‘WWE 205 Live’ Review (Sept 19th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s 205 Live review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the debut of 205 Live in its new time-slot. Let’s knit!
Match #1: TJP def. Lince Dorado
The following is courtesy WWE.com:
With The Lucha House Party continuing their white-hot rivalry with Tony Nese and Buddy Murphy in the wake of The Juggernaut’s victory against Gran Metalik last week, the lucha trio turned their attention to the first-ever WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJP. Fully recovered from a thumb injury, Lince Dorado hoped to build momentum and show off his full range of abilities against the confident former WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Early in the contest, The Golden Lynx matched speed and agility with his opponent, forcing The Cruisergreat to recalibrate his approach. The winner of the Cruiserweight Classic did just that, catching Dorado in a guillotine submission on the ropes.
TJP maintained pressure with a variety of high-flying moves, impactful strikes and maneuvers designed to maximize punishment. Refusing to back down, Dorado battled back. Unfortunately for the lucha sensation, TJP maintained his edge and unleashed highly-focused methodical strikes designed to weaken Dorado for a submission assault. Focusing on his opponent’s upper body and arms, The Cruisergreat showcased his technical expertise, forcing Dorado to remain on defense, and any counterattacks were met with TJP’s overwhelming offense. However, TJP’s overconfidence did cost him, as his showboating allowed The Golden Lynx to recover and fight back, much to the delight of the WWE Universe. In an act of desperation while on defense, TJP countered a move from Dorado and pulled off The Golden Lynx’s mask. With Dorado forced to cover his face with his hands, TJP’s appalling display of disrespect allowed him to score the pinfall. After the match, The Fil-Am Flash took Dorado’s noisemaker, continuing to taunt his vanquished opponent before being chased to the locker room by Dorado.
My Take: 3 out of 5 – This was a fine match that moved well and had some fun every now and then. The idea here is to set up TJP and Lince as rivals, at least if you look at the ending of the match. This was not quite as wild as what these two may have once done with each other on the independent circuit, but it still had the vitality and spirit of those older bouts. This served as a solid opener, for my money at least.
Match #2: Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak – Cruiserweight Title Match
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Despite being scheduled for a title defense at WWE Super-Showdown against Buddy Murphy, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander refused to back down from Drew Gulak. The two collided at SummerSlam with Alexander retaining the title, but Gulak claimed the result was a fluke and immediately demanded another opportunity. After weeks of The Philadelphia Stretcher taunting and attacking The Soul of WWE 205 Live – and anyone else in his path – WWE 205 Live Drake Maverick had no choice but to make the match. Though Gulak was flanked by Gentleman Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick, Alexander remained unfazed and ready to silence his nemesis for good.
As the match got underway, Gulak took issue with the WWE Universe’s support for Alexander and grew angry as he and the champion calculated their first moves. However, a distraction from The Brian Kendrick allowed Gulak to quickly apply the Gulock and nearly come away with a victory. The presence of Gallagher and Kendrick split The Soul of WWE 205 Live’s focus, giving The Philadelphia Stretcher an advantage. A fighting champion, Alexander recovered and unleashed his own technical mastery, keeping his challenger grounded. With Gulak on defense, Kendrick tripped up Alexander. Rather than disqualifying Gulak, the official ejected Kendrick and Gallagher from ringside, and The Soul of WWE 205 Live wasted no time taking the fight back to Gulak as he argued about his allies being tossed from ringside.
Focusing on Gulak’s arm, the champion remained on the offensive until Gulak countered by slamming his foe with a devastating neck-driver. Irate, Gulak turned the tables and unleashed his own form of punishment on Alexander’s arm, shoulder and neck. Gulak continued to apply pressure to the champion, trying to force a submission, but the ever-resilient Alexander countered Gulak’s attempts at a suplex and dumped him over the ropes onto the arena floor with a jaw-dropping suplex of his own. Staving off a double-count out, both Superstars barely made it back into the ring before Alexander again unleashed on his challenger.
With victory in sight following an incredible flurry that left Gulak reeling, Alexander suddenly found himself trapped in the Gulock, but he preserved his championship reign after an agonizing struggle to get to the ropes and force a break. Gulak took control before the battle raged back and forth with a series of heart-stopping near-falls, leaving the WWE Universe on the edge of their seats. As the fight raged, Gulak once again locked Cedric in the Gulock, this time in the center of the ring, but the champion fought free by hoisting Gulak onto his shoulders and driving him into the turnbuckle to break the hold. Frustrated, Gulak unloaded a series of hard chops on the champion, and as Alexander fell to one knee, Gulak prepared for the knockout blow. However, Alexander countered with an elbow and wrecked the challenger with an incredible Lumbar Check for a hard-fought victory. After the match, Alexander’s WWE Super-Showdown challenger Buddy Murphy guaranteed that The Age of Alexander will end in The Juggernaut’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
My Take: 4 out of 5 – This was a fantastic match for the title. 205 Live may not always be as good as it can be, but when the title comes into the picture, 205 Live feels like a completely different show. I loved the tension in this one, as it felt like a proper title match, but it also worked as a grudge match. There were traces of the Japanese style of wrestling as well as Lucha Libre, among others in this bout. You can’t go wrong with a great main event and that’s what we got here.
News Of The Night:
- Lio Rush will face Noam Dar, next week.
- Mustafa Ali will face Hideo Itami, next week.
Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 – This was a fine card that was a big step above last week’s episode. Hopefully, the momentum carries into next week’s card, which looks to be as good as any in the near future.
