WWE 205 Live results: Austin Aries returns to the ring

The Big Takeaway —

Austin Aries made the transition from announcer to in-ring competitor, taking on and defeating Tony Nese in the main event. He’s made it clear that he wants Neville’s Cruiserweight Championship, but Neville has his own plans for the title match at WrestleMania.

Alicia Fox continues to get lovely gifts, and while Noam Dar says they’re from him — are they really? Brian Kendrick continued to play mind games with Akira Tozawa, who again was denied a match against Kendrick.

Show Recap —

They opened up with the big Raw angle from yesterday, where Austin Aries sent Neville reeling after being constantly berated by him during an interview.

Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves are calling the action tonight. 

Austin Aries started the show, conducting his own interview. He talked about how as a kid he was told if you wanted to make a statement, go to the strongest guy in the room and punch him in the face. That guy now? Neville. He declared that Austin Aries, expert journalist, is no more as the expert in-ring competitor is here.

This brought out Neville. He thought last night was a lapse in judgment, but now thinks Aries has gone off the deep end. He asked if Aries thinks he’s on his level. Aries said he doesn’t think he’s at his level, because Neville is at the A level while he is at the double A level.

Neville said think of your next career move wisely. Aries said he doesn’t need to be at the commentator’s table, in fact Neville can come down here to the ring and make it two days in a row where he got punched out.

Neville said Aries doesn’t have the right to share the ring with him, in fact he doesn’t even need a finger to lay a hand on him. After all, Aries has made plenty of enemies in the back. Neville won’t fight him, but said there’s a locker room out there ready to do just that. Aries said he makes plenty of checks and cashes them in every time, so he’s calling out anyone who feels that way.

Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher were backstage when Noam Dar walked in, saying their gestures were cute, but not as cute as Alicia Fox. Dar was wondering who bought those flowers for Fox last week. Swann said he thought Dar bought them.

Dar walked that back, saying of course he did, he just wanted to make sure they take notice about his match later tonight, because one day they might just come across someone as wonderful as Alicia Fox. 

Jack Gallagher & Rich Swann defeated Ariya Daivari & Noam Dar 

This was pretty decent, but just a standard WWE tag team match. Gallagher headbutted Daivari then laid him out with a running dropkick. Swann followed that with a kick and the phoenix splash for the win. 

After the match, a guy walked out and delivered a heart-shaped box of chocolates to Fox. Dar frantically took a mic and said the guy was late, then said no chocolate in the world was sweeter than Alicia Fox. It seems like they’re building up some sort of mystery admirer gimmick. 

Brian Kendrick was interviewed, saying that if Akira Tozawa wanted a fight, he was going to get one.

Akira Tozawa made his way to the ring. Brian Kendrick followed, but remained on the outside. He said he was a man of his word, saying Tozawa would fight a Brian Kendrick — but the guy he’s facing spells his name “Bryan Kendrick.” So he’s not fighting The Brian Kendrick, but A Bryan Kendrick.

Akira Tozawa defeated A Bryan Kendrick

Tozawa finished Bryan quickly with a snap German suplex.

Dasha Fuentes interviewed Neville, asking what he expects out there tonight between Austin Aries and his announced opponent, Tony Nese. Neville asked if she didn’t hear what he said out there earlier. He put down Aries again and brought up that Nese is no walk in the park. He said only one man will face him at WrestleMania, and next week that will be decided on 205 Live.

Austin Aries defeated Tony Nese

Aries controlled the match early. He hit his knee on the outside while landing, but quickly recovered. Nese caught Aries on the top rope, put him in the torture rack position, and laid him out with a gutbuster.

Aries came back and hit the pendulum elbow. Nese countered with a deadlift one-armed powerbomb. Aries took control again, hitting a suicide dive to the outside and finished off Nese with the roaring elbow for the win.

This was a good match and a great showcase for Aries as he instantly came off as looking like someone who should be in the top mix.

Final Thoughts —

This was a good show, doing a great job of transitioning Aries from a commentator to a top guy in this division looking for his title shot. 

It should be interesting to see how the WrestleMania match develops; it very much looks like it will be Aries vs. Neville, which sounds like the best match you can do for 205 Live’s biggest match of the year. The question is, where would that leave the other cruiserweights?