On 21st February, WWE aired the thirteenth episode of 205 Live from Citzens Business Park Arena in Ontario, California on the WWE Network. The night was oddly promoted as a Cruiserweight showcase...despite the show being exclusively for the Cruiserweights. With #1 Contender to the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Jack Gallagher battling Tony Nese in the main event, as well as The Brian Kendrick, Akira Tozawa, Noam Dar and Mustafa Ali in action across the show, let's take a look at how it all went down.
Match 1
The Brian Kendrick
def.
Akira Tozawa
via countout
(5:43)
There was a lot to like about the opening match, as the Kendrick v Tozawa feud continues to snowball into one of the low-key highlights of WWE programming in February 2017. Kendrick's crafty and resourceful veteran gimmick was given time to shine opposite the exciting Tozawa. The idea of Kendrick's constant use of the ring almost as a tag team partner, in his attempt to get a win anyway he could was engaging and different from what everyone else is doing at the moment. Even if a similar idea was used by Drew McIntyre, it's good to see the gimmick getting a proper run out with Kendrick, who is arguably better suited to it. The Man with a Plan trapping the former Open the Brave Gate Champion in between the cables between the canvas and ring beam was a cool way of extending the feud and building an issue between the duo, whilst continuing to get Kendrick's character over. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out as these two could easily steal a show if given the time to do so, hopefully it won't end up getting lost in the mix around WrestleMania season.
Match 2
Noam Dar
def.
Mustafa Ali
via pinfall
(7:42)
A cute match here as the Cruiserweight showcase continued. It was nothing to get overly excited about, but Dar and Ali worked well together and put on a nice, entertaining contest, playing their parts well. The Scottish Supernova has slotted into his heel role rather well and whilst that character continues to be built, with Alicia Fox rather awkwardly by his side, it was pleasing to see him getting plenty of time working over Ali and generally standing about looking like a bit of a twat. Ali on the other hand is another guy who seems to be taking his opportunity and running with it, after going out in the first round of July's Cruiserweight Classic. His dive to the outside was the spectacular highlight of the match and if the former DREAMWAVE Wrestling star can begin to work on his persona, alongside his flashy offence, he could end up being the surprise star of the division in the not too distant future. There's more to come from both of these fellas as they grow into their spotlights.
Match 3
Jack Gallagher
def.
Tony Nese
(10:01)
For a ten minute long main event, Jack Gallagher and Tony Nese did a bloody good job here, pacing the contest well and both coming out looking better for having taken part, as the former FutureShock Wrestling man continues to be built towards his title shot with Neville at Fastlane. Nese is perhaps not as over as he should be right now, but he has the talent inside the ring to produce great moments and the series of reversals that ended with a Gallagher headbutt was just that. Nese' cartwheel off the apron into a superkick, that he used to take control of the bout, is super pretty, but arguably a little too jazzy for his current character. The contest had a couple of impressive moments, like The Premier Athlete hitting a spider-style German suplex to bring Gallagher off the top, before the Mancunian would reply with a back suplex of his own en route to getting the victory. Like a lot of the matches on the card, you know that these two could do much better if allowed, but Gallagher and Nese did the job they were asked to do and did it well.
Finally...
ATPW Scale Rating - 5.42/10
Show in a Sentence - Three good matches, that could have been better if the Cruiserdog were let off the Cruiserleash.
Review - James Marston
Twitter - @ATPWrestling
Facebook - /acrossthepondwrestling
Instagram - @ATPWrestling
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