This week’s episode of 205 Live is the last one before the Great Balls of Fire Pay-Per-View, meaning that this could be the last episode with Neville as the Cruiserweight Champion. Neville warms up for his title defense against Lince Dorado, Jack Gallagher gets another shot against Tony Nese, and two former Cruiserweight Champions compete in “friendly competition.”
Opening Segment
To kick off the show, Titus O’Neil is backstage on the phone with his newest client, Akira Tozawa. Even though O’Neil got destroyed by Braun Strowman, he is in good spirits. He schmoozes with Ariya Daivari and Mustafa Ali before making his way down to the ring.
O’Neil essentially does all of the talking for Akira Tozawa, and he hypes up Tozawa’s Cruiserweight Championship match against Neville this Sunday. O’Neil claims that Tozawa is no match for the “Powa of Tozawa” when he is interrupted by the champion himself. Neville claims that O’Neil is living a fantasy and he uses the footage from Braun Strowman’s assault on Monday Night Raw as an example.
Neville vs. Lince Dorado
Before the match starts, Titus O’Neil joins the commentary team and Neville threatens that his actions against Lince Dorado will be a bit of a preview for his title defense against Akira Tozawa at Great Balls of Fire. Neville destroyed Dorado a couple weeks ago, and since Dorado never really wins, that will probably happen again tonight.
Neville hits Lince Dorado with a thunderous powerbomb and he follows through with the Rings of Saturn for the win. Throughout the entire finish of the match, Neville looks at Titus O’Neil to send a message to him and Akira Tozawa. Winner (via submission): Neville
Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese
Last week, Gentleman Jack Gallagher had a unique match against The Brian Kendrick. Kendrick dressed up in a suit, wig, and fake mustache while carrying an umbrella to the ring to mock Gallagher. Kendrick believes that Gallagher is a caricature and a joke, and even though the match was going in his favor, he assaulted Gallagher with the umbrella to force a disqualification. The week before the “victory” over Kendrick, the Extraordinary Gentleman lost to Tony Nese because the Premier Athlete faked a knee injury.
Nese tries to fake a knee injury again, but Gallagher is not fooled for the second time. After hitting Nese with his signature headbutt, Gallagher hits a running dropkick in Nese in the corner to pick up the victory. Winner: Gentleman Jack Gallagher
After the match, Brian Kendrick uses Independence Day to talk about “Not So Great Britain.” Kendrick goes through the battles that Great Britain lost in the Revolutionary War and compares Britain’s surrender to the surrender of Gallagher to Kendrick. In a segment that is supposed to build heat for Kendrick, it ended up getting some “USA” chants from the crowd, even though the fan favorite in this scenario is from the United Kingdom.
Backstage Segment
Last night on Raw, Cedric Alexander defeated Noam Dar in a match that has happened too many times in recent memory. Dar gets his neck checked out by a trainer, who says that he will not need a neck brace. Dar says that he is looking toward the Cruiserweight Championship, but Alicia Fox asks him about Cedric Alexander. Dar, like Alexander, wants to put their problems in the past, but Fox pushes him to keep focusing on her ex-boyfriend. Dar clearly does not want to continue pursuing Alexander, but it doesn’t seem like he has a choice.
TJP vs. Rich Swann
When TJP aligned himself with Neville, he became a cocky jerk who only cared about himself. While that might still be true, it seems like he has made up with Rich Swann and they are back to being friends. Before the match, Swann asked TJP why he asked to face him tonight, and TJP said that he wanted some “friendly competition” with a fellow former Cruiserweight Champion.
TJP and Rich Swann hit each other hard throughout the whole match, but the decision would come down to some mat wrestling. After several pin counters, Swann would barely get the three count over TJP for the win. After the match, the two shake hands before the show closes. Winner: Rich Swann
