WWE 205 Live Review // 6th February 2018

The new era of 205 Live continued this week in Kansas City, Missouri as the tournament to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion continued. The show was main-evented by a clash between Hideo Itami and the debuting Roderick Strong, but how did it all go down? Lets take a look. 

Cruiserweight Championship Tournament First Round Match // Roderick Strong def. Hideo Itami // Pinfall 

In somewhat of a surprise, Roderick Strong handed Hideo Itami his first 205 Live defeat to advance to the Quarter Finals, winning with End of Heartache, in a wonderfully physical match. Down the spine of the match was a series of delightful strike battles, as the pair threw forearms, elbows, chops and kicks at each other with the back and forth nature of the contest always seeming to lead back to the two wailing on each other with hard blows. Each time round the pair seemed were selling the effects of the match more and throwing the strikes with more desperation and purpose. Of course, this back and forth sequence would play a big part in the closing sequence as the two went back to what they knew after both coming close with big moves, but the strongest use of this motif came on the outside of the ring. As the action spilled to the apron, Strong's attempt to pull Itami off the apron into a backbreaker was escaped by the former NOAH star, before the pair threw forearms, chops and kicks at each other and Strong, unlike Bono, finally found what he was looking for as he ducked a roundhouse kick, caught Hideo's leg and lifted him into a brutal looking backbreaker onto the apron. A gorgeous sequence. 

It was clear from watching the bout that these two were pretty familiar with each other, they knew how much they could lay in their strikes and produced some slick reversal sequences, with Strong able to transition into a number of moves with ease, which makes him stand out on the current roster. Obviously, the two have history in NOAH and ROH, as well as an NXT bout last April, but they also had a run on NXT house shows in September/October that would have certainly helped to create the comfortableness with each other that was important to creating such an enjoyable match in this style. This was a PPV quality encounter, that managed to draw the audience in, getting a good reaction from the live crowd by it's conclusion. With a little more time, there's no doubt that Itami and Strong could've produced something next level and in fact, I think these two would be able to create something special in pretty much any time limit. It's a shame that we had to lose one of them in the tournament, but it was great to see the tournament already throwing up surprises in it's second week, even if that means we might not see Itami for a while.

Crusierweight Championship Tournament First Round Match // Kalisto def. Lince Dorado // Pinfall

205 Live was on fire this week, with another good match to kick off the show as Kalisto booked his placed in the Quarter Finals with a victory over Lucha House Party mate, Lince Dorado with a second Salida del Sol. With the show finally beginning to show the variety of Cruiserweight wrestling, we got a completely different match from the main event, as Dorado and Kalisto put on a mad lucha thing match, full of flips, tricks, dives and big highspots. Despite having not won in singles competition since December 2016 (Main Event - vs. Tony Nese), Dorado was made to look like a threat to the former Cruiserweight Champion, through a well done story that he was over-performing because he was desperate to get the Cruiserweight title and prove himself, bringing out a more aggressive side that drove the match past a flippy showcase to something else. The match was jam-packed with big moments, like Dorado's top rope frankensteiner, Kalisto hitting a wheelbarrow situation off the middle rope, Dorado seemingly having the match won with the Golden Rewind and Shooting Star Press only for Listo to roll under the bottom rope before the cover could be made and a sublime near fall for the favourite off Salida del Sol when Dorado got a hand on the bottom rope. It was a shame that the rewind reverse rana from Kalisto that was part of the finish ended up looking real nasty with Dorado somehow landing head first on Kalisto's back, but the slip-up didn't hurt the match all that match and it appeared like Dorado wasn't seriously hurt, so it wasn't the end of the world.

Also this week

- There was a recap of last week's show, including Daniel Bryan introducing Drake Maverick as the new 205 Live General Manager, Maverick announcing a tournament to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion and TJP and Cedric Alexander winning First Round match-ups in that tournament against Tyler Bate and Gran Metalik respectively. 

- In his office, Drake Maverick ripped into Drew Gulak and Tony Nese for becoming comedy acts and wasting their potential, booking them in a First Round tournament match next week. 

- TJP cut a promo about the fans not believing him anymore and not giving a shit, it was good. 

- A package looking at Mark Andrews, ahead of his match with Akira Tozawa next week, using the same UK Tournament package from January last year.

