205 Live
Date: May 22, 2018
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
We’re back stateside now and that means we need to get ready for next week’s title match with Cedric Alexander defending against Buddy Murphy. Tonight though we’ll be seeing a battle of the strikers as Hideo Itami faces Akira Tozawa in a battle over their issues during tag team matches of late. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a look at Itami vs. Tozawa with Itami saying he didn’t like their time together. Why did Itami need a partner in the first place?
Opening sequence.
Drew Gulak vs. Gran Metalik
They trade chops to the chest to start and a dropkick puts Gulak down on the floor. Back in and a middle rope springboard dropkick gets two but Gulak crotches him on top. The Tree of Woe stomping is on with Metalik in trouble. It’s off to a neck crank with Gulak’s leg behind Metalik’s neck and pulling on the leg and arm (kind of hard to describe) before going to a regular armbar.
Gallagher thinks Lucha House Party is strange because they wear masks and Watson has no response. He also loved “Grand Metallica’s first album but thought they went too commercial after that.” Kendrick: “Ciclope and Puss in Boots are also very good.” Metalik gets sent to the apron and jumps over a charging Gulak but lands on the ropes for a perfectly timed Asai moonsault to drop Gulak as he hits the floor. Back in and Gulak turns him inside out with a clothesline for two. Some chops put Gulak down in the corner so Metalik walks the ropes for a half Coast to Coast and a near fall. The Gulock makes Metalik tap at 8:13.
Result: Drew Gulak b. Gran Metalik – Gulock (8:13)
Gulak is on another level right now.
Video on Buddy Murphy.TJP vs. Christopher Guy
Guy is in yellow trunks, blue kneepads and red boots for a very bright look. TJP takes him down with a drop toehold and stops for some dabbing. A snap of the arm has Guy writhing in pain as TJP smirks down at the pain. Rolling suplexes into the slingshot hilo have Guy in more trouble but he escapes the Detonation Kick. Not that it matters as TJP takes him down by the leg into a curb stomp, followed by the Detonation Kick for the pin at 2:31.
Result: TJP b. Christopher Guy – Detonation Kick (2:31)
Post match TJP says he’s the best in the world and carried this division on his back. He wants better competition.
Earlier today, Cedric Alexander sat down to talk about the title match. He’s used to the pressure and is ready to defend in front of his friends and family. There’s a lot of great talent around here but Cedric is above all of them, including Murphy.
Fine enough, but please get some more charisma.
Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami
Before the match, Tozawa says he didn’t like Itami either. If Itami wasn’t happy with him as a partner, he really won’t like him as an opponent. They kick each other in the face at the bell and stop for some Tozawa grunting/shouting. A chop exchange means more shouting with Tozawa getting the better of it. We’re already in the chinlock as there are even more empty seats here than in the run of the mill 205 Live taping.
Back up and Itami is done playing around, meaning it’s time to kick Tozawa really hard. Demands of respect don’t get Itami as far but a neckbreaker gets him one. Itami takes him outside for a kick to the chest for two back inside and we hit a chinlock. Itami: “RESPECT ME!” Another kick to the ribs has Tozawa in a lot more trouble and a DDT gets two.
Back to the chinlock as the announcers want Itami to switch gears. I wouldn’t mind if he switched offense. Tozawa fights back so Itami bails to the floor, only to take a running flip dive from the apron. Nigel: “You see what Tozawa is doing. No rear chinlocks from him!” Save for the one he used before that is. Back in and the tornado neck snap sets up Itami’s top rope clothesline for two more.
Tozawa kicks him in the head and goes up top but gets crotched. That means a top rope Falcon Arrow for two on Tozawa, who almost looks surprised that he kicked out. Itami gets sent outside for a suicide dive but the top rope backsplash misses (Nigel: “X marks the spot and Tozawa landed at Z!”.). Some running dropkicks set up the cravate into the knee to the face to end Tozawa at 15:17.
Result: Hideo Itami b. Akira Tozawa – Cravate knee to the face (15:17)
The Japanese civil war.
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 26 wrestling books. His latest book is the WWE Grab Bag.Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!