It's all lead up to this. From Mike Kanellis' debut on 205 Live back in late 2018 to his crumbling marriage, everything has revolved around his anger with 205 Live GM Drake Maverick. Kanellis believes that everything bad that's happened to him over the past ten months is the fault of Maverick.
Kanellis has had a strong showing in nearly every match he's had since moving to the Purple Brand, but a lack of W's forced Maverick's hand around the time of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, keeping him away from an opportunity at the title. In order to right that wrong, all Kanellis had to do was defeat the General Manager in an Unsanctioned Match tonight. However, with a handful of titles under his waist from around the world, Drake Maverick is not one to take lightly.
We started off the night with the Singh Brothers, who were looking to get revenge on Akira Tozawa & The Brian Kendrick for stealing their Bollywood awards.
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Akira Tozawa & The Brian Kendrick vs The Singh Brothers
Samir Singh took Akira Tozawa into the corner after catching him in the gut with a knee strike. Tozawa fought out, delivering a pair of chops to the chest and a delayed jab to the jaw. Kendrick tagged in and the duo delivered a double hip toss, followed up by a running senton splash on Samir.
Tozawa tagged back in, sending Samir into Kendrick's arms and kicking him in the back of the head, sending him face first into the mat with a flatliner form Kendrick. Sunil Singh tripped up Tozawa before he could pick up steam, leading to the Singh Brothers taking over. Samir slammed Tozawa's face into Sunil's boot as they tagged. The Bollywood Stars hammered on Tozawa in the corner, and Samir made his way back in, trapping Tozawa in the middle of the ring with a side headlock.
Sunil and Samir sent Tozawa spine first into the corner with a double Irish whip, and Samir was launched into the former Cruiserweight Champion with a body splash. However, as Sunil tagged back in, Tozawa took out both brothers and managed to get to his partner. Kendrick finally made it inside, leveling them both with clotheslines and running forearms.
A crescent moon kick gave him the chance to pin Sunil, but he kicked out. Samir handed Sunil a Bollywood Award, hoping to knock out Kendrick with it. Kendrick noticed, however, and sent them into each other, knocking Samir to the floor and taking Sunil down with a Sliced Bread No. 2. Tozawa connected with a Senton Splash from the top rope for the win.
Results: Akira Tozawa & The Brian Kendrick defeated the Singh Brothers via pinfall.
A Humberto Carrillo vignette was played, with the young upstart talking up 205 Live and the various types of compet tors he can find there. He's got his eyes on his former teacher Drew Gulak, and his Cruiserweight Championship.
Backstage, Lucha House Party were interviewed about the competition on 205 Live. Lince Dorado put down Humberto Carrillo, claiming that the three members of LHP live and die by lucha libre, but Carrillo only talks about it.
He teased a possible match against Carrillo as well, claiming that it would be "lit." Kalisto tried to give him props, especially after he and Raul Mendoza had an incredible showing last week against the trio, but Dorado wasn't having it.
Ariya Daivari vs Lince Dorado
Daivari and Dorado traded takedowns, leading to a stalemate. A surprise Golden Rewind nearly ended Daivari's night early, but he avoided it and rushed outside the ring. Daivari felt that it wasn't worth his time, making his way up the ramp.
Dorado chased him down, bringing him back ringside. Daivari tried to counter, tossing him into the ring, but Dorado leaped onto the apron and hit a moonsault. Back inside, a leaping body splash nearly gave the victory to the Golden Lynx.
Daivari attempted to make amends with Dorado, but he was too smart for his tricks. A standing dropkick gave Dorado another near fall.
Daivari leapt to his feet as Dorado went up top, shoving him off the turnbuckle and onto the floor below. Back inside the ring, the bruiser locked in a sleeper hold. Dorado broke away only to be brought back down with a reverse DDT.
Up top, Dorado managed to fight off Daivari, pelting him with a series of fists and connecting with a crossbody. Daivari kicked out spiked Dorado via swinging DDT. Dorado kicked out at two. Daivari attempted Jerry Lawler's patented diving fist drop. Dorado put his foot up, catching Daivari on the jaw.
