Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, & Aiden English
This week’s 205 Live features a SummerSlam rematch as Drew Gulak defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Oney Lorcan. Also on the show Lince Dorado continues feeling like less of a luchador around Humberto Carrillo, Akira Tozawa cuts his head the f*ck open, and much more!
CHAMPIONS
- WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION: Drew Gulak
LINEUP
- Akira Tozawa vs. Jack Gallagher (***)
- Humberto Carrillo, Lince Dorado, & Kalisto vs. Ariya Daivari & The Singh Brothers (**1/2)
- Drew Gulak [c] vs. Oney Lorcan for the WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (***3/4)
*****
-RECAP VIDEO: Drew Gulak defeats Oney Lorcan to retain the Cruiserweight Championship during the SummerSlam Kickoff Show. Gulak punched Lorcan right in the damn Adam’s Apple. Yikes.
-Joseph welcomes the home audience and announces that Gulak/Lorcan will main event tonight. Oh phew I thought I was going to have double back and watch the Kickoff special.
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Akira Tozawa [w/ “The” Brian Kendrick] vs. “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher
Tozawa and Gallagher shake hands, though I doubt the sincerity from the latter. Gallagher with a side headlock takeover, Tozawa counters with a headscissors, Gallagher bounces like a jumping bean to escape. Gallagher manipulates the joints in Tozawa’s left arm and takes him down with a shoulderblock. Tozawa ducks a clothesline and cinches in an Octopus. Gallagher escapes, Tozawa with a pair of chops and a jab that sends him crashing into the corner. Gallagher blocks a whip so Tozawa belts him with a forearm. Gallagher uses his legs and sends Tozawa bouncing off the LED post and to the floor. Kendrick checks on Tozawa, who has a gash on his forehead. Tozawa is dazed but manages to break the count just in time, Gallagher covering for a one-count. Ref forces Gallagher back so he can check on Tozawa’s wound. LET HIM BLEEEEEED.
The ref finishes with the wound and Gallagher goes back on the attack, pulling his arms back while digging his knee into the spine. Tozawa escapes and connects with a rana followed by a Shining Wizard. Tozawa to the top but lands on his feet when Gallagher moves. Gallagher with a headbutt to the chest followed by a Gory Special, Tozawa escapes with an armdrag. Tozawa kicks Gallagher off the apron and flies into his foe with a tope suicida, Kendrick cheering him on. Back in the ring Tozawa belts Gallagher with a missile dropkick for the 1…2…Gallagher manages to kick out. Gallagher almost fights out of a fireman’s carry but Tozawa fights through the elbows and connects with a faceslam followed by a sliding dropkick for the 1…2…Gallagher kicks out again and rolls to the apron. Gallagher escapes a suplex and ducks an enzuigiri, connecting on Tozawa with a dropkick. Gallagher stagger Tozawa on the top buckle, Gallagher goes for a Superplex but Tozawa counters and sends him crashing to the mat. Tozawa follows up with a diving senton for the 1…2…Gallagher gets his foot on the rope but Kendrick knocks it off “accidentally”…3.
Akira Tozawa defeated Jack Gallagher via pinfall with a diving senton (8:45)
- Tozawa took an OOGLY shot on that LED post and that led to the match being stopped in its tracks so the ref could treat the wound, but besides that this was a spirited affair of a match. Akira Tozawa is an old favorite from my brief affair with DGUSA, glad to see him in action. Kendrick accidentally on purpose knocking Gallagher’s foot off the rope was interesting, wonder if that’ll lead somewhere. (***)
—
–Oney Lorcan, favoring his Adam’s Apple, says he brought the fight to Drew Gulak on Sunday and should have left SummerSlam as champ but Gulak played it dirty. Lorcan says the fight is not over and vows to get his revenge and the title TONIGHT.
—
Humberto Carrillo, Lince Dorado, & Kalisto vs. Ariya Daivari & The Singh Brothers (Samir & Sunil Singh)
Dorado tripped up Carrillo in their match last week, causing them both to be counted out so there’s some friction there. He and Kalisto were supposed to team with regular Lucha House Party bro Gran Metalik but he was attacked backstage by an UNKNOWN ASSAILANT and Drake Maverick made his impromptu team. Daivari got into Dorado’s head last week about the fact he could achieve much more on his own.
Daivari pummels Carrillo with rights to start, Carrillo floats over in the corner and does a backflip BECAUSE REASONS. Carrillo slows things down with an armbar. Daivari escapes with a knee to the gut and tags in Sunil, Dorado WRECKS him with a hard chop. Dorado ignores Carrillo and tags in Kalisto to keep the action going. Carrillo thought it was him but the ref didn’t see it. Kalisto kicks Samir, Sunil yanks him off the top rope and cheapshots Dorado. Daivari tags in and covers but the ref didn’t see the tag so he doesn’t allow it. FINALLY SOMEONE F*CKING PAYS ATTENTION. Sunil runs back in so Daivari can tag for real, and he connects with a backbreaker for a two-count. Chinlock time! Kalisto escapes, Daivari responds with a spinebuster. Samir tags in, does some Bollywood stuff, and applies a waistlock of DOOM. Kalisto clears the Singh Bros, one of the Singhs yanks Dorado off the apron so Carrillo gets the tag instead who does good Lucha things, including a rolling Moonsault. Daivari breaks up the pinfall attempt, Kalisto makes him pay with a Salida del Sol. Singh Bros with a double superkick to Kalisto, Dorado and Carrillo clear them with double superkicks. Carrillo and Dorado flatten the Singh Brothers. Daivari walks off, Carrillo with a missile dropkick on Sunil. Carrillo heads to the top, Dorado tags him. Carrillo connects with a twisting splash, Dorado follows it with a Shooting Star Press to get the 1…2…3. HA.
