WWE 205 Live Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for January 31

Neville begins his true reign as King of the Cruiserweights on this week’s edition of 205 Live.

This week we were supposed to see former Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander face off against the new champion Neville and Noam Dar. WWE tweeted out that Swann had suffered a foot injury and was not cleared to compete. The Extraordinary Gentleman, Jack Gallagher will step into Swann’s place. We will also see the 205 Live debut of a CWC Standout in Akira Tozawa.

This week’s episode starts with a video package recapping Neville and his journey to winning the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. Graves reiterates that Swann is not medically cleared to compete and makes the Gallagher replacement official.

Tony Nese vs Lince Dorado

Result: Tony Nese defeated Lince Dorado via pinfall.

Rating: 2.4 out of 5 stars

The Tony Nese push continues. The match was, for the most part, dominated by Nese. Dorado was able to get a few moves in, including a nice springboard stunner. Right when Dorado had the smallest of openings with Nese in the corner, Nese went for the mask. Nese was able to get Lince seated in the corner for his running knee strike which Austin Aries dubbed ‘The Running Nese”. Nese continued his trend of post match attacks using that German Suplex into the turnbuckle on  Dorado. TJ Perkins would come out for the save and hit Nese with a Detonation Kick.

Rich Swann is interviewed backstage by Tom Phillips with crutches and a walking boot. With a guy as charismatic and fun to watch like Rich Swann you hope it’s a minor injury, especially since he’s still atop the title picture. Neville interrupts Swann and tells him to stay down. Neville shoves Swann to the ground before walking away.

We have our first Gran Metalik video package in a while. The CWC runner-up hasn’t been seen since he was on Raw back in September but appears ready to return.

Akira Tozawa vs Aaron Solow

Result: Akira Tozawa defeated Aaron Solow via pinfall

Rating: 2.3 out of 5 stars

The Brian Kendrick is out on commentary to keep on eye on Tozawa. Solow was a CWC alternate in case of injury but was ultimately never used. The match started off a pretty evenly with back and forth between these two superstars. Tozawa was able to take control using is world renowned kicks. It’s worth noting that Tozawa did what few Cruiserweights have done, get the crowd involved in a match. After a suicide dive to the outside of the ring Tozawa went to the top rope. Solow was able to dodge it but ran into a Tozawa Snap German Suplex. The Brian Kendrick was left in shock after questioning the skill of Tozawa for majority of the match.

Neville is backstage and is greeted by Noam Dar. Dar congratulates Neville on the win and says Swann deserved that injury for interrupting Neville’s coronation. Dar tried to play up the team but Neville says he doesn’t need  Dar and didn’t ask to be in a tag team match. Neville tells Dar to keep his love life out of the match and to leave Alicia Fox backstage.

Neville and Noam Dar vs Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher

Result: Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher defeated Neville and Noam Dar via pinfall.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Jack Gallagher was able to use his unorthodox escapes early on to avoid damage. Gallagher was able to get a good amount of offense in after Dar was tagged in. Gallagher tagged Alexander into the match where he was able to ground Dar. Gallagher re-entered the match shortly after and was in control up until Neville ambushed him in the corner. Neville comes back and just uses his big size advantage on Gallagher not letting him get to his corner to make a tag.

The tides turned when Dar tagged himself in for a second time that led to a Gallagher headbutt. Neville had to make the save and then chewed Dar out before returning to the corner. Gallagher executes a back body drop that allows him to finally make the tag to Cedric Alexander. At the same time, Dar makes his way to the corner to make the tag but not before Neville walks out on him. Alexander comes in with a springboard clothesline followed by a handspring enziguri. Dar attempts to escape but is caught and thrown back into the ring by Gallagher. Cedric Alexander hits Dar with the Lumbar Check to pick up the win.

Next: Elimination Chamber Match Entrants Set

It took 205 Live awhile but the shows continue to improve each week. Now the focus should be on trying to get the fans invested. The Cruiserweights finally have multiple storylines and we could really see this division take off soon with the amount of talent led by Neville.