WWE 205 Live Review - July 31, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kalisto def. Tony Nese

Without the rest of the Lucha House Party and Buddy Murphy at ringside, this felt like any other outing these two have had over the last year: average at best. It was well-wrestled and had a nice pace, but I still can not bring myself to care about Nese, especially when he's on his own, because it's painfully apparent that he will never win when it matters most. The finish coming out of nowhere was kind of cool, though. Thankfully, they spiced things up afterward when Murphy and Lince Dorado got involved.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak Signed the Contract for Their WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match at SummerSlam

This had a similar format to the contract signing that recently took place on NXT with Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler in that it was held backstage, which was a refreshing change pace. The segment didn't overstay its welcome and both guys were great with the deliveries of their respective promos. Gulak calling Alexander the "Brock Lesnar of 205 Live" was a fantastic line as well. Here's hoping the Brooklyn crowd is kind to their match at SummerSlam.

Lio Rush def. Ricky Martinez

Rush is such a glorious asshole and I absolutely love it. He's quickly finding his footing on the mic and coming into his own as a heel. Of course, he already had the in-ring abilities to back it up and this was another impressive outing from him against a local athlete. Tozawa emerging post-match furthered the feud between himself and Rush, all but confirming that a rematch is inevitable.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander def. The Brian Kendrick (Non-title)

Kendrick is one of Gulak's buddies, so it made sense for Alexander to have to overcome him ahead of their championship clash at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, despite a strong effort from both men, the crowd was largely quiet for this contest. That hindered my enjoyment of their encounter only slightly, because otherwise, this was a very good match with quality commentary from Gulak to boot. Expect Gentleman Jack Gallagher attacking Alexander afterward to lead to a bout between them.

Overall Show

205 Live is typically a very well-rounded show, and while this week's edition was no exception, it wasn't incredibly exciting on the whole. Even though they didn't have a ton of crowd heat, the opening and closing matches were solid and furthered two different feuds. Meanwhile, Rush once again had the chance to showcase his skills in a quick squash and the contract signing was exactly what it needed to be. This wasn't the most must-see show in recent memory, but it was a fine hour of wrestling, nonetheless.