- Akira Tozawa threatened to fire a man, when he suggested Mark Andrews could beat him next week.

- Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali had a friendly chat about the tournament backstage, they're good pals.

ATPW Scale Rating // 7.67/10

Written by James Marston (@IAmNotAlanDale) 

TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #8 - Akira Tozawa v Gran Metalik

Aired - 31st August 2016

The Cruiserweight Classic had reached the Quarter Final stage and this episode featured two mouth-watering clashes, as Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa tangled with CMLL's Gran Metalik and DDT's Kota Ibushi battling WWE veteran The Brian Kendrick. Would WWE be able to up the ante for the stellar Second Round stage? 

Arguably, the show's main event was the opening match between 4 time CMLL World Welterweight Champion Gran Metalik [Mascara Dorada] and 2 time Open the Triangle Gate Champion Akira Tozawa. In a first time meeting, the duo put on a great encounter, across a mixture of different styles. The pair melded their Mexican and Japanese styles tremendously well, with stunning dives, hard strikes and technical submissions, whilst the final few minutes bought a drop of sports-entertainment drama to proceedings. The narrative unfolded at a satisfying pace, with the duo going toe for toe from start to finish, exchanging periods of offence and using similar routines when doing so. Considering that Tozawa came out of the Dragon Gate dojo, which has more than a tad of a Lucha Libre influence and Metalik has had over 200 matches for NJPW then it really should have come as no surprise that the pair meshed so well. 

The narrative would reach it's peak, as it should, in the finish, with Tozawa able to kick out of the bridging German suplex that has eliminated FSW's Jack Gallagher and Kenneth Johnson in the second and first round respectively, before escaping a package version of the move and nailing a Metalik Driver [Samoan Driver] to get the three count. The tournament structure had allowed Tozawa to build up his German suplex as a legit finish, which meant it was a hugely convincing false finish, garnering a superb crowd reaction and also giving Metalik the rub having kicked out of it. As part of the storyline it was the natural conclusion to the match, with Metalik proving that his finisher was the deadlier of the two, after the pair fought an even back and forth encounter. Having Tozawa attempt the package German also gives Big Over somewhere to go if he returns to WWE and if that happens a rematch between the two would be a must. Metalik goes on to face either wXw's Zack Sabre Jr. or ICW's Noam Dar in the semi finals in two weeks time. 

Whilst I think, Metalik v Tozawa should have been the main event because of the international star power, I also felt that The Brian Kendrick and Kota Ibushi managed to one up them. Whilst the previous match melded two styles together, Kendrick v Ibushi made sure the two men's styles were kept completely separate and this presented a wonderful story as the match became less about Kendrick v Ibushi and more about The crafty veteran against the flashy up and comer. It was established early on that Golden Star had the edge on Kendrick in almost every category, hitting a snug roundhouse kick and a beautiful triangle moonsault in the opening exchanges, and from here on in we'd see The Post-Apocalyptic Scavenger pull out a number of sly acts that would keep him the running. Trapping Ibushi's leg in the guard rail as he attempted to get a countout win and hitting a neckbreaker on the apron that bought the 3 time IWGP Junior-Heavyweight Champion's surgically repaired neck across the metal turnbuckle were among the highlights of Kendrick's clever performance. 

It seemed clear that Ibushi was destined to reach the semi-final, but that certainty was called into question on numerous occasions in the closing stretch of the bout, as Kendrick got a number of tremendously close nears and Ibushi spent plenty of time in the Bully Choke [Grounded Reverse Chinlock], which both men played perfectly through their faces and movement. Twice Ibushi ended up in the hold that's put away Tony Nese and Raul Mendoza, with the second occasion seeing 34 year old DDT star missing a Phoenix Splash directly into the hold, and each time it was equally dramatic with Ibushi selling perfectly before, after and during the hold to get over it's strength and add to that turmoil. Throw into the mix a nasty Burning Hammer near fall for the former TNA X-Division Champion, with Daniel Bryan screaming for Kendrick to get to the cover on commentary and you had more drama than an Eastenders omnibus. When Ibushi got the win with mid-rope deadlift German suplex and the Golden Star Powerbomb [Elevated Sit-out Powerbomb] to claim the victory, it was a satisfying conclusion to a great contest. Ibushi goes onto a semi-final with EWF's TJ Perkins or WWE's Rich Swann.  

