Leighty’s 2020 Countdown: The Matches of WWE 205 Live

-The Year 2020 is in our rear view, but that means it is time to look back on the year that was. For me the best way to do that is by doing a countdown. I am always a sucker for countdown shows no matter the content. This is the first of the two I will be doing as one for Main Event in 2020 should be showing up shortly as well. As this is my list it is obviously my opinion and I don’t expect anyone to agree with what I have posted. With that said, Larry always said it best when he would do columns, and I quote, “The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.””

-My initial thought was to rank every match from 205 Live in 2020, but obviously I have only been covering the show since May 22. The great Larry Csonka covered the show prior to that and there is no way to rank what he watched to what I watched, but I also wanted to honor what he did. So, I made the decision to just include the matches he reviewed with his rating and will keep them separate from my personal countdown. So here are the 39 matches that Larry reviewed for 205 Live in 2020 in descending order based on his rating.

The Bollywood Boyz vs. Anthony Wayne and Corey Storm (No Rating) – 01.03.20
Lio Rush vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (No Rating) – 01.10.20
Ariya Daivari vs. Jeff Brooks (No Rating) – 01.10.20
The Bollywood Boyz vs. Devon Dixie and Joe Furrer (No Rating) – 02.07.20

Tyler Breeze vs. Samir Singh (*) – 02.21.20

Lio Rush vs Sunil Singh (*1/2) – 01.17.20

Ariya Daivari vs. Danny Burch (**) 01.03.20
Angel Garza vs. Tony Nese (**) 01.03.20
Lio Rush and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. The Bollywood Boyz (**) – 01.10.20
The Brian Kendrick vs. Danny Burch (**) – 01.24.20
Danny Burch vs. The Brian Kendrick (**) – 01.31.20
The Brian Kendrick and Ariya Daivari vs. Burch and Lorcan (**) – 02.07.20
Burch and Lorcan vs. The Bollywood Boyz (**) – 02.14.20
Tyler Breeze vs. Tehuti Miles (**) – 05.15.20

Tyler Breeze vs. Ariya Daivari (**1/2) – 01.17.20
Tyler Breeze vs. Ariya Daivari (**1/2) – 01.24.20
Tony Nese and Mike Kanellis vs. The Brian Kendrick and Ariya Daivari (**1/2) – 02.14.20
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Ariya Daivari (**1/2) – 03.06.20
Tony Nese vs. Danny Burch (**1/2) – 04.10.20
Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese (**1/2) – 05.15.20

Tony Nese and Mike Kanellis vs. Lorcan and Burch (**3/4) – 03.06.20
Danny Burch vs. Joaquin Wilde (**3/4) – 03.20.20

Tyler Breeze vs Tony Nese (***) – 01.10.20
Joaquin Wilde vs. Raul Mendoza (***) – 01.31.20
Angel Garza vs. Tyler Breeze (***) – 01.31.20
Raul Mendoza vs. Joaquin Wilde (***) – 02.21.20
Joaquin Wilde vs. Raul Mendoza (***) – 02.28.20
Lio Rush vs. Tony Nese (***) – 02.28.20
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Oney Lorcan (***) – 03.20.20
Tony Nese vs. Oney Lorcan (***) – 03.27.20
KUSHIDA vs. Danny Burch (***) – 04.03.20
Jack Gallagher vs. Tyler Breeze (***) – 04.03.20

Tony Nese vs. Lio Rush (***1/4) – 01.24.20
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Joaquin Wilde (***1/4) – 03.27.20
Jack Gallagher vs. Oney Lorcan (***1/4) – 04.10.20

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Raul Mendoza (***1/2) – 01.17.20
Jordan Devlin vs. Lio Rush vs Tony Nese (***1/2) – 02.07.20
No DQ: Lorcan and Burch vs. The Brian Kendrick and Ariya Daivari (***1/2) – 02.21.20
Team NXT vs Team 205 Live (***1/2) – 03.13.20

-In Memory of Larry Csonka! You can find Larry’s Go Fund Me page with all money going towards his daughters here.

