WWE 205 Live Review - January 9, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Noam Dar def. Tony Nese

I haven't seen Dar or Nese in action on 205 Live in several weeks, so it was cool to see them given a chance to shine and have a competitive match. It was far from a barn-burner, mind you, but for the time they were allotted, it was a well-wrestled affair. It's a shame the crowd wasn't more invested in the action, but I can't say I blame them considering how neither guy has been a real player on this show in a great while.

Hideo Itami def. Cedric Alexander to Qualify for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Fatal 4-Way Match at the Royal Rumble

Itami has been receiving a renewed push as of late with Ariya Daivari serving as his ally. He's also become a bit more aggressive in the ring, which has helped make his matches more entertaining. Alexander, on the other hand, can always be counted on for a quality contest and this was another excellent encounter between them. It wasn't as strong as their clash over the Cruiserweight Championship a few months ago, but it was still a lot of fun. It took some time for them to pick up the pace, but once they did, they killed it and the final stretch in particular was wonderful. Alexander losing clean was interesting, leading me to believe a move to either Raw or SmackDown Live might be on the horizon for him.

Overall Show

205 Live was shorter than usual this week with only two matches and a few backstage segments spliced in. It was a solid show on the whole, though, as the opener was enjoyable for what it was and Alexander vs. Itami delivered. We also now know who will be vying for the Cruiserweight title at the Royal Rumble later this month, so I assume the next few weeks will be devoted to building that bout up. Next week's episode will feature an open challenge from Buddy Murphy, so look for one of the new rumored faces to answer the call. ACH? Trevor Lee? Who's your pick?