205 Live aired from the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH after Smackdown Live. Corey Graves and Tom Phillips joined the commentary team for the live broadcast on the WWE Network.
The show started with a vignette hyping the street fight between The Brain Kendrick and Akira Tozawa slated for the main event of the show. The video highlighted the growing resentment between the two men ever since Tozawa made his way to 205 Live.
#1 Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari
Daivari did not take too well to last week’s incident when Rich Swann directed a package addressed to him to Daivari. The Persian Lion opened the package and a cloud of baby powder shot up in his face.
Swann started the match with a standing dropkick and brought the fight to Daivari. He then attempted a cross-body from the top rope outside the ring and missed Daivari. Daivari took the opportunity to slam Swann into the LED board at ringside. Daivari continued his offence on the left arm of Swann.
Rich Swann battled back with a flying kick and connected with a beautiful Phoenix Splash of the top rope to secure the victory.
Result: Swann wins
However, Swann’s celebrations were short-lived as Noam Dar ambushed him from behind. Swann hit the floor face first and Dar stood tall in the ring with Alicia Fox amidst deafening boos from the fans in attendance.
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville and number one contender Austin Aries sat down for an interview to talk about their upcoming match at WWE Extreme Rules for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Neville pointed out that he had been the most dominant force in the Cruiserweight division and had defeated everyone that stood in his way.
He went on to say that he beat Aries twice in the past and that he would do the same at Extreme Rules. Aries retorted saying that Neville used cheap tricks to win the matches based on technicalities.
Austin warned Neville that he had an arsenal of submission moves for their match but he would finally make Neville tap out to the Last Chancery. Neville offered Aries the chance to walk away before their match because he did not want to take responsibility for Austin’s condition after it.
#2 Cedric Alexander vs. Johnny Boone
205 LIVE fans were greeted with the return of Cedric Alexander. Cedric returned after being out of action for almost three months following a knee injury to face the debuting Johnny Boone. He made short work of Boone with some powerful strikes. Cedric then got the victory with the Lumbar Check on Boone.
Another video package was aired depicting Drew Gulak’s vicious assaults of Mustafa Ali during last week’s show. Gulak urged the WWE Universe to join his campaign of making the Cruiserweight division a better, safer work environment by doing away with high flying moves.
He called out men like Mustafa Ali for doing flips in the ring just to garner applause from the crowd.
#3 The Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa (Street Fight Match)
The bitter rivalry between the two men came to a head in the first ever street fight on 205 LIVE. Tozawa and Kendrick pulled out all the stops in their efforts to maim and lay a beating on each other.
As the match started, Kendrick rushed to the outside to get a weapon but Tozawa hit him with a dive through the ropes. Kendrick tried to get in some offensive but Tozawa moved quickly, sending Kendrick flying over the announce table.
Back inside the ring, Tozawa landed some good shots including a short jab to the jaw. Kendrick struggled to keep the pace with the Stamina Monster but made use of his jacket to bring Akira’s offence to a screeching halt.
The Man with a Plan then suplexed Tozawa to the outside of the ring. Kendrick took things to another level when he used duct tape to seal Tozawa’s mouth and then locked him in the Captain’s Hook. Kendrick was not done with the duct tape as he taped Tozawa’s hands around the post and landed some devastating shots on his back with a belt.
The no count out, no disqualification nature of the bout left the referee helpless. Kendrick set up a table but Tozawa freed himself and mounted another offence on Kendrick.
The two men continued to brawl, throwing lefts and rights at one another. Tozawa reversed another Captain’s Hook with a DDT into the steel steps. He then set up Kendrick on the table and ascended to the top turnbuckle.
Tozawa then proceeded to hit Kendrick with a diving senton, sending him crashing through the table. The Stamina Monster, with the last ounce of energy left in his being, dragged Kendrick’s unconscious body to the ring and covered him for the win delivering what may be the final chapter in this storied rivalry.
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