WWE 205 Live Review - January 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell) def. Gigi Dolin and Cora Jade in a Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Quarterfinal Match

Dolin is the former Priscilla Kelly and Jade is the former Elayna Black. Their signings were announced just two days ago and they're already making their on-screen debuts in the Dusty Classic, which is pretty cool. Yes, their new names are terrible, but they're both very good and are excellent additions to an already stacked women's division in NXT. I figured they would lose here with The Way getting the aggressive push at the moment, but I appreciated that they were able to look credible in defeat. Hartwell picking up the win for their team was a nice touch, too.

Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher def. Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari in a Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First-Round Match

Thatcher and Ciampa coming together for the Dusty Classic definitely feels rushed. They literally had their Fight Pit match two days ago on NXT, and this was taped the same night! I don't have a problem with the idea that they gained respect for each other and are now going to try out being a team (that has plenty of potential), but a week or two to build to that happening would have been nice. This is why the Fight Pit should have happened back at New Year's Evil. Nonetheless, this was a fun main event while it lasted. Ciampa and Thatcher already have great chemistry together as partners and I'm looking forward to seeing how far they go in the tournament.

Overall Show

Can you believe that the opener was the first women's match to ever occur on 205 Live, and the show's been around almost five years? I guess it is believable when you consider this is a Cruiserweight-based show and there aren't any female Cruiserweights, but either way, it was really cool that the women's Dusty Classic extended onto this show as well. Getting Ciampa and Thatcher on 205 Live this week was also awesome, making this most must-see edition of 205 Live in ages. Additionally, it was announced that Curt Stallion will challenge Santos Escobar for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship next week on NXT.