Will 205 Live really become “Andre Chase University?”

The NXT Breakout stars headline again as All Heart takes on the “Number One Seed” for 205 Live! Will Trey Baxter prove he bleeds purple ‘n’ orange? Or will he be taken to school by “Mr. Chase?”

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Valentina Feroz VS Amari Miller; Feroz wins.
• Boa w/ Tian Sha VS Malik Blade; Boa wins.
• Trey Baxter VS Andre Chase; Baxter wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Valentina Feroz VS Amari Miller!

Each of these young and hungry additions to the NXT Women’s Division have won on 205 Live, but now they face off to see who’s hungrier! Will Feroz be ferocious again? Or will it be Miller’s time to shine again?

The bell rings and the two circle. Fans rally up as Feroz and Miller tie up. Miller wrenches to a wristlock but Feroz rolls and rolls and rolls to wrench back! Feroz has the wristlock and wrangles Miller as fans duel. Miller rolls Feroz but Feroz holds the wristlock to then armlock. Miller fights up, reaches for ropes, but Feroz wrenches to clamp onto the arm harder. Miller keeps reaching, Feroz wrenches again and grinds the shoulder. Miller powers up as fans rally but Feroz keeps control of the arm. Feroz reels Miller in but Miller throws BIG forearms! Miller gets free, whips Feroz, but Feroz blocks hip toss to go after the arm again!

Feroz grinds Miller down but Miller pulls hair. Miller gets to ropes, the ref counts, Feroz lets go, but then Miller goes after Feroz’s arm! Miller wrenches, wristlocks, but Feroz gets the ropes to flip through and ROCK Miller! Fans fire up as Feroz hits an STO to a headlock! Cover, ONE, and Miller kicks Feroz down! Feroz gets ropes, kicks Miller away, but Miller storms right back over. Miller KICKS Feroz, and spins Feroz around to tweak her arm! Miller then puts Feroz in the ropes to KNEE away on her! The ref counts, Miller lets off at 4 to then shove Feroz down. Miller shoves Feroz to a cover, TWO! Miller keeps Feroz down with a chinlock and stretch.

Fans rally as Feroz endures. Miller leans on the hold but Feroz fights up to her feet, only for Miller to wrangle her back down. Miller digs her knees into Feroz and bends her back! Feroz endures so Miller shoves her down. Miller drags Feroz up, whips her to ropes, but Feroz sunset flips through the back drop! TWO, Miller knees low! Miller whips Feroz to a corner, runs in and back elbows, then throws more elbows. Feroz shoves but Miller sweeps the legs to basement superkick! Cover, TWO! Miller grows frustrated but she wraps Feroz up in a half straitjacket. Feroz endures, Miller thrashes her around, and fans rally up.

Feroz fights to her feet, Miller throws her down, but Feroz dodges the elbow drop! Feroz is up, she reels Miller in for a hat trick of drop sayanagis! Fans fire up with Feroz and she whips Miller to ropes. Miller avoids the dropkick and Feroz hits the mat! Miller hurries after Feroz with a shove, then catches her leap for a SPINEBUSTER! But Feroz turns it into an ARMBAR!! Feroz has it halfway between a Fujiwara and a Disarmer, Miller taps! Feroz wins!!

Winner: Valentina Feroz, by submission

Much like Miller last week with Cora Jade, Feroz finds a way to turn things around out of nowhere and takes the win! Will Feroz be flying up the rankings and prove this is her time?

Boa w/ Tian Sha VS Malik Blade!

Mei Ying is still watching her follower closely, as he has not yet proven himself to her just yet. But can Boa redeem himself against the newest recruit to NXT and the Cruiserweight Division?

The bell rings and Boa BOOTS Blade right down! Boa KICKS Blade, Blade shoves him away but Boa comes back with more kicks! Boa clinches, bumps Blade off buckles, but Blade elbows back. Blade walks into Boa’s knee, then Boa throws more knees. Boa whips, Blade goes up and over and arm-drags Boa around! Blade dropkicks Boa down and fires up with the fans! Blade drags Boa up to the apron but Boa wrenches Blade’s arm to hotshot it! Boa then gets Blade’s other arm, and with Mei Ying’s approval, Boa KICKS and AX KICKS Blade down! Boa then gets in the ring, dares Blade to get up, and KICKS him down! Boa stomps Blade more, then dares him to get up again.

Boa brings Blade out of the corner, hangs Blade out to dry then runs to KNEE Blade down! Blade flounders and crawls but Boa isn’t done yet. Boa sits Blade up to KICK him in the back. Blade throws body shots but Boa CLUBS him down. Boa snarls and pulls Blade up by his ear. Blade throws body shots, Boa knees and CLUBS him again. Boa whips Blade to ropes, Blade ducks the roundhouse to fire off forearms! Blade leaps to HEEL KICK! Fans fire up with Blade and he runs in to A-LIST LARIAT with authority! Boa flounders, Blade goes up, CROSSBODY! Cover, TWO! Boa gets up and throws more knees. Boa CLUBS Blade again, dragon sleeper to the ELBOW DROP DDT! Cover, Boa wins!

Winner: Boa, by pinfall

It wasn’t pretty, and that’s exactly how Tian Sha likes it! Boa finally proves he is capable, but will he prove himself as a contender for the Cruiserweight title?

