205 Live is Improving

[smarkmouth]

What's that about?
http://paullevesque.flaunt.nu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ezgif-2144885104.gif
I don't know if anyone else has been watching lately, but there's been a significant increase in quality since Triple H allegedly took over and Enzo left. Matches have gotten a lot better and have been presented in a way that I'm looking forward to them. Last night in particular, it seemed that most of the crowd hung around after Smackdown as opposed to the emptying arena that I've grown to expect.

I mean, it wasn't exactly difficult to improve a poor state that they had been in up until recently, and emulating the critical successes of the Cruiserweight Classic certainly helps, but there's a little more than just a tournament to be interested in. Consider this clip;


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok-wUg8AlZM

I learned more about Kalisto and Lince Dorado in that minute-thirty than I have about most of the Cruiserweights in the last year.

Not to mention Rockstar Spud/Drake Maverick. I've always said that wrestling needs less authority figures but he's forced me to reconsider my opinion. He's breathed a fresh air of life into the show, while not dominating the airtime of the product. In fact, I don't know if anyone else uses Twitter as often as I do (workplace hazard, FYI), but WWE is getting their money's worth out of him by the sheer volume of promo this guy is doing. He's definitely showing that he wants to go the extra mile to make 205 a success. And then there's the tournament itself. Semi-finals of Roderick Strong vs Cedric Alexander were set last night, which will likely be paired against Drew Gulak vs Mustafa Ali. There's no combination of finals that I'm not looking forward to. All in all, there's a lot of good stuff happening on 205 Live right now.

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

I've not caught up but I'm loving 205 live recently.

With Vince out of the picture these men can do what they're best at and that's amazing the crowd with what they can do.

If you haven't checked it out the last couple weeks you owe it to yourself to give it another shot

[FunKay]

It's literally just shorter, simpler, more basic storytelling whilst stripping back the excess. It's another NXT, but exclusively with Cruiserweights in terms of format.

[Jack-Hammer]

If you prefer simpler, more concise storytelling coupled with in-ring action that always has a point and a distinct lack of filler, then 205 Live is a show to watch. As FunKay said, it's really a lot like NXT is when you get right down it.

Right now, all the focus is on the Cruiserweight Championship tournament and that's as it should be. The story is very simple: The focus of the show is on the tournament, hence the focus of the wrestlers is on winning that tournament and it's all the story that's needed right now. They've started introducing some fundamentals of character into things, like the sit down interviews with Mustafa Ali, the video packages on Roderick Strong and Buddy Murphy, taking out the "sports entertainment" sort of silliness of Jack Gallagher's character, the evolution of Drew Gulak into what may be a Mr. Backlund type of character, Tony Nese being allowed to demonstrate exactly what he can do inside the ring, etc. I mean...it's just a flat out much, much better show because of the lack of filler, keeping the focus on what's important: the wrestlers, their matches and the stories that go along with them and consistency in booking. Triple H pays attention to little details, a lot of little details put together can help add up to a really fun program.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some over the top antics as much as anybody, as well as some "larger than life" personas. What Triple H has demonstrated with NXT over the past several years is that you can have that without the cartoonish buffoonery that dogs a good deal of the main roster product. As with NXT, the wrestlers on 205 Live are presented as wrestlers, as athletes, not "performers" or "sports entertainers."

[klunderbunker]

That's because they dropped the majority of the dumb stories and started focusing on the action. The entire idea of a cruiserweight show should be to focus on what happens in the ring but for reasons of "well everyone else is boring", we were stuck with months of Enzo Amore doing the same promo and retaining the title through a long stretch of people slipping on banana peels. Couple that with the lame stories that weren't going anywhere due to either bad talent, bad writing or there being no reason for them to fight in the first place and there was no reason to watch the older days of the show. It's FAR better now because everyone feels like they're in contention for the title. You can fill in the gaps later, because the tournament's momentum can carry them for at least a month or two.

[Leobeast]

They should of had Tyler Bate go further in the tournament. He needs to win something.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Last time I watched it, Rockstar Spud was announced new general manager...then he proceeded to be in every single segment on the show. He's annoying enough in one segment let alone all of them. No thanks.

[smarkmouth]

Last time I watched it, Rockstar Spud was announced new general manager...then he proceeded to be in every single segment on the show. He's annoying enough in one segment let alone all of them. No thanks.

Eh, fair game if you don't like him, but I hope that isn't the only thing keeping you from tuning in. While he ate up airtime as he introduced himself to the roster on that first episode, that has been far from the rule. So far, all he's really done is introduce matchups and tournament brackets rather formally, and scarcely at that.

I've thought a little more about the tournament, and it's really just a footnote, but I'm really surprised they're doing it at all. It's pretty much 8 weeks of casual fans asking 'what happened to the last Cruiserweight champion?' Seems like the kinda thing WWE would get under the rug as quickly as possible, but since they're not doing that, they've made the effort to ensure those fans don't ask that question by offering a higher standard for a long-term tournament.

[smarkmouth]

While I'm not entirely keen on new championships, and still not convinced it will actually work out, I have to give credit to WWE for beginning to build the cruiserweight tag team division. While we only have two confirmed tag teams (Tozawa/Itami and Lucha House Party) and one potential tag team with a member on injured reserve (Singh Bros.), there's an inkling of potential here.

But still, while I don't blame it for the demise of WCW, there's something Harbinger-like about a Cruiserweight Tag Team title.

[Y 2 Jake]

Screw the tag titles but sign me up for Itami and Tozawa being a real tag team challenging The Usos and The Bar.

[TheManTheyCalledNorCal]

Unfortunately, the amount of people interested in the show is going the other direction. I watched an episode last week and felt legitimate sympathy for the guys, since 205 was about the mount of people left in the arena.

Either put this BEFORE the SD taping, or tape episodes down at Full Sail. This thing is doomed in its current spot and slot.

[A11]

Unfortunately, the amount of people interested in the show is going the other direction. I watched an episode last week and felt legitimate sympathy for the guys, since 205 was about the mount of people left in the arena.

Either put this BEFORE the SD taping, or tape episodes down at Full Sail. This thing is doomed in its current spot and slot.

What does NXT do these days? It seems to tour a fair bit, 205 live to full sail and nxt on tour sounds like a plan

[smarkmouth]

Unfortunately, the amount of people interested in the show is going the other direction. I watched an episode last week and felt legitimate sympathy for the guys, since 205 was about the mount of people left in the arena.

Either put this BEFORE the SD taping, or tape episodes down at Full Sail. This thing is doomed in its current spot and slot.

It's true. I have to admit that I got ahead of myself in the OP when I mentioned that the arena in question didn't empty out on that night. That's not the rule, but the exception.

I agree that post Smackdown is a bit of a death slot, and would much rather it air before the blue brand (bonus: Talking Smack return potential). 205 has hit critical improvements but may in fact be a logistical failure in it's present state.

[smarkmouth]

Accuse me of shifting the narrative if you must, but I'd like to know if you think the crowd leaving after Smackdown is actually a big deal. Ticket bought. Money's in WWE's pocket. And whoever's left in the audience are mostly passionate wrestling fans. On tonight's episode, crowd was a little dead for Tony Nese vs Mark Andrews, but the fatal four way captured the crowd big time! I don't see a big negative outside of the occasional "viral" pic of a somewhat emptied audience.

A very significant plus 205 has over all the other brands; 2-man commentary team. Be jealous, peasants!