WWE 205 Live Review - January 30, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan Introduced Drake Maverick as the New General Manager of 205 Live

I randomly threw out Rey Mysterio's name as a candidate for the 205 Live GM, but I'm honestly happier that the spot was instead given to the former Rockstar Spud (and the commentators briefly referred to him by that name before he spoke). I love Mysterio and hope he gets one more run with the company, but he should be wrestling, not doing GM stuff. Maverick, on the other hand, is perfect in this role. He would be overshadowed in the matter of a week if he was wrestling. This was a great introduction to Maverick and I really like the idea of a tournament being held to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion as well as it culminating at WrestleMania 34 (hopefully not on the Kickoff show).

Cedric Alexander def. Gran Metalik in a WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament First Round Match

Alexander has been killing it lately and Metalik is just an excellent wrestler, so unsurprisingly, this was a strong start to the tournament. Many fans sleep on Metalik because very rarely is he allowed to showcase his skills, but I thought he had an awesome outing here. He and Alexander worked very well together despite both men being babyfaces and the crowd not having an incentive to cheer one guy over the other. Alexander needed to advance, but I wish Metalik had faced someone else so he could have advanced to the next round as well.

TJP def. Tyler Bate in a WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament First Round Match

Bate previously appeared on 205 Live late last year and lost to Enzo Amore, so this was a way better use of him. Granted, I wouldn't have had him lose to TJP in the first round, but I guess this is merely another one-off for Bate on the program. As a match, though, this was very entertaining, even if the crowd wasn't too hot for the action. TJP is finally coming into his own as a heel, so him cheating to pick up the victory was well done.

Overall Show

Can 205 Live be on the verge of a much-needed reboot at long last? We have an outstanding new authority figure in Maverick, Enzo is gone, and a tournament is being held to crown the next Cruiserweight Champion. Everyone enjoys a good tourney, and the first two matchups delivered in spades. I appreciated that they advertised Kalisto vs. Lince Dorado as well as Hideo Itami vs. Roderick Strong (!!!) for next week, too. If 205 Live can keep this up going forward, it can become what it should have been from the beginning. Now just if WWE taped it before SmackDown Live...