The Gov’nor and the Premier Athlete throw hands to close 205 Live!

Tony Nese says he IS 205 Live, but Danny Burch doesn’t care about all that! Burch just wants to hit something! Will he prove Nese does NOT run the show?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• $10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Eli Night; Daivari wins, Night does not receive $10,000.
• $10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Bobby Flacco; Daivari wins, Flacco does not receive $10,000.
• $10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Jason Cain; Daivari wins, Cain does not receive $10,000.
• Tony Nese VS Danny Burch; Nese wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Nigel McGuiness returns to commentary!

Not only is he the voice of NXT UK, he is back as the voice of the fastest (half) hour in WWE! “The band is back together!”

$10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Eli Night!

Daivari Dinero says that tonight, he is #DaivariClaus, because he’s in the spirit of giving. He will face THREE hopefuls in one night! And to any of them that can beat him 1v1, he will give them $10 THOUSAND of his own money! Will Eli be the first to celebrate Christmas three months early tonight?

The bell rings and Daivari ties up with Eli. Daivari waistlocks and back suplexes high and hard, then stalks Eli to a corner. Daivari drags Eli up, whips him to the corner to bump off buckles, then fires off jabs and stomps! The ref counts, Daivari lets up and drags Eli up for another whip, and a big calf kick! Eli is dazed, Daivari drags Eli up and hoists him to the top rope backwards. Daivari drags Eli into the Tree of Woe, stomps away then runs corner to corner for a big dropkick! Daivari doesn’t let up, he brings Eli up for the LION’S LARIAT! Cover, Daivari wins!

Winner: Ariya Daivari, by pinfall

Eli won’t be the $10,000 Man, but Daivari still has two more opponents to go! Daivari dares the next man to step up, will this be where he loses his own gamble?

$10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Bobby Flacco!

Flacco gets in the ring, gets a leg then shifts up to a waistlock and then headlock. Daivari powers out, ducks down and LARIATS Flacco down! Flacco is dazed, Daivari drags him back up and whips. Flacco reverses but Daivari BOOTS and mule kicks back. Daivari throws Flacco onto the rope and Flacco sputters as he clutches his throat! Daivari throws Flacco out of the ring then bumps him off the announce desk! The ring count climbs to 3 but Daivari puts Flacco back in the ring. Daivari drags Flacco up, CHOPS him off his feet, then drags him back up for another whip to a corner. Daivari runs in but Flacco boots back! Flacco goes up and flies, but Daivari dodges the crossbody! Flacco flops hard and Daivari laughs. Daivari drags Flacco off, and finishes him with the LION’S LARIAT! Cover, Daivari wins again!

Winner: Ariya Daivari, by pinfall

Flacco said he’s the best around and nothing’s ever gonna keep him down, but it’s more like another one bites the dust. Daivari still has that $10,000, but it’s on to round three!

$10,000 challenge: Ariya Daivari VS Jason Cain!

Cain runs in, ducks Daivari’s clothesline and comes back with a leaping lariat of his own! Cain fires up as he whips Daivari to ropes. Daivari reverses, Cain slides under and waistlocks but Diavari bucks him off. Cain hurdles, runs to the side and huricanranas Daivari down! Cain fires up more as he runs corner to corner and CHOPS Daivari! Cain throws uppercuts and whips Daivari, but Daivari reverses. Cain goes up and out and hops back up but Daivari gets under his leaping attack. Cain turns around into a SIT-OUT URENAGE! Cover, TWO! Cain survives, Daivari is furious and argues with the ref, but two is two.

Daivari glares at Cain, drags him up and reels him in, but Cain slips out of the suplex to cradle counter, TWO! Daivari swings, Cain gets around to roll him up again, TWO! Cain swings, into Daivari’s lift but Cain fights free! Cain lands on his feet out of the suplex but Daivari bucks again to SUPERKICK! And then, LION’S LARIAT!! Cover, Daivari wins again!

Winner: Ariya Daivari, by pinfall

The Persian Lion is 3-0, and no one got that $10,000. But while Daivari used this big money opportunity to get himself three wins in one night, does it prove he’s worth a Cruiserweight Championship opportunity?

Tony Nese VS Danny Burch!

It was last month, when the WWE Performance Center was center stage, that the Premier Athlete could have used a distraction to get one over on The Gov’nor. But instead, Nese tried to be nice and do things fair and square. That cost him as Burch got the win. Will the former Cruiserweight Champion return to his old ways and win by any means necessary to prove he is still a top tier Cruiserweight contender?

The bell rings and Nese circles and ties up with Burch. Burch powers Nese to ropes, Nese turns things around but Burch turns it back. Burch waistlocks, Nese pries at the hold and hooks a leg to drop toehold to a lateral press, but Burch gets out before a count can begin. The two go again. tie up, Burch clinches and goes after an arm. Nese endures as Burch wrenches but Burch also gets a drop toehold. Nese scrambles and gets the ropebreak, and Burch lets go quickly. Burch and Nese circle and tie up with knuckle locks for a test of strength. They go shoulder to shoulder, Nese gets the edge but Burch slips through and spins to trip Nese up!

