WWE 205 Live Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for March 28

Akira Tozawa takes on The Brian Kendrick on the go home 205 Live before WrestleMania.

This past Monday night on Raw, we had the usual two Cruiserweight segments. The first of these saw the #1 Contender to the Cruiserweight Title, Austin Aries, pick a win against Noam Dar. Aries opponent at WrestleMania and current champion, Neville was on commentary for this match. Speaking of the Cruiserweight Champion, later on the show Neville defeated Gentleman Jack Gallagher. On Tuesday, WWE’s Twitter account announced that The Brian Kendrick and Akira Tozawa will finally face off on this week’s 205 Live.

No Mauro Ranallo again this week on 205 Live. Ranallo stated on twitter that his doctor has told him to stay off social media. Ranallo has a history of mental health issues which may explain his absence these past 2 weeks.

https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/845119281314521088

The show starts with a backstage interview with Neville. He says that Aries disrespected the Cruiserweight Championship during his report featuring The New Day on RAW. Neville says that it’s clear that everyone wants to see his reign come to an abrupt stop this Sunday at WrestleMania. He goes on to say that no one has thought about what 205 Live would be like without Neville and said he would show us today.

Rich Swann vs Ariya Davari

Result: Rich Swann defeated Ariya Davari via pinfall

Rating: 3.1 out of 5 Stars

Tom Phillips mentions that this match was supposed to be between Swann and Dar. Via Phillips, Dar suffered an injury in his match with Austin Aries on Monday night. Swann gets off to a hot start to the match. The momentum shifted when Davari planted Swann face first on the announce table. Davari was in control and had Swann in position for the Frog Splash. Swann was able to move out of the way to regain control for a brief moment. Davari eventually set Swann up for another Frog Splash this time landing for a real close near-fall. Davari was caught with a superkick as he was going to the top rope. Swann would get Davari in position to hit the Phoenix Splash and pick up the win. After the match, there was another backstage segment between Alicia Fox and Rich Swann.

Backstage, Drew Gulak is talking to Mustafa Ali. Gulak says that he enjoyed the match between Ali and Neville last week. Gulak would go on a monologue talking about how 205 Live superstars shouldn’t have to do these high-risk maneuvers and risk their health for the sake of these fans and entertainment but was left talking to himself as Ali made his way to the ring for his match.

Mustafa Ali vs Brandon Scott

Result: Mustafa Ali defeated Branfon Scott via pinfall

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

Just a basic showcase match for Mustafa Ali. Drew Gulak was watching on a monitor in the back. Ali faced a small amount of adversity at the start but took control pretty quick. Ali hit the inverted 450 to pick up the quick win.

After the match we see the WrestleMania video package highlighting the build for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match between Neville and Austin Aries.

Akira Tozawa vs The Brian Kendrick

Result:  The Brian Kendrick defeated The Brian Kendrick via pinfall

Rating: 3.2 out of 5 stars

Tozawa gets a quick start hitting Kendrick with a running boot to the face then a headfirst suicide dive to the outside Tozawa rolls him back into the ring and climbs to the top rope to and a top rope senton. Kendrick is able to lock in the Captain’s Hook from seemingly out of nowhere but Tozawa is able to escape and attempt a German Suplex but it’s blocked. Kendrick rolls out of the ring and is met with another head first suicide dive. Tozawa looks to go on the attack outside but Kendrick counters with a drop toe hold onto the ramp to gain control of the match. Kendrick grounds Tozawa with various submission attempts.

Tozawa regains brief control but The Brian Kendrick hits Sliced Bread #2 for a near fall. Kendrick immediately goes for the Captain’s Hook but Tozawa is able to get to the rope. Kendrick attempts to go for Sliced Bread from the top rope. Tozawa is able to block and attempts a German Suplex. During the battle on the top rope, Kendrick removes the cover from the turnbuckle before Tozawa sets him up in the corner. Tozawa runs at Kendrick but meets the exposed turnbuckle instead. Kendrick takes advantage and rolls Tozawa up for the win.

Neville is out to address the audience. He walks through what the past year has been like for him. From his injury that caused him to miss WrestleMania last year to now. Neville says he’s going to show us what 205 Live will be like without him. He tells the people in the truck to roll the footage and the Titantron goes black. He says that’s exactly what 205 Live would be without him, nothing.

Aries comes out to interrupt the champion. He says that there are similarities between himself and Neville. He says that they’ve both had to fight to get to where they are today. Aries addresses their match being on the kickoff show and ties that to the last similarity between the two, their ego. Aries says that in his mind and in Neville’s mind they are the main attraction. Aries goes on to say that he can and will become champion on Sunday but is dropped by Neville. After a brawl, Aries stands tall to close the show.

As previously stated the biggest news of the week is that the WWE Cruiserweight Championship between these two will be on the WrestleMania Kickoff Show. This match is arguably the one with the best build ups on the entire card.

Many people had a negative reaction to this new but Aries sent out a tweet that really put everything into perspective:

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Another good episode of 205 Live to lead into WrestleMania. My official WrestleMania pick for the Cruiserweight Championship Match is Austin Aries. The build has been great a long term feud between these two can really elevate the division. Who do you want to see walk out as champion?