WWE 205 Live results: Tozawa faces Kendrick in a street fight

The Big Takeaway —

Brian Kendrick looked great with a show-starting promo, while Rich Swann and Ariya Daivari had an outstanding short match. Cedric Alexander looked sharp in a fast squash match, and the issues between Austin Aries and Neville were recapped in a satellite interview by both men.

Akira Tozawa had his best main roster match to date with Kendrick, who showed that he can still go as a crafty veteran.

Show Recap —

Brian Kendrick started the show with an excellent video package running through Akira Tozawa’s career and telling the story of their paths crossing through his eyes.

He talked about being disrespected and still trying to teach Tozawa lessons. He had him beaten in their match, but Tozawa rolled him up — but he is the man with the plan, and he had one last lesson and it just happened to involve stomping his head into the steps.

Cedric Alexander’s return tonight was hyped up alongside the main event of Kendrick vs. Tozawa.

Rich Swann came out dancing and we got shots of fans grooving to his theme. Ariya Daivari came down looking slick in a shirt right out of The Rock’s early 2000s. We saw Swann prank Daivari with a gift covering him in powder last week, leading to this match.

Rich Swann defeated Ariya Daivari

Daivari yelled that he’s owed a shirt, and got a dropkick to the jaw instead. Great, now he needs a new shirt and a crown on his tooth. Swann hit another dropkick off a tumbling exchange. Daivari attacked the arm with an armlock, a divorce court Codebreaker, and a grounded cobra clutch.

Swann dropkicked him into a 619 position and punched away mid-ring before hitting the somersault famouser. Swann kicked Daivari’s face off for a near fall before a phoenix splash ended it. This was short, but it was good.

Noam Dar attacked Swann after the match and paraded around with Alicia Fox.

Austin Aries vs. Neville was hyped up for Extreme Rules by showing their WrestleMania match and then Neville cheating to retain at Payback before concluding with last week’s 205 Live attack with the kneebar and last night’s win by Aries and subsequent Rings of Saturn by Neville to Tony Nese. 

Corey Graves interviewed Neville and Aries via satellite. Neville talked about defeating everyone, including Aries twice. Aries said he’s delusional and he won their last match by DQ and said the WWE Universe sees now as the time for Aries to win the title.

Aries recapped the cheating by Neville at WM and then Neville pulling the ref. Neville called it a fairytale and said he won’t be held responsible for what happens at Extreme Rules.

Alexander then came down to no reaction at all to face Johnny Boone.

Cedric Alexander defeated Johnny Boone

Alexander caught Boone’s foot and landed a nasty back elbow. He followed up with a springboard Hart attack and ended it with a Lumbar Check — short and sweet.

Drew Gulak was shown beating up Mustafa Ali last week. He was then shown with a green screen saying that cruiserweights are some of the best technical wrestlers and mocked those who flip. All righty. 

Akira Tozawa defeated Brian Kendrick in a street fight

Kendrick strolled outside, but he ate a baseball slide and was tossed over the desk. Tozawa rushed at Kendrick on the apron but got low bridged. He recovered and went for a suicide dive before Kendrick threw his jacket at him and suplexed him to the floor.

Kendrick grabbed some of the purple rope tape to tie Tozawa’s hands up and taped his mouth shut while locking in the Captain’s Hook. Tozawa got to the ropes, but they only gave him leverage, which worked well enough for him to dump Kendrick outside.

Tozawa pump kicked Kendrick on the ramp, but Kendrick taped up Tozawa’s wrists to the post and whipped him with his belt. Kendrick set up a table, but Tozawa freed himself and whipped Kendrick, which Graves tied into the lessons now paying off.

Kendrick avoided a dive and got the headlock takeover and the Captain’s Hook, though Tozawa fought out. They battled on the steps and Tozawa hit a gourdbuster to the floor before a Saito suplex on the floor. Kendrick was put on the table before Tozawa climbed up looking like a total badass, giving out his battle cry before posing and climbing atop the ring post to hit a sick senton bomb through the table.

Tozawa threw him into the ring before covering and getting the win. This was an excellent match. Tozawa managed to regain the crowd’s interest after a long night and won his first big program in WWE definitively.

Final Thoughts —

This was an outstanding episode of wrestling television and a must-watch for the week. Tozawa looked strong, while Swann certainly showed that he’s worth putting back in the title mix at some point.