June 6, 2017
Episode 28
(aired live)
#205Live
City: Rochester, NY
Venue: Blue Cross Arena
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Greg Hamilton
Video
Clips from RAW last night of TJP telling Neville it’s time for his title shot, of TJP beating Mustafa Ali, and of Neville attacking TJP after the match.
Intro Video
“Hail to the Crown” by CFO$
Ring Area
Noam Dar makes his way to the ring for the opening match. He gets on the mic and says that he feels sorry for Cedric Alexander. Cedric is jealous of Noam and Alicia’s relationship. Noam has a message for Cedric from Alicia. She says Cedric should move on.
Match 1
Noam Dar vs Cedric Alexander
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Cedric Alexander wins via pinfall after a lumbar check
Time: 7:08
Match Thoughts
Very nice match. It seemed pretty standard as it went along, but towards the end it picked u quite a lot. There were some nice near falls which made the final portions of the match feel increasingly exciting. I really liked the finish as well.
Ring Area
After the match, Alexander goes over to Dar and says he’s done with all of this. He’s moved on (which is something he already told everyone last week).
Video
Clips of TJP’s Cruiserweight Title reign from the Cruiserweight Classic through his time on RAW.
Backstage
Dasha Fuentes asks TJP how he feels. TJP says he won his first title reign for everyone else, this time he’s doing it for himself.
Match 2
Mustafa Ali vs Louie Valle
(referee: Charles Robinson)
Result: Mustafa Ali wins via pinfall with a counter to a schoolboy
Time: 3:26
Match Thoughts
This was alright. It wasn’t really a squash, but Valle never really had any sustained offense.
Ring Area
After the match, Drew Gulak congratulates Ali on winning without resorting to high flying. He walks down to ringside while asking Ali to join his “No Fly Zone” campaign. As an answer, Ali dives over the ropes onto Gulak.
Video
Clips of Rich Swann.
Backstage
Titus O’Neil interrupts a conversation between Akira Tozawa and Rich Swann. Titus pitches “The Titus Brand” to Tozawa, saying that he can take his time before making a decision about joining.
Backstage
Dasha Fuentes asks Neville about TJP. Neville says TJP has served his purpose, so now it’s time to dispose of him.
Match 3
Cruiserweight Title Match
TJP vs Neville (Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Danilo Anfibio)
Result: Neville wins via pinfall with the Rings of Saturn
Time: 14:09
Match Thoughts
Good match. It started off with TJP being aggressive, but before too long Neville took control of the match. The majority of the match had Neville methodically dominating TJP. It felt like it was getting a bit slow, but just after the ten minute mark it picked up. The final sequence was quite good and made for an exciting finish.
Show Impressions
This was a pretty good show. The focus was obviously (and rightfully) the title match. The Ali/Gulak stuff felt like a placeholder this week. They didn’t do anything new there, but the opening match gave some closure to the whole Dar/Fox/Swann/Alexander thing. I don’t know if the match was necessarily needed, but I like that they’ve finally seemed to put a definitive end to this story which seems to have gone on and on and ended a few times.
Match of the Night
TJP vs Neville
The Dar/Alexander match was good too, but the title match felt more important and had a more exciting finish.