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Csonka’s WWE 205 Live Review 8.14.18

August 14, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
WWE 205 Live Review 8.14.18
7.5
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s WWE 205 Live Review 8.14.18  

Csonka’s WWE 205 Live Review 8.14.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Lio Rush defeated Akira Tozawa @ 7:55 via pin [***]
– Hideo Itami defeated Hammond Edgar @ 2:45 via referee stoppage [NR]
Non-Title Match: Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Jack Gallagher @ 14:04 via pin [***½]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– I looked at “6 Ideas For Extra WWE Programming on The Fox Networks” at this link.

– You can check out my top 31 matches of JULY list at this link.

MY LATEST APPEARANCE ON SUNDAY NIGHT’S MAIN EVENT!

– Lio Rush runs down the fans, city, and state but says they are lucky as they get to see him compete tonight. He’s come to collect tonight, Tozawa was one of the best in the world, but HE is the best, he’s Mr. Lio-5 Live. Tonight, Tozawa feels the rush.

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa: Lio won their first meeting, and Tozawa demanded the rematch. Tozawa attacks at the bell, lays in strikes but Lio picks up the pace only to run into a RANA. He begs off and tosses his jewelry to Tozawa and tries to attack but then walks off to the back. Tozawa cuts him off and drags him back into the ring. Lio then kicks Tozawa to the floor and follows, but Tozawa cuts him off with strikes. Back in, Tozawa up top and hits a missile dropkick for 2. Tozawa lays the boots to him and then lays in clubbing strikes. Lio manages to post Tozawa and hits a belly to back suplex for 1. Lio grounds the action, Tozawa fights back and hits the PK but Lio blocks the senton with the knees. Lio works him over in the corner, and again grounds the action. Tozawa counters out and dump Lio to the floor. The suicide dive connects. Tozawa is fired up and takes it back into the ring, Tozawa now locks on an octopus stretch. Lio fights, but drops to a knee, but then powers up into a cradle for 2. The spin kick connects for 2. Lio is frustrated, heads up top and Tozawa cuts him off and follows him up. Lio fights off the superplex, and knocks Tozawa to the mat. The frog splash finishes it. Lio Rush defeated Akira Tozawa @ 7:55 via pin [***] This was a good back and forth opening match, with Lio being taken into deeper waters, but overcoming in the end, going 2-0 against the former Cruiserweight champion and 5-0 overall on 205 Live.

– We get a very well done Drew Gulak video package.

– Gulak & Kendrick help Gallagher warm up for tonight’s main event.

– We get highlights of last week’s Itami vs. Ali match, and Ali’s issues during and post match, playing into his recent hospital stay. Drake Maverick is here to provide an update. Ali is suffering from severe exhaustion, and he takes some of the blame for that. Ali will be ok, but Ali will not compete until Maverick is satisfied that he’s 100%.

Hideo Itami vs. Hammond Edgar: Itami attacks right away with strikes, lays in uppercuts and then yells about respect. Edgar fires back, but Itami cuts him off and hits a vicious lariat. More strikes follow and Itami covers for 1 and pulls him up. He does the deal with the falcon arrow, but pulls him up again. Itami lays in kicks, and the corner dropkick connects and then another. The ref calls for the stoppage. Hideo Itami defeated Hammond Edgar @ 2:45 via referee stoppage [NR] Respect Him.

– Itami then lays him out post match.

– We get a Cedric Alexander video package, discussing the preparation for Sunday’s title match.

– Drake Maverick meets with Nese & Murphy and says next week, they will face Lucha House Party in a tornado tag match. Also, Noam Dar vs. TJP III.

Champion Cedric Alexander vs. Jack Gallagher: Gulak & Kendrick are banned from ringside. Gallagher plays keep away to begin, constantly retreating to the ropes. They trade a series of pin attempts, Gallagher to the corner and they work into back and forth until Alexander hits a head scissors and dropkick. Gallagher to the floor, under the ring, and then sneak attacks the champion. He attacks with strikes, but Alexander dumps him and follows with a dropkick. Alexander lays in chops, but Gallagher posts him and then takes control, and Nigel makes sure to mention that Gallagher is now attacking the neck to set up Gulak’s Gu-Lock submission. Gallagher keeps the action grounded, and lays the boots to Alexander. He continues to work the neck and shoulder area, but Alexander slowly fires up with strikes until Gallagher cuts him off with a neck breaker for 2. Gallagher follows with a Japanese strangle hold, continuing his focused offense. He transitions to a cravat, keeping Alexander grounded. Alexander finally escapes with an atomic drop and hits rolling suplexes, the back elbow and back handspring kick for 2. Gallagher attacks with elbows to the neck, but Alexander cuts him off and hits the springboard clothesline for 2. Alexander follow with chops, but Gallagher stun guns him off the ropes. Gallagher follows with a knee drop to the back of the neck of the top for 2. The crossface follows, Alexander fights, and escapes. Gallagher follows with rights, they trade strikes now, but Gallagher counters the lumbar check into a guillotine. Alexander fights and powers out into a Michinoku driver. Gallagher battles back and goes John Wooooooooooo for a near fall. The powerbomb follows for 2. Alexander counters a charge into the Spanish fly for the win. Champion Cedric Alexander defeated Jack Gallagher @ 14:04 via pin [***½] This was a very good main event, and it was nice to see Gallagher get some time to shine. While a very good match, I LOVED the method behind its madness. If you’re a fan of Star Trek: Voyager, you’ll recognize this as “The Kazon Gambit.” The Kazon Gambit sees the enemy engage in a series of attacks or battles, but not with the goal of winning. Their goal is to attack the primary target, and focus on weakening one key point, so when the final battle comes, the target is significantly weakened in that area enough for the attackers to finally have a clear path to victory. Alexander was the target, and Gulak used Kendrick & Gallagher over these past few weeks to attack and hopefully weaken the neck of Alexander enough so that if he gets the chance to lock in the GU-LOCK at Summerslam he can win.

– Post match, Kendrick arrives and jumps Alexander. Gallagher joins in, but Alexander fights them off and Gulak sneaks behind up him and locks in the GU-LOCK, and lays out Alexander before posing with the cruiserweight title.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

 photo fe36ffd0-0da4-4e3b-a2d3-b026b341dd87_zps41ef5d61.jpg
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
This week’s episode of WWE 205 Live was a good, strong, and focused episode of TV. Lio Rush and Hideo Itami continue to gain momentum, they set up two matches for next week that have a lot of build behind them and did a great job of setting up Sunday’s Gulak vs. Alexander match.
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