Trey Baxter VS Andre Chase!

While neither of these men won the Breakout Tournament, All Heart at least got out of the first round compared to the “Number One Seed.” But no matter what, Chase’s ego does not die. Will it at least be deflated after losing the first “NXT 2.0 Era” main event of 205 Live?

The bell rings and the two circle. They tie up, Chase arm-drags but Baxter is right up. Fans are behind “All Heart! All Heart!” as he ties up with Chase. Chase gets the arm, wrenches to an elbow breaker, then a wristlock. Baxter rolls, handsprings and wrenches back to wrench and wristlock. But Chase throws Baxter down by his hair! Chase gets the cording hold, splashes the arm, then wristlocks. Baxter kips up, snapmare rolls and ghost pins, TWO! Baxter dares Chase to bring it as the two reset. They go again, Baxter waistlocks but Chase bucks him at the ropes. Things speed up, Baxter drops and rolls and redirects to tilt-o-whirl headscissor!

Chase staggers to a corner, Baxter is after him, but Chase suckers him into a clinch in the corner. The ref calls for a break, Chase lets off but gets a cheap and hard elbow shot in! Baxter ends up on the apron, Chase storms over but shoulders into a KICK! GAMANGIRI! Chase flops down, Baxter aims and slingshots, but Chase trips him up! Baxter hits the ropes, Chase drags him in and suplexes to hang him out to dry! Baxter flops down, Chase covers, TWO! Fans chant “Andre Sucks! Andre Sucks!” as Chase gets Baxter up to kick low. Chase CLUBS Baxter, Baxter gets to a corner. Chase bumps Baxter off buckles then throws body shots.

Chase JABS, keeps Baxter cornered but Baxter turns things around to CHOP! And CHOP again! Baxter then shoves Chase to the other corner, but he runs into BOOTS! Chase stomps Baxter, lets off as the ref counts and he roars at the fans. Fans tell Chase, “You Still Suck!” as Chase gets Baxter up for a back suplex! Cover, TWO! Chase grows annoyed but he clamps on with a rear bearhug. Fans rally, Baxter endures but Chase leans his weight on Baxter. Baxter fights up, reaches back, but Chase throws him down. Chase clamps on with the rear bearhug again but fans rally up behind Baxter. Baxter pries free but Chase changes his grip. Baxter still wrenches free to CLUB and elbow Chase!

Baxter ducks Chase’s back hand to BACK HAND himself! SLING-DOG! Baxter kips up and fans fire up, as he LIONSAULTS! Cover, TWO!! Chase survives but Baxter grits his teeth. Fans rally up as Baxter stands and gets to a corner. Baxter climbs up, leaps, but Chase gets under! Baxter rolls, comes back but into an O’Conner Roll! ONE, to a HALF CRAB! Chase has the leg and pulls back hard but Baxter endures. Baxter reaches, but Chase drags him from the ropes to shift to an STF! Baxter still endures, crawls forward and drags Chase with him! ROPEBREAK! Chase lets go at the ref’s count, but he’s growing frustrated with Baxter.

Chase drags Baxter from the ropes, underhooks the arms, but Baxter blocks the lift! Baxter powers through, dodges a haymaker to handspring, NEURALIZER! Cedric Alexander would be proud of that one as the kick sends Chase out of the ring! Baxter aims, builds speed and DIVES! Direct hit with the tope and Chase tumbles to the ramp! Baxter gets Chase up and into the ring, then springboards, into a low kick! Chase underhooks, TIGER DRIVER! Cover, TWO!?! Chase is furious as Baxter survives! Baxter flounders to ropes but Chase drags him back and throws down fists. Chase punches Baxter to a corner, stomps him, then stands him up.

Chase puts Baxter up top, CHOPS him, then climbs up the corner. Baxter slips out and trips Chase! Chase snake eyes off the buckle, ends up on ropes, Baxter dials it up for a BASEMENT 619! Chase is down, Baxter goes up, 450 DOUBLE STOMPS!! Cover, Baxter wins!!

Winner: Trey Baxter, by pinfall

All Heart is victorious against Chase’s strong intellect! Will Baxter continue to shine in the purple ‘n’ orange until he’s once again challenging for the Cruiserweight gold?

My Thoughts:

While this counts as the first 205 Live episode in the 2.0 Era, it doesn’t feel that different since (as I’ve said for the last few weeks) it was the testing ground for much of the changes in booking. I like that we got Feroz VS Miller, a match of the two winners from the last few weeks. As I pointed out, Feroz had a sudden win over Miller much like Miller did over Cora Jade, and that seems to be how NXT 2.0 is trying to make things unpredictable. I’d rather this makeover just be a visual makeover. The matches were being booked just fine in the women’s division, so let it continue that way.

Boa gets a win so he stays strong while Tian Sha is down a member with Xia Li out on injury. I don’t see Boa getting to do much more than this, though, as the window to strike for all of Tian Sha passed us by even in the “1.0” phase of NXT. But at least with the main event, there is still a shining hope for the Cruiserweight Division as Baxter VS Chase gave us some really great stuff. But Chase has literally only won one match since debuting in WWE, so his arrogant Heel behavior just isn’t clicking to me. Nick Da Frickin’ Idiot Khan won’t regret cutting established Heel Cruiserweights like Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari and a few others, but that’s because he has no brain.

My Score: 8.1/10