Drews Reviews: The debut of Gran Metalik

Hello again 205 Live fans, and welcome to the latest edition of Drews Reviews! The
main event this week is a one on one, non title matchup that has TJ Perkins squaring
off with the self proclaimed “King Of The Crusierweights”, and WWE Crusierweight
Champion, Neville. Neville is on his way to a title defense against “The
Extraordinary Gentleman” Jack Gallagher at the WWE PPV Fastlane, so it will be
interesting to see if Gallagher gets involved in any way. We’ll also see the 205
Live in ring debut of the Crusierweight Classic finalist Gran Metalik, who will no
doubt have a serious impact on the division, and take the show to the next level. On
top of all of that, there is the return of a former Crusierweight champion! But
before we get into this weeks show, as usual, here’s the RAW rebound brought to you
by Drews Reviews!

The Raw Rebound

JACK GALLAGHER vs NOAM DAR

Gentleman Jack Gallagher made his way to the ring with his umbrella, William III, as
the announcers talked about his win in last weeks fatal 5 way elimination match on
205 Live. The bell rang and the two tied up. Wrist lock and head lock combination by
Gallagher followed by reversal by Dar. Gallagher regains the advantage, and delivers
a few offensive moves. Noam Dar then nails Gallagher with a powerful kick in the
shin and takes control as he tries to keep “The Extraordinary Gentleman” down on the
mat. The two would eventually make their way to a standing position, and Gallagher
tried to gain the upper-hand again, but couldn’t quite get it. This is followed by
more offense from Dar, and a pin attempt as Alicia Fox looked on, smiling and
clapping for “The Scottish Supernova”. From out of nowhere Gallagher begins to pick
up steam and delivers a huge head butt to Dar, followed by a running drop kick in
the corner for the 1-2-3.

After the match, some pyro went off, and Nevilles music played. He walked out to the
stage area, but stopped to stare angrily at Gallagher, and raise the WWE
Crusierweight Championship at him, as Gallagher looked on from the ring.

AKIRA TOZAWA vs ARIYA DAIVARI

Tozawa made his way out to he ring, as The Brian Kendrick joined the announce team
for the match. Kendrick is here to watch his “protege”. Kendrick further explained
himself, as Tozawa did his yells to get the crowd going(Ah! Ah!). The bell rings,
and the match is underway with the two exchanging some offensive moves. They
exchanged some huge chops to the chest a few times before Tozawa tricked Daivari,
and slapped him. Tozawa kept control from there and went on the offensive before
missing an attempted move in the corner, and Daivari pinned him for a near fall.
There were a few more big moves and another pin attempt, as Daivari was well in
control. Tozawa would spark up with a standing head scissors and blasted Daivari out
of the ring. Tozawa did a few yells, and some crazy faces, and dove between the
ropes straight into Daivari out on the ringside area. The two would make their way
back into the ring, and Akira Tozawa hit “The Persian Lion” with the snap suplex
into a bridge for the 1-2-3. When the match was over The Brian Kendrick stood, and
clapped for his so called “protege”, as Michael Cole pointed out that Akira Tozawa
hasn’t even acknowledged Kendrick.

That was the RAW Rebound for this week, up next 205 Live!!

A video package aired to kickoff the show, recapping last weeks main event that saw
Jack Gallagher become the number one contender to the WWE Crusierweight Championship
that’s currently owned by Neville. There were also some clips from last nights
encounter on RAW after Jack Gallaghers match. A pyro display went off, and the
announce team of Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, and Austin Aries welcomed us to
Anaheim, California. They talked up tonight’s main event, and the debut of Gran
Metalik. Noam Dar made his way out the rim with his girlfriend, Alicia Fox. He has
the nights first match.

NOAM DAR vs ???

“You can’t handle this played”, and former Crusierweight champion Rich Swann made
his way out to the ring.

Analysis: Good to see Rich Swann back after getting a bit banged up and having to
sit out a few weeks. The fans in attendance were happy to see him back, and so am I.

Before the match could start, Rich Swann grabbed the mic, and said that tonight is a
very special night because he’s back. He said the day is also special because today
is Valentine’s Day, and he wants to dedicate the match to a very special woman.
“That woman is Alicia FOOOX”. He then proceeded to tell Alicia Fox she “can’t handle
this”.

Analysis: I’m gunna pass on reporting if she can “handle this” or not.

