205 Live Thoughts- Bow Down To The King
Squeezing these fuckers in right before the Royal Rumble, this is the first in what will be a slight bombardment of blog posts over the next two days.
205 Live, as is becoming standard, delivered a solid one-hour wrestling show. It had nothing quite at the level of Dar vs Alexander, or the I Forfeit match, but nonetheless it worked well as a final sell for the Rich Swann vs. Neville match at Royal Rumble.
-The show opens with a video package focusing on the situation between Neville and Swann, specifically what happened on Raw, followed by a backstage interview with Neville. I believe Neville has been booked so strongly since his return/debut in the cruiserweight division, there's no way he leaves the Rumble without the title. And it would be well deserved. WWE gave him the ball, but he has ran with it, showing character and speaking ability that simply wasn't present in his run as a vanilla babyface. Question is, did he work really hard on those aspects during his time away, or was he simply cast in the wrong role for the last couple of years?
-I feel like the presentation on 205 Live, particularly with the opening title sequence and focus on the high flying abilities of the cruisers, is very video game-esque. I feel like that's an element that that should be highlighted more to help the division stand out. I had this thought when the entrance of TJ Perkins, which is unashamedly retro gamer inspired, followed the show opening and Neville's bit. TJP is a great wrestler, but his character needs some work- he's such a normal good guy, but he sticks so strongly to those values that it seems more naive than noble. He needs an edge.
-TJP and Tony Nese had great chemistry. Nese hit the corner kick, catch, gutbuster that he botched on Raw. Nese got more offense than I was expecting, pleasant surprise.
-Nese stands tall after a post-match attack! Good to see the powers that be recognising his talent, although it's a shame Perkins has fallen off the radar so much after losing the cruiserweight title, the angle would have meant more if TJP was a top player in the division.
-The commentators get to troll JBL with the jobber Brian Kendrick is facing, who has been dubbed "Tripp Bradshaw", a not so subtle reference to JBL tripping over a cable as he came to Jerry Lawler's aid last week on Smackdown. Sounds like a Vince idea.
-Neville and Alexander had a high quality TV main event. I feel like the drama was slightly hurt as I was expecting Noam Dar to interfere to screw with Cedric, and what do you know, Dar factored into the finish. But both wrestlers worked hard before that- that standing Spanish Fly was ridiculous! Hopefully, Cedric moves on from Dar in short order.
-Pulll-apart brawl featuring security was effective. I'm looking forward to the Rumble showdown between Neville and Swann, mission accomplished.
Until next time, take care,
Mick
