WWE 205 Live Review - June 26, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Akira Tozawa def. Tony Nese

I feel like I've seen this match no less than a dozen times over the last year or so, and over time, all of their encounters start to blend together. Although this was nothing new from them, it was a nice little match while it lasted, designed to get Tozawa back on track with another victory. It was weird for Buddy Murphy to be in Nese's corner if he wasn't going to factor into the finish at all, so we'll see where that leads.

Lio Rush def. Dewey James

Ruhs is as incredible and athletic as they come, but in addition to showcasing his skills in this match, he showed some personality by taking his time removing his jewelry and coming across like an arrogant prick. This was fairly brief, but even in that short span of time, Rush proved to the audience just how exciting he is to watch in the ring. His post-match promo was also effective in establishing him as a hated heel and one to watch on 205 Live.

Drew Gulak, The Brian Kendrick, Gentleman Jack Gallagher def. Kalisto, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik in a Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match

The six-man tag team match these two trios had recently on 205 Live ate up a good chunk of time, so it was completely illogical for Gallagher to beat Metalik in the matter of a minute. Thankfully, they picked up the pace a bit from that point forward, but the audience never seemed to be fully engaged in the action and the stipulation might have been to blame for that early on. Kalisto having to overcome the odds caused the crowd to come alive down the stretch, though, and it was a much better bout at that point. The story was simple yet superb with Gulak standing tall despite Kalisto's best efforts. Gulak has really come into his own since the reboot of 205 Live and I've been enjoying it immensely.

Overall Show

This edition of 205 Live started out as a pretty standard show with the average Tozawa vs. Nese match, but it only escalated from there with the debut of Rush (who certainly made a memorable first impression in my opinion) and the overall entertaining main event. Next week, Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy will settle their score once and for all in a No Disqualification match, so the momentum 205 Live has had recently looks to continue.