RAW 1282 Review // Cesaro & Samoa Joe & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose & Jason Jordan

The penultimate RAW of 2017 brought us another Shield heavy episode, even if Roman Reigns was absent and weirdly not even mentioned on the show. The main event would feature Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose being joined by Jason Jordan to face rivals Cesaro, Samoa Joe and Sheamus, after the prior had demanded a match with Joe following Joe's attack on both Rollins and Jordan after the show's opening contest (originally scheduled as Rollins vs. Joe). The Cruiserweight's also got a big spotlight as Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander clashed in the finals of the #1 Contender's tournament that's been going on for the last few episodes, whilst Stephanie McMahon returned to interrupt a division-wide brawl between the Women's roster with a big announcement regarding Royal Rumble. 

But was it any good? Let's take a frickin' look.

Seth Rollins def. Jason Jordan // Pinfall

then...

Cesaro & Samoa Joe & Sheamus def. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose & Jason Jordan // Pinfall

This saga began with Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan arguing over who should be facing Samoa Joe and then played out across over half an hour of screen time. If the opening segment was awkward and riddled with terrible dialogue, I was begging for it to return by a few minutes into the Rollins vs. Jordan match that came next. Suffering from Jordan not quite being a heel, a general apathy from the live audience and an uncharacteristically lethargic performance from Rollins, the first five to ten minutes of this match bored me to tears. You know I love my some storytelling and there was a degree of that here as Jordan focused on Rollins back to control the match...but he did so by hitting the same two moves (most shoulder charges into the corner). The crowd got restless with the plod of the contest, chanting "This is boring" and appeared to boo when both wrestler got in the ring at nine on a double countout spot. The highlight of the match came when Joe finally made his presence known, bringing some much need fire to the contest, before taking a snug superkick from Seth. Rollins won with the King's Landing, before Joe retaliate the early attack, before twatting Jordan for good measure on the way out. I can only imagine that this was for making The Samoan Submission Machine sit through such a dreary match.

Following this Kurt Angle booked the main event, with Rollins, Jordan and Dean Ambrose all wanting to fight Samoa Joe and The Bar seemingly with fuck all else to do that night. This was a much improved effort from the opener, with a trope-busting finish that opens up a number of possibilities for future storylines. The body of the match was the heel trio working over Rollins and whilst again I wasn't particularly wowed by Rollins performance and selling, there were a number of well-crafted hope spots, with Ambrose did a marvellous job of keeping the crowd invested from the apron. The sheer number of times it appeared like a hot tag was imminent as the momentum swung to Rollins was what bought real life to the contest, with the Kingslayer putting on a good sequence with Sheamus in particular. I'm trying to give Jordan some credit for something, but his short spell as face in peril at the beginning was worst part of the bout, with very little energy and he didn't really do much else. 

The finish was a fascinating piece of booking, as Rollins hit a suicide dive onto Cesaro and Joe, with Ambrose caught in the crossfire. It seemed like a pretty regular spot as the match picked up the pace, but then the referee began checking on the Lunatic Fringe, replays showed Ambrose grabbing his arm after Rollins connected and Sheamus nailed a Brogue Kick outta nowhere to pin Rollins. It felt like a bold booking decision with it seeming more like an angle than a legit injury (at least one caused by the move), especially after the lengthy face in peril sequence. There was an element of disappointment at not seeing the resulting hot tag, but that was mostly replaced with intrigue at what WWE's plan was. It felt like they were planting seeds for an Ambrose heel turn, which is what I've been hoping for ever since the Shield reunion storyline began. Later on, a violent backstage segment seemed to write Ambrose off television for a while as Cesaro, Joe and Sheamus jumped Rollins and Ambrose in the trainer's room, with Joe pushing a heavy looking production box onto Dean's already injured arm. 

Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contender's Tournament Final // Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak // Pinfall

The best action on the show was found in the Cruiserweight division as Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak put together a lovely match to conclude the tournament to a find Enzo Amore's next opponent. The bout had a similar story to that of the Rollins vs. Jordan, but a much better job with it, with big spots, credible selling and variety. The spot where both men tumbled to the floor stuck in a verticle position is always a hit with me and the fact it was used to build a story around a back injury for Alexander gets a double thumbs up from me. Gulak worked over the injury with numerous holds, whilst we also got to see that Alexander could potentially struggle to hit some of his offence. Within the constraints of the TV time the two did a stellar job of telling that story, whilst also putting on some lovely pro wrestling sequences along the way, making the most of contrasting styles. The sequence following a fire-up from Alexander was the highlight, with the two going back and forth, before Alexander nailed a running spanish fly for a good pop. Unfortunately the finish came across a little flat and forced, as we saw Amore leave the commentary table on his phone, inadvertently distracting Gulak and allowing Alexander to pick up the win with a Lumbar Check.

