The Cruiserweight Division is starting to heat up again, and tonight’s episode of 205 Live looks to continue that trend. Last week, Austin Aries defeated TJ Perkins, Jack Gallagher, and Mustafa Ali to regain his #1 Contender spot for the Cruiserweight Championship. On Raw this week, Neville convinced TJ Perkins that the King of the Cruiserweights was the only one who believed in him, and TJP assaulted Austin Aries after defeating him with a roll-up. Advertised for tonight is Perkins taking on Jack Gallagher.
Brian Kendrick vs. Mustafa Ali
Mustafa Ali has been very close to success week after week. He almost defeated Neville the week before WrestleMania, and he has almost won a few #1 Contender’s matches. Ali has wowed the WWE Universe with his high-flying acrobatic style, but it has drawn negative attention from Drew Gulak. Gulak has been watching Ali’s matches over the past few weeks with contempt; he wants Ali to change his wrestling style so 205 Live can become a safer work environment.
Brian Kendrick has been fairly successful in his mission to “teach” Akira Tozawa until last week. Kendrick and Tozawa squared off, and the former Cruiserweight Champion was planning on teaching Tozawa a lesson about psychological supremacy. Instead, the Stamina Monster used Kendrick’s own lesson against him by faking an injury to steal the victory.
Kendrick has Mustafa Ali in the Captain’s Hook and the bells ring even though Ali doesn’t tap out. It turns out that Akira Tozawa dressed up in disguise to ring the bell, which Ali takes advantage of to defeat Kendrick with the inverted 450 splash. Tozawa grabs a microphone after the match to reveal lesson #2: appearances can be deceiving. Winner: Mustafa Ali
Rich Swann vs. Johnny Ocean
Johnny Ocean is a local Boston wrestler, so unless he pulls the upset victory over Rich Swann, he isn’t anybody of note. Rich Swann has been feuding with Noam Dar recently, after undermining him and sending Alicia Fox, Dar’s girlfriend, romantic gifts. Swann and Dar were supposed to square off a few weeks ago, but Dar suffered an injury in a match against Austin Aries and has yet to return to in-ring action.
Ocean gets some offense in early on, but Swann takes advantages and is in control for the rest of the match. After a swift spinning back kick, Swann hits Ocean with a Phoenix Splash for the victory. Winner: Rich Swann
Swann picks up a microphone after his victory and starts to explain why he has sent Alicia Fox those gifts, but he is interrupted by Noam Dar, who still tries to take credit for the presents. They get into a pretty heated argument, then Alicia Fox storms to the ring to take Dar’s side. On top of all of that, a delivery man walks down to the ring to give Alicia Fox yet another gift. Dar orders Swann to leave and takes credit for the “surprise” gift, which explodes powder all over Fox.
TJ Perkins vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher
Last night, TJ Perkins showed quite an attitude change. After defeating Austin Aries, Perkins attacked him further and left him laid out in the middle of the ring. Gentleman Jack Gallagher does not approve of Perkins’ bad attitude, so he requested this match. Presumedly, he wants to beat the attitude out of him. Recently, the WWE Universe has lost interest in TJP since he didn’t have much of a personality, so this could give him more of a character than “guy who likes video games.”
Perkins works the leg of Jack Gallagher throughout the entire match, and it prevents the Extraordinary Gentleman from hitting the running dropkick into the turnbuckle. TJP takes advantage of Gallagher’s wounded knee and sends him head first into the ring post. Perkins then finishes him off with the Detonation Kick for the win. Winner: TJ Perkins
After the match, TJP celebrates on the entrance ramp and his hand is raised by none other than the Cruiserweight Champion, Neville.