-As mentioned I started reviewing the shows with the May 22nd edition. There have been quite a few matches that were either too short to rate or were a SQUASH and they will be listed first before getting into the actual countdown.

-Ever-Rise vs. Ruff and Alanis (SQUASH) – 06.12.20
-Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Matt Martel (No Rating) – 07.03.20
-Legado Del Fantasma vs. Ruff and Grey (SQUASH) – 07.03.20
-Drake Maverick vs. Leon Ruff (SQUASH) – 07.24.20
-The Brian Kendrick vs. Tehuti Miles (No Rating) – 08.28.20
-Tony Nese vs. Austin Grey (SQUASH) – 08.28.20
-Mansoor vs. Colby Corino (SQUASH) – 09.04.20
-Ever-Rise vs. Lockharts (SQUASH) – 09.11.20
-Daivari vs. Eli Kight (SQUASH) – 09.18.20
-Daivari vs. Bobby Flaco (SQUASH) – 09.18.20
-Daivari vs. Jason Cade (SQUASH) – 09.18.20
-Daivari vs. Greene (No Rating) – 10.16.20
-Stallion vs. Daivari (No Rating) – 10.16.20

53) Ever-Rise vs. Spandex and Carter (*) – 08.07.20

52)The Bollywood Boyz vs. Ever-Rise (**) – 11.20.20

51) Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari vs. The Bollywood Boyz (**) – 12.11.20

50) Ever-Rise vs. Burch and Lorcan (**) – 09.04.20

49) Burch and Lorcan vs. Ever-Rise (**) – 05.22.20

48) Oney Lorcan vs. Chase Parker (**) – 06.19.20

47) Oney Lorcan vs. Tehuti Miles (**) – 06.05.20

46) Ever-Rise vs. The Bollywood Boyz (**1/4) – 12.04.20

45) Legado Del Fantasma vs. Ever-Rise (**1/4) – 08.14.20

44) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Tony Nese vs. Ever-Rise (**1/4) – 07.03.20

43) Tony Nese vs. Chase Parker (**1/4) – 07.17.20

42) Curt Stallion vs. Ariya Daivari (**1/4) – 10.30.20

41) Drake Maverick vs. Tehuti Miles (**1/4) – 08.21.20

40) Tony Nese vs. Curt Stallion (**1/4) – 10.23.20

39) Chase Parker vs. Samir Singh (**1/2) – 12.25.20

38) Ever-Rise vs. Bollywood Boyz (**1/2) – 12.18.20

37) Scott, Lorcan, Burch vs. Miles, Nese, Gallagher (**1/2) – 06.12.20

36) Burch and Lorcan vs. Ever-Rise (**1/2) – 08.28.20

35) Mansoor vs. Ashante “Thee” Adonis (**1/2) – 09.25.20

34) Mansoor vs. Ashante “Thee Adonis (**1/2) – 11.06.20

33) Legado Del Fantasma vs. Burch and Lorcan (**1/2) – 09.11.20

32) Mansoor, Burch and Lorcan vs. Ever-Rise and Miles (**3/4) – 07.24.20

31) Ariya Daivari vs. Tehuti Miles (**3/4) – 09.04.20

30) Tehuti Miles vs. Danny Burch (**3/4) – 05.29.20

29) Mansoor vs. Tehuti Miles (**3/4) – 07.17.20

28) Curt Stallion vs. Raul Mendoza (**3/4) – 11.27.20

27) The Brian Kendrick vs Ashante “Thee” Adonis (**3/4) – 09.11.20

26) Ashante “Thee” Adonis vs. Tony Nese (**3/4) – 11.20.20

25) Jake Atlas vs. Ariya Daivari (***) – 10.09.20

24) The Brian Kendrick and Mansoor vs. Ever-Rise (***) – 10.30.20

23) Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari vs. Curt Stallion and August Grey (***) – 11.06.20

22) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Jack Gallagher (***) – 06.05.20

21) Legado Del Fantasma vs. Scott and Nese (***) – 07.31.20

20) Stallion, Grey, Adonis vs. Legado Del Fantasma (***) – 12.11.20

19) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Tyler Breeze (***) – 05.22.20

18) Mansoor vs. Tehuti Miles (***) – 07.10.20

17) August Grey vs. Ariya Daivari (***) – 11.27.20

16) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Ariya Daivari (***) – 09.25.20

15) Mansoor vs. The Brian Kendrick (***) – 10.23.20

14) Jake Atlas vs. Tony Nese (***) – 12.18.20

13) Santos Escobar vs. Oney Lorcan (***) – 07.10.20

12) Jake Atlas vs. Jack Gallagher (***1/4) – 06.19.20

11) Ashante “Thee” Adonis vs. The Brian Kendrick (***1/4) – 10.09.20

10) Curt Stallion vs. Ariya Daivari (***1/4) – 12.04.20

09) Tony Nese vs Tyler Breeze (***1/4) – 05.29.20

08) Mansoor vs. Raul Mendoza (***1/4) – 12.25.20

07) Jake Atlas vs. Tony Nese (***1/4) – 08.21.20

06) Tony Nese vs. Danny Burch (***1/4) – 09.18.20

05) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. The Brian Kendrick (***1/4) – 10.09.20

04) Ariya Daivari vs. Jake Atlas (***1/2) – 08.14.20

-This is Daivar’s first match since March so let’s see what he’s got. Daivari immediately yells for the crowd to shut up and I will say these “fans” seem to have a lot more energy this week. Atlas gets a headlock takeover to start and then another. Daivari rolls him over for a one count. To their feet and Atlas breaks the hold and gets a shoulder tackle for one. To the corner and Daivari gets in a shoulder, but gets caught charging in and Atlas goes back to the headlock. Daivari breaks with a knee, but misses a clothesline as Atlas back flips out of the way. Atlas goes back to the headlock and again Daivari is able to escape. He gets in a heavy shot to the back as they fight on the apron. Atlas gets caught with a knee to the face and gets sent to the floor with a dropkick. Daivari follows out and sends Atlas flying into the plexiglass and then bounces him off the announce table. Back on the apron Daivari hits a sweet neckbreaker that snaps Atlas over the middle rope. Nice! Next he targets the left arm and gets a one count off a forearm to the face. Effective! Back to the arm as the crowd is into this one as they rally Atlas to his feet. He ducks some strikes, but gets caught coming off the ropes with an elbow. Atlas fires up after some trash talk and fires away with strikes. He hits a dive in the corner to the ribs and a German suplex followed by a dropkick to the face for two. This match is starting to rock! A charge to the corner eats a boot from Daivari. Atlas fires back with a pump kick to the head and gets a two count off a bulldog driver. Atlas heads up top but Daivari stops that noise, so Atlas adjust and hits a springboard Blockbuster. Daivari smartly rolls to the floor to avoid the cover, but Atlas is right on him with a tope. Back inside Daivari side steps a charge as Atlas gets flipped into the corner landing on his head. Daivari removes the padding from the buckle and gets into an argument with the ref which Atlas uses as a chance to get a roll-up for two. Atlas goes for a belly to back, but a well placed thumb to the eye leads to the hammerlock lariat for the pin at 9:24.

Winner: Ariya Daivari via pin at 9:24
-This was pretty darn good as they were rocking it out there. Both men looked great and Daivari working in a thumb to the eye to get the win worked well. Definitely check this one as it was one of the best matches I’ve seen on my run reviewing this show.