The bell finally rang, and the match is underway, as the two tied up in the corner.
Dar held Swann in a few different variations of an armbar, as Swann tried to battle
out. Swann then flipped out of it, and gained the advantage, as he went to work on
the arm of Dar to return the favor. Swann did his running flip off the ropes over
Dar, and dropped him with a big drop kick to the chest that drove Dar to the
outside. The referee started the 10 count, and made it to a count of 8 before Dar
made his way back into the ring. Dar then took a massive kick to the spine from
Swann that drew many “oooh’s” from the WWE Univere. Swann stayed in control, before
being kicked off the top ropes by Dar. Dar would then start dancing for some reason
because he was proud of his work, as it looked like he could be on his way to
victory. He then went back to work and scored a quick pin fall attempt for a 2
count, followed by another. Dar started to get frustrated because he couldn’t keep
the resilient Swann down. Dar put the former champ into a hold and said “Alicia Fox
is mine daddy”. Dar kept on before Swann sparked up and delivered a massive round
house kick to the head of the “Scottish Supernova”. Both men were down at this
point, but they started to make their way back up. Swann started to take control but
caught in an ankle lock by Dar. Swann reversed and threw Dar out onto the floor
again. Swann made his way out to the floor, but Dar used his girlfriend as a shield.
Both men got back in the ring, and delivered a huge shot to the back of the head of
Swann. Dar then threw Swann from corner to corner, before taking just a second to
long and getting caught by a boot from Swann. The boot was followed with a
Frankensteiner out of the corner that put Dar down on the mat. Swann climbed to the
middle rope, and delivered his incredible inside-out Phoenix splash for the 1-2-3.

Analysis: wow that was a real nice match! Again, I’m glad to see Rich Swann back so
soon after reportedly being banged up after the match with Neville at the Royal
Rumble. He’s a real fan favorite at this point. Also how about Noam Dar? The guy
consistently goes out there and does good work! He’s only in his early 20’s, and as
long as he keeps his head on straight he will go far.

Interview with TJ Perkins and WWE Crusierweight Champion Neville

They were interviewed on the big screen by Corey Graves who was at the announcers
table. Neville says that TJ Perkins is a former Crusierweight champion who defeated
31 other men in the Crusierweight Classic, but none of them were him. Perkins said
the reason Neville wasn’t in the tournament is because his “ankles are made of
glass”. Perkins said he put the division on the map, and Neville told TJP he took a
back seat when the real champ came in. Neville to Perkins, “you’re not on Neville’s
level”, and Perkins wonder why Neville was rhyming. From there Perkins says “your
arrogance is gunna be your downfall… you’ll keep saying no one is on your level,
until one day someone is.” Perkins followed it up with a big line where he said to
Neville, ” You went from dominant NXT champion to… Were you even on RAW before the
Crusierweight division?” That angered Neville as he replied “mark my words, by the
end of tonight, you’re going to regret saying that” and the segment ended.

Analysis: Woo! That was a real bold move by TJP to question if Neville was ever
actually on RAW, since Neville was mostly irrelevant there. The line about Nevilles
ankles being made of glass is because Neville was out with an ankle injury suffered
on a simple baseball slide attempt gone wrong. I wonder if Neville has more in store
for TJP than just an intended win over the first ever Crusierweight champion?

A video package aired for the debuting Gran Metalik, as he was shown speaking in
Spanish with subtitles. He said he’s here to show he’s one of the best, and his
different moves astound people. He said he’s gunna take advantage of being on 205
Live, and says “the best is here”. He made his way out to the ring to a big ovation,
and the luchadore is officially on the 205 Live scene.

GRAN METALIK vs DREW GULAK

The bell rings, and Gulak starts off the match by deriving a massive drop kick to
Metalik, sending him into the corner. Gulak then started to stomp as Metalik, as he
was down, and stunned. Gulak realigned in control until Gran Metalik went for a
handspring backflip off of the ropes, and into a missed clothesline attempt. Metalik
went for another move off of the ropes, but slipped a bit. The slip allowed Gulak to
go back on the offensive, and gave him time to go to work on the luchadore. Gulak
threw Metalik across the ring, and into the corner, but Gulak took just a bit to
long, and caught a kick immediately followed with a chop. Metalik then went to the
top rope for an arm drag, and started to show why he’s the “King Of The Ropes”. Head
scissors take down, and Gulak is tossed to the ringside area. Metalik starts to dive
on the outside, but Gulak gets up to soon. Gulak came back into the ring, and went
back on the attack to keep Metalik grounded. They made their way back up, and
Metalik regained the advantage by catching Gulak in an arm drag takedown, then
applying a hold to the arm of Gulak to control the pace of the match. Metalik would
then go for a double springboard into a move attempt, but Gulak blocked it. A
baseball slide drop kick followed, and sent Metalik to the outside. They both make
it back into the ring, where Gulak makes the match’s first pin attempt for a 2
count. Gulak went back to work with a “Gory Special”, and into another pin attempt
on Metalik. Gulak ran at Metalik in the corner, but missed some attempted offense.
Metalik would then delivers a huge forearm, and then a cross body onto Gulak.
Metalik would then nail Gulak with a kick that sent him back out to the ringside
area, before running and leaping from out of the ring, and onto Gulak. Back in the
ring, Gran Metalik sets up for his finishing move, the “Metalik Driver”, and nails
it for the 1-2-3, picking up the win in his 205 Live debut.