Around the match, there was a fair deal of storyline advancement, mostly involving the relationship between Gulak, Amore and Nia Jax. Amore's pre-match promo about Star Wars was a thing, but Gulak again stole the moment by comparing himself to Jar Jar Binks for a nice reaction. I'm unsure what to make of Amore's stretch on commentary as he had a severe case of verbal diarrhoea and just babbled utter nonsense all over the match. It stopped the commentary team from telling the story of the bout as effectively as they could have and had very little to do with anything at all. It was incredibly annoying, but arguably still entertaining. As a reviewer who is going to continue watching no matter what, it's hard to say whether annoying bable would've been enough for someone else, especially a casual to change the channel, but I certainly think Amore both as a performer and a character continues to walk a very thin line in that regard. We finished on a brilliant backstage segment where Gulak cock-blocked Amore with Jax, hamming it up to fuck as he apologised profusely to Enzo for losing the match. The Gulak/Amore relationship has produced some of the most entertaining television for the purple ropes and I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing how this story plays out and if WWE is able to give it a satisfying conclusion over the next few months. 

Stephanie McMahon announced the first ever Women's Royal Rumble Match 

Who would have suspected that a segment that began with an Elias Christmastime would conclude with Stephanie McMahon announcing the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match for 28th January? Well, it bloody happened, mate. McMahon returned amidst a roster-wide brawl after the match between Absolution and the team of Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley ended in DQ win for the protagonists. The announcement is significant, of course, and there's argument on both sides for the Women's Royal Rumble, but having McMahon play such a pivotal role in it's announcement, whilst the division was presented as an almost faceless bunch of women, didn't sit well with me. The promo McMahon cut was fine, the usual motivational chatter about what the women have done in WWE for the last few years, but it felt unfair to make McMahon the star, whilst the everyone else was reduced to supporting cast, all happy for the opportunity. Credit to WWE for doing a couple of out of the box things though, having Sasha Banks and Mickie James interrupt the sing along produced a fun moment, with Banks and James looking more like stars than they both have for a while, whilst some of Michael Cole's quips on commentary got a chuckle from this cynical reviewer. 

Finn Balor def. The Miztourage // Disqualification

then...

Finn Balor & Hideo Itami def. The Miztourage // Pinfall 

Another moment where the booking team had seemingly switched their coffee brand this week, the debut of Hideo Itami came out of left-field and was a nice little surprise. Obviously, it would've been better if it hadn't been trailed for 205 Live for the last few weeks, but I'm not sure anyone was expecting him to turn up in a match with Finn Balor, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. I'm not quite how the handicap match that lead into Itami's debut was, as it went for way too long and I went to make a bowl of Tomato soup. (It was lovely, thanks for asking) The disqualification seemed like an odd move, but I popped for Itami's music and him storming the ring to help out the man who debuted on NXT by helping him out with The Ascension was lovely touch for long term fans. The tag match was also probably longer than it needed to be, but the stretch with Balor and Itami kicking ass was big fun and showcased the former GHC Heavyweight Champion wonderfully. The GTS to Axel was the cherry on top. Itami's appearance here and the fact that 205 Live house show tickets are not flying out, has me wondering if Vince is considering Balor to the brand as well...it's not a move I would be completely against, if Vinny hasn't seen the potential of Balor as a main eventer.

Brock Lesnar's Royal Rumble challengers revealed 

Basically, this segment revealed what most had worked out already. Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane at Royal Rumble. They may as well have said that Kane would be taking the fall in the match whilst they were at it. The angle was a mixed bag all in all, with Kane cutting a terrible promo and relying on cheaply referencing The Undertaker, Braun Strowman looking a little weird in the face and then Lesnar struggling to F5 the Devil's Favourite Demon. I say mixed bag, but what I really meant was this segment was a bit shit. The highlight came from Kurt Angle announcing the match as soon as Lesnar got in the ring and then quickly saying his "It's true" catchphrase and bailing from the ring. Oh and Kane sat up after an F5...oooooooh.

Asuka def. Alicia Fox // Submission

Asuka went to 8-0 on RAW, in her longest match since beating Emma on the RAW after TLC. Foxy got a nice little bit of offence in, including her Northern Lights suplex that I'm a mark for, before succumbing to a cross armbreaker in shy of four minutes. The presentation of Asuka since that initial week has been much closer to the mark, lets hope WWE can continue to build the aura and mystique around the Empress of Tomorrow.

Matt Hardy presented the battlefield for "The Great War"

DELIGHTFUL! Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy dazzled in their promos this week, benefiting from the two being placed in separate segments, rather than sliced up together like last week's. Wyatt's promo to camera was dark and mesmerising, whilst Hardy's daft "Woken" antics, including playing chess with a goldfish he believes to be Napoleon, felt so far removed from anything else WWE is doing. Holy shit, is WWE going to get this feud right? 

The Revival def. Heath Slater & Rhyno // Pinfall

After being off TV since July, The Revival are back and ran through Rhyno & Heath Slater, picking up the victory with the Shatter Machine. We later saw Kurt Angle tell Rhyno & Slater that they needed to sort their shit out or he'd fire them. 

This week's great moment in WWE history was Chris Jericho's WWE debut from RAW is WAR 324. (Originally aired 9th August 1999 from Chicago, Illinois), whilst a clip from this week's Total Divas saw The Miz make his wife Maryse eat some meat for some reason.

