The purple ‘n’ orange welcomes back Rockstar Spud!

He may no longer have a tag partner, and his friends may’ve been cut from WWE, but Drake Maverick still has a home on 205 Live!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Ikemen Jiro VS Grayson Waller; Jiro wins.
• Drake Maverick VS Asher Hale; Maverick wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Ikemen Jiro VS Grayson Waller!

Ikemen is handsome and Waller is baller, but only one can win tonight! Who rebounds to get back up in the Cruiserweight Division?

The bell rings and fans rally for Jiro as he circles with Waller. Waller offers a handshake, Jiro takes it, and it was a clean handshake. Fans do cheer that sportsmanship, and the two tie up. They let off, and Waller smiles as it was still clean. They tie up again, and Waller powers Jiro to ropes. The ref calls for the break, Waller lets off and he apologizes for pulling hair. The fans chant “WATERMELON!” for Jiro’s jacket as he and Waller tie up again. Waller powers Jiro to ropes again but Jiro turns it around to arm-drag Waller! Jiro kips up, fans fire up, and Jiro offers the handshake now. Waller pie faces Jiro! He thinks Jiro’s mocking him! Waller clinches Jiro to throw knees!

Waller headlocks, hits the takeover, and Jiro fights up. Waller holds on and rolls, but Jiro powers out the second try, only for Waller to run him over! Waller kicks Jiro, Jiro kips up and shows off the jacket. Waller throws Jiro by his hair! Jiro kips up again! And he shows off by doing leg lunges in place. Waller kicks but Jiro blocks, to spin and headlock! Waller powers out, hip tosses but Jiro makes that an arm-drag! Things speed up, Jiro RANAS and Waller staggers up. Jiro runs in but is put on the apron. Jiro shoulders back in, springboards to headscissor Waller out the other side! Fans fire up as Jiro shows off his lunges.

Waller gets mad but he avoids Jiro’s baseball slide to then FLAPJACK him to the floor! The ref reprimands, starts a ring count, but Waller puts Jiro in the ring. Waller pulls Jiro against the post! The ref counts, Waller lets off at 4, and he gets in to drop a knee on Jiro’s back. Waller gets Jiro up to throw haymakers and forearms, then whips. Jiro reverses, drops, hurdles, but Waller blocks the hip toss to LARIAT! Waller stands on Jiro’s back and pulls Jiro’s hair! No more sportsmanship as Waller clinches and throws more knees. Waller runs but Jiro dodges and Waller hits buckles! Jiro tilt-o-whirls but Waller blocks to hit a BACKBREAKER!

Waller bends Jiro across his knee but fans rally as Jiro fights with haymakers! Waller tries to smother Jiro but Jiro keeps throwing hands! Waller gets up to torture rack Jiro, Argentine Backbreaker! But Jiro slips out to waistlock! Waller elbows free, runs, but Jiro WHEEL KICKS! Fans fire up as Jiro gets to a corner. Waller gets up, Jiro rallies with big forearm smashes! JACKET PUNCH! DISCUS JACKET PUNCH! MORE JACKET PUNCHES! Waller falls back in a daze, Jiro gets him back up to whip, but Waller reverses. Jiro catches Waller for a TARANTULA! Tajiri-sensei would be proud! Jiro lets off at 3 to go around, ARABIAN PRESS! Cover, TWO!!

Jiro climbs up to the top, SWANTON, but into Waller’s sleeper! They roll around, Jiro RAMS Waller into buckles and snapmares! But Waller LEG LARIATS Jiro down! Waller goes up, BALLER FLOP! Jiro runs but Waller gets clear, Lionsault FLOPS! Waller somersault STUNNERS! Cover, TWO!?! Jiro survives and no one can believe it! Waller is frustrated, he slaps and kicks Jiro around but fans are fired up. Jiro CLUBS and ROCKS and JACKET PUNCHES! Jiro runs but Waller scoops him to a fireman’s carry, DARKNESS FALLS!! Cover, TWO!?! Jiro survives Waller’s Widowmaker Death Valley, and then dodges the leap frog! Roll up, TWO! Victory roll, TWO!

Jiro dodges the leg lariat to IKEMEN SLASH outta nowhere!! Cover, Jiro wins!!

Winner: Ikemen Jiro, by pinfall

Now that was a handsome victory! While others fight to be the Breakout superstar, will Jiro fight his way up to becoming a Cruiserweight Championship contender?

