Every Tuesday, WWE 205 Live is aired on the WWE Network, at 10 PM EST and 3 AM GMT. The show exclusively features the Cruiserweight division, and as a result talent must weigh in at 205 pounds or less. The Cruiserweights will remain apart of the RAW roster in addition to appearing here. The commentary team consists of RAW’s Corey Graves, Smackdown and the CWC’s Mauro Ranallo, and NXT’s Austin Aries.
Welcome everyone to the first review of WWE’s newest Cruiserweight division show, WWE 205 Live. WWE 205 Live is the newest addition to the WWE Network and a place to showcase the stars of the Cruiserweight division without being overshadowed by other stories on RAW. The first ever episode of 205 kicked off first with the introduction of the shows commentators, Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo and NXT star Austin Aries. Aries mentioned that when he’s ready he intends on getting in the ring and becoming the Cruiserweight champion. After being introduced to the announce team we are then shown the stars of 205 Live as they are all lined up on the top of the entrance ramp. The 205 Live stars for now include:
- Rich Swann
- TJ Perkins
- Jack Gallagher
- Ho Ho Lun
- The Bollywood Boyz
- Noam Dar
- Tony Nese
- Drew Gulak
- Ariya Daivari
- Cedric Alexander
- Lince Dorado
- Akira Tozawa
- Mustafa Ali
- Gran Metalik
- WWE Cruiserweight Champion, The Brian Kendrick.
Match 1-The Bollywood Boys vs. Tony Nese and Drew Gulak.
Just before the match started we got a video package highlighting The Bollywood Boyz, it highlighted their journey to get to WWE, how Bret Hart and Chris Jericho inspered them to be pro wrestlers and then they talked about their family.
These teams had a good match to kick off 205, The Bollywood Boyz of course work well together while Nese and Gulak also make for a good team. This match had several highlights including some good double team moves by both teams, Nese stopping Gurv from doing a dive to the outside of the ring and a great double super-kick by the Bollywood Boyz to Gulak for the win in a good opening to the show.
Winners-The Bollywood Boys.
After the match, Gulak and Nese were interviewed at ringside. Gulak insulted the Bollywood Boyz while Nese blamed their loss on the ring, stating that the mat is bumpy and and ropes are greasy. We then got a video package highlighting Noam Dar.
After the video package we then got a backstage interview as Tom Phillips interviewed WWE Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick about his upcoming title defense later in the night against Rich Swann. Kendrick says he isn’t going to lose against Swann and that Swann isn’t even on his level. Former Cruiserweight Champ TJ Perkins then interrupts Kendrick and says that he never had his rematch and if Kendrick wins tonight, he’s coming after him and the title. But if he loses he’s out of the title picture, so he wishes Kendrick luck. We then got a short video highlighting the upcoming debut of Gran Metalik.
Match 2-Ariya Daivari Vs Jack Gallagher.
The second match on 205 Live saw Ariya Daivari take on Jack Gallagher. I’m a big fan of Ariya Daivari, so I hope he does well on 205. While these two had a good match with Gallagher locking in a number of impressive holds, I didn’t like the move Corey Graves dubbed “The Windsor Knot”. It just bought down the match for me a bit, which stopped it being great. In the end Gallagher came away with the win after hitting a corner dropkick on Daivari. The gentleman grappler got the crowd behind him.
Winner-Jack Gallagher.
After the second match we got another video package. This time, the video is highlighting Lince Dorado, showcasing his skills. Next, we go to the main event.
Main Event-WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Brian Kendrick(c) Vs Rich Swann.
The very first main event of WWE 205 Live saw the Cruiserweight championship on the line as champion Brian Kendrick defended the belt against number one contender Rich Swann. Before the match begun a video package was shown showing Rich Swann’s personal struggles of losing his parents at a young age and then going down a dark path but being able to wrestle saved him. Now he’s here to bring joy and entertainment to everyone.
This was a great match to main event the first episode of 205 Live. On Raw this would just be another match but here its the main event, the most important and most built up match of the night. Swann looked like a star out there, not giving up no matter what. Kendrick also looked like a star but he is “The Brian Kendrick”, after all. In the end, after a hard fought bout Kendrick hit the sliced bread but Swann kicked out at two. Kendrick looked angry and shocked, then Kendrick went to lock in the captain’s hook but Swann slid out of it and then he hit a spinning heel kick out of nowhere on to Kendrick, followed by a second and third one for the win. Thus, we saw Swann winning his first championship in WWE. Rich Swann is WWE Cruiserweight Champion!
Winner and new WWE Cruiserweight Champion-Rich Swann.
After the match, Swann was interviewed in the ring and thanked his mom, saying shes not here but she’s here in sprit and he loved her. Kendrick was then interviewed outside the ring and said he was robbed and that it is TJ Perkins’ fault for playing mind games on him. We then saw Rich Swann celebrating in the ring to close the show.
Closing Thoughts
This was a great first episode of WWE 205 Live. A title change on the first episodes was shocking and helps makes the show feel more important. The video packages give the stars more character development than what they have had on RAW. The announce team were great and I hope Austin Aries is a regular commentator on the show and not just for this one episode or for a couple of weeks. The only real negative I have about this episode is for some parts the crowd was a bit quiet, which kind of brought down the show a little but not much. All in all, this was a great first episode and I hope the ones going forward are just as good.
What did you think of the show? Let me know your thoughts of the show in the comment section and as always stick to WWE Network News for latest WWE Network news, polls, reviews and rumors! like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter: @WWENetworkChron!