy would hinder the main event of tonight’s show. Alexander said it wouldn’t and that he sent his message to Murphy last week. He then said he would take a backseat and let Mustafa Ali make his own statement, but that when the time comes for him to get Murphy in the ring, he would finish the fight that he started. Maverick said he appreciated it, but that alone wasn’t all he wanted to talk to him about. From there, Maverick said that next week due to 205 Live emanating from London, the cruiserweights would be facing off against WWE’s UK division. Alexander smiled and told Maverick to make sure they bring their A game because he certainly would be.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Very cool feature. Maverick didn’t elaborate on specifics, but 205 Live vs. the UK division should be very entertaining. The UK division has some really nice talent that will mesh well with the cruiserweights. Ultimately, this is another unique and smart way to make 205 Live special.
(3) BUDDY MURPHY vs. MUSTAFA ALI
Murphy walked out first and received a nothing response from the crowd. As he made his entrance, Joseph cued up clips of their earlier match in the cruiserweight tournament. Ali hit the ring next and did so in his brand new ring attire. His response was quiet too, but noticeably louder than Murphy’s. As Ali made his way to the ring, Nigel questioned why Murphy hasn’t had a title shot yet if he’s been able to make weight. Watson said that choice was fully in the hands of Maverick and he had the right to do whatever he saw fit.
Heydorn’s Analysis: I was looking for a Murphy weigh-in video here. Those videos have been important in getting Murphy over and he’s not over strong enough yet to abandon them outright.
The match began with Ali and Murphy dancing around each other before Murphy tossed Ali into the corner. Murphy then ran at him, but Ali countered with a chop to the chest. After, the two hit a nice running rope spot where Murphy countered Ali’s hurricanrana into a powerbomb. Ali countered the powerbomb and hit a dropkick instead. This gave Ali the momentum and he used it to knock Murphy to the outside of the ring. Ali followed, but Murphy caught him and hit a massive vertical suplex on the outside ground.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Just a sickening looking bump for Ali there. Yes, it was just a suplex, but the sound his body made while hitting the floor resonated and perked the crowd up a bit. Great timing.
From there, Murphy tossed Ali back into the ring and covered for a two count. Out of the pin, Murphy lifted Ali up and whipped him into the corner turnbuckle two times. On the third time, Ali bounced off the turnbuckle and Murphy hit with with a back body drop. As this happened, Cedric Alexander was shown watching the match backstage.
Back in the ring, Murphy still had control of the match thanks to a sleeper hold as the crowd chanted “let’s go Ali.”
Heydorn’s Analysis: There is that Ali chant again. He get’s this response every week and its more recognizable than Alexander’s. A true testament to how improved Ali is in just a years time.
Ali finally escaped with a well time kick and then hit the ropes for a high flying move. Both guys thought the same thing and hit each other with splashes in the middle of the ring. Murphy got to his feet first out of that wreck and hit Ali was stiff punches. From there, he whipped Ali into the ropes, but was drop kicked again by Ali. This gave Ali the momentum and he capitalized with more kicks. Ali then went to the outside to hit his rolling facebuster, but Murphy countered with another sleeper hold. Eventually, Murphy backed Ali into the corner which caused him to break the hold. With some momentum on his side, Ali turned the tables and locked in his own sleeper. Ali was able to take Murphy to the mat with the hold, but Murphy finally escaped with a cannon ball roll onto Ali and into the ropes. Again, Murphy was the first to his feet after the big move and arrogantly kicked Ali in the face. Ali responded to the arrogance with a stiff forearm to the face which he followed with more chops and even more forearms. Ali then hit a nice innovative DDT on Murphy who was standing on the ring apron.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Well, if you were looking for a true cruiserweight-esque sequence, that was it. The DDT was innovative, fast, crisp, and well executed and it took the match into the second gear.
Out of that move, Ali went for the pin, but Murphy kicked out at two. After the failed pin, Ali lifted Murphy onto the top rope, but couldn’t finish his vertical suplex. Because of it, Murphy shoved Ali off the top rope and followed him down to the mat so he could connect with his own innovative DDT. After, Murphy went for the cover, but Ali kicked out a two. Out of the pin, Ali attempted a quick pin on Murphy, but Murphy immediatley kicked out. From there, Murphy hit his trifecta powerbomb on Ali which prompted the official to determine if he was fit to finish competing. It was determined that he was which made Murphy mad. Because of his anger, he picked up Ali for another powerbomb, but Ali countered with a facebuster. Ali then covered, but Murphy kicked out at two. Out of the pin, Ali lifted Murphy to the top rope and attempted a top rope hurricanrana to the floor. Instead, Murphy shoved him off and Ali flipped in mid air and landed on his feet. Not knowing this, Murphy jumped off to hit him, but Ali connected with a superkick. From there, Ali rolled Murphy back into the ring and tried for a pin, but Murphy grabbed the ropes.
Heydorn’s Analysis: Another really nice sequence. These two have a nice chemistry together and are able to embody what it is to be a cruiserweight within their matches.
After the pin attempt, Ali climbed the top rope again and tried a 450 splash to Murphy’s arm like he did in their last match. Murphy moved out of the way which sent Ali crashing to the mat. Murphy then saw an opportunity to hurt Ali’s arm and did so by jumping directly on his elbow. Smelling blood in the water, Murphy went to work on the arm and totally immobilized Ali. Eventually, Murphy nailed Ali with Murphy’s Law and covered him for the 1,2,3 victory.
WINNER: Murphy at 15:44
Heydorn’s Analysis: This was an excellent match between two of WWE’s top cruiserweights and I’d put it on my list of must watch 205 Live matches. That said, Murphy needed to showcase some character at the end. He pretty much celebrated the win like a babyface and WWE even cut to a crowd shot of a family clapping for him. Talk about mixed signals. 205 Live needs a strong heel to oppose Alexander. Murphy clearly is that guy, but they need to then write him as a heel. The clean win is fine to give him credibility, but an avenue to get heat would have been more effective at this juncture.
-After the match, Murphy yelled at Ali in the ring as the show faded to black.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Ali vs. Murphy took this show from very flat to good. That said, since WrestleMania, WWE has been laying the groundwork and planting seeds for feuds and stories all around the show. I understand that the planting process takes time, but 205 Live needs some of those seeds to start growing so these shows are about more than just setting things up. Fans will want to see concrete developments and actions within those stories take place. WWE can bide a little more time, but eventually they have to give these stories the green light in order to move this brand forward.
OVERALL GRADE: B-
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 5/1 WWE 205 Live Report: Buddy Murphy returns, Kalisto vs. Drew Gulak, and more
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