205 Live

[Statto]

I love Buddy, and have done since the BAMF days, as I’m pretty sure I’ve made clear in this thread.

As near-perfect as he is now, I still think he was born to do a proper stereotypical bogan gimmick. Melbourne is surely the place to unleash this on the world.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Depressingly empty arena for this week’s show. So many empty seats, and you could see more people leaving as the show was going on. Those that were left didn’t seem bothered either. What the cruisers must think flipping and bumping about to such apathy ... I hope Melbourne is more alive on the 6th October for Murphy beating Cedric. I want a Summerslam 92 moment for the Aussies.

[WyattSheepMask]

Unless they tape it before RAW or something, it’s only going to get worse when Mixed Match Challenge returns in a couple of weeks

[Fatty Facesitter]

Would love it if they ran this at Full Sail instead to really rediscover the Cruiserweight Classic vibe. No reason you couldn't also throw more NXT performers into the mix and vice versa with 205 performers becoming more regular fixtures on NXT. 

To kick start the 'new season' where they appear at Full Sail I think you could even start it with a second Cruiserweight Classic tournament. You could either vacate the belt or you could do what they did the UK title this year and run the second tournament for a title shot. 

Absolutely no reason that it needs to be live either. A change of name and the opportunity to tape shows back-to-back as opposed to going live would surely save production costs. Genuinely think it would be a win win for everybody. 

The other alternative is that you simply move the show to pre-Smackdown if you're desperate to keep it live. If they insist on keeping the timeslot it currently occupies, why not just tape the show pre-Smackdown and then broadcast is afterwards. Not an ideal option but something to consider. 

[Weezenal]

Doesn't have to be 205 Live could be....

205: Alive

205 Jive

205 Dive

205 Give (doesn't work)

205 Hive (we can make it work)

All perfectly acceptable names.

 

 

[The Dart]

If they pre-record it before Smackdown and change the weight limit they can call it 208 Late.

[WyattSheepMask]

If so and they make a 1lb over allowance, they could have 209 Is Fine

Edited September 6, 2018 by WyattSheepMask

[Weezenal]

I don't think you're taking this seriously. 

[Big Benny HG]

With 205 Live, I think I'd have them start building towards a 'season finale', which would be a live 2-hour Network special from Full Sail. Bring in a few choice names from NXT and NXT:UK to mix in and make the season finale a bit more special/different. Then, I'd sack-off the live weekly post-SmackDown show altogether.  Move a select few of the 205 guys to Raw/SD, most to NXT/NXT:UK and maybe retain some on something akin to the "UK deal", where they can work Fed-friendly indies but can get called in for WWE shows when needed, for like an NXT taping, an occasional Network Cruiserweight Special or the eventualk 'Cruiserweight Classic II'.

I know they keep 205 Live, erm, alive because they want weekly exclusive television on the Network, but the idea that it has to be 'live' is probably misguided, at least in the way they currently do it. Throwing them out there in front of an audience that isn't interested and only want to see the 'proper stars' doesn't work - they are only going to come over as stars and have the matches take place in a vocal an enthusiastic audience would be by having them work in front of a crowd that is there specifically to see them. Like NXT.

It's probably also the case that they have all these guys under contract because they don't want them going to ROH/New Japan, but haven't quite figured out what they want to do with them, and 205 Live is a way of keeping them busy and getting 'something' for their money.  A bit like the NXT:UK show.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Big Benny HG

[TildeGuy~!]

1 MORE POUND

Fuck It: 210 Then

[PunkStep]

On 8/30/2018 at 10:18 PM, TildeGuy~! said:

He’s bound to win the Cruiserweight title in Australia isn’t he? 

That would be the logical thing to do. But you know what they're like with hometown heroes these days, they'll make him look a right mug and job sensationally.

[TildeGuy~!]

3 minutes ago, PunkStep said:

That would be the logical thing to do. But you know what they're like with hometown heroes these days, they'll make him look a right mug and job sensationally.

They’ve got Peyton Royce and Billie Kay for that now. 

Have they ever done the hometown hero loses gimmick in 2 matches? 

[The Dart]

205 Live is moving to 7pm on Wednesdays.  I am assuming this is just while the MMC is on.  If it’s not being shown live then maybe they’ll record it pre Smackdown making the crowd response better.

[The Dart]

They recorded it before Smackdown as expected.  But apparently they sent an email to ticket holders advising them the show would be starting at 6.30 instead of 6.45 (which only half the ticket holders probably read anyway), but it then started at 6.20, so there was still lots of empty seats.  But apparently the crowd that was there was way more into it than normal.  Once they start doing it at venues where tickets hadn't already been on sale and people know when the show starts, it should pick up.

[Fatty Facesitter]

Alexander vs Gulak in the main event was a cracking little ditty for the Cruiserweight title this week, highly recommended. Alexander vs Murphy in Australia should be interesting too. 

Nevermind a better 205 Live - the time has come for Drew Gulak to start campaigning for a better Monday Night Raw. 205 has enough heels they can call upon now and Raw desperately needs more entertaining midcard acts. Drew's a top technician and a top talker, and also shows real personality in his matches too with his expressions and when he turns on the aggression. Good story throughout the match where he became so desperate to put Cedric away he even abandoned one of his rules for a better 205 by launching an attack from the top rope. A small detail but crucial nonetheless. 

I definitely noticed a difference in terms of the crowd - whilst they weren't exactly doing cartwheels they were much more animated than usual and it definitely adds to the viewing experience from the outside looking in. This move to recording pre-Smackers and showing it on Wednesdays should benefit everyone involved.