2 Ups And 4 Downs From WWE 205 Live (December 13 2016)

Downs...

4. 205 TAPED

Tribute To The Troops
WWE.com

It took three weeks, but WWE has already undermined the very title of the show; owing to Tuesday’s post-SmackDown Tribute To The Troops taping, 205 Live was relegated to the pre-RAW slot.

This inconvenience created a bizarre raft in the time/space continuum when Jack Gallagher, in a pre-match backstage interview, made retrospective reference to events that had yet to occur. Facetiousness aside, that the show was taped was an unenviable prospect. Taping NXT works because it’s an established critical darling - but it is the rule-proving exception. SmackDown! was borderline pointless for years because it lacked any inherent intrigue. If something memorable had occurred on a Tuesday night, news of it would have been posted online within minutes. When it invariably didn’t, Thursday and Friday nights were all but confirmed as inconsequential.

Worse still, the disaster that was 205 Live episode one, in which the Empty Arena match was more oversaturated than Hell In A Cell, may yet move WWE to rethink the show altogether. There’s no doubt that WWE is capable of dreaming up an alternative title; this is the promotion which brought us Jakked, after all. But creating intrigue, without the benefit of immediacy, for a taped one hour show with no genuine stars, is another matter.

At least the arena was full.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!