Finally... 

Almost every segment this week felt like WWE was trying to do something creatively different. It didn't always pay off and in fact it probably flopped more often than not, but I'd much rather see creative that is distinct and appears to have effort behind it than the same old tired segments and patterns. The Ambrose injury angle, the interplay between Amore/Jax/Gulak, Elias' interaction with Banks, James and Bayley, Itami's debut and the magical things going on with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt were all good examples of this. Gulak vs. Alexander was the best match on the show by some way and with a little more time could've been a stand-out bout for the Cruisers, whilst unfortunately on the flip side Rollins vs. Jordan ended up being a snorefest.

I was surprised to see not a whole lot promoted for next week's Christmas Day episode, which considering WWE has made the decision to air the show live for the first time is a little baffling. I was expecting WWE to put together almost a B PPV for the event with no RAW PPV this month, but it seems the company has decided to stick with announcing John Cena and hoping that will be enough for the event not to bomb.

205 Live 53 Review // Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese

The last month on 205 Live

205 Live 50 Review // Enzo Amore Welcomes the UK Championship Division to the 'Zo Show
205 Live 51 Review // Kalisto vs. Drew Gulak
Survivor Series 2017 Review // Kalisto vs. Enzo Amore // Cruiserweight Championship
205 Live 52 Review // Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak // Street Fight

As 205 Live celebrated a year on the WWE Network, Lexington, Kentucky was our host for this week's episode. The show featured The 'Zo Train's Drew Gulak and Tony Nese going up against Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali, ahead of the four facing off in the Semi-Final of the Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contendership Tournament on Raw next week. But was it any good? Let's take a look! 

Drew Gulak & Tony Nese def. Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali // Pinfall

Drew Gulak has steadily risen to being the most over element of 205 Live, due to his undeniably great character work and weird charisma, that was on clear display here. Whilst the tag team match was nice build up for Raw's tournament semi-final, it was the pre-match promo that was the real highlight. Fuck, I love Gulak. With ab king Tony Nese by his side, Gulak explained that the team were called "Team PowerPoint" due to Nese's power and Gulak's points. The former CZW World Heavyweight Champion was on fine form here, to the point that he received a "PowerPoint" chant from the Lexington crowd and then quickly told them to shut up, because chanting is against his rules. Magnificent. The match was a solid affair, with a decent story of Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali struggling to work cohesively with the four way in the back of their minds. The stretch saw a good near fall for AliXander with it seeming like they'd finally got their act together with a diving crossbody doomsday device, before Nese got a flash pin on Ali, after Alexander was knocked off the apron, in a neat swerve finish.

Kalisto def. Gentleman Jack Gallagher // Disqualification

This was a decent technician vs. luchadore outing, with a couple of good spots, as well as the beginning of a new feud as The Brian Kendrick attacked Kalisto for the disqualification. Prior to that Kalisto and Gentleman Jack Gallagher had worked really well together, with a lovely sequence to open proceedings as they exchanged holds and got over the contrasting styles. The standout moment of the match was the work the pair did in the ropes, which was creative and distinct, with the contest being worth checking out for that moment alone. The finish saw The King of Flight running through Gallagher after escaping a gorgeous straightjacket surfboard, hitting a Listo Kick, Basement rana and Salida del Sol for what was looking like a decisive victory until Kendrick got involved. Gallagher and Kendrick have perfected the bully beatdown recently and this was another well put together situation as Kendrick used his jacket to restrain Kalisto so Gallagher could headbutt the fuck out of the former United States Champion. Kendrick's non-title feuds on 205 Live have been some of the best work on the programme, so here's hoping this one with Kalisto continues the Man with a Plan's excellent form.

Rich Swann def. Noam Dar // Pinfall

A solid outing for Rich Swann to set him up for the final of the Cruiserweight #1 Contender's tournament in two week's time. The contest was a relatively simple affair with some stalling from Dar, Enzo Amore interference allowing the Scot to take control, before Swann fought back to get a clean win with a Phoenix Splash. There was a nice little bit of narrative involving Dar having suffering an injured knee on Raw, resulting in Swann targeting the leg at points, with the injury playing into the finish as Dar struggled to lock in a submission and a kick to the leg gave Swann some space to eventually pick up the win. Dar sold well throughout and it made him much more sympathetic when Amore was berating him for being a loser after the match. Swann and Dar could have a much better contest under different circumstances, but this bout did what it had to do.

Hideo Itami is Coming Soon! 

Finally...

A good outing for 205 Live, with a crowd that was more into the action than recent week's. Despite a lack a genuine consequences, there was some nice build for the tournament semi-final on RAW, an interesting new feud beginning between Kalisto and The Brian Kendrick, whilst Rich Swann was also given some extra momentum ahead of his #1 contender's match in two weeks. The matches were all easy watches, with a handful of creative and exciting moments, but none are worth going out of your way to see or particularly memorable. 