03) Stallion vs. Nese vs. Daivari vs. Grey vs. Adonis (***1/2) – 11.13.20

-So this pretty much makes this a one match show which is fine as a chance of pace from time to time and it makes the match a bigger deal. They should also get a good amount of time here. Everyone hits everyone to start and we get Stallion and Grey left in the ring. Grey gets a roll-up and Stallion seems annoyed he tried to win the match. They lockup again and Nese and Daivari rush the ring to attack. Adonis in next and he fires away on Nese and Daivari. He sends them into each other and catches Nese with a backdrop and a spinebuster on Daivari gets a two count. The numbers catch up to him though as Nese and Daivari take over and throw him to the floor. Nese and Daivari face off with each other and tease a test of strength which doesn’t really go anywhere as Grey walks the ropes and hits a dive. Grey and Stallion are back in the ring and Grey sticks and moves before hitting a dropkick. Adonis back and he his an Air Drop on Grey before cornering him and landing right hands. Grey gets sent flying into the buckle and he tells Grey it’s his time. Stallion comes in to mock that trash talk and gets slapped in the face for it. Nese and Daivari are back and they throw fists on Stallion and work together to deliver some abuse. Daivari heads to the floor and sends Grey face first off the table before heading back in the ring. Stallion eats a double clothesline and Daivari then cuts off Adonis as he tried to get back in the ring. Nese and Daivari deliver a double team standing suplex and he rolls to the floor. Grey is in and he escapes the suplex and starts firing off chops. Nese eats a head kick and a belly to back suplex that flips Nese onto his face. Daivari breaks up the cover and then bails to the floor which gives Nese a chance to drape Grey throat first over the top rope. Nese misses the springboard moonsault as Grey bails to the floor and pounds away on Daivari. Nese heads out though and Grey gets outnumbered as they drop him face first on the announce table. Adonis gets hold of Daivari and throws hammer fists on the floor while Nese gets a two count on Grey inside the ring. McGuiness brings up that while Escobar is the Cruiserweight Champion, Jordan Devlin is over in the UK with his title claiming to still be the real champion. Daivari is back in the ring and he and Nese continue to work together as they abuse Grey some more. Adonis crawls in and quickly gets tossed back to the floor. Nigel puts over the strategy of the originals as they have isolated one man and worked together. Adonis sneaks in and sends Daivari packing before getting a sleeper on Nese. He escapes the hold, but misses a charge and ends up flying over the top rope. Daivari in and Adonis goes flying back out, but Stallion is back and he runs wild on Daivari with a German Suplex and then a DDT for two as Nese breaks up the cover. DDT was sick! Stallion hits a nasty looking neckbreaker on Nese, but Grey cuts off any pin attempt. Adonis in as he plants Grey and gets a two count. Back down to Adonis and Daivari as Daivari gets a uranage for two. Grey breaks up that attempt. Daivari brings him back in the ring and hits a frogsplash for two. Stallion comes flying off the top and gets his two and then Nese hits a perfect 450 on Stallion for another two count. Fun stuff there! Nese exposes the knee, but eats a superkick from Grey. The Bollywood Boys are here as this is no DQ and they are apparently the insurance policy for Daivari. Adonis in to save and now Parker and Martel are here as this is getting kind of silly now. Stallion is up first as Parker gets left alone with him, Grey and Adonis. They get rid of Parker rather easily and then hit dives to take of The Bollywood Boys and Ever-Rise. Daivari drops Adonis in the middle of all the chaos, but Grey makes the save. Grey catches Daivari with a modified slam for two, but Nese saves. Nese fires off a head kick, but Grey rolls to the floor. Stallion heads up but Nese meets him up there. They fight up there and Stallion hits a Spanish Fly for the win at 18:43.

Winner: Curt Stallion via pin at 18:43
-This was good but suffered from the problem a lot of multi-man matches do in that guys had to bail to the floor and stay there for extended periods to let others do work in the ring. There was at least a story to explain it a bit with Daivari and Nese working together to isolate. When that failed the backup plan came out for Daivari and Nese, but that ultimately failed and Stallion ends up with the biggest win of his career in the end. The talent alone was enough to make this good and they were given time, but I was hoping for a little more. Still a fun match though.

