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205 Live has been injected with some fresh blood as of late, and the show has done nothing but benefit from it ever since. With the inclusion of three new WWE Superstars, along with August Grey, Jake Atlas, and Curt Stallion, 205 Live seems to have broken out of that six-month stale patch.
Ikemen Jiro and Ari Sterling recently made their debuts on 205 Live, and tonight some more new blood would kick off their cruiserweight career on the Purple Brand. Asher Hale faced off against one of the gatekeepers of the cruiserweights, Ariya Daivari.
Ariya Daivari vs Asher Hale on 205 Live
The 205 Live OG faced off against one of the newest WWE signees, Asher Hale, known on the indie circuit as Anthony Henry. Hale's MMA style worked well with the Purple Brand's top brawler.
Hale blocked a superplex and jumped onto Ariya Daivari for a flying headlock takedown. 205 Live's Daivari Dinero got back in the swing of things with a knee to the gut and a running single-leg dropkick to the jaw. Hale responded with a leg sweep and battered Daivari with big rights and lefts.
On the floor, a flying knee off the apron turned Daivari inside out. Hale took a receipt, though, inside the ring when Daivari leveled him with a flying forearm. Tying Hale up in the ropes, Daivari hammered him with stiff right fists.
205 Live's latest addition fought out of a sleeper hold, hitting a beautiful Randy Orton-esque snap powerslam. A series of exploder suplexes dumped Daivari on his head. A Northern Lights suplex followed up, but the cross armbreaker was blocked.
A step-up enzuigiri and tornado DDT dropped Daivari for the two-count. The Persian Prince of 205 Live took Hale down with the Iconoclasm, and the Persian Splash connected.
Hale kicked out and ducked the Hammerlock Lariat. Daivari was caught with an O'Connor roll, earning Asher Hale a win on his 205 Live debut.
Results: Asher Hale defeated Ariya Daivari via pinfall on 205 Live.
Grade: A-
205 Live has done great with fresh match-ups lately, and putting Ariya Daivari together with Asher Hale was a stroke of genius. Two strikers with slightly different styles, and a guy that Daivari can get a lot out of in a new feud.
BollyRise were backstage checking out the opening match. The Bollywood Boyz were impressed with Asher Hale, but Ever-Rise were more interested in knowing if The Singhs watched their show.
Tony Nese vs Ari Sterling on 205 Live
205 Live's Premier Athlete took Ari Sterling down, driving his elbow into his shoulder socket. Sterling fought out but was driven into the corner. Tony Nese was taken overhead with a leaping headscissors takedown, and a second one off the ropes left Nese dazed.
Nese was tripped up near the ropes, allowing Sterling to hit a tope atomico and running corkscrew senton. The Sauce of 205 Live was just heating up, forcing Nese to hold onto his legs and keep him on the ground.
Sterling fought him off, bringing him up close and personal to the fans for some chops. Back near the ring, Nese tossed the ring apron over Ari Sterling's head, hitting a dropkick on a blinded opponent.
Sterling made it back to his feet, twisting out of Nese's hands for a peel kick. Tony Nese was rocked with a back elbow/rear clothesline combination that sent the 205 Live veteran to the corner.
Sterling pulled Nese down with a corner springboard sunset flip, but he rolled right out of it and hit his classic spinning back kick to the jaw.
The 205 Live rookie broke away from a superplex attempt, sliding through Nese's legs and going for a powerbomb. The former Cruiserweight Champion blocked, but a forward rolling hurricanrana launched Nese from the top across the ring.
A rolling heel kick knocked Nese off the apron, and a confusing inside rope moonsault to the floor dropped him. Back in the ring, Nese hit the rolling palm strike as Sterling looked for a springboard maneuver. The 450 Splash missed, and Sterling caught Nese with an inside cradle for a close call.
A gourdbuster planted Nese, and a forward rolling ax kick almost gave Sterling the victory over the 205 Live OG. A running knee rocked Sterling, and The Sunset Driver crushed him into the mat. Still, Ari Sterling kicked out.
He responded with a knee of his own, and a release powerbomb with a jackknife pinfall got him a two-and-nine-tenths count from the ref.
Nese followed him up top once again, but Sterling countered the rolling palm strike with a slap.
Unfortunately, 205 Live's top powerhouse was able to drive him into the bottom turnbuckle with the German suplex, following with the Running Nese for the win.
Results: Tony Nese defeated Ari Sterling via pinfall on 205 Live.
Grade: A
Another great and fresh match-up here. 205 Live needed to be injected with some new blood and now that they've done so, we're getting some can't miss cruiserweight action, and maybe some future contenders for Kushida.