 Review by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale) 

205 Live 52 Review // Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak // Street Fight

A different kind of episode from 205 Live this week, with one storyline spanning the whole hour at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Whilst the biggest match on the episode was Akira Tozawa facing Drew Gulak in a Street Fight, that bout was part of an episode-arcing narrative where Enzo Amore had members of The 'Zo Train compete in matches in order to prove themselves worthy of representing the brand, this included Noam Dar & Ariya Daivari tagging up against Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander and Tony Nese battling Mustafa Ali, alongside multiple backstage segments. But was it any good?

Street Fight // Akira Tozawa def. Drew Gulak // Pinfall (11:11) 

then...

Tony Nese def. Mustafa Ali // Pinfall (7:06)

then...

Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander def. Noam Dar & Ariya Daivari // Pinfall 

The show kicked-off with The 'Zo Train celebrating Thanksgiving, with Noam Dar desperate for some scran, Enzo Amore told his pals they'd all have matches to prove themselves tonight and in a bizarre turn of events the Gobbledy Gooker returned, only for it to be revealed it was Drew Gulak (or the Gobbledy Gulaker) all along, as Gulak continued to be the star of 205 Live....The fun continued with Gulak inside the ring as he cut a promo about wanting a Street Fight because Enzo Amore was from the streets and because Gulak is "Enzo adjacent", that meant Gulak was from the streets, by proxy...

For various story-based reasons, Akira Tozawa's victory over Drew Gulak went on first, when it really should've been the main event. The match was a run of the mill plunder brawl, with a couple of good highspots along the way. Gulak blocking a suicide dive and hitting a verticle suplex on the metal part of the entrance ramp, Tozawa destroying Gulak's "No chants" sign with a backdrop driver in the corner and Tozawa hitting a somersault senton off the announce table were amongst the highlights of fun clash. There times when the action dragged a little, not helped by a dour crowd, who were waiting for the next spot and desperately clamouring for tables. A little time chopped off would've helped, as it seemed the duo didn't have enough content to fill the time. The win came with a spot that sounded better on paper, as Tozawa hit a diving senton with Gulak draped on a table and inside a bin. It looked cool, but was a little clumsy in it's exclusion. This loss leave Gulak with just one singles win in his last eleven outings. A personal highlight was the crowd chanting "No chants" which was hilarious, either being a great moment of self-aware irony or clueless stupidity. You tell me, Houston.

After Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali took the piss out of the Zo Train, Enzo Amore told Tony Nese that he had to do whatever it took to win next, in order to represent the Enzo Brand correctly...

Whilst it garnered the weakest crowd response, Tony Nese vs. Mustafa Ali was my favourite match on the card. I've kind of accepted that the crowd is tired after SmackDown and unfamiliar with the majority of the talent and therefore the only reaction most of these matches are going to receive are move pops and even then sometimes spectacular stuff doesn't even raise a smile with some of these audiences. Ali and Nese wrestled a wonderfully creative bout, with tonnes of stuff that made me sit up and take notice, especially when the action was on the outside of the ring. Ali's ridiculous diving somersault senton to the outside, followed up by a lovely spot on the barricade when Nese blocked a moonsault attempt by the announce table. The two also did a great series of athletic reversals that concluded with a Tornado DDT, as well as Ali pulling out a wicked forward roll X-Factor, that had me popping like a mad man at home and the crowd shrugging their shoulders. The most surprising thing about the match however was the result as Nese pinned Ali after ramming his opponent's head into the corner post and finishing him off with The Running Nese. Not just because Ali had been undefeated since early July, whilst Nese hadn't had a win since early August, but also because I just presumed that all of the 'Zo Train were going to end up staring at the lights.

Backstage, as Ariya Daivari and Noam Dar pumped each other up for their tag team match, it was revealed Drew Gulak had been placed in "time out" following his loss and had also put the Gobbledy Gooker costume back on...

I've found the thing that enjoy about 205 Live the most and especially within this episode, is how many of the performers appear to be free to do anything they like and this results in little moments of joy. And as someone who loves little moments, Noam Dar swinging around the tag rope at the beginning of this tag bout made me happier than someone whirling around the tag rope should make any 24 year old. Dar's character work throughout this one was fantastic, as he looked to catch up Drew Gulak as the star of the 'Zo Train, by high-fiving Amore whenever the Scot did anything well, as well as jumping into a hug with Cruiserweight champion at one point as well. Dar's shenanigans aside, this was a sound tag team match, sticking mostly to a basic structure, with Cedric Alexander as the face in peril, whilst Amore playing interference on the outside and his occasional frustration at his team gave the match a little more depth. After a couple of decent near falls, the finish included all five guys well with interference from Amore, Daivari taking an elbow from Alexander, who then took a baseball slide from Dar, before the Scottish Supernova turned round into a spin kick from Swann, before the deal was sealed with a Phoenix Splash.

Enzo Amore began a beatdown as soon as the match was over, with Tony Nese and Drew Gulak arriving to take out Akira Tozawa and Mustafa Ali when they turned up to help out. The show came to a close with Dar and Daivari hitting signature moves on Alexander and Swann, before Amore resurrected Bada Boom Shakalaka with help from the Zo' Train, with the quintet managing to garner a decent amount of heat...