02) Danny Burch vs. Tony Nese (***1/2) – 08.07.20

–Burch is coming into this one banged up thanks to Karrion Cross. Lockup to start as they jockey for position. It seems Burch was given the option to opt out, but he wants a fight. Good man! Burch gets a leg sweep and looks for a submission, but Nese gets to the ropes to break. Now Nese grabs a leg, but quickly gets reversed and then grounded. Nese gets rolled into a cover for two, but is out and goes to a waist lock. The grapple session continues as Burch rolls and gets an armbar, but again Nese gets to the ropes. Nese finally says enough with this ground game and catches Burch with an elbow. He fires off kicks and gets a leg sweep for two. Nese grounds things again as he apparently didn’t learn his lesson. Sure enough Burch escapes and gets a headlock. Nese pushes off, but gets mowed down with a shoulder. Burch then gets a headlock and takes things back to the mat. Smart! Nese tries to throw knees to break, but Burch just cranks harder. Nese gets to his feet and shoves off to break, but gets mowed down again. Another headlock, but Nese quickly breaks with a belly to back suplex for two. Nese goes back to the front face lock as he is just determined to win this on the mat. Burch is again out rather easily, but gets dropped throat first over the top rope. Nese comes back in with the springboard moonsault, but Burch has his foot under the bottom rope. Nese gets a slam and then back to the ground with a body scissors. This makes sense as he has been targeting the ribs since the moonsault. Burch tries to roll to escape, but Nese is able to hold his position. Burch is able to separate the grip and gets to his feet to deliver a clothesline. Now Burch picks up the pace with a running clothesline in the corner and then a kick to the face. He gets a two count off a suplex. Both men struggle to their feet and then start exchanging right hands. This is starting to rock! Burch tries a sunset flip, but Nese rolls through and hits a sick spinning kick to the face. Nasty! It only gets two so Nese decides to kick him in the face again. Effective! Nese heads up top, but misses the 450! Daiviri of all people heads down and attacks Lorcan for some reason. I guess he warned everyone last week when he was on his boat. Burch heads out to check on his partner, but Lorcan tells him to get back in the ring. Nese comes out after him and Burch is pissed seeing his partner attacked so he delivers some sick headbutts. Back in the ring Burch connects with a top rope assisted DDT for the win at 10:57.

Danny Burch via pin at 10:57
-This was a quality match as they were given time and started slow with the ground game before hitting another gear towards the end. The Daivari stuff was kind of out of nowhere, but it didn’t ruin the match as he focused on Lorcan and it served to piss Burch off enough to finish business. The announcers also mentioned Swerve wasn’t here to watch Nese’s back as an out as to why he didn’t come to the ring. Fun stuff here as expected for two quality pros.

01) Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Tony Nese (****) – 06.26.20

