WWE 205 Live Review - January 29, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kalisto def. Mike KAnellis

The story is that Mike and Maria Kanellis are sick of being overlooked on 205 Live, and thus Drake Maverick gave Mike the opportunity to prove himself here against a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Unfortunately, he didn't have all that impressive of a showing. I'm actually a fan of Mike's and have been since his IMPACT run, but it's clear WWE just isn't for him, or at least not right now. Despite there not being anything technically wrong with it, this was painfully bland and did not to make me want to see more of Mike on the show. Thus, Kalisto picking up the victory was the right call, and Mike still can't win a match to save his life.

Akira Tozawa def. Hideo Itami

There was a time last spring that Tozawa and Itami were tag team partners, so they still have good chemistry together and are obviously coming off that fun Fatal 4-Way for the Cruiserweight title they were both involved in on the Royal Rumble Kickoff show. They were given a ton of time and made the most of it by producing an entertaining outing. The crowd wasn't incredibly electric for it, mind you, but the wrestling was solid and the final stretch was enjoyable. I was curious why Tozawa won when Itami seemed to be on the receiving end of a renewed push in recent weeks alongside Ariya Daivari, but then I remembered he ate the pinfall loss at the Rumble, too. He was attacked by Daivari after this bout, leading me to believe he was on his way out of WWE. Sure enough, it has since been reported that Itami has requested and has been granted his release from the company (I'd await official confirmation from WWE, of course). I could write an entire book on how WWE dropped the ball on Itami and how injuries hindered his momentum big time, but in short, all I'll say is that I wish him in the best in his future, regardless of where he decides to go next.

Overall Show

I don't know what it is, but 205 Live hasn't been nearly as exciting lately as it was a month or so ago. I realize moving the show back to after SmackDown Live didn't help matters, but the same consistency isn't there anymore and the matches aren't as must-see as they once were. Are Mustafa Ali moving on to SmackDown and Cedric Alexander having a reduced role on the program factors in that as well? Either way, this was a decent episode at best. The in-ring action was perfectly fine, albeit nothing too special. It was notable for Itami's (apparent) last match, though.