205 Live Review 11/08/2019
205 Live Review
Live from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida
AT LAST! The 205 Live reviews has returned to the big stage on the WWE Network in collaboration with the hottest brand in wrestling, NXT. For the first time ever, 205 Live will be broadcasted in front of a live studio audience that has been claimed by a majority of professional wrestling fans as the best crowd you can think of at Full Sail University! Wait a second – Full Sail University is also the home of NXT, what relevancy does 205 Live have since the greatest champion of all time, Drew Gulak, is no longer on the show? If you have been living under a rock these past few weeks on NXT, the cruiserweight division is now an exclusive to the black and gold brand after the cruiserweight champion, Lio Rush won it. This maybe different from your regularly scheduled programming as NXT talent under the 205 pound weight limit will be able to compete on the show. I am curious to see who steps up to the spotlight tonight. I mean, we have already established that Angel Garza Jr. became number one contender for Rush’s cruiserweight title from this past episode of NXT! After slapping the champion in the face, I like to see more out of Garza and see where he goes from here on out. His character is phenomenal and the way he exudes confidence and feeds off of the crowd as a heel makes me invested to potentially see him as champion. However, at the same time, I do not see Lio Rush dropping the title that quickly. I understand that there is a cruiserweight title match on NXT next week but at least build the Man of the Hour with a strong title reign. Let us bare witness the action the hottest hour on television live from the hottest venue in professional wrestling!
Match #1 – The Brian Kendrick vs. Mansoor
The bell is called for by WWE official Jessika Carr and the match begins with a huge roar of Mansoor chants. Both Mansoor and The Brian Kendrick go for a lock up but it is Kendrick tricks him with a knee strike to the midsection of Mansoor to gain control of the match. Kendrick sends him straight to the corner turnbuckle and hits a head smash to the top turnbuckle pad, followed by an array of strikes to the face. Kendrick shows off to the Full Sail faithful in arrogance as a 205 veteran to only be caught slipping by the turnbuckle as Mansoor moves out of the way with an impressive ring roll. He then hits a head scissors from the corner and gets Kendrick on the ropes. Mansoor attempts to hit Kendrick with a running strike but fails as The Man with a Plan sends him over the top rope. However, we do not realize that Mansoor lands on his feet on the apron, catching himself, and hits a sunset flip powerbomb. Mansoor then kips back up and hammers Kendrick with a beautiful dropkick right to the face. This sends Kendrick rolling onto the apron ringside. Mansoor attempts to grapple from the ring apron but the attempt is no good as WWE official Jessika Carr breaks it up. Nonetheless, we see Kendrick using his typical heel tactics and expose the top turnbuckle. This leads to Kendrick to target the left arm of Mansoor and striking the left arm with his boot as it was attached to the exposed top turnbuckle. The action is then taken to ringside as Kendrick hooks the same left arm to the barricade and kicks the arm once again. Kendrick get back in the ring looking for an easy ten count victory. Nonetheless, Mansoor manages to beat the referee’s ten count and makes it back inside the squared circle. Back in the ring, Kendrick attempts to target the left arm yet again but Mansoor pushes him off. Again however, Kendrick manages a way to target the left arm with a double knees arm breaker. Posing to the NXT audience, Kendrick continues to stomp away on the targeted arm of Mansoor and resents to vicious mudhole stomps to the bottom turnbuckle – not as great as Steve Austin but it was something. He then goes for an armbar but Mansoor escapes. Mansoor looks for the superkick but does not connect as Kendrick catches him. Kendrick then pulls the left arm onto the ring ropes to add extra damage to what has already been done to the young upcomer. Kendrick applies the Fujiwara armbar submission to end this match at six minutes but does not happen as Mansoor rolls out of the way. But this also leads to a smooth transition into the cross armbar by Kendrick in the process. Mansoor reverses into a pin attempt and hits a jaw breaker. This followed by multiple knife edge chops that would make the Nature Boy Ric Flair proud. He then follows that with a huge discus clothesline to drop Kendrick. He then attempts for another superkick but Kendrick catches him. But this time, Mansoor catches himself and hits the step up enziguri and hits a rolling Falcon Arrow only for a two count. Mansoor uses the fireman’s carry on Kendrick but it does not do any good as Kendrick escapes. Mansoor attempts to utilize a running strike to the corner but Kendrick kicks him right in the face and goes for the finish of Sliced Bread #2. However, Mansoor reverses and hits a Death Valley Driver for a close two count pin attempt. Mansoor attempts a reverse DDT but Kendrick reverses and takes care of Mansoor with a half and half suplex. Kendrick attempts to finish the match with his vintage Captain’s Hook submission only to be reversed out of it. However, Kendrick hits a running powerslam as soon as Mansoor runs towards him. But this powerslam is reversed into the small package for the upset pin fall victory.
Result: Mansoor via pin fall
My Thoughts:
I really thought that Mansoor had a great debut to the cruiserweight division with a strong showing and victory against a very gamed veteran in The Brian Kendrick. Let us not forget that Kendrick is a former cruiserweight champion himself and he proved just that with a strong showing of his own! Tonight reminded me of 2016 where Kendrick would utilize his heel tactics to get the victory by any means possible. Do not sleep on Kendrick ladies and gentlemen because he is a former WWE champion (technically if you count his momentary victory at the WWE Championship Scramble at Unforgiven in 2008. Personally, I feed off of his heel vibes but apparently he is a tweener since World Wrestling Entertainment cannot establish him as a babyface nor a heel. Speaking of championship contenders, I think Mansoor, the voice of Cole Quinn in WWE 2K19 last year, has a bright future ahead of him. He won a battle royal back at Super Showdown and won a huge match against Cesaro at Crown Jewel on Halloween. To me, he does not have a proper shtick as a babyface just yet. Maybe we can build him more and more within the upcoming weeks. I imagine that this will be a good run for the young upstart especially with the success he has had over the past year. Let us see what the future holds for the former Insider!
