WWE 205 Live Review 11/29/2016

Now this is truly a sign of a “New Era” for the WWE! After the success of The Cruiserwight Classic, WWE had decided to bring cruiserweight action back to the WWE Network. Finally we get the premiere episode of 205 Live, an exclusive show for cruiserweights that we all know and love from the CWC, how can you possibly not be excited?! Can WWE deliver with a brand new show? The Cruiserweight division has been lacking any real excitement, excluding the Perkins/Kendrick rivalry, on Raw. Will this show bring us the same Cruiserweight action we loved from the CWC? Let’s find out!

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WWE brings the premiere episode of 205 Live to you from the Colonial Life Arena at Columbia, South Carolina on the WWE Network.

The show opens up with the 205 Live broadcast team being Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo and “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” Austin Aries.
The 205 roster were in the ramp and each one was introduced by Greg Hamilton. This roster for the show includes Rich Swann, TJ Perkins, Jack Gallgher, Ho Ho Lun, Harv and Gurv Sihra, Noam Dar, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, Ariya Daivari, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, Akira Tosawa, Mustafa Ali, personal favorite Gran Metalik and Cruiserweight Champion, Brian Kendrick.
Opinion: Nice! Austin Aries is an awesome addition to the broadcast team now that he is out with an eye injury. So hyped to see each every man on that ramp do well, especially for Gran Metalik.

A Bollywood Boyz hype video aired. They seem like nice guys and we know they’re Wrestling Classic guys, so we hope them the best.

2) The Bollywood Boyz vs. Drew Gulak and Tony Nese.
In a match with no much reaction for the crowd, The Bollywood Boyz defeated Gulak and Nese by pinfall when both hit a double superkick on Gulak after 7 minutes.
Opinion: A strong enough way to kick off 205 Live, but it is a true shame this match got no reaction from the crowd. It was later reported that a lot of the Smackdown Live crowd emptied unaware of 205 Live being taped after Smackdown ended, even though it was announced numerous times. There are pictures taken from the live crowd to show that. Following the match Nese and Gulak were interviewed and were not happy about the loss and blamed a lumpy ring and greasy ropes for their loss.

A Noam Dar hype video package is aired.

Brian Kendrick is being interviewed backstage by Tom Phillips about his chances on the Main Event tonight, Kendrick seemed confident about his chances until TJ Perkins showed up and told Kendrick he was hunting him down to get the rematch he is owed.

A Gran Metalik hype video is aired. Hell Yes.

2) Jack Gallagher vs. Ariya Daivari.
In a much better match, Gallagher defeated Daivari by pinfall with a corner dropkick.
Opinion: Gallagher was really fun to watch and it won the crowd into the match. A bit disappointed, this match only lasted about 6 minutes.

A Lince Dorado hype video is played.

Brian Kendrick makes his entrance for the main event followed by a Rich Swann hype video.

3) Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann. WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match.
In a really, really good match to close out this premiere episode, Rich Swann defeated Brian Kendrick by pinfall after three spinning heel kicks.
Rich Swann wins the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Opinion: Again, great match in my opinion, really well told story by both wrestlers and a great pace was kept during the entirety of the match. But holy shit! Wasn’t expecting a title change on tonight’s main event! Good for Rich Swann but I think Kendrick’s title reign had more to offer.

After the match, Rich Swann was interviewed in the rings with “You Deserve It” chants, Swann dedicated the title win to his late mother and continued celebrating.

Brian Kendrick was also interviewed and said this was a shocking upset, him being heartbroken and talked about TJP playing mind games and told Swann he is getting the title back.

Final Thoughts
That’s the first ever episode of 205 Live! What did you think of it? It was a solid show, with interesting videos to showcase some of the roster and good in ring action, even if the crowd wasn’t all that into the show as a whole.
Final Rating: 8.2 out of 10.

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