205 Live – December 26, 2018 (Best of 2018): The Proper Way To Do Things
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: December 26, 2018
Hosts: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness
It’s time for a Best of 2018 show and, in a statement I never thought I’d say about any non-NXT show, where do you begin? There was some outstanding material on 205 Live over the last year and a lot of that could be packed into this show. You could have your pick of the matches here and that’s not something I’d have bet on a year ago. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The hosts welcome us to the show and talk about Drake Maverick arriving to set up the Cruiserweight Title tournament.
From Wrestlemania.
Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
The title is vacant coming in, Drake Maverick is at ringside and Ali is SubZero for some reason. Cedric shouts a lot and they shake hands for the sake of good sportsmanship. An exchange of shoulders goes to Cedric so Ali snaps off a hurricanrana for our first standoff. Back up and Cedric flips away to grab a headscissors, followed by a dropkick for two. Ali gets sent to the floor and taken down by a big flip dive but there’s no commercial, despite the announcers sounding like they were sending us to one. Nice change of pace for once.
Back in and we hit a waistlock to keep Ali down and a high backdrop gives Cedric two. Another waistlock and a knee to the ribs keep Cedric on target as he certainly has a game plan. Cedric plants him with a Spanish Fly and counters a tornado DDT by crotching Ali on top. With Ali stunned, Cedric goes up as well but gets caught in a super Spanish Fly, which even impresses Cena. The 054 is broken up with a shove to the floor and now we go to the inset ad for Rousey’s debut. At least they didn’t show this in the stadium, which would have almost been just as annoying as showing the whole thing.
Back with Cedric getting caught in a reverse hurricanrana and now the tornado DDT connects. The 054 hits this time but Cedric gets his foot on the ropes. Another 054 attempt misses and Alexander elbows him in the head. Ali gets elbowed down again and the Lumbar Check gives him the title at 12:18.
Rating: B-. This was a lot less competitive than I remember it being as Alexander dominated from the beginning and ran over Ali save for a little flurry near the end. Alexander winning is the right call and I’m glad neither of them went heel here. They both looked good but Ali was a step behind what he usually does here. I had a good time with it and Cedric winning is a feel good moment. That’s all you could ask for here.
Cedric talks about how special that was because his family, including his daughter, got to see it. Winning the title was amazing but it hurt even more to lose it at Super Show-Down.
Time for some New Year’s Resolutions.
Hideo Itami: respect me or he’ll break your face.
Akira Tozawa wants the Cruiserweight Title back.
TJP is going to get Drake Maverick fired.
Noam Dar wants a nice, stable relationship with anyone not named Alicia Fox.
Mike and Maria Kanellis are going to use the power of love to ruin lives.
Video on Lucha House Party.
Video on Buddy Murphy.
From Super Show-Down.
Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy
Alexander is defending but Murphy is the hometown boy. The confident Murphy shoves him in the face and gets two off an early knee. Cedric has to bail to the floor so Murphy hits a huge flip dive over the top. Back in and a top rope Meteora gets two more as Alexander is writhing in pain. A kick to the arm gets two more and we hit the chinlock.
The fans are entirely behind Murphy (well duh), even as he puts Alexander on top but charges into a running Michinoku Driver for two. The springboard spinning Downward Spiral (third time in one form or another tonight) sends Murphy to the floor with Alexander hitting his own running flip dive.
Back in and Cedric puts him on top but gets caught in a sitout powerbomb for two more. A jumping knee to the face looks to set up Murphy’s Law but Alexander reverses into a rollup for two. The Lumbar Check gets two, which is one of the only times that’s ever happened (Alexander’s bugged out eyes are a great touch). The springboard clothesline is countered with another knee to the face and Murphy’s Law is enough for the pin and the title at 10:30.
Rating: B-. That was the only option they had here as there was no reason to not change the title. Alexander has held the title for months now and isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. They can switch the title back if they really want to, but this was the only choice they had and thankfully they figured that out.
Murphy says he isn’t losing this title so he might as well retire as champion. If you don’t like that, do something about it.
Top Ten Moments of 2018:
10. Tony Nese powerbombs Lio Rush to the floor.
9. Roderick Strong’s debut.
8. Mike and Maria Kanellis’ debut.
7. Cedric Alexander suplexes Drew Gulak to the floor.
6. Noam Dar returns.
5. Lio Rush’s debut.
4. Akira Tozawa’s top rope backsplash to break up a surfboard.
3. TJP steals Lucha House Party’s masks.
2. Drew Gulak turns on Brian Kendrick.
1. Mustafa Ali’s 450 through Hideo Itami through a table.
Drew Gulak wants to fix 205 Live from glorified stuntmen.
We look at Mustafa Ali becoming #1 contender on October 31.
From Survivor Series.
Cruiserweight Title: Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy
Murphy is defending. Ali hits him in the face a few times but gets tossed into the corner. That just earns Murphy a hurricanrana to the floor, meaning it’s a big flip dive to take him down. Ali goes up top again but Murphy shoves him all the way into the barricade for a great looking crash.
Back in and Murphy hammers away at the head and we hit the chinlock. Ali fights up and hits a dropkick but the rolling X Factor is countered with a big toss to the floor. That means the running flip dive from Murphy but Ali is right back with a spinwheel kick to drop Murphy. Now a hanging DDT can connect for two on the champ but the 054 is countered with a shove off the top.
Murphy loads up the announcers’ table but Ali is right there with a Spanish Fly off the table to the floor. That gets a rather hearty 205 chant and Murphy keeps the fans’ interest with back to back powerbombs. Murphy’s Law is countered so Murphy knees him in the face, setting up Murphy’s Law to retain at 12:20.
Rating: B. This was the usually awesome Ali match but the loss took away so much of the energy they had built up. I’m really not sure what the point was in having Ali lose again here but that’s been the case for him every single time. It’s a shame that he’s stuck on 205 Live where no one gets to see how good he really is.
Ali credits 205 Live with sending him to Smackdown. The brands have changed but the flight doesn’t. He might be back one day though.
Maverick needs to announce a new #1 contender and he has an idea. There will be three qualifying matches over the next two weeks with the winners advancing to a fatal four way title match at the Royal Rumble. Next week it’s Kalisto vs. Lio Rush and Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak, followed by Cedric Alexander vs. Hideo Itami in two weeks.
Overall Rating: B. It’s kind of amazing that the Best of 205 Live doesn’t feature any 205 Live. That being said, the stuff we got was outstanding as the big matches from this division are as entertaining as you can find at the moment. They crank up the action every time they’re on the card and the matches have gotten better and better every time. There’s some great stuff here and the Best of format is a better choice than the weekly shows. Really fun show here, which is the point of something like this.
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