4 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE 205 Live (Dec 27)

1. An Atypically Poor Video Package

Daivari Lead Pipe
WWE.com

WWE is usually unrivalled in the production department.

The pre-match hype videos on pay-per-view, in particular, are almost unfathomably great; editing the long-winded and repetitive RAW promos which exist only to pad out airtime, Kevin Dunn and his team are masters at re-contextualising them into something unmissable. Less is more, is the lesson - but the production truck was unable to work similar magic with the Ariya Daivari vignette which aired before his “duel” with Jack Gallagher.

Footage was screened of Daivari’s defeat, alongside Drew Gulak and Tony Nese, at the hands of Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, and Rich Swann at October’s Hell In A Cell event. “I bring experience to the game,” remarked Daivari in the voiceover. We were somehow expected to take a man who lost a filler warm-up match before the event itself as a crafty, honed veteran. By that distorted metric, Pete Rose would be the bookmaker’s favourite if he were to wrestle a debuting Hiroshi Tanahashi at Royal Rumble 2017.

It was a total miscalculation - but creative had done such a poor job of establishing Daivari as an equal threat that it was probably an impossible task.

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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!