A vignette aired for the debut of Hideo Itami [KENTA], with the message "Coming Soon ".

Finally...

Credit to whoever is in charge of 205 Live creative for trying something different and something that certainly wouldn't have worked on RAW and SmackDown and perhaps would've struggled on even NXT. The story meant the card was almost backwards, but each match had, at least, some purpose and offered something different from the ones that had gone before it, whilst the backstage segments were more hit than miss. Drew Gulak was once again on fine character form, whilst Noam Dar stepped up to the plate to challenge him with a great character show in the main event as well. I'm interested to see how Tony Nese being the only team member to win his match plays out, as well as how the beaten down babyfaces look to get revenge once again for the vicious beat down. There's no more PPV's for the brand until next year, so there's plenty of time to focus on getting the stories right and hopefully with even less focus from the main creative the brand will continue to produce a different kind of show to RAW and SmackDown. Now if only we could move when and where it was taped that'd be grand!

Review by James Marston

205 Live 51 Review // Kalisto vs. Drew Gulak

With Survivor Series just five days away, WWE presented the 51st episode of 205 Live at the Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina on 14th November 2017. The show was built around Kalisto's birthday celebrations as he featured in the main event against Drew Gulak, but was it any good? Let's take a look? 

Kalisto def. Drew Gulak // 7:59

Kalisto told us it was his birthday, which was lame, but he didn't fuck up his promo like usual as he talked about facing Drew Gulak later and Enzo Amore on Survivor Series Kick-Off. Amore and Gulak looked at a big cake for a bit and said some things. Later on, Akira Tozawa wished Kalisto a Happy Birthday and did some chants. The promos continued as Amore got some time to talk about shoving cake down Kalisto's gullet, whilst Gulak continued to be the star of any segment he takes part in. Seriously, Gulak saying "How are you doing?" might have got the biggest pop of the entire show. 

A couple of highlights in our main event, but I often found myself tuning out as I waited for the massive cake at ringside to get involved somehow. There's was a bit of cake based situations, but we were kept waiting for anyone to go through it, whilst Gulak never felt like a legitimate threat to Kalisto, even with Enzo Amore causing issues at ringside. With one singles win to his name since mid-June, it was hard to buy into anything going on, with the mostly quiet crowd not helping the situation, alongside the cake. Kalisto's face shine was nice, the crowd coming to life for a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday to You and Kalisto getting the win off of Salida del Sol after Gulak carried away with his set-up for a Gu-lock. There was little wrong with what they did in the ring, but could have done with either being a little bit shorter or creating a little more peril for the Number One contender.

After the match, Amore jumped Kalisto and although the #1 Contender managed to turn the tide against the Champion and Gulak, Amore pegged it up the ramp before any cake based antics could occur. Luckily though, we cut back to Amore being interviewed by Dasha Fuentes, leading to Kalisto turning up and closing the show by smashing Enzo into the cake and lobbing handful at his Survivor Series opponent.

Tornado Tag Team Match // Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann def. The Brian Kendrick & Gentleman Jack Gallagher // 10:55

The Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher had an in-screen promo as they walked to the ring, talking about cruelty and choices ahead of their tag match. Rich Swann got some time on the microphone on the ramp, introducing Cedric Alexander, pointing out that Alexander was from Charlotte. 

Even with the rather desperate attempt at getting the Charlotte crowd behind hometown boy Cedric Alexander, the crowd were barely involved in this, perhaps because the Tornado gimmick removed where they would traditionally get behind him. That being said this ended up being a bloody good match, with a number of gorgeous reversal sequences, some impressive highspots and a strong story where the babyfaces came out on top. The sequence with Gallagher ducking under a handspring roundhouse kick, only to run into a Spanish Fly was beautifully done and whilst there was an awkward moment with Gallagher supposedly hitting a headbutt out of a springboard from Cedric, that was the exception, as pretty much everything else was crisp and physical. It was a shame that a section where Kendrick locked in the Captain's Hook on Alexander and Gallagher got Swann in an armbar, where Swann had to save the match by making sure Alexander's hand didn't hit the mat after he'd passed out, was a little too subtle for the crowd as I feel it would've been highly appreciated on an Indy show. There was a lot more packed into the 11 minutes, but the final stretch of the clash was sublime stuff with Kendrick and Alexander throwing together a number of reversals, before Swann was able to take Gallagher with a suicide dive tornado DDT and a nueralyzer and Lumbar Check sealed the win on Kendrick for the "Lumbar Legacy". With a crowd even half invested in the action, this would've been a must-watch clash, but it's still worth checking out if you've got the time.

Mustafa Ali def. Ariya Daivari // 7:17

Ariya Daivari cut a promo saying 205 Live might as well be cancelled if Kalisto wins the Cruiserweight Championship at Survivor Series, before Mustafa Ali interrupted to tell him he looked stupid and the crowd was super mild for it all. 