A replay of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Number One Contenders Match between Angel Garza Jr. and Tony Nese from this past Wednesday’s episode of NXT is shown
Danny Burch is announced to join 205 Live
My Thoughts:
This is no surprise for me. I really thought Danny Burch should have made the jump to the cruiserweight division a long time ago, especially when Oney Lorcan made the jump way back earlier this year. I think Burch’s brawler type style fits well with the division just as his partner does. He can take major hits but I am interested in seeing how he establishes and develops a character that is not identical to Oney Lorcan. To me, Burch was always the sidekick like Robin is to Batman, having no unique character or style of his own. In all honesty, I imagine that Burch will be somewhat subpar to what he was in NXT as developmental talent four years ago to the date. I wish nothing but the best for the man but at least create some credibility!
Match #2 – (The Main Event) – NXT Cruiserweight Champion, Lio Rush vs. Raul Mendoza – Non Title Match
The referee calls for a bell and immediately, Raul Mendoza goes for a running strike in which Lio Rush reveres with a leapfrog. Rush goes for a kick but is caught by Mendoza and is thrown in the air. Rush successfully lands on his feet with a backflip. The champion attempts to play mind games by running and avoiding Mendoza at all costs in the ring but it is Mendoza who ends the cat and mouse game with a huge clothesline lariat to send the champion rolling to the outside. Mendoza finds an opening and hits a Running Springboard Corkscrew Crossbody to knock the champion down. After the Full Sail faithful loudly chant 205, the action is sent back inside the ring. Mendoza attempts another springboard attack but Rush attempts to catch him with the springboard handstand which does not work. Mendoza then knocks the champion down with a springboard dropkick followed by a spinning neckbreaker (I guess they did not want to call it the Final Cut because Dustin Rhodes is in All Elite Wrestling now) and a springboard moonsault for yet another unsuccessful pin attempt. He then chops the life out of Rush with a Knife Edge Chop to the corner turnbuckle. Out of frustration, the champion Lio Rush fights back with multiple right hand strikes to the corner and Irish-whips him into the corner turnbuckle where Mendoza catches himself with a unique style and attempts another springboard attempt. Rush then catches Mendoza slipping and hits the step up enziguri to the back of the neck. While Rush climes to the top rope, Mendoza catches him with a flying enziguri to the side of the head, knocking the champion down. Being frustrated with not putting away the champion yet, Mendoza resents to a new and interesting Rolling Surfboard Stretch which he then transitions into an aggressive chin lock submission maneuver. Rush manages to fight out of it. Mendoza, annoyed of the huge Lio chants, attempts a suplex but Rush gets out of it and attempts a school boy pin attempt. He then goes for another schoolboy which transitions into his vintage sliding enziguri kick. Rush then resorts to the comeback and fires on all cylinders. Rush then hits a Springboard Back Elbow to knock Raul Mendoza down onto the other side of the ring apron. The champion then hits a handstand kick followed by a suicide dive to Mendoza to gain momentum. After both men are back in the ring, Rush hits a Springboard Stunner for a rough two count with Mendoza’s shoulder up at the most vulnerable of times. Rush is growing frustration over the fact that he cannot put away Mendoza so he then hits him with Yes Kicks. Mendoza catches the second yes kick and hits a lethal Fisherman’s Suplex for a two count. Mendoza goes to the top rope and attempts a Phoenix Splash but cannot hit it as Rush moves out of the way in the nick of time. Rush then catches Mendoza on his feet and hits a Rolling Unprettier to get the victory.
Result: Lio Rush via pin fall
My Thoughts:
In the main event of 205 Live from Full Sail University, I was absolutely impressed on how this ended up! A rematch from last week’s show turned out better than expected. Now, I am not saying that it was the crowd that got this more hyped than it originally was intended to be. Both Rush and Mendoza laid it out all on the line this week to showcase not only to the professional wrestling fans around the world but the most passionate fans at Full Sail University what 205 Live is all about. Having Mendoza compete at the level that he has for the past three years of his career makes me appreciate him as a competitor more and more! They said that Buddy Murphy was World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Best Kept Secret” but I firmly believe that Raul Mendoza is the biggest held secret in NXT and 205. His athleticism and lucha libre style has wowed audiences worldwide for the past several years. On the same note, the champion once again proved why he is the one who runs this prestigious division! Believe it or not, I was in attendance during Lio Rush’s debut on the main roster on 205 in my hometown of Ontario, California. Since that time, the twenty three four year old piece of gold has cemented himself as one of the best to step in that ring with his agility, quickness, and lightning style. I see the title on his waist for some time, maybe even past the Royal Rumble of next year!
Final Thoughts
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the first episode of 205 Live held from Full Sail University! Let me, my fellow peeps, indulge you for one moment. Tonight’s episode was nothing more than spectacular. We can argue that it had the same Main Event vibes from the early episodes of 205 but to me, I felt a combination of strong competition within two matches and a promo exclusive for a new star heading to 205. In this episode, we got to witness a new star on the rise with Mansoor and a veteran like Raul Mendoza showcase their skills with passion! Aside from a replay of this past episode of NXT, I really did not see anything else added that gave me the feel of a new era in 205. However, instead of the usual three matches on the card like we have witnessed every single week, we saw two matches that surprisingly killed it, leading to some awesome 205 chants. I think with this episode in the books, I am confident to call this episode an A for awesome! Until next time my peeps, stay passionate and remember to always strive for your passion in life.
