Leighty’s WWE 205 Live Review 9.17.21

Lots of interesting takes and good discussion on my review of the latest Dark Side of The Ring episode that focused on The Plane Ride from Hell. You can join the discussion here.

-Now to 205 Live as see what combinations they throw at us tonight now that they use non cruiserweights and the women’s division. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuiness
-Taped; WWE PC, Orlando, FL

-The newly redesigned PC we saw from NXT2.0 is in full effect for 205 Live which makes for a brighter and livelier visual. Still getting matches that have nothing to do with the CW division, but it is what it is now.

Valentina Feroz vs. Amari Miller

-Lockup to start and Miller gets an arm wringer, but Feroz is able to roll and flips into a reversal. She grounds Miller as the crowd is split with their support. Feroz switches to a standing armbar, but Miller’s reach advantage comes into play as she pulls Feroz close enough to land some forearms. Feroz fights through it and maintains the hold and Miller has no choice but to get to the ropes to break. Forearm from Feroz and then a take down, but Miller gets in a kick to change the tide. Miller delivers knee strikes in the ropes and gets a one count as she took too long to follow up. Miller to a reverse chinlock and the crowd just sounds so much better in this setting than the CWC. Feroz gets a sunset flip for two, but gets caught with another knee. Miller gets a back splash in the corner and then a catches a seated Feroz with a superkick. Miller back to the mat with a modified cobra clutch. She releases the hold and misses a splash. Feroz rallies ad uses her judo background to get some slams and throws. She misses a dropkick though as Miller grabs the ropes. Feroz gets caught in a bearhug and gets slammed, but she catches Miller with an armbar while trapping the head with his legs for the tap at 5:50.

Winner: Valentina Feroz via tap-out at 5:50
-Not much to this one as they worked some submissions for a bit and kept things basic. The ending was decent with Feroz catching Miller by surprise after the slam. *1/4

-Peacock Commercial!

-WWE on Peacock commercial!

Malik Blade vs. Boa

-Blade is the nephew of NBA legend Darryl Dawkins and was trained by D-Von Dudley. Boa attacks quickly with a front kick, but runs into an elbow. Doesn’t face him though as he lands some knees. Blade back with some arm drags, but Boa snaps his arm off the middle rope. Boa looks back at Mei Ying and delivers a head kick. Boa talks trash as he throws more kicks. He hits a running knee to the jaw of Blade who was hung up on the top rope. Boa with another kick, but Blade fights back with a few shots. Nothing really behind them though, but he keeps striking. Boa misses a head kick and Blade hits a nice spinning heel kick. He lands a running clothesline in the corner and comes off the top with a high crossbody for two. Boa catches him with another strike and hooks a dragon sleeper before hitting a clubbing blow to the chest to put Blade down for the pin at 3:20.

Winner: Boa via pin at 3:20
-Not much here as it was an extended SQUASH to show off Boa. Blade showed some flashes and I would like to see more of him. SQUASH

-Commercials!

Andre Chase vs. Trey Baxter

-It’s the return of the 3 match format for this show and in the past they have killed this show. So far that is the case, but perhaps these two can give us something here. Lock-up to start and neither man gains an advantage. Chase goes to work on the arm and Baxter cartwheels his way out, but Chase catches him again and takes him to the mat. Baxter gets his own take down in short order and gets a one count. Nigel points out Chase needs to keep the pace slow. Baxter has other ideas as he picks up the pace, but gets caught in the corner. They throw some blows and Baxter wins the exchange. He tries to spring off the ropes, but gets punched off. Chase dumps Baxter gut first in the top rope. Chase lands some blows in the corner, but misses a chop. Baxter hits one of his own and then another. He gets caught with double boots to the face as he charges in the corner. Baxter lays the boots in and then yells at the crowd a bit. Belly to back suplex gets a two count. Chase gets a reverse bear hug on the mat. Baxter fights his way free and connects with a back fist. He lands a reverse sling blade and then a quebrada for two. Baxter heads up top, but Chase rolls out of the way, so Baxter just lands on his feet. Chase catches him though and gets a one legged Boston Crab and then turns that into the STF. Baxter is able to crawl to the bottom rope to break. Chase looks for a Tiger Driver, but Baxter escapes and hits a dropkick that sends Chase to the floor. Baxter follows with a suicide dive. The crowd is getting into this one! Springboard is blocked by a well placed kick and this time Chase hits the Tiger Driver for two. Good near fall! Chase crawls over and lands some right hands as he seems frustrated now. Chase sets Baxter up top and goes up to follow, but that’s Baxter’s area. Baxter slides out and pulls Chase down by the leg. He hits a low 6-1-9 and then a 450 into double stomp for the pin at 8:38.

Winner: Trey Baxter via pin at 8:38
-Fun match here and I wish they would have cut one of the other 2 matches and given these two the extra 5 minutes. Just another case of 3 match format hurting the overall quality of the show. Chase continues to lose, but he has been fun on this show and Baxter looks good. This was good and I want to see more from both of them. ***

-Thanks for reading!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

The Main Event made this a good show, as they made the most of the 9 minutes they had. I still don't like the 3 match format and this would have been better with the Boa squash or Women's match and then the Main Event going 13-14 minutes. The atmosphere was better though with the new PC and the fans seemed to be into it ore as well.