Completing a trio of babyface victories, this was another good match from the Cruiserweights, but suffered from the problem that almost every single match to air on this show has...the crowd did not give a fuck. To be fair to Charlotte, they joined in for a little while with a "You look stupid" chant aimed at Ariya Daivari, but that's hardly a breakthrough at this point. Daivari looked go into control, hitting a nice bulldog as well as a big ol' spinebuster to slow down the speedy Ali and the two did a handful of nice technical exchanges as well, before Ali showed off some of his more high-risk offence. The Persian Lion splash was a solid near fall for Daivari, but the crowd no sold it, before a frankensteiner and 054 splash left Ali without a TV singles loss by pinfall or submission since falling to Neville on RAW back in July. 

The Tornado Tag Team was featured some great action and the other two contests had their moments but went a little long, but the dead Charlotte crowd took some of the spring out of the step of this episode of 205 Live. WWE seems to be focused on trying to get a number of characters over with almost everyone getting some mic time here. It seems to be working for Drew Gulak who got the best reaction, but labouring someone like Kalisto with a toxic birthday story has to be one of the worst booking decisions of the year, especially with a show that struggles to get viewers anyway with a PPV match to build to! With Enzo once appearing with Gulak, Ariya Daivari, Noam Dar and Tony Nese as The Zo Train, why a traditional Survivor Series match featuring the likes of Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik, Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander or even WWE UK guys like Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate, wasn't scheduled for the PPV instead seems like a missed opportunity to showcase as many guys as possible and get a buzz going for the show.

Review by James Marston

205 Live 50 Review // Enzo Amore welcomes the UK Championship Division to "The Zo Show"

On 7th November 2017, WWE aired the 50th episode of 205 Live on the WWE Network, taped earlier that day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, Greater Manchester. The show featured Enzo Amore inviting six members of the UK Championship to the show and subsquently facing off with Tyler Bate, as well as appearances from Kalisto, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Cedric Alexander, Mark Andrews and Joseph Conners...but was it any good? Lets take a look!

Enzo Amore welcomed the UK Championship Division to "The Zo Show" // 13:10 // 

Enzo Amore def. Tyler Bate via pinfall // 8:15 //

As cool as it was to see Tyler Bate (Fight Club: Pro), Mark Andrews (PROGRESS Wrestling), Joseph Conners (Southside Wrestling Entertainment), Jordan Devlin (Over the Top Wrestling), Tucker (Pro Wrestling Ulster) and James Drake (Futureshock Wrestling) on WWE television, I didn't get much out of their 205 Live debuts. That's mostly down to the make up of the segment, which had Enzo Amore auditioning them for a spot on "The Zo Train", with his regular crew not appearing on the show.  This almost felt like a segment from the original NXT, with the six men having to do their own versions of "How you doin'?", before asking each individual questions. Drake's deadpan "choo choo" line was probably the highlight until the end, whilst low moments included a confused Andrews being told to lose weight and Tucker telling Amore that Finn Balor was twice the man Enzo is. Luckily, things finished on a high, when Bate getting a good reaction for his promo and then hitting bop and bang on the Cruiserweight Champion to set up the show's main event.

Enzo Amore spoke to Dasha Fuentes, saying something about bar tabs in reference to Tyler Bate.

An initially hot crowd quickly cooled on Amore vs. Bate, losing interest almost as soon as Enzo took control. Bate appearing to suffer an injury in the stretch then killed the bout further, as his knee got caught in the top rope when taking a bump from the turnbuckle to the floor, with Amore then spending time mocking the crowd before Jordunzo sealed the victory for the Cruiserweight champion in a flat finish. It seemed like we were scheduled to see more from Bate, who never really got a satisfying comeback sequence once Amore took control. The earlier part of the match featured the hottest crowd of the evening, with Bate having them eating out of the palm of his hand as he out wrestled his opponent, causing Enzo to bail to the floor. The sequence with Bate holding onto a wrist-lock whilst bantering with Amore was a particular highlight, as was the Exploder suplex that followed. Hopefully, Bate's injury wasn't too serious, but at just 20 years old he'll have more opportunities to show the wider WWE fanbase what he has to offer well into the future.

Amore laid some more punches in on Bate post-match before Kalisto made the save.

Kalisto def. Jack Gallagher via pinfall // 5:07

On the way to the ring, Jack Gallagher cut a promo on the Manchester crowd, calling them dole scum with chavy children, before putting himself over as "bigger than Britain".

There was some lovely wrestling on display here, it's just as shame that Manchester wasn't particularly interested in it. Kalisto got a fun shine included a wicked modified somersault plancha and the rough and tumble Gallagher making the #1 Contender's wrist his focus. There wasn't really enough time to fully make it work and the pair could have done more to bring the crowd into the action, with Kalisto's ridiculous selling of a shoulder tackle not helping the cause. Kalisto did, however, sell his wrist and arm well later in the bout and having Gallagher dodge a second rope moonsault and then lock on a Fujiwara armbar was a nice piece of work, which would've garnered a good reaction in a different environment and with a little more time. The finish with Kalisto rolling through the armbar and straight into Salida del Sol was smoothly done, as well, setting him up for his title challenge a week on Sunday.

