WWE 205 Live Results 7/16/2021

The purple brand program is back in your life.

WWE 205 Live returns from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida this evening following this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX.

On tap for tonight’s show is an exciting pair of matches, as Grayson Waller takes on Ari Sterling in one-on-one action, while Guru Raaj tangles with Asher Hale in singles competition.

Featured below are complete WWE 205 Live results for Friday, July 16, 2021.

WWE 205 LIVE RESULTS (7/16/2021)

This week’s show kicks off with a cold open live shot inside the CWC as we hear Vic Joseph talk about the final SmackDown before Sunday’s Money In The Bank having just wrapped up.

From there, we see the camera briefly pan around the CWC as the opening theme for our first bout of the evening begins playing.

Guru Raaj vs. Asher Hale

Guru Raaj’s music plays as he makes his way down to the squared circle for tonight’s opening contest. As he settles in the ring, the camera pans over to show the aforementioned Joseph at the commentary desk at ringside alongside Nigel McGuinness.

The two talk back-and-forth for a moment and then the theme music for Asher Hale plays and he makes his way to the ring. He poses for the fans and then takes his vest off as his music dies down.

We hear the bell sound and our first of two scheduled matches here this evening is now officially underway. Hale blasts Raaj with a low kick coming out of the gate. We see a single leg takedown attempt to no avail. They lock up and Raaj pushes Hale off of him and mocks him and grins.

They lock up again and this time Raaj hits an arm-drag on Hale and mocks him again. Hale now takes Raaj down and goes behind him as they stand up. Raaj looks to break the grip of Hale, but can’t, so he walks him in circles and uses his momentum to send him through the ropes and out to the floor.

Raaj gets in some offense but then Hale cuts his momentum short and hits him with a devastating neck breaker with his head landing in the turnbuckle in the corner. He slumps down and out to the floor. Hale goes out after him and rams him into the barricade and fencing that separates the fans from the ringside area.

Back in the ring, Hale puts one boot on each side of Raaj’s face and then in head-twisting / neck-breaking death-in-the-movies style, snaps them sideways to twist and nearly snap the neck of his opponent like a twig. Hale goes on to dominate the action for a few more moments including an awkward DDT that seemed to put Raaj down in hard fashion.

Hale with a nice suplex and then a bunch of pin attempts to no avail. Hale seems frustrated now at his own inability to finish Raaj off. Raaj looks to catch Hale coming in with a boot to the grill, but Hale sees it coming and avoids it.

Raaj begins a fired up comeback and after Hale briefly cuts him off, Raaj’s persistence and forward pressure causes Hale to fold for the time being and now Raaj is in the offensive driver’s seat. Raaj hits a hard dropkick to the jaw of Hale for a near fall. Hale ends up on his feet first and now in what Joseph is calling a second wind by Hale, we see him back in control of things.

He connects with a big suplex. He goes for another big spot but Raaj counters it with a simple back-slide and gets the three count. He rolls out of the ring immediately as his music plays and Hale walks around the ring upset at what just transpired.

Winner: Guru Raaj

Grayson Waller vs. Ari Sterling

After a quick commercial time out, including ads for WWE Shop, WWE Live returning to the road and more, we head back inside the CWC for our second of two advertised matches for tonight’s show.

The theme for Australia’s own Grayson Waller plays and he makes his way down to the ring as the commentators talk about him never meeting a beer he didn’t like.

He settles into the ring and takes his entrance gear off as his music dies down. Now the theme for his opponent for tonight, Ari Sterling, begins playing. Sterling makes his way down to the ring and stops to pose for the fans on the turnbuckle.

We hear the bell and now our main event of the evening here on this week’s purple brand program is underway. Waller and Sterling are trash-talking each other from the word go. The fan-chants are already breaking out and we see Waller take it to Sterling with his striking skills.

Now we see the two lock up and break before taunting each other and locking up again. Sterling shoves him off and they lock up again and hit the mat and bounce back up with both guys refusing to let go of the other. Waller gets a quick go-behind on Sterling and then scoops him up and takes him down.

He takes his back and slaps the back of his head, Razor Ramon style, and the two bounce back up to their feet and now Sterling takes Waller down and slaps him around a bit until Waller gets under the bottom rope, forcing the referee to break things up.

As McGuinness points out on commentary, this one is quickly becoming a game of one-ups-man-ship, as they try to top each other back-to-back-to-back-to-back with impressive displays of athleticism. Neither man is establishing any real lengthy period of control of the offense until finally Waller shows a bit of smarts as he trips Sterling up and starts getting down and dirty with some basic meat-and-potatos offensive control.

The commentators point out that Waller is focusing his attack on the arm of Sterling, with the majority of his work being centered around that particular limb of his opponent. Waller mixes in some good leg kicks and blasts away at them now.

He gets Sterling on the mat and stomps away at both arms after blasting a DDT with the landing being focused on his arm. Sterling gets back to his feet briefly but Waller puts him right back down with a solid dropkick to the legs that sweeps him right back down.

After spending what seemed like forever softening the arms of Sterling up for a potential submission to finish him off, we see Waller try exactly that with a Fujiwara Armbar attempt that nearly does the job until Sterling eventually makes it to the ropes, forcing the ref to make Waller release the hold.

Waller hoists Sterling up in the air, Torture Rack style, and even hits a drop down into a backbreaker and then hits the mat and rolls over top of him before going to work on his arm again, isolating the limb behind his back and cranking on it for all he’s worth. The fans rally behind Sterling and it works momentarily as he fires up and escapes but is ultimately stopped dead in his tracks by a big boot to the grill.

Now in Georges St-Pierre to Matt Hughes style we hear Waller yell down at Sterling on the mat, “I’m not impressed by your performance!” He grabs a standing armbar on Sterling and yanks away at it until Sterling escapes. Now Waller jumps on Sterling’s back with a choke attempt and both guys crash through the ropes and out to the floor, with the choke still applied. Finally the two separate and the action returns inside the ring.

Once in the ring again, Sterling tries fighting back again but as has been the case every single time since Waller has gained the offensive control in this match, Waller cuts his comeback attempt extremely short. He hits a rolling Stunner from the floor to the ring and then heads to the middle rope and hits a flying elbow smash for a super close near fall attempt. He gives the wide-eyed shocked look after the pin attempt doesn’t finish Sterling off.

Waller grabs a hold of Sterling on the mat and rolls through, blasting him with elbows before cranking back on an arm submission on the beaten down foe. We see a close-up of bruises and welts all over the face and body of Sterling and he punches his way free. Sterling gets on top but Waller throws a triangle / armbar attempt up from the bottom and it threatens to finish Sterling off until he stands up, still in the hold, and stomps the face of Waller until he is free.

Both men are back on their feet and looking exhausted but are both trading shots. Sterling clotheslines Waller down and then decks him with a forearm. He hits a spinning heel kick, Sean Waltman style, and continues to fight away with one arm. He hits a flipping leg drop to the back of the neck of Waller as he is draped over the middle rope. Now with Waller on the floor looking to recover, Sterling hits a moonsault over the ropes from the ring to the floor and splashes on him.

He rolls him back in the ring and heads to the top. He looks for a 450 splash into a stomp but lands on his feet as Waller moves. Sterling hurricanranas Waller off the top and then hits a Baja 86 for the pin fall victory. An absolutely excellent main event from these two to cap off this week’s 205 Live. Thanks for joining us!

Winner: Ari Sterling