Drake Maverick VS Asher Hale!

He’s baaaack~! Well, alright, Rockstar Spud never really left, he’s just been on NXT. But now, with little left to lose, will the former 205 Live General Manager go for broke and get back up towards the title? Or will The Saint refuse to be a sacrifice to Maverick’s newest career rejuvenation?

The bell rings and the two circle. They tie up, Hale puts Maverick on the ropes, and the ref counts. Hale lets off, fans rally for Maverick and he smiles. Hale lets that slide as he and Maverick tie up again. Hale trips Maverick, gets a toehold, but Maverick clamps on with a chinlock! Maverick pulls Hale back and his leg is free, but Hale fights up to wrench out. Hale wrenches more, wrangles Maverick down, but Maverick kips right up, only for Hale to kick him in the leg. Maverick hobbles a bit but he walks it off. Hale smirks as he waits on Maverick, but fans rally up behind Maverick again. They tie up, Maverick wrenches, but Hale rolls, bridges, and back drops Maverick!

Fans do cheer the technical ability but then Hale lounges on the top rope. Maverick shrugs that off as he and Hale reset again. Fans duel, “ASHER SUCKS!” “NO!” as the two go again. Maverick waistlocks, Hale switches and slaps Maverick on the back. “Welcome back to 205 Live!” Hale wants Maverick to show him something, so Maverick SLAPS Hale! And ROCKS him and fires off haymakers! Maverick whips Hale to a corner, runs and CLOBBERS him! Maverick storms after Hale but Hale YANKS him into buckles! The ref has Hale stay back as she checks on Maverick, but Maverick gets his shoulder moving. Hale is right after him with a NECKBREAKER! Cover, ONE!!

Hale kicks Maverick to a corner, toys with him a bit, and runs in to RAM Maverick! Hale EuroUppers Maverick, and looms over him in the corner. Hale whips Maverick hard into the ropes! Maverick sputters as he clutches his neck! Hale drags Maverick to the apron to SLAM him against the apron edge! And again! Hale gets on the apron and the ref reprimands, but he still gives Maverick a NECK TWIST! Hale lets off at the ref’s count of 4, and he stalks Maverick. Maverick kicks Hale away, throws body shots, and ROCKS Hale with haymakers! But Hale trips Maverick to stomp him in the stomach! Hale snapmares Maverick and puts on a straitjacket stretch!

Fans rally as Maverick endures but Hale thrashes him around! Maverick refuses to quit, fights his way up, and he powers up, only for Hale to wrangle him back down! Hale leans on the straitjacket, digs his forehead into Maverick’s back, then thrashes Maverick around. Fans rally, Maverick fights up but Hale throws him back into a BACKBREAKER! Cover, TWO! Hale KICKS Maverick around, dares him to get up, and then slaps him around. Maverick is getting mad as he gets up in the corner. Fans rally for Maverick and as Hale runs in, Maverick dodges to POST Hale! Hale clutches his shoulder but he refuses to end here.

Fans rally and duel now as Maverick and Hale slowly stand up. Maverick fires up to fire off haymakers! Maverick dodges Hale’s haymaker to dropkick a leg out! And then runs and redirects to basement dropkick! Fans fire up with Maverick as he runs in to forearm smash and BULLDOG out of the corner! Maverick goes up top, leap and CROSSBODY! Maverick bounces off the cover but he just gets more fired up! Maverick dodges Hale again to hit SLICED BREAD!! Cover, Maverick wins!!

Winner: Drake Maverick, by pinfall

Oh yeah, he’s definitely back! Will this win become the first of many for Rockstar Spud now that he’s back in the purple ‘n’ orange?

My Thoughts:

A very good episode here with two very good matches. Jiro VS Waller was a really good opener, though Waller wasn’t always the crispest he could be. Pretty sure that flapjack to the floor was meant to be to the apron. But Jiro made up for a lot of that with his charisma, and things really got fired up by the end there. Jiro winning is great, he’s clearly becoming a fan favorite and has a lot of great skill on top of his charisma, hopefully he gets to be something big for the Cruiserweight Division in the near future. Maverick’s return to 205 Live is rather unexpected, but again, what else is there for him? He has a great match with Hale, and of course Maverick wins his return to the brand. I hope this time, we get to see Maverick truly thrive and make something of himself again.

My Score: 8.3/10