With two weeks until WrestleMania, this week's 205 Live had something for everybody.
Looking for a top-notch main event? Neville and Mustafa Ali gave it to you, and then some.
Looking for a scathing heel promo from Neville? He was in peak form on the mic to start the show.
Looking for witty discourse from No. 1 contender Austin Aries? He pulled off a self-interview, but then flipped the switch to show a serious side once Neville got in his face.
Not only were all the keys to promoting the cruiserweight title match at WrestleMania in place, but they were executed to plan and further built the excitement for Neville vs. Aries.
Neville's opening salvo continued to prove how strong his heel instincts are on the microphone, something that's been surprising even for those familiar with his work prior to his time in WWE. I'll let Neville's words, ahead of his match with Ali, speak for themselves.
"When Mustafa Ali interrupted me last week, he made the fatal error of disrespecting the king. I think everybody around here might need a reminder of exactly how things work. I annihilate anybody who dares defy me. Yet these cruiserweights, the likes of Mustafa Ali, whether it be through stubbornness or plain stupidity, seem to refuse to learn their place. Let's allow tonight to serve as a reminder as to the repercussions of such idiocy. Unfortunately, I don't expect Austin Aries to pay much attention. But what Austin Aries must realize is that around here, I am the master. And at WrestleMania, he is going to adhere to my rule, whether he likes it or not. And he is going to be forced to bend the knee and pay homage to me -- the King of the Cruiserweights."
Neville's cadence during his promo, combined with his icy stare and unveiled disgust with everyone around him, showed once again how strong a grip he has on his character and how he's been able to become one of the strongest heels in the entire WWE right now.
The main event match between Neville and Ali helped solve one of the big issues in the build up to Neville's previous cruiserweight championship defense against "Gentleman" Jack Gallagher -- a lack of in-ring victories to support his build as an in-ring dominant force. The match against Ali did a beautiful job of showing Neville's ruthlessness and arsenal of high-impact moves, while allowing both men to shine.
Ali's athletic escapes and maneuvers were a nice contradiction to Neville's power moves. Early in the match, Neville spiked Ali with a flapjack and propelled Ali high in the air to take over control.
About halfway through the match, things flipped gears from "good weekly main event" to "pay-per-view quality match." Ali hit a twisting cross-body off the middle rope to the outside, an on-the-nose dropkick and his somersault into a neckbreaker before Neville blocked a tornado DDT and crotched Ali on the top rope.
But Ali recovered, and with Neville perched precariously on the top rope, he hit a jumping Spanish Fly from the top rope that immediately gets put on any move of the week/month/year list; as commentator Corey Graves put it, the move was "poetry," and on National Poetry Day, no less.
STANDING SPANISH FLY FROM THE TOP ROPE!!!@MustafaAliWWE is pulling out ALL THE STOPS against @WWENeville! #205Live pic.twitter.com/ORCuYVsqVs
- WWE (@WWE) March 22, 2017
That move would soon be followed by a tornado spike DDT, as Ali spun around Neville and planted his opponent for a near-fall.
Neville fought back from each maneuver and kept on pushing forward, avoiding Ali's inverted 450 splash, catching Ali on the top rope and hitting him with a release German suplex off the top rope (as Ali painfully landed on his stomach). Neville then shifted into a more vicious approach by picking up Ali in a wheelbarrow and swinging him into the ring post.
From there, Neville dragged a lifeless Ali around the ring, directly in front of Aries, who had joined the commentary team where he made a sincere effort to convey a serious tone and illustrate how big a threat Neville is. A "Rings of Saturn" submission later, Neville had picked up his first victory on 205 Live in more than a month.
It was a win-win-win main event. Neville looked like a callous heel. Aries' post-self interview move to commentary showed that he's ready to get to business. Ali showed that he can turn his athleticism and moveset into a thrilling main event and that he belongs in the title picture once WrestleMania is said and done.
It was exactly the kind of effort the cruiserweights needed going into WrestleMania.
Hits and misses
- Not to be lost in the stand-out event was a solid match between TJ Perkins and Tony Nese. Nese's high-impact German suplex into an (exposed) turnbuckle and his running "knee-se" are a lethal combo to end a match.
It was nice to see Nese pick up a win after being the first man out of the Fatal 5-Way and taking a second loss to Aries on Monday Night Raw. The Premier Athlete isn't far away from being in the title picture himself, but I don't know what it will take to get him over the hump.
- Drew Gulak has a solution against the reckless action on 205 Live. I don't know why, but I'm intrigued. I think it's the suit.
- Akira Tozawa got his passport situation worked out quickly, or so it seems. He won his match in the blink of an eye, but once again got taught a lesson as The Brian Kendrick blindsided him after hiding in a security uniform. The Tozawa-Kendrick feud has been fun because of the stark differences between the two.
- Rich Swann teaches Gallagher dancing while Gallagher gives Swann fashion advice. I smell a sitcom.