BRM Reviews the 4/23/2019 205 Live (great)

[Big Red Machine]

DREW GULAK PROMO- odd
They basically combined a promo you’d expect Gulak to cut for his match against Humberto Carrillo tonight with Drake Maverick’s usual show run-down… so you had Gulak hyping up a #1 contendership match that had nothing to do with him.

Nigel is in the UK teaching at the UK Performance Center, so he is being replaced on commentary this week by David Otunga. A major downgrade, but at least they had an explanation for where Nigel was.

JACK GALLAGHER INSTAGRAM PROMO- AWESOME!
He has always suspected that Gulak was simply interested in using him for his own ends at the expense of Gallagher’s career, and Gulak getting Gallagher DQed against Humberto Carrillo two weeks ago, that confirmed it, so Gallagher turned on him. LOGIC!

DREW GULAK vs. HUMBERTO CARRILLO- 7.25/10
David Otunga referred to Gulak as “a thinking man’s entertainer.” I almost threw something at my television. Aiden English actually brought up the angle where David Otunga was a dissenter within Nexus, and I think David Otunga and I were the only two people who knew what he was talking about.
The action here was great, although Carrillo probably could have sold his knee a bit better. Carrillo got the win with the “Aztec Press”, which is actually an Arabian Press. I will pretend calling it as such is a sort of Joey Styles reference.

ONEY LORCAN PROMO- fine

ARIYA DAIVARI PROMO- great

MIKE & MARIA ARE LECTURED BY DRAKE MAVERICK BACKSTAGE- good
Maverick is upset about Maria’s interference in last week’s match against Tozawa, but still seems to be focused on appealing to Mike’s pride to get him to stop Maria from interfering rather than actually banning her from ringside. Kendrick shows up to also complain about said interference, but then admits that he is “just a distraction, anyway,” and as he walks off, Tozawa flies into the screen from behind and attacks Mike Kanellis. Good “turnabout is fair play” stuff from the babyfaces. I liked that they specifically didn’t have the babyfaces do this in a match, because that would be cheating and babyfaces shouldn’t cheat without extenuating moral circumstances.

#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Oney Lorcan vs. Ariya Daivari- 8/10
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese came down to watch this match from ringside so he could scout his potential challengers. Tom Phillips described this as Nese wanting to get “a bird’s-eye view,” and Aiden English immediately corrected him for misusing that metaphor. A for more of these and I might start turning the corner on Aiden.
These guys had your typically awesome 205 Live main event, with a story built around both guys going for their finishers but never quite being able to hit them. Daivari got the win.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Nese claps in approval and offers Daivari a handshake but Daivari replies that all he wants is the title. Nese tells him to try taking it from him.


Another great episode of 205 Live. While 205 Live obviously has the advantage of being short enough that you don’t have everyone on TV every week, or even every two or three weeks, I was still struck by how much this show actually feels new and refreshed, as opposed to Raw or SD after the Superstar Shake-up. Since Mania we’ve broken up a long-running team in Gulak/Gallagher, we have a new champion, the two former top guys are now gone, and we just had a #1 contendership match featuring two guys no one would have ever put in that spot two months ago, but at this point both men’s claims to that spot feel completely valid. Compare that to Raw or SD, where so much feels the same, even after a big roster shift and some new champions.