WWE 205 Live Review - January 10, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Noam Dar def. Cedric Alexander

I'm not one for romance storylines in wrestling, mostly because they're rarely done right, and although this has been pretty cheesy up to now, at least it's an additional story in the Cruiserweight division and it has given Alexander and Dar a sense of direction. Alexander is above this angle in my opinion and I was glad he broke it off with Alicia Fox afterward, but Dar has played his part perfectly as someone you would love to see get his ass kicked. The match itself was entertaining, though Fox helping Dar win and then acting confused about it was weird.

The Brian Kendrick def. Sean Maluta

Maluta has been a heel the last few times we have seen him in action on 205 Live and NXT, so it was hard to buy into him as a babyface here. He scored a ton of offense over Kendrick, so it will be interesting to see if he ends up signing a full-time deal if he hasn't already. The crowd was quiet for the match, but at least Kendrick picked up the victory and will enter his feud with Tajiri with some momentum.

Jack Gallagher and Ariya Daivari Held a Parlay

This entire feud between Gallagher and Daivari has actually exceeded expectations so far because I never thought it would last this long. That isn't a bad thing, however, and Daivari has definitely benefited from working with Gallagher who was already a star. This was a strong segment from them as they set up their "No Forfeit" match for next week, and it's a refreshing change of pace for them to advertise something a week out for this show.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann def. Tony Nese (Non-title)

Other than a few wins here and there, Nese has largely been utilizied as an enhancement talent to the babyfaces in the Cruiserweight division, and as a result of that, the ending outcome of this match was never in doubt. That said, this marked Swann's return from a two week hiatus and they produced a well-wrestled match. The subsequent promo wasn't anything to write home about, and Swann mocking Neville's looks for no apparent reason shouldn't have happened, but they set up their championship clash for the Royal Rumble in effective fashion.

Overall Show

205 Live may not have that same buzz about it that SmackDown Live or even NXT have at the moment, but the program is consistently enjoyable from week-to-week and this episode was no exception. The main event didn't light the world on fire, but a match was made official for next week as well as at the Royal Rumble. Additionally, Alexander and Dar opened the night on a high note. My only issue with 205 Live is that the crowds sound almost completely disinterested, and I still firmly believe the show would benefit from being taped prior to SmackDown as opposed to after.