Nese gets clear of the stomp and trips Burch back, to then fall on a cover. Burch is out fast again, but Nese gets him with a facelock. Nese grinds Burch down, fans build to a rally and Burch fights to his feet. Burch pries at the hold and wrenches out to a wristlock. Nese pulls on an ear but the ref reprimands. Nese breaks free, snapmares Burch to a chinlock, but Burch slips right out to get the wristlock again. Nese spins, snapmares, chinlocks, but again Burch slips out! Burch bends the fingers and twists the wrist, but Nese reaches for a foot. Burch stays away so Nese rolls and snapmares again, but again Burch slips out of the chinlock! Nese gets to the ropes for a ropebreak and Burch lets go at 4.

Nese comes in, Burch sees the sneak attack coming and gets him for a backslide! TWO, Nese whips but Burch catches him out of the air! Burch catches his breath while Nese is down. But Daivari is back, to rub in what he did to Oney Lorcan a month ago. Daivari tells Burch to worry about Nese, and he should because Nese blindsides Burch! Nese didn’t make the same mistake as before, and Daivari swaggers past to join commentary. Nese whips Burch into barriers hard and hears the ring count climbing. Nese puts Burch in at 7, covers, TWO! Nese keeps on Burch with a rain of furious left fists! Nese soaks up the heat from ThunderDome, and Daivari demands congratulations for winning three matches in a row. That’s historic!

Nese toys with Burch then CHOPS him in the corner! Nese whips Burch corner to corner hard, then runs Burch over with a back elbow! Cover, TWO! Nese clamps onto Burch with a chinlock and grinds him down. Burch endures, fans rally, but Nese knees low. Nese suplexes Burch but Burch resists! Burch suplexes Nese up and over! Both men are down, Burch crawls to a corner then heads for Nese. Nese throat chops him! Nese then hits Burch with the bulldog hotshot! Cover, TWO! Nese grows frustrated but he stalks Burch. Nese toys with Burch as he kicks him to the corner and scrapes his sole on Burch’s head. The ref reprimands and counts, Nese back off and Burch CHOPS him! Nese CHOPS back, but Burch CHOPS again! And again!

Nese dropkicks Burch point blank then covers, TWO! Burch survives but Nese is right on him with a chinlock. Nese grinds Burch down but Burch endures. Daivari denies coming out was a way to distract Burch, he just wanted to be part of commentary. Fans build to a rally, Burch fights up but Nese throws him to a corner. Nese runs in but Burch dodges to enziguri back! Nese swings back but Burch dodges then boots back! Burch hops up, but Nese SHORYUKENS! Nese drags Burch off the top, but Burch slips off Nese’s shoulder to HEADBUTT! Both men fall, Daivari wants to trade Burch for Noam Dar, but both Nese and Burch stand. Nese runs into Burch’s BIG right hand! Burch DECKS Nese again, then brings him up for EuroUppers!

Burch whips then back drops Nese high and hard! Burch runs in to corner clothesline then enziguri! He rolls Nese out to hop up and leap, missile dropkick! Cover, TWO! Nese survives, both he and Burch are down but Daivari says Nese is the Premier Athlete for a reason. Fans build to another really as Burch and Nese slowly rise. Burch reels Nese in for a suplex and puts Nese on the top rope, but Nese slips down to hotshot Burch down! Nese goes to the corner, PREMIER MOONSAULT! Burch moves, and GERMAN SUPLEXES Nese! Nese is up but Burch LARIATS! Cover, TWO!! Nese still lives but Burch is too tired to be angry! Daivari admits he liked that lariat but brags about his three Lion’s Lariats.

Burch storms after Nese, Nese puts him on the apron, but Burch shoulders in then slides for the sunset flip. Nese stops that and KICKS Burch right in the head! PREMIER MOONSAULT but he MISSES! Burch has a crossface on Nese!! Nese endures as Burch cranks back, but he gets the ropebreak! Burch lets go at 4 but he’s back to his feet. Burch goes after Nese at the ropes, blocks Nese’s kick to EuroUpper! Burch whips, Nese reverses and slides under to pump handle, for the MICHINOKU DRIVER! Cover, TWO!! Burch still lives and Nese can’t believe it! Even Daivari is disappointed. Burch flounders to a corner but Nese grits his teeth. Nese brings down the knee pad and runs, but Burch dodges and the knee gets buckles! Burch tackles Nese out of the ring!

Both men tumble to the floor, the ring count begins, and Daivari wonders what to do. Burch tells Daivari to stay in his seat, but Daivari says he can stand where he wants. The ring count is at 7, Burch puts Nese in at 8. Daivari still distracts Burch but Burch gets in at 9. Daivari rushes the apron but Burch mule kicks him down! Nese kicks Burch between the ropes! Burch is stuck, Nese hits a PREMIER KNEE!! Cover, Nese wins!!

Winner: Tony Nese, by pinfall

Daivari Dinero pays dividends as Nese benefits from that one! But will Nese and Daivari both pay when Oney Lorcan is back to back up Burch?

My Thoughts:

This was actually a really good 205 Live, even with it still in the 30 minutes or less format. I like that Daivari had such a creative way of fitting in squash matches. The supposed $10,000 bet was a great hook to get three jobbers lined up for Daivari to put away, but I also felt like they could’ve used this to hook in someone new(er) to 205 Live. No one was actually going to collect $10,000, it was just story, so let the third person be someone WWE is willing to give a chance to and have him start a story with Daivari. But it seems we’re going back to the classic days of 205 Live in a roundabout way. Daivari is still getting involved with Burch and Lorcan as he helps Nese win an honestly great match with Burch. I’m thinking another classic tag team blow-off with Lorcan & Burch VS Nese & Daivari will find a way to recapture the magic that 205 Live used to have.

My Score: 8.2/10