Every Major Wrestling Debut TV Show Ranked From Worst To Best
11. WWE 205 Live
Surely not long for this world, 205 Live entered it with a whimper; featuring a speed and expression uncivilly divorced from the very reason behind it, the Cruiserweight Classic, it was basically a Vince McMahon sports entertainment show with purple ropes. It didn’t ‘defy expectations’, as the opening video promised. It lived down to them.
The Superstars were brought out onto the entrance ramp as a means of introducing them to the audience, and the conspicuous absence of a WWE management figure lording over them painted its own picture.
The first match, a tag team showcase of the Bollywood Boyz, played out to little heat, and inadvertently set the inessential tone; there were no Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles to contend for, and thus no stakes. The audience unanimously deduced that there was no point in investing.
A vignette/match mash-up, it was headlined by Brian Kendrick Vs. Rich Swann, and it was emblematic of the show, pre Triple H’s TakeOver. It was good when good was no longer good enough, and Trips never could shake that stigma, even if the quality vastly improved upon ‘Alicia Fox screams every single episode’.