Humberto Carrillo, Lince Dorado, & Kalisto defeated Ariya Daivari & The Singh Brothers when Dorado pinned Sunil Singh with a shooting star press (7:32)
- Entertaining 6-man tag to further the beef between Carrillo and Dorado as well as Daivari getting into the head of The Lucha House Party’s resident man-cat. I dug it. I think I mixed up the Singh Brothers here and I feel AWFUL about it but I’ll work on that going forward. I appreciated Daivari walking out of the match to show Dorado how easy it is to leave the “dead weight” behind. (**1/2)
Carrillo takes it in stride since they won and they celebrate their victory.
—
-Cruiserweight Champ Drew Gulak says he asked for a worthy challenger but instead he’s haunted by ghosts from his past. Gulak says HIS 205 Live is a battlefield and all is fair in war. Gulak says the only constant in this world is change and he is the law. Okay there, Judge Dredd.
–Tony Nese cuts a selfie promo from the gym (DUH). Nese says he lost his chance at a title opportunity last week and has to start from scratch. He will do ANYTHING to get his title back. Like situps. Or push-ups. Or other ups.
—
Drew Gulak [c] vs. Oney Lorcan for the WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Lorcan wastes no time going at Gulak, ramming him in the corner and connecting with a knife-edged chop. Gulak bails from the ring to stop his foe’s momentum. Gulak charges in, Lorcan connects with a half and half suplex that the champ takes ON HIS HEAD. Gulak bails to the floor, Lorcan flattens him with a cannonball from the top turnbuckle but Gulak kicks out of the lateral press. Lorcan tries for the Half & Half from the top, Gulak holds on and elbows him out to the floor. Lorcan crawls around the ring, confusing Gulak for a moment before the champ hops out to ram him THROAT-FIRST into the announce table. Damn dude. Gulak follows up by dropping Lorcan head-first on the apron (ahem thehardestpartofthering) and rolls back in while the ref checks on Lorcan instead of making a count. Do your job, man. Ref finally starts his count, Lorcan breaks it in the nick of time so Gulak goes a strikin’. Gulak with a corner clothesline into a snap suplex, floating over into a lateral press for the 1…2…Lorcan kicks out. Gulak catches a kick and throws it into the ropes so he can drop him with a hanging-ish neckbreaker for the 1…2…Lorcan kicks out again. Gulak cradles the head and drops Lorcan throat-first on the apron and covers again for the 1…2…Lorcan kicks out, Gulak settles into a chinlock.
Gulak kicks Lorcan away into the corner and connects with a middle rope flying clothesline for the 1…2…not yet. Lorcan fights out of a chinlock with a pair of European uppercuts. Gulak headbutts Lorcan in the chest, Lorcan ducks a pair of clotheslines to get a running Euro uppercut for two. Lorcan immediately follows up with a blockbuster for the 1…2…Gulak kicks out. Lorcan doesn’t stop, hitting a lariat for the 1…2…still Gulak kicks out. Lorcan does his best to wake up the crowd, they sorta do, and hits a couple of corner splashes but Gulak misses the third and slams Lorcan into the ropes for the 1…2…Lorcan kicks out again. Gulak fights out of the Half & Half and catches Lorcan with a beefy ass lariat for the 1…2…once again Lorcan kicks out! Gulak seats Lorcan on the buckles, Lorcan slides under and crotches him. Lorcan goes for the Super Half & Half again and THIS TIME HE CONNECTS! Lorcan crawls over to Gulak and drapes an arm on top for the 1…2…GULAK GETS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPE. Gulak bails to the floor, Lorcan gets REAL MAD and HYPED UP. Lorcan rams Gulak into the barricade, announce table, and steel steps. Lorcan rolls Gulak into the ring, Gulak with an inside cradle for the 1…2…Lorcan kicks out. Lorcan with a series of slaps and a chop RIGHT TO THE F*CKING THROAT for the 1…2…Gulak kicks out! Lorcan with all sorts of back slaps. Gulak with an O’ Connor Roll, Lorcan rolls through and Gulak cinches in the GU-LOCK and Lorcan passes out.
Drew Gulak [c] defeated Oney Lorcan via knockout with Gu-Lock to retain the WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (15:30)
- A kick ass hard-hitting battle between two of WWE’s best. This dead 205 Live crowd didn’t deserve it but I’m glad it happened so I could see it. I dug this a lot, they had me on some of those near-falls. Lorcan to 205 Live was strange to me on paper but I’m glad he’s here to have slap fights. (***3/4)
*****
FINAL THOUGHTS: Damn good episode of 205 Live with a tremendous main event and a fun undercard. Not a lot in the way of interesting storytelling but there were some moments here and there. Drew Gulak is probably my favorite Cruiserweight Champion so far in this era; as much as I liked his goofy persona I love this super serious version as well, it reminds me of his EVOLVE days. Give this show a watch for sure.
