The 22nd of January episode of 205 Live marks the final show before Royal Rumble and starts of the show with a trademark 205 Live video package. This mostly consisted of reminding us of the main event triple threat match and building up the fatal four way for the title at Royal Rumble. Enough rambling on about the video package, let’s get into the action.
Humberto Carrillo vs Gran Metalik
This match showcased the speed and striking ability of both men, highlighting some of the best talent in 205 Live. This match had some excellent action and was back and forth the whole time. A match full of false finishes, Gran Metalik hit a beautiful vaulting hurricanrana from the apron to the outside and followed it up with a high-angle swanton bomb for a very near fall. After kicking out, Carrillo managed to connect with a missile dropkick and he ended the match with a middle rope corkscrew moonsault. An excellent match which had me captivated from the start to the end.
After the match, we cut backstage to Drew Gulak and Gentleman Jack Gallagher being sceptical about the potential of Carrillo. Tony Nese then proceeds to ask for a rematch against Noam Dar.
Backstage segments
With the camera now on Akira Tozawa and Brian Kendrick, we have Tozawa state that he will become a two-time champion followed up by Kalisto announcing that he wants to bring his Mexican pride to 205 Live by regaining the Cruiserweight Championship.
Kalisto vs Akira Tozawa vs Hideo Itami
What. A. Match. This match was absolutely superb and gave us a great preview into what we can expect at Royal Rumble. Before the match started, Buddy Murphy joined the commentators to proclaim himself as the greatest cruiserweight of all time. This match was hard-hitting, fast paced and absolutely brutal. Midway through the match, it seemed that Itami was going to crash down to the canvas in a double superplex before Murphy inserted himself into the match by powerbombing all three men down. Noticeably infuriating his challengers, we saw Kalisto hit a salida del sol and Tozawa knock out Murphy with a beautiful suicide dive. With a unique finish, we saw Kalisto fail to hit Tozawa with a super-rana, Tozawa fail to hit a top-rope senton before Itami successfully connected with his sakura knee finish on Tozawa to give himself the momentum heading into Royal Rumble. The show ended with Itami’s arm raised by his pal Ariya Daivari as they stared down Buddy Murphy and the WWE Universe.
A very strong go home show before Royal Rumble for 205 Live. A very solid 9.25/10 for me and definitely the best show 205 Live has put on in 2019.
