Leighty’s WWE 205 Live Review: 10.16.21

-Sorry for the delay, but yesterday was my youngest son’s first birthday and we have been working on things for his party today. Happy Birthday littlest buddy!

-Announce Team: Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuiness
–Taped; WWE Performance Center, Orlando, FL

Jeet Rama vs. Boa (w/ Mei Ying)

-Crowd likes Boa and the entrance is pretty awesome! Rama ties up Boa’s legs and controls on the mat which forces Boa to the ropes to break. Belly to belly suplex from Rama gets a two count. Boa gets to the ropes to force Rama to release an armbar. Boa gets in a strike and starts firing off leg kicks. He goes to the arm and steps on the elbow. More strikes sends Rama back to the mat and then he drops a knee on the elbow. Single arm DDT and then back to the mat with more work on the damaged arm. Rama gets to a standing base easily, so Boa slugs him back down. Rama back u and powers Boa into the corner. Several suplexes and then a release German suplex. Boa goes back to the arm and hits a head kick for the win at 4:27.

Winner: Boa via pin at 4:27
-I was actually more impressed with Rama with his wrestling background. Boa has a cool entrance and good look and needs more time, which is the point of this show. This was okay. *1/4

-Commercials because I am watching this on Hulu!

Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs vs. Keagan Scott and Taylor Garland

-Scott and Garland get the already in the ring treatment, so you know they are toast. Jensen starts with one of the jobbers and gets slapped in the face. He responds with a boot to the face, followed by a powerslam and then tags in Briggs. They hit a double shoulder tackle. He murders him with a clothesline as a blind tag is made. The other jobber is in and gets dropped as well and then gets splashed. Tag back to Jensen and a double team sit-out powerbomb finishes at 1:49.

Winners: Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs via pin at 1:49
-As expected! SQUASH

-We go back to RAW for The Usos vs. Big E and Drew McIntyre as for those unaware a RAW match is included to pad the running time to 45 minutes in the Hulu version.

Roderick Strong (w/ Diamond Mine) vs. Odyssey Jones

-A rare appearance by the Cruiserweight Champion and it’s a non title match (obviously) against a super heavyweight. Par for the course for this new 205 Live. Strong goes for a single leg, but well, that’s just dumb. A little better as he goes for an arm, but gets tossed across the ring. Strong stalls a bit as he tries to figure out a new game plan on the fly. He hits a forearm and tries a flying forearm, but just bounces off Hones. Strong rolls to the floor to regroup with Diamond Mine and this match is just a bad idea as the Champion of this show is getting smashed by someone not even in the division. Jones hits a headbutt and drops some elbows to the back of the head. Strong gets in a boot, but again, can’t do much with the big man and gets bounced around the ring some more. Strong just flops all around the ring as Shawn Michaels would be proud with some of these bumps. Strong gets in a shot off a distraction from the Diamond Mine. He takes Jones down and goes to work on the knee which is sound strategy. He locks in a submission and transition to a version of a sleeper. Jones just rises up and tosses Strong off, but Strong is right back with a drop kick and then a running boot for two. Strong back to the ground game as he gets back control and ties up Jones’ arms to apply a choke. Strong starts talking trash as he throws punches and kicks. Jones catches him and tosses him in the arm so that Roddy lands face first. Rolling senton from Jones, but he gets caught with an elbow to the throat trying a splash in the corner. Another splash is missed. Strong slips out of a powerslam and goes crazy with forearms and running knees strikes to get Jones off his feet to get the pin at 8:58.

Winner: Roderick Strong via pin at 8:58
-I had a moment where I feared Jones was going over in this one, but thankfully Strong got the win and in clean fashion. I still think it was a weird match to book, but Strong made the most of it and got the win. The story was fine and thankfully Diamond Mine didn’t get involved which made Strong look good getting a win over a man twice his size. I am all for Strong being on this show more, but would it be too much to ask for a Title Defense on his show every now and then? **1/4

-Thanks for reading!

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

This was your standard new format episode of 205 Live though they didn't include a match from the women this week. The Main Event was solid and it was nice to have The CW Champion actually wrestle on his show (yes, I know it's only 205 Live in name). The Tag SQUASH was fine in building up a new team and Boa continues to win. Again, just your standard episode, average episode.