After he was sent to the outside, Daivari was met with springboard crossbody from Dorado. Back inside the ring, Daivari attempted to keep Dorado off the top rope. Dorado forced him across the ring with a boot and attempted a dive, only to be met with a superkick mid-air. Still, he kicked out.
The Golden Rewind was blocked and Daivari trapped him in the Billion Reel Dream. Dorado countered into a victory roll, but as Daivari kicked out the LHP member was planted with a Rock Bottom. Dorado again kicked out. Daivari was stunned with a rolling kick, and was able to roll up Daivari for the three.
Results: Lince Dorado defeated Ariya Daivari via pinfall.
Drew Gulak demanded to know who he would be facing at SummerSlam. He said since he won the Cruiserweight Championship, no one has had the guts to step to him. With SummerSlam around the corner, he eagerly awaits his next challenger. If it's Mike Kanellis, so be it. He'll be watching carefully tonight when Kanellis fights for the opportunity against Drake Maverick.
Unsanctioned Match: Drake Maverick vs Mike Kanellis
As Maverick made his way down the ramp, he was attacked by Kanellis. Kanellis launched him into the LED board, and banged his head against the steel barricade on the ramp. He admonished Maverick for making a mockery of the brand before driving him into the ring's LED board.
The referee checked on Maverick as Kanellis screamed that he was clearly the winner by forfeit. A second referee tried to pull Maverick to the back, but the General Manager fought away and pulled himself inside the ring. He demanded the match be started, leading to further punishment from Kanellis. A boot sent him into the corner, and Maverick was forced to choke on it while Kanellis continued to mock him.
Kanellis tossed Maverick to the outside with ease. Backstage, we saw the 24/7 Champion Maria Kanellis watch on with a smile. Kanellis dragged Maverick across the apron, trying to draw blood before repeatedly sending him into the barricade. The final time saw Maverick bounce off of it, grabbing at his back.
As Maverick tried to pull himself up, Kanellis hit him with a superkick. He then slammed Maverick's face repeatedly onto the announcer's desk. Kanellis placed Maverick on a rolling chair and hit another superkick, sending him toppling over.
The referee tried to check on Maverick but was interrupted once again by Kanellis, who dragged him back inside. Maverick was launched head first into the top turnbuckle twice before being sent to the ground with a right hand. He was stood up, only to be leveled with a running clothesline.
At first, it seemed that he was finally going for the pin. However, he took Maverick's belt off and whipped him with it. Finally, Kanellis decided to put the GM away with a sleeper hold. He tried to fight out, getting to his feet twice. The second time, he drove Kanellis face first into the turnbuckle, and avoided a shoulder tackle, leading to Kanellis lawn darting himself into the ring post.
Kanellis was sent outside, but caught Maverick coming in with a baseball slide, slinging him head first into the barricade. As the referee checked on him, Kanellis made his way over to the announcer's desk to pick up some of Maverick's R-Truth Wanted posters, shoving one into his mouth.
That seemed to perk up the GM, and as he was bounced off the turnbuckle again he began to hulk up. A series of fists from Maverick set up a standing dropkick, taking Kanellis into the corner. A running dropkick took out Kanellis and nearly the referee. Maverick picked up his own belt and got some payback on his rival, leaving multiple welts across his back. A suicide dive sent Kanellis into the table, and Maverick spiked him on top of it with a DDT.
Maverick went for an elbow drop through the table, but Kanellis rolled away. The table didn't break, and it seemed that Maverick landed with his elbow going through one of the ringside monitors. Kanellis took the opportunity to finally put Maverick away, bringing him inside the ring for the rolling cutter.
However, he decided to take Maverick up top instead, looking for a super Razor's Edge. Maverick countered with a hurricanrana, and a Dudley Dog was enough to ruin Mike Kanellis's title hopes.
Results: Drake Maverick defeated Mike Kanellis via pinfall.