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 8.38/10

I wondered whether WWE would be able to lift the quality of the action that was produced across the three Second Round episodes for the Quarter Final and they definitely did, producing the best episode of the Cruiserweight Classic to date. Two very strong match, featuring a variety of action over the show meant that this was a more than satisfactory watch. By this stage you'd expect all four talents to be able to put on great matches and they delivered as Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik, The Brian Kendrick and Kota Ibushi bought their A-game to help WWE raise the bar for their inaugural international series. 

With the next episode featuring two equally intriguing bouts as Zack Sabre Jr takes on Noam Dar and TJ Perkins battles Rich Swann, it has to be expected that the penultimate episode of the show will continue the trend.

Words - James Marston 
Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #5 - Kota Ibushi v Cedric Alexander

With the Second Round getting underway, as Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik and Tajiri looked to make it to the Quarter Finals, would the action of the Cruiserweight Classic begin to heat up even more? 

DDT's Kota Ibushi and ROH's Cedric Alexander put the 1st Cruiserweight Classic on the map, making everything that had came before it feel like a mere warm up, going out into Full Sail Arena and lighting it up with a 15 minute belter. Considering it was the pair's first match ever involving the other, this was spectacularly smooth, fast action that built to a wonderful crescendo following a number of near falls for both men. Every single move was hit with a real purpose, whilst the even relatively simple moves like a diving clothesline were made believable near falls thanks to the bumping abilities of both men. The urgency that both brought to their performance can only act to lift the tournament in the prestige stakes, as both looked desperate to stay in the tournament.  

The pair showed that they are accomplished at a number of different styles and capable of pacing a contest to get the most out of themselves and the crowd. The early portion of the contest saw them work a technical style, with Ibushi focusing on Alexander's arm, before working through some strong-style strikes, beautiful high-flying moves, whilst also weaving in some quality storytelling as Alexander easily slotted into the underdog role with the crowd on the edge of their seats as he hit a superkick and a tight brainbuster for two consecutive near falls. After a flurry of moves ended with the Golden Star Powerbomb to seal the win for Ibushi, I couldn't help but think that it was a real shame for Alexander to have had only two matches on the show! I feel like that is how I should be feeling after each and every elimination in the tournament! Ibushi will face either NYWC's Tony Nese or WWE's The Brian Kendrick in the Quarter Final. 

With such a strong main event, it would be easy to overlook CMLL's Gran Metalik [Mascara Dorada] and WWE's Tajiri having a good contest in the only other match on the show. The two battled in what was a well put together, back and forth clash of styles that felt much richer than it's ten minute run time would indicate. The "everything you can do" opening followed by the Lucha-style exchange of submission holds was one of my favourite sequences of the tournament so far and was very different from most of what WWE presents at the moment. Both men got to showcase themselves once again, with some slick tightrope style moves from Metalik for near falls, whilst Tajiri's submission work looked brutal at points and made Metalik look even better when he not only withstood it but managed to escape. When it came down to it it was Metalik who picked up the win, once again with the Samoan Driver to advance to the Quarter Finals, where he will face Dragon Gate's Kota Ibushi or FSW's Jack Gallagher.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 8.08/10

As predicted the 2nd Round produced the strongest episode of Cruiserweight Classic so far with a big jump in quality above the previous best, Episode 2. Kota Ibushi upped the bar in the main event, alongside Cedric Alexander, showing why he is among the favourites to win the entire tournament, whilst Tajiri and Gran Metalik put on a bout that may become a forgotten gem of the tournament, thanks to having to share a show with Alexander v Ibushi! 

This was the first must-watch episode of tournament so far and I have feeling we'll see a few more of those before it's over. 

All content - James Marston 

TV Review: WWE Cruiserweight Classic #1 - Maluta v Ibushi

It's been a long time coming, but finally WWE's Cruiserweight Classic kicked off on the WWE Network on 13th July, with four first round match-ups. With names like Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) and Cedric Alexander on the first episode, would the tournament start as it meant to go on? 

