Live From the 205 (10/9/20): Cruiserweight Wrestling Capitol

Last week, 205 Live ran an Isaiah "Swerve" Scott retrospective to hype up the Cruiserweight Championship match at NXT Takeover 31—and also because the show was also in the process of moving back to the Performance Center Capitol Wrestling Center with NXT after the COVID-19 outbreak. The show returns this week, looking better than ever with the blessing of a live audience.

Ariya Daivari (almost hits) another home run

205 Live is back to tying up old loose threads with this match calling back to a two-month-old bout between Ariya Daivari and Jake Atlas and boy, do I wish this was this week's main event.

For once, the action doesn't start with your usual lock-up-into-headlock "actual wrestling" ritual; Atlas remembers that Daivari was a dick to him, so they immediately get into each other's faces. I generally hate it when a supposed blood feud starts out pretty civil (see a recent case in Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso from Clash of Champions) so this got my attention right away.

Daivari and Atlas turn in a pretty hard-hitting match which I thought was going to put a bow on this little feud if it weren't for Tony Nese's interference. That's right: we get to see more of Tony Nese yet again, and my feelings about him from three weeks ago still stand. Daivari's doing so much better right now and he doesn't need tired Tony dragging him down. (Sorry, Tony, it really isn't your fault.)

Ashante "Thee" Adonis finally beats a vet

Ashante "Thee" Adonis got a little more clout for himself after saving Swerve from a Legado del Fantasma attack last Sunday at Takeover, and now he's looking to build on that momentum. It's been a bumpy ride for him, especially when audiences can't quite figure out if they should be cheering or booing for the dude—until today, maybe.

When I first saw Ashante, his shit-talking gave me the impression that he was yet another arrogant heel. The booking kind of backed that up, except losing to a bunch of people basically watered down whatever upstart appeal he had while somehow positioning him as someone to feel sorry for at the same time. If you were confused by all that, just know that I am, too, and it seems like the crowd at the CWC was as well. (And what's up with those cutoff jorts?)

After being pretty hot during the Atlas/Daivari match, the audience lost all of it in this main event. It didn't help that Ashante's style—at least for this match—seemed bland as hell, making him look wildly out of place in a cruiserweight-centric show. Something's gotta change for this guy, and fast; maybe finally beating the Brian Kendrick after three tries is it.

205 Live 10/9/20 Final Grade: B

Photo from WWE

*****

Romeo Moran (@roiswar) is the Editor-in-Chief of Smark Henry and one of the four hosts of the Wrestling-Wrestling Podcast. He gets by in this hard knock life through working in advertising. 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, and he likes taking your wrestling questions over on his Curiouscat account.

October 11, 2020