Last week on 205 Live: Buddy Murphy beat Gran Metalik and then cuts a promo about how he, Buddy Murphy will beat Cedric Alexander for the cruiserweight title at Super Show Down in his home country of Australia, Mustafa Ali no long suffers from exhaustion and was inexplicably put into a match that Ali easily won, Cedric Alexander remains undefeated in 2018.
Cold Open
We jump to the Gulak vs. Alexander championship match from the Summerslam preshow that Alexander won. Drew Gulak gets a black and white promo where he demands a rematch. Drake Maverick said Drew had to earn the rematch. Drew Gulak kept interfering in 205 Live’s broadcast and finally got under Alexander’s skin enough to get the title match. AND IT’S TONIGHT!
TJP vs. Lince Dorado
I don’t have the stats but I’m pretty sure since Lucha House Party’s inception they have been the opening match on 205. I like how only one member of the faction come to the ring. Gran Metalik and Kalisto are paid to walk down the ramp and back backstage.
Lince Dorado is really trying hard to get the crowd to chant “lucha” but they are pretty dead right now. I don’t know if 205 is filmed before or after Smackdown Live! now that the Mixed Match Challenge is underway. All I know is that 205 is moved to airing Wednesday’s. We’ve seen enough 205 not Live jokes though so I don’t need to say any.
After TJP did the Pentagon arm break on Lince. TJP tried to grab Dorado but Lince was squirming and fighting TJP off in a very realistic way, like a wounded animal. It was nice. The crowd even started clapping in support of Lince Dorado. “Let’s go Lucha” chant which is hilarious to me. The crowd wants to support but not enough people know Lince’s name. They also could do the “Lu-Cha” chant but don’t do that either. Let’s go lucha! Good lucha things!
TJP is dominating this match, like ridiculously dominating. Hitting springboards and submissions and playing to the crowd. Lince hits one move and we get a 10 count with both men down. One of my favorite spots in wrestling only because the ref rarely starts the count when both men are down. Good on you Charles Robinson.
Side note: You can tell no one remembers Tye Dillinger because the crowd counted along with Charles Robinson and didn’t just say “TEN”
Lince was able to do a monkey flip and dive outside. Now after the dive, like a typical cruiserweight match, there is a battle on top of the turnbuckle. Nothing substantial comes from it, actually nothing happens at all. There is a fight on top of the turnbuckle that leads both men back inside the ring. TJP is able to get a win by pulling off Lince’s mask and winning with a roll up. What’s weird is when TJP was celebrating his victory on the outside he hit the “cero miedo” taunt that Pentagon Jr. does.
Lio Rush is backstage with Drake Maverick trying to get out of a match with Noam Dar. Both men talk about how they are on Raw. Drake says Lio won’t be paid unless he fulfills his 205 Live commitments.
If you get a chance, give Noam Dar a follow on Twitter because he has this running gag where he tweets and retweets bad things about Lio Rush.
Drake Maverick has a conversation with Mustafa Ali. Ali asks if Drake as any good news for him. Even though Ali already wrestled, he is asking for clearance from Drake Maverick to wrestle Hideo Itami. So basically Mustafa can beat dudes that aren’t on the roster because they aren’t top talent. Mustafa is cleared to wrestle Hideo Itami next week. The crowd actually popped for this a bit. I wonder how many people actually watch 205.
Cruiserweight Championship
Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak (w/ Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick)
Drew Gulak comes out looking more serious than ever. Cedric Alexander comes out to some cheers from the crowd. The commentary team goes over the list of all the people Cedric Alexander has beaten this year. Really laying the ‘undefeated all year’ butter on thick.
“Let’s go Cedric” chants from a majority of the crowd before the combatants even touch. Brian Kendrick distracts Cedric and Gulak almost locks the Gulock on. This lets us know that the guys on the outside are dangerous and Gulak can win at any moment. Cedric needs to keep his head on a swivel and over come the mental and physical odds.
The commentary are putting excellent lyrics to the music the wrestlers are making. I am starting to appreciate this commentary team more. While Cedric and Drew continue the ‘feeling out process’, commentary is telling us what Gulak did to earn the match and the history of these two men. Percy Watson and Nigel McGuiness work together here and in NXT, they seem to have developed quite the chemistry. Percy has come a long way.
Jack and Brian get caught being naughty and the referee sends them to the back. We have a legit one-on-one match. Commentary bring up how Cedric’s game plan has changed because he is no longer at a disadvantage. Nigel mentions that if Cedric loses he has no one to blame but himself now.
The wrestling is back and forth with both men choosing certain body parts to work over. What I am enamored with is this commentary. For real they have no wasted sentences and add so much to this match. I’m pretty floored by this.
Gulak drops Cedric on his head with a backdrop driver that changes the complexion of the match. Vic Joseph says that Gulak targeted Alexander’s neck at Summerslam and is targeting the neck again. Cedric is working on Gulak’s arm. The crowd is solely behind Cedric Alexander. This match is a real slow burn at the moment.
This match started with about a half hour left in the show, which means we are in store for a classic. They are at a pace slow enough to make me think we are in for the long haul. What’s nice to hear is that the crowd is behind this match and seem interested in the action.
Then these two do probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while. If you were on Twitter during this I assume you’ve seen the gif.
Unreal awareness and control shown by @CedricAlexander! pic.twitter.com/YB2ZGrNNt3
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) September 19, 2018
Like Holy SHIT! Bravo to both men on that move. Really got the crowd hot for the match. Brought this match to the next gear and added more drama than I thought could be added.
After a near fall the crowd gets a bit louder and really reacts to Alexander’s offense. This man is a star that gets over in front of the crowd every week for WRESTLING. It’s the same thing Buddy Murphy has been doing lately which makes me think Super Show Down’s match of the night will most likely go to the cruiserweights.
Gulak locked in the Gulock and almost won. The commentary team are leaning hard into the idea that Cedric is so close to losing. I don’t think anyone truly believes Drew is winning the belt and ending Cedric’s undefeated streak before the special event.
Both Gulak and Cedric are fighting to stand up and the crowd is chanting “let’s go Cedric”. We get a picture in picture of Buddy Murphy watching the match. Cuts back to the match where another near fall happens off of a Michinoku Driver from Cedric Alexander. Both men are down and the ref is doing a ten count!! Oh man these ref’s on 205 are my favorite.
Drew Gulak had to dig deep… so deep he gave up everything he has stood for on 205 Live. Drew has campaigned against jumping off the top rope for over a year. Drew was driven to go to the top rope and hit a flying clothesline. He only got a two count but that was a great little thread to add to this story. Drew is able to hit the Gulock in but Cedric will not give up. Cedric is able to use his strength to life Gulak up and drop Drew on the middle turnbuckle.
This match has gotten to strike battle territory and Gulak starts laying in soe stiff ass slaps. Cedric is able to counter a strike into a Lumbar Check. Cedric retains the title in a fantastic match. The crowd is giving a semi standing ovation and I am with them. Great stuff in between the purple ropes tonight!
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