Analysis: And there you have it folks, Gran Metalik is here! It did take him a
minute to get going since Drew Gulak is no pushover, but once Metalik started to
pick up some steam he really started to show just how much fun watching him will be.
Nice touch to add in a tribute to the Guerrero family with that “Gory Special. The
move was done as a tribute to former WWE Crusierweight champion(during the first
attempt at the division), and oldest division champion of all time, Chavo Guerrero,
who passed away recently. Classy stuff!

There was a backstage segment that followed the match that showed Akira Tozawa
packing up and leaving the locker room area. Before he could make it out, he was
interrupted by The Brian Kendrick. Kendrick began explaining to Tozawa what a
protege is, and offered Tozawa to be his protege. Tozawa responded “NO!”, followed
by Kendrick saying there must be some sort of communication problem since Tozawa
doesn’t speak english. Tozawa to Kendrick, “I understand. I don’t like you.” You
could hear the WWE Universe in the background doing Tozawas yell(Ah! Ah!) as the
segment ended.

Analysis: The whole thing was just a reason to show that Tozawa can speak English,
and pretty well at that. That’s a good reason in my book because I sure didn’t
expect that, and neither did the crowd, as they got a bit hyped for Tozawa after he
said he didn’t like Kendrick.

NEVILLE vs TJ PERKINS

This is a non title match. No pre-match handshake between the two. The bell rang,
and the two stared each other down a bit before tying up. Take down by Perkins on
Neville, and a wrist lock applied to the champ. Perkins would hold on to the arm and
wrist, as Neville just could not escape. Neville would eventually counter, and put
Perkins in a hammerlock. Neville would then blast TJP with a forearm to the face, as
Neville gained control momentarily. Perkins went back on the offensive and scored a
near fall off of a springboard cross body off the ropes. Neville tried to toss
Perkins Perkins outside once, before succeeding when he tossed Perkins out of the
ring flapjack style, and out to the floor. Neville would go on the attack at the
ring side area, and then climb to the top rope. He then nailed Perkins with a
missile drop kick for a near fall. An angered Neville would then start to go to work
on TJP, and beat him in and outside of the ring. Neville then tossed Perkins back
into the ring for a second pin attempt. A few stomps, and a headlock later, and
Neville is well in control at this point. Perkins began to fight out, but Neville
blasted him in the ribs, and brought him back down to the mat. Neville set up for a
top rope move, but missed and rolled through before being caught by a neck breaker
from Perkins. Neville rolled out of the ring, but was soon met with a top rope-floor
dropkick by Perkins. Perkins tossed Neville back into the ring, and did a
springboard into a ddt for the 1-2-NO!! Perkins statues in the attack, and nearly
ripped Nevilles arm off before got back up, and then found himself down again in
armbar applied by TJP. Neville showed some impressive strength by reversing the arm
bar when he picked Perkins up, and dropped him with a sit out powerbomb. Both men
were down at this point, and the referee began to count to 10. Both guys made it
back to their feet and exchanged blows. Perkins set up for a detonation kick, but
Neville rolled out of it. Neville made it out, but then caught a huge roundhouse
kick from Perkins. Perkins went on the attack in the corner, and set up for a top
rope move. Neville got up, and looked for a superplex on TJP, but got thrown off the
top rope. TJP tried to jump off the ropes and onto Neville, but caught in a position
similar to the “Styles clash”. Perkins somehow found his way out, and nearly caught
Neville for a surprise win with a near fall. Neville would apply the double arm bar
from there, and TJP tapped out.

After the bell, Neville held on to the arms a bit longer, and Jack Gallagher came
out to make the save. But Neville fought him off and threw Gallaghers umbrella back
up to the entrance curtain. Gallagher came from behind and delivered 3 uppercuts,
and a huge head butt. Neville rolled out of the ring hurting, and left, as Gallagher
put the WWE Crusierweight championship belt over his shoulder.

Analysis: It was a pretty good match, as most would expect from these 2 guys.
Neville held on to the hold after the bell because he said he wanted to make TJP
regret the comment from earlier, and he did. It seemed like every thing Neville did
to Perkins was with that comment in mind. Perkins looked strong I defeat, and
Gallagher made his presence felt by standing tall to end the show.

Well, that’s all for this weeks show folks. Make sure to email me with any
comments/thoughts/suggestions at [email protected]. Have a safe week out
there!