WWE 205 Live Review - July 2, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Andre Chase def. Guru Raaj in an NXT Breakout Tournament Qualifying Match

I might be in the minority, but I was actually more familiar with Raaj coming into this than I was Chase, who apparently used to wrestle on the independent scene (most notably EVOLVE) as Harlem Bravado. Maybe I've seen him in action before and I didn't realize it, but the name doesn't sound familiar at all. Raaj, on the other hand, competed against Finn Balor back when Balor was still NXT Champion at the Superstar Spectacle event in January. He impressed me on that show and he had another impressive outing here. Chase had a good showing as well, but I was honestly disappointed Raaj didn't qualify because he stood out to me more than the generic Chase did.

Joe Gacy def. Desmond Troy in an NXT Breakout Tournament Qualifying Match

Gacy is another ex-independent wrestler I'm not familiar with whatsoever. A quick Google search told me that he too used to compete for EVOLVE but primarily for CZW. He has way more of a presence about him than Chase, has a unique look and stood out in this match with his hard-hitting offense. He can also move around the ring really well for a guy his size. As for Troy, I've been a big fan of his potential since I saw him at an EVOLVE show for the first time in early 2020. He was on a handful of Raw, SmackDown and NXT shows during the Performance Center era but has been seldom seen since then. I'd argue he left more of an impression here than Gacy did, but it was entertaining, nonetheless.

Overall Show

I was very interested to see what 205 Live was going to look like after WWE fired a majority of the roster last week (the show was filmed before the releases were announced) and we still don't have an answer. For now, it's going to host qualifying matches for the NXT Breakout Tournament, which is a smart idea as it gets people more familiar with a few of the faces before they debut on NXT TV soon. Essentially, this was NXT's version of Main Event, but the matches had more stakes than anything I've seen on 205 Live in close to a year, so there's that.

SEE MORE: 205 Live Reviews