On Sunday at Roadblock: End of the Line, Rich Swann successfully defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against both TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick. After the match, Neville made a surprise appearance as part of the Cruiserweight Division, and he attacked both Swann and Perkins. After yet another attack last night on Monday Night Raw, Neville makes his 205 Live debut tonight.
Ariya Daivari vs. Lince Dorado
While both Ariya Daivari and Lince Dorado are involved in feuds with Jack Gallagher and Mustafa Ali, respectively, they face each other to freshen things up. Daivari has shown that while he does not flip and jump all over the place like people expect Cruiserweights to do, he can still make quite an impact in the division. Throughout his feud with Jack Gallagher alone, Daivari has made noticeable improvements every week and has proven that he can be a big player going forward.
Lince Dorado messes up a dive to the outside, which gives Daivari the upper hand for the rest of the match. One frog splash later, Daivari picks up the win over Dorado. Daivari cuts a post-match promo calling Jack Gallagher a “scoundrel.” Winner: Ariya Daivari
Cedric Alexander (w/Alicia Fox) vs. Drew Gulak
Cedric Alexander has been involved in a romantic storyline with Alicia Fox, and last week on Monday Night Raw, Noam Dar revealed that his intentions are to steal Fox away from Alexander. After Alexander defeated Dar, he now faces the technical brawler that is Drew Gulak. Gulak is one of the greatest in-ring talents in WWE, but he has yet to find some momentum for himself on 205 Live.
While both men are fighting outside the ring, Drew Gulak inadvertently shoves Cedric Alexander into Alicia Fox, who injures her ankle by falling onto the steel steps. Alexander and Gulak go back into the ring, and Noam Dar comes down to save Fox and take her to the back. Even though this distracts Alexander, he still hits the Lumbar Check on Gulak to win the match. Winner: Cedric Alexander
Backstage Segment
When Cedric Alexander finishes his match, he makes his way back to the trainer’s room to check on Alicia Fox, and Noam Dar is already there. It seems as if Alicia Fox doesn’t have a “serious” injury, but just twisted her ankle. While Fox is clearly Alexander’s girlfriend, Noam Dar says that no matter what happens, he will always be there for her. I’m pretty sure that is what he said, he has an incredibly thick Scottish accent which is intolerable and nearly impossible to decode.
Brian Kendrick & Neville vs. TJ Perkins & Rich Swann
Neville has been gone for quite some time, and he has certainly made an impact in his return. His last televised match (according to profightdb.com) was on November 7th for a Superstars taping where he defeated Titus O’Neil. Now he is back and has some much needed direction, and his return has also given direction to the WWE Cruiserweight Championship scene.
On Raw, Neville gave a glimpse into some surprising history between Neville and the Cruiserweight Champion, Rich Swann. Neville said that he trained Swann, took him under his wing in Japan, and he thinks that Swann does not show him enough gratitude for what his career has become. Since Neville has not gotten the respect he thinks he deserves, he decided to make a statement.
Brian Kendrick hits a suicide dive on Rich Swann, and Neville lands his last brutal kick of the match on TJ Perkins, then he follows it up with the Red Arrow to finish off TJ Perkins and close out a solid win for his 205 Live debut. Winners: Brian Kendrick & Neville
It seems like these four men are going to be in the Cruiserweight Championship scene for quite some time, even though Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins technically shouldn’t be in the title picture at all. Since Neville picked up a tag team match victory over the current and former Cruiserweight Champion, this is about the best statement he could have made to start his run in the Cruiserweight division.
