Previously on 205 Live, the cruiserweight championship tournament continued, with Mark Andrews upsetting former cruiserweight champion Akira Tozawa, and Drew Grulak dialing up the intensity to a thousand and destroying Tony Nese.
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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE 205 Live for February 20, 2018.
Best: Air Bud
Welcome to the show, Buddy Murphy. The final day of first round matches starts with the final debut of new talent to NXT. Murphy, my second-favorite Mr. Bliss, had to shed 20-plus pounds to qualify for 205 Live. I like this idea they added that there is an official weight in every Monday to make sure people still qualify for the division. Those holiday shows must be pretty dicey.
Murphy looked good, and brings a great look with great size to the division, but this match didn’t do much for me. Not really his fault, though. Daivari really grew his character during his work in the Zo Train, but is still probably the blandest in-ring guy on the show. I really do love his character though, and now that Enzo is gone, “Persian Privilege” should really play up the rich guy heel stuff. Throw those fun coupons around, man.
Buddy Murphy wins with a Whale Hunt, and looks to be a major player in the future of the division. I still think Ali definitely making his way to the semi finals, but I think he’ll make Murphy look like a million bucks along the way.
Best?: Fiesta De Casa
Of all the things I was expecting in an under an hour episode of 205 Live in the middle of the cruiserweight championship tournament, a jobber squash match was probably the last possible thing. So congrats Drake Maverick — just when I think you’re going to zig, you zag.
It was a decent little tag match that showed that, despite the tournament, lucha bros are 4 LIFE. It’s weird that WWE didn’t think to even upload the match to Youtube. Vic and Nigel were pushing the LUCHA HOUSE PARTY super hard. (The latest in the House Party Cinematic Universe!) Lince continues to be my favorite of the luchadors of 205 Live, and the Golden Rewind is up near the top of finishes.
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/966157842259509248
Best: Bracketology
Now that the first round is completed, we’re finally given the bracket for the tournament. It’s not much of a surprise — but it is to finally see the potential match ups in the semi finals. I’m surprised that Cedric Alexander and TJP is a quaterfinal match. That seems like something that could be a semi final, or could believably be a WrestleMania match for the title.
Best: Mustafa Ali And The Art Of Getting Murdered
The WWE YouTube video here is only three and a half minutes long, so you owe it to yourself to watch the whole thing. Damn.
The first thing of note was “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher taking Drake Maverick’s advice and moving to a more traditional ring attire. I’m not a fan. I thought the suit and ACTION SLACKS really let Gallagher stand out and added to his menacing persona, but that will be the only knock against this match.
Mustafa Ali is a star. I’ve mentioned it before here, and I’m sure countless other people than myself have said the same thing, but the man is the best pure babyface in the company. And part of being a great babyface is being able to take a beating. And my lord, did Mustafa Ali take a beating in this one. I’m a sucker for a slower, more methodical working a body part match, so I was in from the beginning. I know some people thought the match started too slow, but I thought it had a great pace and built up to the bigger and bigger spots.
Ali has to be the best seller in the company, too. Between this match and his classic with Cedric before the tournament started, I’ve been worked twice now into thinking that Ali has legitimately been hurt. I mean,
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/966162764199792640
this was just incredible, right?
I’ve heard from some who didn’t like the finish. That after getting his arm worked for 15 minutes and getting absolutely wrecked along the way, he was able to just hit a few moves and win the match just like that. But I like that. Mustafa is all about heart and surviving. He’s going to take a beating, but if you can’t put him away, it’s just a matter of time before he can strike for the win. It showed with Gallagher getting more and more desperate as the match went on.
I think we’re getting Ali versus Gulak in the semi finals, and honestly I’d be happy with either one of them moving on.
Next week: The quarter final matches start where presumptive favorite Cedric Alexander faces CWC winner TJP and former Cruiserweight champion Kalisto faces Roderick Strong.
