WWE 205 Live Review - July 11, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Akira Tozawa def. Ariya Daivari by Disqualification

The crowd had zero reason to care about this contest considering how Daivari has been a glorified enhancement talent since his feud with Jack Gallagher ended months ago, but I appreciated how they at least attempted to build up this bout via their backstage altercation. It was a basic showcase for Tozawa, but I liked how the finish was unexpected with Neville interfering and beating the crap out of Tozawa, exacting revenge after being embarrassed by Tozawa on Raw.

Rich Swann def. Mario Connors

Swann is usually one of the more over Cruiserweights, but not even he garnered much of a reaction from the audience when he made his entrance. I then assumed that wouldn't bode too well for his match and I wasn't wrong. Connors scored some offense against Swann, but otherwise this was a standard squash match with the crowd only coming alive for Swann's cool Phoenix Splash.

TJP def. Mario Connors

TJP's promo before the bout was well done and it's apparent he is far more comfortable in the heel role. Connors looked like an idiot for agreeing to the match despite just losing his previous match, but hey, I guess you can't blame him for wanting more television time (on a show no one watches). This was over in a matter of seconds, but the quick tease of Connors potentially upsetting TJP was a nice touch. This was a unique way of furthering the feud between TJP and Swann.

The Brian Kendrick Attacked Gentleman Jack Gallagher

I surely hope this is the last we'll see of Kendrick dressing up like Gallagher because the cosplay character he's been doing lately has been pretty flat. On the bright side, he's a talented talker and he cut a hell of a fired-up promo here about getting a second chance to compete in WWE. Gallagher's retort was equally excellent and felt real, which this show desperately needs more of. The brawl that ensued between two reignited my interest in their feud.

Cedric Alexander def. Noam Dar in an "I Quit" Match

"I Quit" matches aren't typically my cup of tea, but I enjoyed this one if only because it meant this rivalry was finally concluding. Alexander and Dar have had quality matches in the past, it's just that we've seen them against each other so much since November that all of their encounters have largely bled together. The lack of disqualifications and count-outs in this contest helped, and even if the crowd wasn't engaged in the action at all, they told a solid story with Dar targeting Alexander's left knee throughout. They picked up the pace down the stretch and the final few minutes were thoroughly entertaining. Needless to say, the right man went over (though Alexander did come across as a heel in the fashion he emerged victorious) and now he can focus on chasing the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in the near future. As for Dar dumping Alicia Fox, seeing is believing because this happened once before and they were back together soon after.

Overall Show

Obviously, Austin Aries' departure from WWE late last week doesn't look good for the Cruiserweight division and leaves them with a lot less star power, but at least there are plenty of feuds going on at the moment (Neville/Tozawa, Mustafa Ali/Drew Gulak, Gallagher/Kendrick, Swann/TJP) and most of the matches are actually meaningful.​ This was one of the better editions of 205 Live in recent memory I thought with a fun main event that is worth checking out. Don't mind the dead crowd, which is par for the course for this program, sadly. Next week, Ali and Gulak finish up their feud in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match, so I'm looking forward to that.