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Tuesday's episode of SmackDown Live revolved around the buildup to Survivor Series and whether Raw would get revenge for being put "under siege" several weeks before. It paid off a long-term "will they or won't they?" storyline and amped up the intensity going into Sunday's event. The following episode of 205 Live revolved around the storyline of whether somebody would end the night being driven into Kalisto's birthday cake. It went about as well as most cake gimmicks, weddings and guest star appearances do in WWE. After several teases, Enzo Amore ended up in the cake, courtesy of a Kalisto attack from behind. The use of a comedy spot to build up the tension in the last show before Survivor Series is incredibly questionable. While things seemed tense and real on SmackDown, 205 Live, which immediately followed Raw's revenge, seemed goofy and juvenile. Even the way the cake ended up being utilized raised serious questions? Why not have the challenger, the face, be embarrassed by the combo of Amore and Drew Gulak and go into Survivor Series seeking revenge? Why not let the spot happen in front of the audience that had been eagerly awaiting seeing somebody driven into sponge cake and frosting? And although it was unlikely to happen, how cool would it have been to see Gulak actually connect on that powerbomb onto the cake (and presumably through the table)? Regardless of how the go-home show went, Sunday will feature Amore and Kalisto battling again for the cruiserweight championship. Conventional wisdom of whoever has the upper hand at the last show won't win Sunday, along with how the division seems to be in better position with Amore as champion, seems to indicate that Amore will emerge still with the championship. But before we got to Sunday, Kalisto got a match with Gulak to close the night. The match started with some impressive chain wrestling from the two, as WWE continues to put Gulak in a situation where he can shine. Gulak took advantage after a distraction from Amore, taunted Kalisto with a birthday noisemaker and slammed him into the ropes. After Gulak shut down a couple more attempts at Kalisto comebacks, he went to the bottom rope (adhering to his rules for a better 205 Live), but missed the double-axe handle, leading to a basement hurricanrana from Kalisto. Enzo tripped Kalisto off the ring apron, delivering a blow to the lower back, but when Gulak went for a dragon sleeper, Kalisto delivered the Salida del Sol from out of nowhere for the win. The cruiserweight championship will again be relegated to the preshow for Survivor Series, but with the enormity of the card, and the lack of excitement for this matchup, who can blame the placement? The best-case scenario for the division would be for Amore to retain his title, likely by nefarious means, and then build up a feud that could carry over to the Royal Rumble, and perhaps even WrestleMania. Hits and misses With this being the send-off to Survivor Series, it was necessary to make the bulk of the article about the lead-up to the title match, but I'd much rather type 500 or so words on the tornado tag match that opened the show. After Raw's attack on SmackDown, it would've been easy to have trouble getting the crowd back up for 205 Live, but hometown hero Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann picked up the win on The Brian Kendrick and Gentleman Jack Gallagher. Hopefully, at some point, we get to see Swann and Alexander get integrated into the tag team division, it would be a good way to start blurring the lines between Raw and 205 Live. Nigel McGuinness cowering behind the announce table whenever the action is near is great attention to detail. I still miss Corey Graves and Austin Aries on the 205 Live announce table, but McGuinness seems more and more comfortable in that role. I like Mustafa Ali in the ring, but I don't think I'd come see him tell jokes at an open mic night. No offense. The stereo submission holds from Kendrick and Gallagher, and Swann holding Alexander's arm to prevent a submission was great storytelling and further proved that the best way to utilize cruiserweights is through multiman matches.
Superlatives of the night Move: Alexander's standing Spanish Fly with Gallagher coming off the ropes has to be slowed down to be fully appreciated, but it is awesome to see in full speed too. Line: "I do, capiche." -- Gulak to Amore. Gulak is endearing in his current role, and maybe he's the one to next face Amore. Match: The tornado tag match to open the show told a great story and provided plenty of fun in-ring action.
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