Cedric Alexander & Mark Andrews def. Joseph Conners & James Drake via pinfall // 4:34

The crowd didn't care, but Mark Andrews, James Drake and Joseph Conners all gave good showings of themselves in their 205 Live debuts, whilst regular Cedric Alexander glued the bout together, setting up Andrews to pin Conners with a Shooting Star Press with a double Neuralyzer (Handspring 540 Kick). Minus a slightly awkward headscissors from Alexander to Drake, the action was all quality in this simple tag contest, with Drake tagging Conners whilst on the apron to cause a distraction was my personal favourite moment!

Watch // 
N/A 

Avoid // 
N/A

Review by James Marston

RAW 1276 Review // Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

On 6th November 2017, WWE aired the 1276th episode of Monday Night RAW on the USA Network, taped earlier that day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The show featured Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins defending the Tag Team Championships against Cesaro & Sheamus, Kurt Angle booking The Miz in a match with Braun Strowman on Miz TV, Samoa Joe facing Finn Balor, as well as appearances from Kane, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox and Asuka...but was it any good? Lets take a look!

Tag Team Championship Match: Cesaro & Sheamus def. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (C) via pinfall (15:18)

Cesaro and Sheamus demanded a Tag Team Championship match from Kurt Angle, with Angle replying that the pair needed to do something for the brand to prove themselves, at least I think that's what happened as for some reason the show cut back to the arena mid-segment  Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins cut a promo ahead of their match, which was mostly discussing the potential colour of bruises, but ended with a cute moment from Renee Young when she attempted to join in during the Shield fist-bump.

At the heart of the show's main event was a bloody good tag team match, with the energetic Rollins and Ambrose battling against the methodical Cesaro and Sheamus. Many of the elements that were present in their superb performances at SummerSlam and No Mercy were present here. Rollins and Ambrose's wicked fun face shine, Sheamus and Cesaro effortlessly controlling the crowd and Ambrose owning it when clawing his way from underneath and then Rollins silky hot tag sequence. Perhaps, the only thing missing was some of the visceral energy that the No Mercy clash got following Cesaro's teeth colliding with the ring post! The highlights for me were a pair of near falls towards the finish, the first coming with a feeling of momentum building for the heels as they sent Ambrose into the barricade with a crucifix powerbomb and then a powerbomb and diving clothesline combination on Rollins for a late kick-out, whilst the latter one saw Cesaro make a last minute save for his partner after a Rollins frog splash followed Dirty Deeds. Whilst there was a feel of going over old ground, it was still great to see a match of this quality on RAW. 

The finish is the main talking point though as The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) turned up from SmackDown, their music played and they appeared in the crowd, mirroring three week's earlier when the blue brand invaded. The entire RAW roster came out lead by Kurt Angle, after Woods claimed this was #UnderSiege2, only for New Day to laugh and leave Team Red looking like fools in the arena. I mean, everyone but Samoa Joe who looked like he was ready to pull Kofi Kingston's head off his shoulders and throw it at Big E. In the melee though, we ended up with new Tag Team Champions as Sheamus stole the win for his team, with the match never being officially stopped after the New Day appeared. Whilst it meant that we didn't get more of the two teams being great, we were left with a pretty memorable moment and a surprising title change. With Cesaro & Sheamus now scheduled to face The Usos at Surivivor Series and Roman Reigns returning next week on RAW, we now have an open door to a Shield vs. New Day match at Survivor Series, which is pretty fucking exciting.

Kurt Angle appears on Miz TV (9:02) & 

Braun Strowman def. The Miz by disqualification (5:04)

A slightly pedestrian opening segment as Kurt Angle guested on Miz TV, with their seeming too be too many objectives to fit into nine minutes of talking. You had Miz trying to get a feud going with SmackDown's Baron Corbin ahead of their match at Survivor Series, Angle keeping the feud with Shane McMahon ticking, Angle addressing Kane attacking Daniel Bryan last week, and Miz having problems with Angle following Braun Strowman attacking the Miztourage last week. All this going on ended up with the segment spending a lot of time in wordy exposition, throwing to footage from previous weeks and without a whole lot of anything actually happening. Angle finally turned up towards the end when he revealed he'd promised Strowman a match with the Miz later on in order to get the Monster Amongst Men on the RAW Men's Survivor Series team. Overall, the segment had too much length and not enough going on, but it did have Curtis Axel standing around sad with a neck brace in the background.

Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel appeared to act as the angel and devil on The Miz's shoulder backstage, with Dallas offering a pep talk, whilst Axel suggested they should just run. 

Braun Strowman threw The Miz around. Boy, did Strowman throw Miz around. This was a bowl load of fun, because Strowman kept throwing the Miz around. Basically, Miz would run away and then Strowman would catch up with him, because he's big and fast and agile and then lob him somewhere else because he's big and strong and beardy. Also, Strowman punches Bo Dallas in the face, which made an amazing noise and chucked Curtis Axel into the barricade, neckbrace and all. The DQ finish with Kane appearing was a mild disappointment, because I wanted to see Strowman throw Miz into some other things for a bit. This performance surely earns Strowman an Intercontinental Championship shot in the future.