In the main event, DDT star Kota Ibushi would over-come Sean Maluta [Roundhouse Kick and Leaping Sitout Elevated Powerbomb] in a strong contest. Ibushi would come out of the bout looking like a real star, with a mixture of his in-ring performance, Maluta's selling of his offence and some brilliant commentary from Mauro Ranallo & Daniel Bryan. Considering this was Maluta very first broadcast match I thought he presented himself well and despite botching an angled tope conhilo attempt (wonderfully thoughtful commentary from Bryan here), he sold Ibushi's offence well, whilst bringing an underdog type fire to his performance, fighting Ibushi's superplex attempt off (and then getting nailed with a ridiculous Pele kick) before delivering the strongest near fall of the show, blocking a tiger suplex attempt and hitting savate kick with Ranallo adding to the drama on commentary. All these first round contest seem to have the aim of showcasing the winner to set them up for the rest of the tournament and Ibushi came out of this looking like a real star. 

Clement Petiot (Tristan Archer) came up short against former ROH regular Cedric Alexander [Lumbar Check] in a good demonstration of Alexander's potential. Petiot came across as a generic French heel type, which probably wouldn't last long on WWE's roster these days, but as a means of putting over Alexander and allowing him to show off what he can do it worked. There was a nice story of the brawl against the highflyer usedd here, with Petiot initially controlling the match with strikes, whilst Alexander looked for space. The strongest action of the bout came during a back and forth transition sequence that would climax with Petiot nailing a big lariat for a near fall. The prospect of Alexander taking on Kota Ibushi in the second round in a few week's time is positively mouth-watering and the quality of these opening round matches has a lot to do with that. 

Ho Ho Lun picked up a speedy victory over Ariya Daivari [Bridging German Suplex] in what was probably the weakest bout of the show. For me, this was carried by HHL coming across a very likeable performer, whilst Daivari played WWE's typical Iranian heel. It wasn't ground-breaking but it got the crowd going and kept the mediocre action entertaining for it's five minutes of air time. Despite the characters sizing up well, the duo didn't gel well in the ring and most of the action was kind of clunky. There were similarities to the Gran Metalik and Alejandro Saez opener as well, with Daivari's missed frog splash being the opening for HHL's final flurry of action. HHL will have to improve in the next round if he doesn't want to stick out like a sore thumb! 

If the opener that saw Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) defeat Alejandro Saez (Xtra Large) [Corner Clothesline & Samoan Driver] was supposed to be a little appetiser for things to come in CWC then it did it's job very well. At only four minutes long, the match was fought a real lightning pace with Metalik able to show off just a handful of his lucha libre style moves with a tightrope splash and gorgeous tope conhilo standing out amongst the bunch. Saez showed he wasn't just there to make up the numbers either, as the current XNL World Champion hit a shooting star press off the apron, that whilst not perfect, was impressive none the less. As mentioned above the finish shared similarities with the Ho Ho Lun v Ariya Daivari match, as Metalik moving out of the way of a Spiral Tap by Saez before finishing the match off. I can't help but feel that a little discussion between the various competitors would've helped and removed the similar finishes.

Next week's matches were also announced as former ECW Television Champion Tajiri will face Damian Slater, former TNA X Division Champion TJ Perkins taking on Da Mack, Full Impact Pro star Lince Dorada shaping up to Mustafa Ali and former Open the Brave Gate Champion Akira Tozawa going up against Kenneth Johnson.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.94/10 

This was a very easy to watch first episode for the Cruiserweight Classic and perhaps the score may seem harsh because of this. However, I wouldn't really have wanted the first episode of a show based on a tournament to be scoring much higher. If the Cruiserweight Classic had came out of the box with a couple of top top matches, then they would have had nowhere to go for the rest of the series. This was all about showcasing the winners, introducing Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Ho Ho Lun to a WWE audience, letting them show what they can do, whilst having as good a match as they could, without giving everything away in one go. As I had been expecting the show to be around this level, the main positives that I came away with here were the strength of the commentary from Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo, who will only become better together throughout the next nine weeks, as well as the different types of presentation that WWE have chosen for the show, like the referee being miced up during the start of each match and the raising of the winners arm at the conclusion. 

I feel like many wrestling fans, I'm looking forward to the seeing the next three weeks of First Round matches and getting to see how the likes Akira Tozawa, Johnny Gargano and Zack Sabre Jr. get on, but this tournament is really going to get going in the 2nd Round.