WWE
Matt Willis, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

205 Live becomes 'the realest show in the room'

WWE

Tuesday's episode of 205 Live was perhaps the biggest in show history.

Yes, the championship rematch was a great contest, as Neville edged out Akira Tozawa to retain the championship that he re-captured two days prior at WrestleMania.

But the newsworthy item came as Neville was celebrating his victory: Enzo Amore made his surprise cruiserweight division debut, saying "205 Live just became the realest show in the room."

Amore might not match up physically with Neville, but he gives the division the strong character that it needs even more than another in-ring standout. Neville has emerged one of the premier heels in the WWE, but Amore provides something different. He can pop the crowd and provide crossover between the main Raw roster and the cruiserweight division.

The move also is a positive for Amore, who really didn't have anywhere to go after being continuously knocked around by Big Cass. And it was also a positive for 205 Live because it gave the promotion a post-SummerSlam surprise, similar to what Raw (John Cena's return) and SmackDown (Bobby Roode's debut) got. Now, 205 Live seems closer to, although not on par with, the stature of those two shows. A shocking moment makes 205 well worth watching.

The early part of Tuesday's match continued the story of a dominant Neville wearing down the previously-injured shoulder of Tozawa. There was also some good ring psychology going on; the two seem familiar with each other's moves after so many recent matchups.

The match picked up following a series of false finishes, starting when Tozawa kicked the rope out from underneath Neville. A kick, suicide dive and another big boot combo led to a two count.

Neville returned the favor, knocking Tozawa off the top rope and then hitting a superplex, a move he was using to finish matches when he first came to the cruiserweight division and one that nearly led to a double pin.

Neville blocked Tozawa's attempt to slide through for a snap suplex (which Tozawa had hit earlier) and dropped right into his Rings of Saturn submission -- but Tozawa again escaped and hit a huge roundhouse kick.

The near-finishes kept on coming. Tozawa missed the top-rope senton that he won the title with eight days ago, and Neville immediately locked in the Rings of Saturn again on Tozawa's worn-down shoulder and got the tap out.

"Tozawa's title reign was pathetic," Neville said in his post-match victory speech, "six days in total and but a footnote in the history books. The history books are gonna read, still your WWE cruiserweight champion, conquering ruler of all and king of the cruiserweights."

With the exception of Cedric Alexander, Neville has run through the cruiserweight division. Amore is hopefully the start of an influx of talent, and the pieces already exist throughout WWE and NXT to add more interest to the division and give Neville a lengthier break from the top of the ladder. Imagine what additions like Sin Cara, Kalisto and even bringing the Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa feud from NXT could do?

Hits and misses

In the opening match, we got a rematch of last week with Alexander and Gran Metalik defeating Tony Nese and Drew Gulak. The match was fun again but almost felt like recycling from last week as it was very environmental.

On the previous night's Raw, we got the eight-man cruiserweight tag team match I've been waiting for. It wasn't as exciting as WCW's 1990s versions, but it's a way to quickly showcase a lot of talent to the mainstream audience.

Gentleman Jack Gallagher needed a slight redirection to a more serious side. Brian Kendrick has done him a favor.

We had half of the weapons from the board game Clue on the table for the Gentleman's Duel. The crowbar can stand in for a wrench. And it's probably best there wasn't a pistol or knife; the umbrella and kendo stick are much more family-friendly.

Superlatives of the night

Move: Gran Metalik's springboard moonsault was awesome but just a step behind Neville's picture-perfect version where he landed gracefully on his feet.

Line: "205 Live just became the realest show in the room," -- Amore, upon his debut.

Match: It will get overshadowed by Amore's entrance, but the Neville-Tozawa match had great pacing, a number of false finishes and was the best in the series between those two.

^ Back to Top ^