Leighty’s 205 Live Review 1.08.21

-Announce Team: Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuiness
-Taped: WWE Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, FL

Ashante “Thee” Adonis vs. Ariya Daivari

-Quick start as Daivari catches Adonis in the gut with a knee followed by a dropkick. To the corner for some chops and that only serves to tick off Adonis. He tosses Daivari in the corner and throws some heavy blows. He connects with two corner spears and then a spinebuster for two A dropkick knocks Daivari of the apron and Adonis gives chase to toss him back in the ring A charge misses in the corner and all the impact goes on the shoulder. Daivari trips up Adonis and abuses the knee on the ring post. Even Nigel is wondering about the strategy considering the initial damage was on the shoulder and Daivari went to the knee. So far it is paying off as Daivari continues the work on the knee with a spinning toe-hold and then hits a superkick for good measure. He goes to Figure 4, but Adonis gets a fluke roll-up for two. Daivari hits a dropkick on the knee to regain control. Back to the spinning toe-hold, but Adonis is able to kick off and send Daivari to the floor. They start exchanging blows and Adonis starts to roll as Nigel covers for the lack of selling by mentioning adrenaline can mask pain. I love announcers that do small things like that. Adonis gimps to the top rope and hits a flying crossbody. He nips up on one leg and hits a flapjack. He rolls the dice before laying the hammer down. He measures Daivari for Long Kiss Goodnight, but the leg gives out and Daivari goes to the Figure Four. Adonis fights and gets the hold turned over which causes Daivari to break the hold. Sunset flip gets two for Adonis, but then he gets drilled with a uranage. The Hammerlock Lariat is ducked and turned into a roll-up for two. As Daivari gets back to his feet The Long Kiss Goodnight ends it at 9:07.

Winner: Ashante “Thee” Adonis via pin at 9:07
-This was good with some solid psychology and storytelling. Adonis getting the win is much needed as it should be getting time for him to make a run up the division. Daivari continues to deliver in these matches with the newer faces of the division and has found a nice role as the angry veteran. ***

-Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic hype video as some of the field is announced: Undisputed Era, Ever-Rise, Breezango, Stallion and Grey, Maverick and Dain, The Bollywood Boyz and Imperium. Here is the entire field.

-We go back to NXT New Year’s Evil as Santos Escobar retains his Title with a win over Gran Metalik. Joseph asks who is going to step up next against Santos and I mean, I covered the show where Stallion won a title shot.

The Bollywood Boyz vs. Curt Stallion and August Grey

-This would be a Dusty Classic preview as both of these teams are in the field. Joseph mentions that when Stallion is ready he has a Cruiserweight Title shot. So I guess that means Stallion gets the shot whenever he wants it? Grey starts with Samir and Samit gets a quick crucifix pin for a two count. Samir goes to the arm and backs Grey into the corner. Grey floats over on a whip to the corner and gets an armbar to slow things down. Back to their feet and Stallion gets a blind tag and hits a dropkick. Sunil gets the tag and runs into only to get caught with an armbar. He is able to break and breaks Stallion down with a knuckle lock. Stallion escapes and gets a Double Stomp for a one count. Tag back to Grey and he hits a dropkick and Samir comes in and eats a dropkick from Stalion. The Boyz regroup on the floor and Grey ends up getting blindsided with a running clothesline on the floor from Samir. Grey is now your face in peril as he gets worked over in the corner. Sunil throws some forearms and chops before making the tag. A double team suplex follows and Sunil goes to a chinlock to ground Grey again. Grey gets to his feet, but again gets stuck in the wrong corner and ends up eating a middle rope bulldog from Samir. Tag back to Sunil and he pays respect to Bret Hart with a Russian Leg Sweep and then into chinlock. Grey fights out from the heel corner, but Sunil decks Stallion to cut that off. The Boyz hit The Bollywood Blast, but Stallion is back to break the count. Grey gets a slingshot and crawls to the corner. He avoids an elbow from the top from Samir and makes the hot tag to Stallion. He runs Wyld and hits a basement dropkick in the corner. Grey gets the tag as Stallion hits a dive to the floor on Samir. Stallion then comes off the top with a splash following a suplex from Grey, but Samir gets a boot up to break and a near fall that had me convinced we would be seeing the upset. Grey and Samir are still the legal men and Grey hits a middle rope assisted Unprettier for the pin at 9:34.
breaks Stallion down with a knuckle lock. Stallion escapes and gets a Double Stomp for a one count. Tag back to Grey and he hits a dropkick and Samir comes in and eats a dropkick from Stalion. The Boyz regroup on the floor and Grey ends up getting blindsided with a running clothesline on the floor from Samir. Grey is now your face in peril as he gets worked over in the corner. Sunil throws some forearms and chops before making the tag. A double team suplex follows and Sunil goes to a chinlock to ground Grey again. Grey gets to his feet, but again gets stuck in the wrong corner and ends up eating a middle rope bulldog from Samir. Tag back to Sunil and he pays respect to Bret Hart with a Russian Leg Sweep and then into chinlock. Grey fights out from the heel corner, but Sunil decks Stallion to cut that off. The Boyz hit The Bollywood Blast, but Stallion is back to break the count. Grey gets a slingshot and crawls to the corner. He avoids an elbow from the top from Samir and makes the hot tag to Stallion. He runs Wyld and hits a basement dropkick in the corner. Grey gets the tag as Stallion hits a dive to the floor on Samir. Stallion then comes off the top with a splash following a suplex from Grey, but Samir gets a boot up to break and a near fall that had me convinced we would be seeing the upset. Grey and Samir are still the legal men and Grey hits a middle rope assisted Unprettier for the pin at 9:34.

Winners: Curt Stallion and August Grey via pin at 9:34
-Best Bollywood Boyz tag match I’ve seen since I started covering this show. I like the more aggressive attitude and focus from them and this was a solid preview of The Dusty Classic. I also like that they announced The Tournament will have matches taking place on 205 Live as well. Stallion and Grey winning makes the most sense and we got a good match to boot. ***

-Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Strong episode tonight with two good matches and that makes this an easy thumbs up show. This show continues to deliver and is an easy and fun watch.