- Last week on 205 Live, Cedric Alexander proved the world wrong by winning in his "hometown", retaining the Cruiserweight Championship against Buddy Murphy in one of the best WWE TV matches in 2018... Jack Gallagher and THE Brian Kendrick were victorious over the Lucha House Party and might have a relationship brewing with Drew Gulak... Drake Maverick addressed TJP's desire to move on from 205 Live, basically calling him a whiner who is more worried with his social media status.
- Presented LIVE on the WWE Network from Corpus Christi, TX. Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson are calling the action, unless otherwise noted. We get a video package to open the show, narrated by Drake Maverick, running down last week's happenings and hyping what we'll be seeing in the coming hour, including a Main Event rematch between "The Heart of 205 Live" Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy. They're all-time series is set at 1-1 for those keeping track.
- Post-match, Gulak nails Kalisto from behind and puts the boots to Lince Dorado until being chased away by Kalisto and Gran Metalik.
- Highlights of last weeks match between Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy.
- Mustafa Ali cuts a promo from the locker room. He's proud of Cedric, and tonight he's going to prove he deserves another opportunity at the Cruiserweight Title. Does Buddy Murphy have enough heart, because Mustafa Ali has the heart of a Champion.
- Lio Rush is coming to 205 Live. He calls himself a 23-year old piece of gold and calls himself a living legend. It's only a matter of time before 205 Live feels the Rush. Interesting. Rush has only made a handful of NXT appearances, having been taken off TV for a while due to some controversial comments he made at the expense of Tenille Dashwood's release back in October. He's worked NXT live events, with Babatunde as his bodyguard.
- Next week on 205 Live: The Lucha House Party vs. Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher, and THE Brian Kendrick in Six-Man Tag Team Action.
- Dasha Fuentes interrupts a conversation between Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese. Oh God, don't lump Murphy in with a loser like Nese. Murphy says he's still the juggernaut of the division.
They trade blows in the center of the ring, with neither man getting a clear advantage. Ali avoids the punt and connects with a spinning heel kick. Murphy catches him coming off the ropes with a forearm but runs into another Super-Kick. Murphy misses a charge to the corner and eats a roundhouse kick. Ali tries the rolling X-Factor but Murphy knees him in mid-air for a near fall. Murphy pulls Ali to the apron for a suplex. Ali escapes and avoids a charge, causing Murphy to crash into the post. Ali with the rolling X-Factor on the apron and rolls Murphy back inside for two. Murphy with a handful of tights, throwing Ali into the corner. Murphy with a corner Super-Kick and an overhead slam into a DDT for two. Murphy follows Ali out of the ring for some trash talking. Ali avoids having his head stomped into the canvas, sweeps Murphy off the apron, and comes off the ropes with a Tornado DDT on the floor! He rolls Murphy back in and heads to the top rope for the 054, but Itami shows up and knocks him off the top rope for the Disqualification at 12:11. Itami lays into Ali with rights, then nails Murphy in the corner with a basement dropkick. Itami with the watered-down version of the GTS on Ali to close the show. This was just a notch below their previous matches, and with a cop-out finish to insert Hideo Itami into the mix (unfortunately). ***3/4
Final Thoughts: Another strong Main Event. As much as Itami has not impressed me in his WWE run, it adds a new name to the mix, so we don't get endless matches between the same few people. Gulak and Company vs. the Luchas rolls on, and I'm just not feeling this rivalry since it seems like a rehash of Gulak's angle with Ali from last spring. Bringing Lio Rush into the fold seems like a solid move to add depth to the roster, and I'm actually interested in where the TJP angle goes.