WWE 205 Live Review - May 8, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik def. Gentleman Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick

Dorado and Metalik, along with Kalisto, have put together a solid string of matches over the past few months and this was another entertaining encounter from them. Gallagher and Kendrick also played their roles well and this was a good, well-wrestled opener for the show. Drew Gulak sitting in on commentary during this bout leads me to believe he'll be feuding with the Lucha House Party soon enough.

Tony Nese def. Keith Clayball

As I've said time and time again, I find it so difficult to care about Nese. He is without a doubt a talented in-ring competitor, but the start-and-stop pushes with him haven't done him any favors. It also doesn't help that he could have been a babyface coming off his split from Gulak, but he stayed heel instead. This was a perfectly fine showcase squash for him, if nothing else.

Buddy Murphy def. Mustafa Ali

I liked that the commentators made mention of how these two previously did battle during the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament and Ali walked away the victor, meaning Murphy was looking for redemption here. Nigel McGuinness is right, though: Murphy shouldn't have to earn another title shot because he earned one weeks ago. Nevertheless, this was another strong showing from him (as well as Ali), even if the crowd largely sat on their hands. They did come alive for the final few minutes, though. Murphy vs. Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight title should be only inevitable.

Overall Show

This wasn't the most lively crowd the Cruiserweights have competed in front of recently, but all in all, this was a quality edition of 205 Live. The three-way feud between Alexander, Murphy and Ali continues to be the central focus of the show and everything else has been enjoyable as well for the most part. I'd also like to mention that the video package that aired for Hideo Itami on this show was excellent and I'm hoping he becomes more of a player on the program moving forward.