205 Live and the Cruiserweight Division as a whole have started getting things going. Austin Aries is building momentum towards his Cruiserweight Championship match with Neville at Payback, while TJ Perkins and Gentleman Jack Gallagher have gotten involved over the past few weeks. Rich Swann’s mission to break up Noam Dar and Alicia Fox came to fruition last week, Drew Gulak is still trying to remove high-flying from the show, and Akira Tozawa is still tied up with Brian Kendrick. Advertised for tonight’s main event is Gallagher taking on Neville, a rematch from their incredible bout at Fastlane.
Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa vs. Noam Dar & Brian Kendrick
Now that Noam Dar is single, he is back in action without any distractions. Dar suffered a minor injury the week before WrestleMania when he squared off with Austin Aries on Raw, but enough time has passed for the Scottish Supernova to get back in the ring. Brian Kendrick spent months “teaching” Akira Tozawa lessons, but over the past several weeks, Tozawa has turned those lessons around on his former teacher.
Brian Kendrick grabs Akira Tozawa at the apron, but Tozawa ducks out of the way from Noam Dar’s strike, forcing Dar to hit his own partner. The Stamina Monster then takes advantage to hit a Shining Wizard knee strike for the win. This ends up being Tozawa’s fourth lesson to Brian Kendrick: always choose wisely. Winners: Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa
Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese
Tony Nese returned to in-ring action last week when he faced Akira Tozawa, but he lost the match after Brian Kendrick tried to get involved. This week he doesn’t have to deal with Kendrick, but he might suffer from Drew Gulak being at ringside. Gulak, like last week, paraded around with a sign that reads “No Fly Zone” and a megaphone to protest the style of wrestling that he feels is unsafe. Gulak has been using Mustafa Ali as his target, saying that he uses too many high-risk moves, as opposed to Gulak’s ground and pound style.
Mustafa Ali has Tony Nese set up for the inverted 450 Splash, but Drew Gulak drags Nese out of the ring. Because this caused impact with Nese hitting the floor at ringside, the match ends by DQ. After the match, Ali climbs to the top turnbuckle and hits a flipping senton onto Gulak outside of the ring. Winner (via disqualification): Tony Nese
Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. Neville
At Fastlane in March, Jack Gallagher challenged Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship and came up short. As Tom Philips notes, Neville has not lost a singles match since October, which is an incredible feat, but it was arguably Gallagher who came the closest to defeating the King of the Cruiserweights. Neville and Gallagher are without a doubt the two best in-ring competitors in the Cruiserweight Division, and every time they are in the ring it results in a great match. After competing against Neville, Gallagher makes a special appearance on NXT tonight where he will challenge Tyler Bate for the WWE United Kingdom Championship.
Jack Gallagher looks to hit Neville with a super back suplex, but Neville hits Gallagher with a palm strike to the bridge of his nose. Gallagher, stunned, crawls over to the opposite corner, where Neville viciously stomp on the Extraordinary Gentleman’s neck. After laying Gallagher out in the center of the ring, Neville locks in the Ring of Saturn to almost immediately give him the submission victory. Winner (via submission): Neville
While the referee starts the help Gallagher to the back, Neville ends his celebration to assault him further. The King of the Cruiserweights attempts another Rings of Saturn, this time on the entrance ramp, but Austin Aries makes the save and hits the Cruiserweight Champion with the Discus Five-arm. Aries then locks in his own signature submission, the Last Chancery, on Neville on the ramp, getting the last edge in before the two clash for the Cruiserweight Championship at Payback this Sunday.
