We kick off this week with Corey Graves informing us that Rich Swann is not medically cleared to compete on tonight's show, before getting down to business with the first match of the night.
Tony Nese - Lince Dorado
The match started out with the Premier Athlete attempting to use his strength and power advantage, but Lince Dorado had his number in the early moments by avoiding all offense and eventually hitting an impressive diving cross body. After taking Tony Nese to the outside it would be the heel who got back into the ring first and he took advantage as Dorado re-entered the ring, however, the masked star managed to fight off Nese and ascend to the top rope; a decision he would regret. Nese leaped to the top rope and hit an open palmed strike before performing his now weekly routine of kicking his opponent in the stomach to bounce them off the ropes before catching them into a gut buster.
Dorado continued to show fight by hitting an impressive handspring stunner before blocking a flurry of shots and using the ropes again to help take down his opponents. However, Dorado decided to head to the top rope once again and Nese made him pay the price by attempting to pull off his mask and sending him to the mat, before hitting his running Nese to get the win.
Following the match Nese continued to beat down Dorado, hitting his german suplex into the corner until TJ Perkins came down and made the save.
Analysis: A fairly simple match that the crowd did not care about in the slightest. Dorado is talented but hasn't been featured enough, whilst Nese is featured regularly but has a very bland character which leads to fans not caring until he beats up his opponent after the bell; the quiet crowd took away from the match. The post match attack was a development though and it seems a feud is set for Nese with TJ Perkins which should help him as the fans actually react to Perkins, it's clear the company likes Nese which is no surprise given his talents and now he needs the character to go with it.
Backstage Rich Swann had an interview with Tom Phillips where he stated that he will be going for the Cruiserweight Championship when he is back fit, however, Neville told him he should stay down which Swann claimed he never would. The segment ended with Neville telling Swann that he begs to differ before pushing him off his crutches to the floor.
Analysis: This is just to remind fans Swann has a rematch for the future and continues to build their rivalry.
Next, there was a vignette for Gran Metalik, he will debut on 205 Live soon.
Analysis: This is good news as Metalik is a very good talent and was in the finals of the CWC with Perkins so fans should already know him, he will help add to the roster.
Akira Tozawa - Aaron Solow
The Brian Kendrick was on commentary for this match, which was a simple squash victory for the new star of 205 Live. Akira Tozawa hit several sharp kicks and chops to his opponent before eventually hitting a snap suplex for the victory, all whilst Kendrick put him over but stated that his opponent was not on his level.
Analysis: Very impressive debut for Tozawa who really connected with the audience for such a short match, he is a very talented performer. Kendrick was great on commentary and he turned very quiet after Tozawa picked up a decisive victory, it appears a future feud could be starting between them which is a good way to use both men.
We then had a backstage segment with Noam Dar sucking up to the new champion which he didn't like, Neville told Dar he didn't care about his love life and that he should leave his baggage at home.
Analysis; This continues to make Neville look strong as someone who doesn't care about anybody on the roster regardless of who they are and gives the fans a break of Alicia Fox screaming at ringside.
Neville & Noam Dar - Jack Gallagher & Cedric Alexander
The 'King of the Cruiserweights' started this one, which was surprising and refreshing for a heel champion, against Jack Gallagher who used his usual tricks to escape several submission holds early on, before both men made a tag; allowing the faces to dominate as Cedric Alexander got the better of his bitter rival whilst Neville screamed at Dar. After using Gallaghers mustache to cause a break, Neville hit a cheap shot on the Gentleman whilst the referee was dealing with his partner which allowed for the tag and the champion began dominating.
With Neville in cruise control, Dar decided to make a blind tag which infuriated his partner and after taking the time to gloat to Alexander the Scotsman turned into a huge headbutt. Neville broke up the pinfall and dealt with Alexander on the outside before telling Dar to finish the match, however, he wanted to make a tag but Neville simply walked away from his partner and Dar was beaten by a Lumbar Check.
Analysis: Gallagher is over, getting chants and fan support which makes a refreshing change on this show. There was nothing particularly special about this match although the headbutt by Gallagher was impressive. It continued to show that Neville doesn't care about anyone but himself which is exactly how he should be booked, whilst Gallagher and Alexander maintain strong winning runs, one of those two will likely be a future number one contender.
Star of the night: Akira Tozawa. He looked ver good on his debut and the fact he connected with the fans after just one match against a jobber is a good sign. His segment afterward with Austin Aries also showed he has charisma and comedic abilities and he should be positioned as a major star on the show.
Rating- 5.5/10. It's a drop from last week as there wasn't enough quality action or storytelling on the show, it felt like an episode you could easily skip and have missed nothing other than Tozawa's debut which is dissapointing for only the tenth ever episode. Whilst it's nice to see the show is built around wrestling quality there needs to be some promos and development of character to make the fans care about the people they are watching, it is obvious they are tired after watching SmackDown and placing it before the blue brands show really would help boost the product.