205 LIVE RECAP (02/01/2019)

By Dom Philp

Happy New Year’s and Wrestle Kingdom week lads. Dom Van Dam here, back on Greenwich Mean Time and ready for another year of wrestling. In my brief sojourn home to Australia for Christmas I was asked countless times what I get up to for fun in London. I didn’t really feel it was appropriate to give “drink 20 pints of Guinness a week,” as a hobby, so instead I told most people about how I attended over 30 live wrestling shows in 2018.

I don’t do resolutions but this year I am aiming to top that and a reminder that all of those shows I attend this year (as well as plenty of the pints) will be live blogged on Instagram over at @wrestlingshouldbefun.

Previously on the 205 Live Recap:

We had our three qualifying matches for the Fatal Four Way at the Royal Rumble announced and tonight we eagerly await the first two of those contests. First up we will have Coors Light Rush vs. Kalisto and our main event of the evening will see one half of Team Alliteration Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa!

LIO RUSH v KALISTO

We open up 2019 with two frequent and surprisingly positive contributors to the train wreck that was 2018 Monday Night Raw. The opening bell is accompanied by a favourable chant for the pint-sized, parkour, piss promoter; Rush until Kalisto panders to the crowd for a polite “Lucha!” barrack from those in attendance.

The story of this one is elusiveness with bags full of movement and avoidance from the get go through athleticism, flips and even a criss-cross or 2. Who would have thought that the New Year’s episode of the most exciting hour on television would have us reminiscing about the athleticism of Hogan and Warrior in the 1990 Royal Rumble within the first 5 minutes?

https://www.wwe.com/videos/hulk-hogan-and-ultimate-warrior-go-toe-to-toe-in-the-royal-rumble-match-royal-rumble-1990

Lio Rush slows the pace during his heat and the announcers go to work making sense of why GM Maverick signed the Fatal Four way defence for our Rust-belted Ranga champion at the Rumble.

We are reminded that the idea of Murphy not having to be pinned or submitted to lose the title is a culmination of his dominance over the division in 2018 and a new challenge to the juggernaut of 205 Live. Here’s our new story arc for the New Year which I promised last week.

Kalisto hits a Spanish Fly! SPANISH FLY! Happy F’N New Year, we get our first 2019 Spanish Fly!

(It was the moonsault Fall away slam variety made popular by blind wrestler Fast Eddie Vegas for those of you playing along at home.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi5zb3r1r4Q

Lio Rush needs to name his spinning, double underhook implant driver/unprettier/tomikaze for WWE TV ASAP. Nigel Mcguinness called it “That Manoeuvre,” as, I assume, an accidental allusion to the great piece of Michael Cole commentary from when Christian first hit his version on WWE TV.

The finish comes with Rush going to the top ready to hit the Lio-Down (you’re welcome) but twice stops himself to jaw with the other 2 members of the L.H.P. after being distracted by noise makers.

Seriously, these guys are heels, look at their stuff with The Revival on Raw and all their shenanigans on this show! Rush tries to goad Lince Dorado into getting involved in the action to cause a disqualification, but Kalisto takes the opportunity to hit a SDS from behind to stamp his boarding pass for flight F4W to Phoenix.

DREW GULAK PROMO

The best submission specialist cuts a fantastic little promo here where he addresses his loss to Brian Kendrick and Tozawa a fortnight previous. He outlines the fact that Spankzawa “only proved that they are low-rent brawlers.”

This metaphor shows condescension towards Tozawa as Gulak values the athleticism of a “wrestling match,” (can you say that on the network?) more than a brawl and that of course makes him the superior athlete.

Beautiful work from Gulak here to get his heat back after a loss but it is a little bit of a juxtaposition to think this former CZW champion is belittling someone for thriving in a street fight. As always, we finish with Gulak’s modal auxillary verb guarantee (the “damn” is silent) that Tozawa “will tap out!”

DREW GULAK v AKIRA TOZAWA

Again, a solid story told from start to finish in this one as Gulak dominates when he is grappling and countering with wrestling and Tozawa taking the ascendency when striking and raising the pace.

Tozawa is hampered by a supposed injured back and then knee, so Gulak works these two areas throughout to supposedly take the top rope senton (called the Tokyo Tower Drop by McGuinness) out of play.

The climax in this one comes when Gulak seemingly starts to make the mistake of trading strikes with Tozawa leading to the silver-tongued strong stylist getting the upper-hand. However when Tozawa tries to immediately use submission technique with a Satellite Headscissors into an Iron Octopus, Gulak has the counter with a standing horse collar. Amazing storytelling of a contest between a clash of styles.

Tozawa continually goes to the top to attempt his Senton but is foiled by his aforementioned knee and back.

It is Gulak who makes the final - and telling - mistake however, as he decides to climb to the top rope to implement a superplex. He even “slips” down off the ropes once to show his discomfort leaving the mat before Tozawa counters and hits the Senton to qualify for the Rumble. Fantastic story complimented by sound (albeit a little obvious) commentary.

NEXT WEEK...

Next week we see our final quarter final match with Hideo Itami facing off with former champion Cedric Alexander and as such we finish with a short promo-pourri from both parties.

Alexander reminds us that he has already beaten Itami and will do it again but the spokesman for “The 205 Live Tornado” Drake Daivari, after taking his sunglasses off to show the audience he means business, promises that next week will be “a lesson in respect.”

I for one, certainly hope so as maybe I can get a few pointers for the classroom. See you all next week!

2019 Spanish Fly Count: 1

#205LIVE #WWE #WRESTLING #NERDS