205 Live – December 12, 2018: Pay Per View Mode
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: December 12, 2018
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
We’re in an interesting place here as we have a Cruiserweight Title match set for Sunday, and that means we need something to fill in the gap before then. There’s a good chance that we’ll get a hard sell for the title match so whatever else we get could be rather interesting. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Drake Maverick introduces the show and explains tonight’s matches: Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander will be facing wrestlers Maverick has chosen. Murphy will face Gran Metalik while Alexander will face Tony Nese.
Buddy Murphy vs. Gran Metalik
Non-title. Kalisto and Lince Dorado are here, complete with pinatas. Murphy takes him straight down by the arm without much effort and gets reversed even faster. A few pulls of the mask keep Metalik down but he nips back up and scares Murphy into the corner. With Murphy knocked out to the floor, it’s a flip dive to put him in even more trouble.
A hurricanrana gives Metalik two but another flip dive off the middle rope is countered into a running suplex. The chinlock goes on (duh) for a few moments until Metalik fights up and drives Murphy into the corner for the eventual break. The rope walk dropkick gives Metalik two, followed by a superkick into the Metalik Driver for the same.
Murphy rolls away before Metalik can come off the to and it’s Metalik going hard into the announcers’ table. Back in and a top rope Meteora gives Murphy two but he charges into a superkick. Metalik’s moonsault misses and a Batista Bomb (that’s becoming popular around here) is good for another near fall. Murphy’s Law is countered into a rollup for two but Metalik springboards into a successful second attempt for the pin at 12:01.
Rating: B. Yeah this worked and served as a great way to showcase what Murphy can do. A lot of the time champions’ skills are forgotten due to them hiding behind the title but that wasn’t the case here, which made for a heck of a performance. Metalik more than did his part too and is quite great in his own right. Just get him away from the Lucha House Party shenanigans every now and then and those talents will show off even more.
We look back at Drew Gulak attacking Brian Kendrick last week.
Maverick tells Kendrick and Akira Tozawa that they’re going to be in a street fight with Gulak and Jack Gallagher next week. Kendrick talks about manipulating a lot of people and no one more than Tozawa. Now though, he’s a changed man. Tozawa agrees that he’s a changed man, but he looks the same. There seems to be an idea at hand.
Gulak and Gallagher say they attacked Kendrick in an attempt to save him. That will continue in the street fight.
We look back at the newly aggressive Ariya Daivari.
Daivari is tired of all the flash and no fight around here. Hideo Itami comes in to say he approves. That explanation has been used by WAY too many characters as of late.
Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander
Cedric backs him into the corner to start and we hit a quick pose with Alexander showing off his own muscles. An exchange of wristlocks doesn’t get either of them very far as it would seem that they have a lot of time here. Nese goes after the foot but Cedric headscissors him over, right onto his feet. Cedric scores with a dropkick and sends him outside but gets smacked in the face as he goes up top.
A neck snap across the top rope sets up a springboard moonsault for two on Cedric. The bodyscissors stays on the ribs but Cedric fights out, only to get taken down into a chinlock with a knee in his back. Cedric fights up and this time avoids the shot to the face in the corner, setting up the springboard Downward Spiral. A knee to the jaw in the corner and a springboard clothesline give Cedric two and Nese is rocked.
Nese starts striking away until Cedric kicks him hard in the head for another near fall. Alexander gets rocked by a forearm to the face and a running crossbody for two, with Nigel swearing over how close it was. Cedric is right back with a spinning elbow to the face but the Neutralizer is countered into a somewhat messed up Samoan drop for two more.
With Alexander on the floor, Nese hits a heck of a Fosbury Flop dive to take him out again. Back in and Nese misses the 450, allowing Alexander to snap off a Michinoku Driver for two of his own. Nese flips out of the Lumbar Check so Alexander Neuralizes him into the Lumbar Check for the pin at 13:53.
Rating: B. Another good performance from both guys here as Nese has gotten a lot better over the course of the year. Alexander has been great all along and there’s a reason he’s getting this kind of a push even after his long title reign. The match on Sunday should be very solid, and if you throw in Ali, who you know isn’t done.
Post match Murphy runs in, gets sent to the floor and taken out with a flip dive, and poses with the title on the stage to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. Well let’s see. Two very good matches and a strong build towards the only match they have on Sunday with a match being set up for next week as well. The title scene is starting to heat up and if the rest of the show can live up to it, they’ve got something very special around here. Check this one out if you want to see a really strong show and what 205 Live can pull off when they’re focused.
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