WWE 205 Live Review - May 2, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

TJP def. Lince Dorado

Apparently TJ Perkins is the latest victim of getting his name shortened to just TJP. At any rate, he continues to come into his own as a heel with each passing week and the extra aggression he's had in his matches since the turn has been a nice touch. It's no secret that Dorado is the go-to jobber of the Cruiserweight division, but he had a nice outing against TJP and this was a solid follow-up to TJP's attack on Austin Aries on Raw.

Akira Tozawa Crashed The Brian Kendrick's Interview with Corey Graves

As I've said in the past, I really like these sit-down style interviews, so it was cool to see it incorporated into 205 Live for once. Kendrick came across well in talking about his relationship and rivalry with Tozawa, but Tozawa attacking him out of nowhere and abruptly ending the interview wasn't seemingly something a face would do. I have been in the camp that has enjoyed this storyline for the most part, but it's definitely time to move on.

Drew Gulak def. Mustafa Ali

Gulak's anti-high-flyer gimmick actually provides a built-in story for any matches he has going forward because he can say his opponents are wasting too much time on the top rope, like Ali did he. That said, having Gulak go over was a wise move. As for the match itself, it held my interest for as long as it lasted and they work well together. Gulak also did a decent job with his post-match promo, so I'm looking forward to the remainder of this rivalry.

Noam Dar def. Rich Swann

The Dar vs. Swann storyline has been going on as long as Tozawa vs. Kendrick, though I am far less interested in this angle because of how poorly it's been handled. On the bright side, Alicia Fox wasn't involved in this at all, making the match better as a result. When the focus is solely on the in-ring action, their matches are great and this bout was no exception. Sadly, the crowd couldn't have cared less, but what else is new? Dar winning clean was a pleasant surprise, but fingers crossed this marks the end of the program (even though Dar and Fox reunited afterward which made no sense but whatever).

Overall Show

I appreciate that 205 Live is featuring more progression of storylines than it was six months ago, but none of these feuds are lighting the world on fire at the moment with the exception of Neville vs. Austin Aries. Speaking of which, this edition of 205 Live lacked without them, but it was still a decent show with a fine undercard and a pretty fun main event. Needless to say, this was far from a must-see show and you aren't missing much if you don't tune in.