The Story So Far: 205 Live is a weekly column that catches you up on the previous weeks of 205 Live and its storytelling, so if you miss a week (or what to just jump into the show for the first time), you have a summary of where the storylines are at and where they’re headed.
After being relegated to the SummerSlam Kickoff Show, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match between defending champion Cedric Alexander and challenger Drew Gulak delivered a solid match that will instantly be forgotten. Why? Firstly, being put on the Kickoff Show is almost immediately a death sentence. There have been good pre-show matches before, and they rarely ever get more than a passing Monday morning remark. This will be no different. If this match were the opener on the main card, it would have been a huge help to get this division more attention. Secondly, this match did not have the creativity or the high spots that the performers on the show need to stand out from the rest of the main roster, and to grow the weekly viewership numbers. Don’t get me wrong, this match was well worked, which was especially blatant on a second viewing. But because the 205 Live division is viewed differently than the rest of the main roster, they have to not just outperform the RAW and Smackdown Live matches (like this match did) but to have enough of a “wow” factor on a big stage like SummerSlam to actually get people to think “I have to check this show out.” Sadly, having good matches isn’t enough. The match ended with Alexander getting a roll up win on Gulak, so that should lead to rematch soon, where one would suspect Alexander will retain again.
Many will come for the crown but there is only ONE #LeaderOfThePride #AndSTILL #CruiserweightChampion #TheSoul #MrMatchOfTheNight #SummerSlam #ThePrideOf205 pic.twitter.com/51V72FRje5
— PRIME Alexander (@CedricAlexander) August 19, 2018
Because heels are being presented strongly on television lately like Lio Rush and Hideo Itami, it looks like the babyface Alexander will win out this feud, and he’ll have heels ready for him to defend against. Because the only other babyface being presented like a top guys is Mustafa Ali, who’s on a kayfabe injury hiatus, it wouldn’t make sense for Gulak to come out of this feud with the belt because he would have no one to defend against. Rush would make sense as the next challenger after Gulak, because he is undefeated so far on the show, coming off two wins against Akira Tozawa. Itami is also being presented as a top threat, with a win over Ali two weeks ago, and a vicious win over a jobber this past week. But Alexander has already successfully defended against Itami, so he’ll have to wait until after Gulak gets his rematch and Rush tries his hand against the champion, while picking up a few wins himself, before getting another title shot. If TJP wins his match this week with Noam Dar, against whom he is 1-1, he’ll also be in the mix as a heel challenger. This all plays into the long term story that they’re telling, where Alexander will continue to have a strong reign, until he passes the torch onto the heir apparent Mustafa Ali. Ali, who in storyline is pushing himself so hard he has been diagnosed with exhaustion, and is currently on leave. Ali is being groomed to be the top babyface on the brand, and for good reason, but this current angle seems a tad contrived.
https://twitter.com/WWE205Live/status/1029554725564211200
However, its early so perhaps the best path is to wait and see where it goes. Ali lost the cruiserweight title match against Alexander at this past WrestleMania, and it looks like they are telling a year long redemption story for Ali, who will beat Alexander as this upcoming WrestleMania. I don’t think Alexander will keep the belt for the whole year, I think he’ll drop it to someone and win it back soon thereafter, but he’ll definitely walk into WrestleMania as the champion. Part of that story, at least for the next couple months, is lining up heels for Alexander, which is the part of the story we’re in right now. In addition to the rubber match between Dar and TJP this week, we are getting a Tornado Tag Match between Kalisto and Lince Dorado of the Lucha House Party against Tony Nese and Buddy Murphy. This should be a terrific bout, and will probably be worth going out of your way to see. Kalisto got a singles win over Nese a few weeks ago, and Nese and Murphy got a roll up win (while grabbing tights) against the LHP two weeks ago, so I expect the babyface team of Kalisto and Dorado to go over here, as enough heels are being presented strongly, and the LHP is a fun and entertaining tag team act on the 205 Live card, that is a great change of pace from the singles matches. With both this feud and the TJP/Dar feud blowing off this week, look for some reshuffling and repositioning of the performers by the end of the show, to give us a good idea of where this brand is heading in the coming weeks.