-This has been the top rivalry in 205 Live the last few weeks and probably should be the main event of this show. Nese is out talking trash and he is tired of this back and forth. Sweet, we have a match with meaning and ill will. Feeling out process to start and into a lock-up with neither man getting control. Nese flexes as he continues the mind games. Back to the lock-up and Nese gets control of the back. Swerve tries to roll out, but Nese grounds him. Swerve gets top control and then we get a break as Nese gets to the ropes. We go again and Nese gets a leg for control, but Swerve grabs the head to get control and turns into a top wristlock. Nese has had enough and slaps Swerve who slaps back. They exchange holds and escapes and Swerve goes back to the side headlock. Nese tries a back suplex to break, but Swerve is able to turn and roll through while keeping the hold. Nese rolls Swerve back for a one count. Nese pushes off to escape but is caught with the hold again as this match stays on the ground. Nese escapes to a head scissors, but Swerve is out and goes back to the headlock. Nese gets some traction with a back elbow and starts firing off strikes. Swerve ducks a clothesline and springs back up to grab an arm. He controls with an armlock while hooking the head with his legs. Nese is able to get to the ropes to force a break. Nese gets in a shot to the face and goes Old School Macho Man as he drops Swerve throat first over the top rope. They fight on the floor and Swerve blocks being sent into the stairs. Call back to their issues in the CW Tournament! They fight on the apron and Nese gets a belly to back on the apron (which I have been told is the hardest part of the ring). Right on cue Drew and Saxton talk about the apron being the hardest part of the ring. Nese gets a two count back in the ring as Swerve is struggling to get to his feet. Nese continues to work on the back as Gulak feels the winner of this match should be in contention for a CW Title Match. Apparently Escobar will be on 205 Live next week. About time! Nese toys with Swerve in the corner and it seems to only irritate him as he fires off some chops. He looks to run the ropes, but Nese follows and trips him up. He comes back in the ring with a springboard moonsault for two. Nice! Another belly to back supelx follows and then another as he smartly continues the work on the lower back. Nese gets another 2 count from the back to back suplexes. He fires some kicks to the back and Swerve fires back with chops. They exchange blows and Nese looks for a standard suplex, but Swerve lowers his center of gravity to block. Swerve is able to fire off a suplex of his own and heads to the top. Nese meets him up there with a palm strike and they fight on the top rope. Nese preps for a supeplex, but Swerve fights out. Nese bounces back up and again sent to the mat. He tries a third, but Swerve comes off the to and gets a sunset flip. Nese rolls through and hits a swank kick to the face for two. Again, Nice! Nese goes back to targeting the lower back with a body scissors. Swerve is able to turn enough to relieve the pressure and get in a shot to the jaw to break the hold. Nese talks trash as they fight to their feet. Nese slaps Swerve around as he continues to talk trash. Swerve is angry and goes crazy with right hands to the face and body in the corner. Swerve off the middle rope with an elbow to the back. Nese gets sent to the floor and Swerve hits a kick off the apron. He springs back into the ring and rolls into a Flatliner for two. Good near fall there! Nese gets caught coming off the second rope with a missile dropkick and ends up eating a German Suplex for two. Swerve preps for The House Call, but Nese is out of the way. He then looks for a dropkick, but Nese catches him and turns it into a Boston Crab. Smart! Swerve is able to turn and punches out to break the hold. At this point I am assuming this may be the only match on the show. Nese hits a sit-out pump handle powerslam and again, Swerve is out at two. The frustration is showing for Nese. He looks for the running knee, but gets backdropped to the apron. Swerve gets sent to the floor and Nese hits a kick and then sends Swerve into the steps. Back in he hits the 450 Splash, but Swerve gets his hand on the bottom rope. Now Nese is beyond frustrated as he grabs a steel chair. The ref tries to talk sense into him and does so as he throws the chair down. Swerve uses the Nese’s hesitation to send him hanging from the apron and then springs into the double stomp on the apron. That had to suck for Nese! Swerve heads up top and connects with another double stomp to get the win at 19:57.

Winner: Isaiah “Swerve” Scott via pin at 19:57
-Kudos to them for giving this match plenty of time and giving us a proper payoff on one of these lower level shows. I liked the aggression from both men and the story was good with Nese working the back and getting frustrated he couldn’t put Swerve away. That frustration cost him and Swerve gets the clean win to end the feud. They started slow with some mat wrestling and built while playing off previous issues they had with each other. This was fun and I enjoyed it. Gulak was also very good on commentary. As Larry would say this was a banger and easily best match I’ve seen on 205 Live since I started covering the show.

-There you have it. That is every match from the Purple Brand in 2020. The #1 choice was pretty obvious as nothing they did this year could match Scott/Nese as they built to it and delivered with a banger of a match. 205 Live has been a wonderful show to cover each week and at times has been the WWE’s best weekly in ring show. If you haven’t been checking the show out, please give it a chance. Thanks for reading!