Previously on 205 Live: Tony Nese and Buddy Murphy won a match over the Lucha House Party, Noam Dar picked up a babyface win over Sean Maluta and Mustafa Ali fainted while on the top rope in a match won by Hideo Itami.
Cold Open
Drake Maverick goes through the past few weeks of feuding between Lio Rush and Akira Tozawa resulting in a match tonight and Jack Gallagher fights Cedric Alexander a few days before Summerslam.
Akira Tozawa vs. Lio Rush
Lio Rush cuts a promo on his way to the ring and he does a great job at being a heel because I CAN’T STAND THE MAN.
The match starts with a tad bit of back and forth until Tozawa lands a kick on Lio. Lio begs Akira to give him space because Lio still needs to remove his jewelry. Rush tries to distract Tozawa by throwing his bracelet at Akira but to no avail.
It doesn’t take long before both men are on the outside, which leads to the obligatory 205 dives. The crowd is pretty dead, which seems to be the normal response for opening 205 matches.
Neither man can really gain an advantage, every time one Superstar lands a big move, the other is quick to recover and counter. It seems that the story is Lio attempting to wear Tozawa down by using moves that make it hard for Akira to breath. I say it SEEMS that that is the story because Akira does not let up on offense and has more gas in the tank then Lio thinks.
Lio is able to fend off Tozawa as they fight for superplex control. Rush finishes Akira off with a frog splash for the victory. A very basic match that at times was hard to follow what they were trying to do. I don’t know if it was the competitors fault or I was just distracted.
Drew Gulak gets the video package treatment on who he is as a person and wrestler. He is a mat based submission wrestler that has quite a mean streak.
Recap of Ali vs. Itami where Ali was semi-conscious on the top rope. Showing that Itami was relentless in his attacks to Ali’s head after Ali had his top rope fainting. Drake Maverick is interviewed about Ali. Maverick says Ali suffers from severe exhaustion and will make a recovery. He won’t be able to compete until Drake says so though.
Hideo Itami vs. Trent Newman
Trent Newman is making his debut. I recognize him as Tracer X from when I used to watch NWA: Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Itami cuts a promo in Japanese but ends with “I ended Mustafa Ali. I stomped the heart of 205 Live.”
Itami is right on the attack with strikes to Newman in the corner. Trent is able to stun Itami after two successive strikes and goes for a quick roll-up, Itami does not get rolled up. Hideo starts knocking the snot out of Newman. Going as far as getting multiple two counts and pulling Trent’s head up.
This beating is brutal and making me uncomfortable. Newman is basically dead in the ring and Hideo is relentless in his attacks. Hideo wins by knock out, the ref couldn’t handle it. Itami goes back to beat on Trent a bit more and debut what I believe is a new move. It’s similar to the GTS except instead of starting with a fireman’s carry, he starts like a Cross Rhodes.
Cedric Alexander gets the video package treatment on how he is ready for anything. He is ready for Jack Gallagher tonight and ready for Gulak at Summerslam. Alexander has been undefeated in 2018.
Tony Nese and Buddy Murphy are talking it Drake Maverick. Drake congratulates them on their victories over LHP. He then chastises them for cheating to win and makes a match for next week. Lucha House Party vs. Nese and Murphy in a tornado tag. Noam Dar vs. TJP is also announced for next week.
Cedric Alexander vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher
I don’t expect Gallagher to win tonight. We just saw a video package of Alexander saying he is undefeated in 2018. There is no way 205 Live has the champion lose a non-title match the week before the big title defense.
Jack enters the ring alone. The commentary team says Gulak and Kendrick are banned from ringside per Drake Maverick.
The bell rings and commentary goes into how Drew Gulak will be at his most dangerous going into Summerslam. Gallagher and Alexander are starting off slow with some tie-ups that lead to rope breaks. That quickly leads to a few pinning combinations. They transition from that to some signature athletic spots that has Cedric come out on top.
Jack slides under the ring and pops back in the ring behind Cedric to gain the upper hand. Some brilliant wrestling that showcases the strengths in each Superstar possesses and how even both men are in abilities. Jack shows his wickedness and intelligence while staying in control. Gallagher wrestles his character and it’s beautiful.
The crowd sympathizes with Cedric and are becoming more vocal for him. They start clapping to show their support and Alexander attempts to fight back but Jack’s attack won’t be deterred.
Jack is pulling out many creative submissions. Nigel explains to us what the submissions are and the reason Gallagher is choosing certain submissions. Gallagher is targeting the body parts that Gulak’s finisher targets. This is a great example of commentary putting the lyrics to the music the wrestlers create.
Cedric has a never say die attitude and he continues to fight back. He can sustain the momentum thought because he keeps nursing his shoulder and neck. Gallgaher’s attack is paying off, and paying off early. Commentary keeps telling us that Cedric will be feeling the pain in his shoulder on Sunday going into his championship match.
Cedric goes for a Lumbar Check but Jack is able to counter mid move into a guillotine choke. Alexander powers out of the choke by hitting a falcon arrow which takes ALOT out of Jack.
Both men are giving it their all. Jack lines up Cedric for big strike but Cedric reverses it with a Spanish Fly for the win. As Alexander has his hand raised the commentary team says that Cedric’s neck will be very weak for his match against Gulak. This really keeps Gallagher strong because it helps us understand that Jack was there to do a job and do it well.
Nigel tells us that Cedric won with a move that wasn’t the Lumbar Check, which will help with the near falls in the Summerslam match. As Alexander makes his way up the ramp he is attack by The Brian Kendrick. Cedric is able to fight off Brian but Drew Gulak attacks Cedric and puts Alexander in the Gulock. Cedric passes out while Gulak poses with the Cruiserweight Title. Is this the end of the Age of Alexander?