After Kane sat up following a Running Powerslam, Strowman took out The Miz and Bo Dallas, sending a message to the Big Red Machine. 

Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] ended in a Double Countout (11:17) 

Titus O'Neil got some mic time, saying things were about to get ugly for Samoa Joe and also saying "Titus Worldwide". Unfortunately for O'Neil, Joe would end up attacking him and Apollo Crews on the ramp, before issuing an open challenge, that would be answered by Finn Balor.

Another really good television match as Finn Balor and Samoa Joe renewed their 2015/16 NXT rivalry. Joe worked well in control, with a presence that makes you take notice when he's beating someone up and Balor looked great when fighting from underneath, getting cut off repeatedly in the early stages, picking up the pace only to take an sly elbow from the Californian to keep him back down. When Balor lifted the pace later on in the bout, Joe matched him leading to a number of stellar exchanges with Joe cutting off Balor's finishing sequence after dodging the corner dropkick and hitting a running senton being the standout moment. Smooth, physical and exciting, with more than a hint of their Takeover: London epic. Obviously, the finish was again disappointing, as Joe hiptossed Balor onto the ramp before a double countout, because we all want to see a real conclusion, but it makes sense as part of the whole picture heading into Survivor Series, with a potential full-time feud between the pair heading into 2018 looking promising.

Post-match, Joe and Balor continued to scrap until security separated them, then after Kurt Angle added the pair to the Men's Survivor Series team, Balor dove off the stage with a flying forearm smash. 

Bayley & Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox & Nia Jax via submission (8:54) 

Sasha Banks and Bayley were interviewed about not being picked for the Women's Survivor Series team yet.

A basic tag outing, that was most notable for the crowd singing to Bayley and how the performers interact it. Banks joining in whilst on the apron was super cute and Nia Jax goading the crowd when in control showed how she's grown as a performer over the last year. The wrestling was mostly passable with Bayley working the face in peril role, with Jax and Fox working quick tags, before a Banks hot tag would signal the beginning of the end. The Banks hot tag was the highlight with a meateora, tilt-a-whirl rana and double knees in the corner to Fox lifting the energy that had been lacking for most of the match. There were opportunities to better use Bayley in the face in peril role and Jax and Fox lacked a little something as the dominant heel pairing. Fox would eventually tap out to Banks Statement.

After the match, Alicia Fox added Sasha Banks to the RAW Women's Survivor Series team.

Pete Dunne def. Enzo Amore via pinfall (3:48)

Pete Dunne was on RAW! I mean, we had to sit through Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore rambling on for what felt like at least a day and WWE sort of botched his entrance by having Kurt Angle come out to Dunne's music to announce that Dunne was there, but who gives a fuck about that, Pete Dunne is here! The rest didn't really matter, because I had a big smile on my face watching Dunne come out, walk to the ring and twat Amore in the face. He looked every inch of the star that he has become since I first entered the world of British wrestling in 2013. Pete Dunne, man, on Monday Night RAW. 2017 is mad for the graps. If you want more of Dunne check out his work in Attack! Pro Wrestling, Southside Wrestling Entertainment, Fight Club: Pro, Kamikaze Pro, PROGRESS Wrestling, Over the Top Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Shropshire Wrestling Alliance, Triple X Wrestling, Lucha Forever, 4 Front Wrestling, Great Bear Promotions, Pro Wrestling Chaos, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling and get out there and find the next Pete Dunne for yourself.  

A quick squash for Dunne's debut over the Cruiserweight Champion, not a bad way to make a statement on your first night on RAW, eh? Corey Graves put over Dunne something rotten on commentary, en route to a match-winning Bitter End.

Guitar on a Pole Match: Jason Jordan def. Elias [Elias Samson] (4:17)

Elias buried Noel Gallagher and Wonderwall, before doing an acapella tune about Manchester being full of losers etc. It was a nice riff on the idea that Elias' guitar was hung up ready for the match, but content-wise was pretty much a carbon-copy of any recent Elias promo. 

A sloppy bout with a lame gimmick, Elias and Jordan were all over the place here, with each move come across as awkward and clunky. The crowd booing Jordan didn't help the situation, but having him just twat Elias in the back with a guitar to close the match was a bizarre piece of booking that deserved derision, with WWE showing a lack of an understanding of it's audience again.

Later in the show, Kurt Angle added Jason Jordan to the RAW Men's Survivor Series team.

Asuka [Kana] def. Stacy Coates [Courtney] via submission (1:10)

Asuka goes to 4-0 on RAW, with another super speedy squash, locking in the Asuka lock for the submission victory.

Post-match, Alicia Fox announced that Asuka would be part of the Women's Team at Survivor Series.

Women's Champion Alexa Bliss talked about Natalya being a cat lady and some other things in an interview with Charly Caruso

Watch - Ambrose & Rollins vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, Strowman vs. Miz, Balor vs. Joe, Pete Dunne's debut

Avoid - Jordan vs. Elias. 

Review by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale)