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There are plans now to strengthen 205 Live and once again try touring with it, perhaps around May or June for another set of experimental tapings. Actually the time frame was listed as sometime between May and September. I keep hearing people say Ricochet and Lio Rush are being groomed for 205 Live sooner than later. Even through Rush isn’t getting any kind of a push in NXT, there are people there who are very high on his ability to be a star, well, as much as they’ll let someone that size be. I think Ricochet in 205 Live, even though he could be the face and top star of the brand, is a bad idea because that’s a limiting stigma. Before the big star was Enzo, but now they with augmentation from outside 205 Live talent similar to how the first two shows ended up. They are also planning on doing a cruiserweight tag team championship to be introduced in the spring or summer. Right now there’s more value in a women’s tag title, but the problem is, you’d have to have two of them

 

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They should take a step back and evaluate everything.  With all of the new belts being rumored the two brands are going to turn into a complete mess.  

They should just bolt 205 onto one of the brands but the rosters are just too big at this point for their aspirations and content.  The WWE reminds me of ESPN when they bought the rights to everything and had nowhere to show it so they created channels that nobody watched and have been downsizing ever since.

Outside of Raw and Smackdown mens rosters, none of the carve out brands (women and 205) are strong enough to stand on their own.  This just creates a discussion for another thread on roster size, branding, etc.  The more belts they add the more the WWE becomes boxing where there is a belt for everyone.

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Another fantastic show, leading off with Tozawa/Itami vs Metalik/Dorado and capped with an incredible match between Strong and Alexander.

I hope they bring Strong on full time because he had three great matches AND was able to generate a crowd reaction in all the matches he was in.

As an aside, I'm glad that they're finally having Gallagher use his headbutt as a finisher.

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I kinda love how this show just casually gives us Mascara Dorada vs. KENTA exchanges. That would have felt like a huge deal about 5 years ago, now it's just stuff in a filler tag match.

Mustafa Ali's promos are awesome. I want to see him get his title reign as soon as possible. So much so that he's the guy I hope wins the entire thing.

Holy Shit that Torture Rack throw into the ring post is one of the best spots I can ever recall seeing. Holy Shit. The main might be hte best match of the tournament. That was good shit.

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On 14/03/2018 at 3:54 AM, DreamBroken said:

Good match but any interest I had left in this show died with the 3 count.

Strong isn’t going to be in 205 after Mania. So booking him in the final seems redundant. Same with Murphy. 

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Yeah, I do not get the whole "make sure this superstar who is under 205 stays out of this division" mindset because we literally have the Jrs in NJPW being held to the same standard as the Heavyweights. It is only limiting when you have a guy like Vince in creative who forgets that his biggest stars like Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and etc were Juniors or Cruiserweights. If anything, most of NXT should go to 205 Live because it is the closest thing to NXT and if you think Roddy is going to do well on Raw or Smackdown because he is too big for 205 Live, you are delusional. You can hold the division to a high standard and still have those wrestlers being able to transition in and out of the division. It should be optional. Guys who are able to work that pace and are looking for a change a pace. Not assholes that Vince booked poorly and just throws them in this division.

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On 15/03/2018 at 8:25 PM, Kyuubi said:

Yeah, I do not get the whole "make sure this superstar who is under 205 stays out of this division" mindset because we literally have the Jrs in NJPW being held to the same standard as the Heavyweights. It is only limiting when you have a guy like Vince in creative who forgets that his biggest stars like Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and etc were Juniors or Cruiserweights. If anything, most of NXT should go to 205 Live because it is the closest thing to NXT and if you think Roddy is going to do well on Raw or Smackdown because he is too big for 205 Live, you are delusional. You can hold the division to a high standard and still have those wrestlers being able to transition in and out of the division. It should be optional. Guys who are able to work that pace and are looking for a change a pace. Not assholes that Vince booked poorly and just throws them in this division.

I mean I get your point, but it’s pretty telling that Roddy has had the two best tourney matches and got the dead crowds into said matches when other guys can’t.

Not today 205 doesn’t have damn good talent. But Roddy just connects with the crowds on a different level. I don’t think he’s ever gonna be a top guy (although I don’t think he’d ever stop trying), but he absolutely is IC/US title level. Shit, he’d be an amazing NXT champ if that roster wasn’t so stacked.

And there’s no shame in being 205 champ. Just that Roddy is ready to move up to the main roster now. Having him in 205 for six months while they sort the crowd/schedule out is a waste of his time.

 

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58 minutes ago, ComingToAmerica said:

It was interesting to me that people were so jaded on Roddy round here that they couldn't see that he was a force from Day 1. 

But getting him pushed on RAW or Smackdown....I dunno. I think he might be better off doing with EC3 what he did with Roode next.

Only snag there is that the longer Roddy spends in NXT without being champ, the more likely he is to be stuck in the Ohno space.

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I hope Strong splits his time between NXT and 205. He's doing great stuff in NXT but it's so jammed with talented people he might have to wait a while for a good run. Keeping him on 205 is necessary if they want it to be a viable brand. He might be "too good" for it now but the more guys like him they put on there, the more they can change that image. Gargano is another guy that right now seems like he'd be wasted on 205. That's something they need to fix. The current roster plus Gargano, Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Ricochet would be bananas and Strong could be the forefront of that.

Side note: have Dunne and Ricochet ever wrestled? I would like to see that.

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I really enjoyed every match this week, the tag was fun, I don't think I'll ever grow tired of Gallagher wasting fools and the Main was top notch. But a hearty fuck you to the neckbeard wearing the Confederate flag hat during the main event.

I feel like next week Ali beats Gulak.  With Ali's promo time and wanting to beat Gulak to right a wrong I feel like that will be his moral victory and then he ends up losing at Wrestlemania.

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17 hours ago, DeathyBoy said:

I mean I get your point, but it’s pretty telling that Roddy has had the two best tourney matches and got the dead crowds into said matches when other guys can’t.

Not today 205 doesn’t have damn good talent. But Roddy just connects with the crowds on a different level. I don’t think he’s ever gonna be a top guy (although I don’t think he’d ever stop trying), but he absolutely is IC/US title level. Shit, he’d be an amazing NXT champ if that roster wasn’t so stacked.

And there’s no shame in being 205 champ. Just that Roddy is ready to move up to the main roster now. Having him in 205 for six months while they sort the crowd/schedule out is a waste of his time.

 

Roddy benefitted from being in the main event of 205 for every match. He did not have to follow Dolph Ziggler vs AJ Styles, the Five Way Free PPV Match, John Cena vs AJ Styles. He had the benefit of having some separation and transition into 205 Live. It is telling that every main event sans Gulak vs Nese, and TJP vs Bate got a reaction from the crowd. 205 Live has to work in accordance with Smackdown Live's booking and sometimes that show ends on a cold front or sometimes it ends with a bang. 

And this is not me diminishing Strong's work because he absolutely did put on 2 of the best matches on 205 Live(although it benefits that he worked with Kalisto and Cedric Alexander). But if you think Strong will do well on the main roster and he is too good for 205 Live, then you are condemning those 205 Live guys who are just as good and Strong will be jobbing to the Miz in no time. You want 205 Live to be better then do not take away the talent nor have this stigma that they are glorified jobbers. Roddy should absolutely stay in 205 Live. Gargano, Ciampa, Ricochet, the Undisputed Era, and whoever else meets the requirement of not having much charisma but amazing workrate and being an amazing wrestler should come to 205 Live and make it the show to watch. We all champion NXT as the greatest thing WWE has made in years, but get miffed when those stars do jack shit in the main roster. Hell, some of us are so jaded that we blame the differentiation in crowds as if people who watch NXT are a different breed than those who watch the main show even though we are ignoring how those characters are presented to us in each show. The main roster throws people in front of the crowds and wishes them luck while giving them 6 minute tag team matches with little to no introduction or reason to care. NXT gives you an introduction, a thorough exhibition of skills, and tangible development and story motivation. When Gargano and Ciampa first arrived, I thought they were typical indie guys, but they became the best rivalry since Sami vs Kevin. Gargano went from vanilla midget to fucking best wrestler i the world in one year in my eyes. But I guarantee you that without the booking and story that those two benefitted from, both would have languished on Raw or Smackdown just like Roode, Nak, and Bayley. I mean shit, I remember when Sasha made it to the main roster, they actively ignored the WE WANT SASHA chants for months and made sure that she was put in the backburner while they kept the strap on Nikki Bella and made Charlotte more relevant at Sasha's expense. Even if you are over with the crowd, Vince will kill it because it is not what he wants.

 Well here we have a show where it could work and there is no VInce lording over it anymore.  You have a title that has had several great matches and great competitors competing for it on a weekly basis with no stupid gimmicks or 20 minute promos. You have an opportunity to have an NXT-esque roadshow with guys who are just as capable, and you want to steer guys away from it because it stigmatizes them? Since Enzo's firing, this show has been picking up on the network. It is only behind NXT and whatever PPV WWE has at the time. Keeping guys out or away is not going to help anyone.

You shouldn't think that keeping guys away from this is going to save them. If anything, the issue is that WWE brass has isolated people from it. They should replay that Enzo bullshit except with a better star like say: Seth Rollins. Have him cut weight and come in 205 Live thinking he is going to rough this shit...then have him lose to someone, presumably the champion, and that puts over 205 Live and the competition altogether, while not burying Seth at all. It sends the message that 205 Live is where the competition is at and where the best matches are(and for the past few weeks, it has been). And this is easy booking.

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I want to see my favourite wrestlers get paid lots of money and be appreciated by as many people as possible.

I also think that when you’ve peaked in something, you should do something else. Roddy is at the top of his game in 295 and NXT and will always be over there... so I want to see him challenge himself and try and succeed in a new, difficult pond.

He might fail. But I think he owes it to himself to never rest on his laurels and try. Same way Balor left Japan, where he was in a great spot, to start from scratch in NXT. 

And I get your points. But I don’t think any wrestler should look at any aspect of WWE and think “I’m happy staying here forever.” They have to want to try new things. 

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He just went on 205 Live.

I would like to see the possibility of some of them 'going heavyweight', hell that's worked out for Kota and ZSJ (despite the latter not really gaining any weight). But basically, if you're going to need a push to survive on the big shows then you might not be ready for the big shows. Someone like Cesaro has managed to make being a glorified JTTS work, but not many could.

 

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Great card. Two awesome matches and it is great to see Kenneth Johnson again after CWC.

The main event as expected was insane. I hate to see either of these guys not in the Wrestlemania card because they put in so much work this year and last for 206 Live, but regardless it is to be. Ali really has grown as a wrestler in my eyes. I thought he was just a typical high flier, and I remember being incensed that the CWC crowd booed him for instinctively no reason when he faced off against Dorado. I get his character being a babyface who is of Muslim descent who does not cater to the foreign concept of evil foreigner or brown person and he exemplifies the plucky babyface more than most wrestlers do. His style caters to his character and unlike most babyface wrestlers, Ali is socially aware of his character and what it means for him to be a babyface. Gulak has not so much as gotten better, but instead returned to his roots. I wanted this super aggressive and ultra violent Gulak like I saw when he nearly ripped off ZSJ's arms in a submission hold. There are a lot of guys who work the style, but Gulak adds a bit of sadism in his act that I really appreciate. This match played with both aspects of their characters and made for another great match on 205 in which the crowd seemed awake for the whole show for once.

Good show overall. 

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