205 Live knew that once they had their finals of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament set, they'd have to reestablish the rest of the division. They've been doing that slowly over the past couple of weeks with the Lucha House Party and Team Japan, but by God, did this week's episode cement the show as the main roster show for top-notch wrestling.
The show decided that it would like to remind everyone that some of the guys they brought up from NXT and the UK division, namely Buddy Murphy and Mark Andrews, are here to stay to bolster the cruiserweight division. I'm kind of sad that this doesn't also include Roderick Strong, but as we already know by now, guy's pretty busy in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic up until Takeover: New Orleans. I do hope that the door's still open for his involvement, especially given that he made it to the final four.
I'm just glad that their formula is "have balls-to-the-wall wrestling and explain it simply," and that the two tournament finalists get a much-deserved break from both competing and the main event. One of my consistent complaints about 205 Live, even when Neville was around, was that the show tended to feature the championship closing an episode, except when a second-tier feud had to end.
I'd like to think that having a crazy main event like this is their way of showing that the brand is about the action more than it is about any single personality. That, or simply because we don't have a champion yet. Either way, all the boys in the purple locker room really needed was time and an opportunity to wild out. They made the most of it, and more.
205 Live 3/27/18 Grade: With two lengthy and more-than-solid matches in the episode, the show's starting to feel a lot like NXT, but the old, 2013 version where the roster wasn't as jam-packed with big names. That's a great thing, and more and more people are hopping the bandwagon. A
Short stops
- Really love the short promos from the main event competitors to cold-open the show. Really lays out the main event that early; even without any championship stakes you get the big-fight feel.
- Poor Tony Nese falls to Mandrews after a hard-fought match. Since this is for the right to face Drew Gulak next week, I don't think this is the end of Nese's involvement. Stay tuned for more.
- I love the face-off between Cedric and Mustafa, and how Prince Ali laid it on thick to prove that he's worthy of being the face that runs the purple place, but I wish Mustafa dropped something about his crusade of fighting for the oppressed and discriminated. He won the verbal battle (and even forced Cedric to hint at turning heel after exposing his story as rather lame) but that was the thing that made him transcendent. I hope he brings it up again leading up to the show.
- Where's my Buddy Murphy weigh-in segment?
- That said, I'm buying him as a cruiserweight despite his size. Have you seen how agile he is?
- As a technical wrestling fan, absolutely digging TJ's role in the match of being the asshole who shows off by putting everyone in a submission move. At the same time. You can't deny that that's badass.
- The main event was done to elevate everyone in the match, Murphy moreso than most, but I love how the story between Lucha House Party and Team Japan progressed between Kalisto and Akira Tozawa. It's important to note that they were the cooler heads of their teams, holding back their more short-tempered compatriots last week, but this time, they were the ones almost losing their shit. I can't wait to see where this goes and how it builds up to the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship.
205 Live Rankings as of 3/29/18
Guess what: the ladder rankings are back! I know I said I'd bust out the Smarkometrics Experience Xtreme after the tournament concluded at WrestleMania, but now that the show is kicking the rest of the division back into full gear, I thought it was the right time. The only difference is due to the decimated division roster, I'm going to be ranking the top 10 cruiserweights instead of 15. Who reigns supreme? Let's get into it!
- Mustafa Ali — Prince Ali went all Killmonger on this shit and clowned Cedric Alexander.
- Cedric Alexander — Cedric had no real response after being told that he's always come up short in all his opportunities for the Cruiserweight Championship, other than the fact that he might just turn heel if he has to.
- Buddy Murphy — The fatal four-way was to impress GM Drake Maverick, and after a huge win like that, he's got to be in a top spot, right?
- Kalisto — Is in the main event and beats Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, and Jack Gallagher on Main Event. Not bad.
- Mark Andrews — Reestablishes himself as more than just a filler tournament entry by beating Tony Nese this week in a hot match.
- Lince Dorado — The Lucha House Party is high up here in this week's rankings due to the aforementioned Main Event win.
- Gran Metalik — See Lince Dorado.
- Akira Tozawa — Finds himself in the main event, has a pretty good showing.
- Drew Gulak — Loses on RAW this Monday, but Mark Andrews and Tony Nese are competing for the chance to fight him. That counts for something.
- TJP — TJ loses on RAW and eats the sick Murphy's Law in the main event. Is at least kept as one of the focuses of the show's new direction.
Photo from WWE
*****
Romeo Moran (@roiswar) is the Editor in Chief of Smark Henry, one of the three hosts of the Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast, and is associated with Philippine Wrestling Revolution. He gets by in this hard knock life through working in publishing. Smark Henry was his and Stan Sy's original vision of a watering hole for local wrestling fans. He roots for the undersized guys who hit hard, but really hates Davey Richards with his entire soul. He likes taking your wrestling questions over on his Curiouscat account.
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