July 11, 2017
From the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX
Your hosts are Vic Joseph and Corey Graves
Akira Tozawa is backstage while listening to Titus O’Neill on speaker phone. Titus tells him not to worry as the fact he pinned Neville last night is all the ammunition he needs to get a Cruiserweight Championship rematch. Ariya Daivari enters and hangs up the phone as he tells Tozawa he asked for a match tonight and that he comes from a place where there is honor in wrestling, unlike what Tozawa and how he hits people in the crotch. Tozawa gets pissed over Daivari questioning his honor and the two stare each other down.
Tonight, Cedric Alexander faces Noam Dar in an “I Quit” match.
Akira Tozawa vs. Ariya Daivari
Tozawa hits an arm drag and a dropkick to start. He chants then works the arm until Daivari backs him in the corner and hammers away. Daivari stomps a mudhole in the corner then grabs a chinlock. Tozawa snaps off a hurricarana then runs wild. He hits a Saito suplex then heads up top but Neville runs out and yanks him off for the DQ (2:18) *. Neville beats the crap out of Tozawa then puts him in the Rings of Saturn and refuses to relinquish the hold.
Thoughts: A match to continue the Neville/Tozawa feud. The post-match attack looked great as it appears these two will face off again, likely at SummerSlam.
We are shown clips from two weeks ago where Drew Gulak lost to Mustafa Ali after missing a top rope move, which goes against his anti high-flying philosophy. We then get a mock press conference from Gulak, who says this lapse of judgment does not defy his character. He apologizes for diving off of the top rope like a common show-off and will uphold his promise to make 205 Live a better place. So, he proposes that next week he faces Ali in a 2/3 Falls Match to see which philosophy is better, his family-friendly ground-based offense or Ali’s showboating. An amusing segment to set up next week’s match and blowoff match of the feud since both guys are tied at 2-2.
Joseph asks Graves about the controversy with Kurt Angle but Graves says he will not talk about that.
We get a video package on the Rich Swann and TJP friendship.
Rich Swann vs. Mario Connors
TJP heads out to ringside and joins on commentary. They start on the mat then Swann hits a stomp after an Irish whip sequence. Swann misses a running attack in the corner then Connors gets two with a spinning heel kick. Connors gets two with a tornado DDT but soon after that Swann runs wild. He gets a nearfall with a roundhouse kick then hits the Phoenix Splash for the win (3:49) **.
Thoughts: Good, little match here. I’ve never heard of Connors before but he looked pretty good and this was fun to watch.
After the match, TJP interrupts Swann’s celebration and asks if he is happy with his performance. TJP says a win is a win but expected more out of someone who was able to beat himself last week. In fact, TJP says he could have beaten this guy in half the time then tells Connors he will get a second chance. TJP then wants the time it took Swann to win on the clock
Mario Connors vs. TJP
TJP takes Connors out with a dropkick to the knee then tries for the kne bar but Connors gets a small package for two. TJP is pissed then puts Connors away with the Detonation Kick (0:28).
Thoughts: I guess the story here is that both men are going to one-up each other until it leads to something, likely TJP turning on his friend.
The Brian Kendrick comes out dressed as Jack Gallagher. He mocks Gallagher and tells the crowd he bets they love him. Kendrick says Gallagher is nothing more than a clown and a fraud who is a third-rate William Regal. Kendrick then yells about having to work hard every day of his life and sacrificed friends and family to get back to the WWE and wants to know what Gallagher ever did to deserve this opportunity. He says that the crowd cheers a guy who earned nothing like Gallagher because they like to laugh.Gallagher himself comes out to cut off Kendrick and tells him he’s been fighting since age 16 and knows it’s a privilege to be in the WWE. He calls out Kendrick for screwing up his last WWE run for being a “passive-aggressive geek” and continues to get pissed as he talks about being able to back up the way he walks and talks. Gallagher then goes after Kendrick and knocks him outside but Kendrick comes back in with an umbrella and beats him down. Gallagher showed that he can get pissed off and not always act like a gentleman, which is good, and we finally got the reason as to why Kendrick has been mocking him for the past few weeks but it really didnt get over or come off as a feud that could become compelling.
We are told Ali accepted Gulak’s challenge for a 2/3 Falls match for next week.
A video package of the Cedric and Dar & Fox feud is shown.
I Quit Match: Noam Dar w/ Alicia Fox vs. Cedric Alexander
They end in a stalemate then slug it out as Cedric wins that battle. Dar rolls outside after getting dropkicked then Cedric heads out and hammers away. He rams Dar into the barricade a few times as Fox is screaming. Cedric tries to suplex Dar off of the stairs but that fails as Dar kicks him off. Back inside, Dar steps on Cedric’s arm then yanks back the other as Cedric screams in pain but refuses to quit. Dar removes the bottom turnbuckle padding and tries to stick Cedric’s hand in between but Cedric does it to him as Dar screams until raking the eyes. They fight on the apron where Cedric gains the advantage. Dar ducks away from a moonsault then takes out Cedric’s knees. Dar keeps smashing Cedric’s knee into the floor then works a single leg crab but Cedric refuses to quit. Cedric fights back then hits a Flatliner on the ramp as both men are down. Fox starts banging on the apron and yells for her man. Dar rolls inside then back out as Cedric takes him out with a tope con hilo. Dar then drives Cedric into the ring apron then over the announcers table. Dar tries to clear ringside but Cedric comes off of the table with a clothesline then heads back with a springboard clothesline. Cedric goes for the chair but Dar dropkicks his knee. Dar sets up a chair but Cedric comes back with a handspring enziguiri then puts Dar’s arm between the chair and stands on it as he yells for him to quit and stomps it each time he says no. Cedric gives him one more chance and gets slapped so he repeatedly stomps until Dar quits (11:04) ***.
Thoughts: Good match and easily the best showing for Dar on the WWE roster. I pray that this is the end of the feud, which was among the worst of 2017.
After the match, Dar says he quit Cedric and has now quit Fox too. The crowd starts a “yes”chant as he tells her she must be as stupid as she looks while snot is hanging out of his nose. Dar said he is the youngest man on the 205 Live roster and has a woman in every city and continent and could have any woman in this arena right now and to why he chose her he said it was to use her because he uses people to get what he wants. After getting attention, he finds her more trouble than she is worth as she means nothing to him as Fox is crying in the corner. Dar came off as a complete jerk and the promo was much better than anything else he has been done. However, they kept zooming in on Fox as it seems they want to make her a babyface and that is just moronic since she was the one who wanted this feud to keep doing after even Dar wanted it to end. I do not know what you do with either performer now. I suppose Fox goes back to the Women’s Division while Dar maybe feuds with someone like Ali.
Final Thoughts: This show was mostly about angle advancement and for the most part it was good. The main event was solid but there was not a whole lot of in-ring action tonight. Neville attacking Tozawa was awesome and we have a main event set for next week too in Ali vs. Gulak in a 2/3 Falls match.
