Prior to tonight’s SmackDown at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three matches were taped for this week’s episode of 205 Live. The tapings were headlined by a tag match where WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy & Tony Nese teamed against Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander.
– Noam Dar defeated Mike Kanellis (w/ Maria Kanellis)
Dar won after a distraction from the Lucha House Party, who have been feuding with Kanellis and TJP.
– Hideo Itami defeated an enhancement wrestler
This was Itami’s first appearance on 205 Live since losing a falls count anywhere match to Ali last month. Ariya Daivari made his return to 205 Live after the match and attacked Itami’s opponent. Daivari then shook hands with Itami.
– Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy & Tony Nese
This episode of 205 Live will premiere on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow (Wednesday, November 28).
A tag team main event is set for next week’s 205 Live.
During last night’s episode, it was announced that WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy & Tony Nese will face Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander next week. Murphy retained his title against Ali at Survivor Series.
Murphy and Ali both cut promos on this week’s episode. Murphy appeared in front of the crowd and bragged about his win. Nese then defeated Noam Dar, with Murphy distracting Dar for the finish. Ali cut a selfie promo saying he isn’t running from the pain of the loss and wants to embrace it so he can use the pain, turn it into power, and become Cruiserweight Champion.
Murphy & Nese vs. Ali & Alexander was then announced for next week during a segment where Drake Maverick met with Alexander backstage.
It was also announced that Hideo Itami, who lost a falls count anywhere match to Ali last month, will return to television on next week’s 205 Live. The episode is being taped at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday before premiering on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday.
Prior to Tuesday night’s SmackDown in St. Louis, Missouri, three matches were taped for this week’s episode of 205 Live.
– Drew Gulak & Jack Gallagher defeated Brian Kendrick & Akira Tozawa
Their feud has been going on since the storyline where Gulak and Gallagher turned against Kendrick last month.
– The Lucha House Party (Kalisto & Lince Dorado) defeated an enhancement team
– Cedric Alexander defeated Lio Rush
This was set up last week during a video where Alexander was training at the Performance Center and Rush showed up and mocked him, accusing Alexander of losing his confidence now that he’s no longer Cruiserweight Champion. Rush said a marquee match against him is what Alexander needs.
Rush also cut a heel promo on Alexander after winning an enhancement match last week.
The episode will premiere on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday (November 14). It’s the go-home show for Survivor Series and should also feature the final build to Buddy Murphy defending his Cruiserweight Championship against Mustafa Ali at the pay-per-view.
Here are tonight’s 205 Live spoilers from Tulsa, Oklahoma. These matches were taped before SmackDown tonight, and will air on the WWE Network tomorrow at 7 p.m. EDT.
The matches started around 6:15 p.m. CDT, and the show was advertised to start at 6:30 p.m. CDT. As a result, some people were not in their seats when the matches started.
– TJ Perkins defeated Lince Dorado
Perkins took off Dorado’s mask, causing him to cover his face. This allowed Perkins to roll up Dorado for the win around the ten minute mark. Crowd was said to be into Dorado.
– Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak to retain the WWE Cruiserweight title
This went long, about twenty minutes. The crowd was said to be pretty hot for the match. Alexander retained the title after hitting the lumbar check.
These were the only two matches taped for 205 Live tomorrow. Any backstage promos or segments were not shown to the live audience.
The Cruiserweight Championship will be defended on next Tuesday’s episode of 205 Live.
Last night’s show closed with the announcement that Drew Gulak will be challenging for Cedric Alexander’s title next week. The match was set up after Gulak & Jack Gallagher defeated Alexander & Akira Tozawa, with Gulak submitting Tozawa with the Gu-Lock.
Alexander vs. Gulak is a rematch from the SummerSlam pre-show. Alexander retained his title at that pay-per-view by reversing a cradle after a series of pinning attempts. Their storyline has continued since, with Gulak wanting another shot at the title.
Buddy Murphy has also been in the title picture and will challenge for the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia at WWE Super Show-Down on October 6.
Lio Rush vs. Noam Dar has also been confirmed for 205 Live next week. The show (along with SmackDown and the season two premiere of Mixed Match Challenge) is taking place at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
WWE announced tonight that Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander will defend his title against Murphy at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia on October 6. Alexander last defended the title against Drew Gulak on the SummerSlam pre-show, and their program has continued on 205 Live since.
Murphy wrestled in the main event of this week’s 205 Live, defeating Kalisto.
This is the seventh match to be announced for Super Show-Down. The show is taking place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will air live on the WWE Network.
Here’s the updated card:
The Undertaker vs. Triple H (billed as the final time they’ll ever face each other)
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe
Ronda Rousey, Nikki Bella & Brie Bella vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (winner gets a future shot at the WWE Championship)
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Buddy Murphy
WWE’s cruiserweight division will be represented on the company’s next pay-per-view.
In a video that was uploaded today, WWE announced that Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship defense against Drew Gulak will take place at SummerSlam. WWE has yet to officially indicate whether or not their match will be on the pre-show.
Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the title tournament finals on the WrestleMania 34 pre-show to become the new champion. The Greatest Royal Rumble is the only PPV that the title has been defended on since then.
Gulak was confirmed as Alexander’s next challenger when he defeated Ali, TJP, and Hideo Itami in a number one contender’s fatal four-way match on last week’s episode of 205 Live. Alexander’s televised title defenses since becoming champion have been against Kalisto, Buddy Murphy, and Itami.
The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will host SummerSlam on August 19. Here’s the updated card:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Ronda Rousey
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler defending against Seth Rollins
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Becky Lynch
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens (Owens gets Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase if he wins)
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against the winners of SmackDown’s tag team tournament
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Drew Gulak
WWE announced last night that Hideo Itami would be challenging for Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship on next Tuesday’s 205 Live. Itami was positioned as the top challenger for the title when he defeated Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy in what was unofficially a number one contender’s triple threat match on the June 19 episode of the show.
On last week’s 205 Live, Alexander asked Drake Maverick when his next defense would be and wanted to face Itami. The storyline was that Maverick didn’t want to reward Itami’s bad behavior, like interrupting a match between Ali and Murphy on June 5, but Alexander said Itami has earned the title shot. Itami later shoved Alexander during a backstage interview and they had to be separated.
Alexander has had two televised title defenses since becoming champion, defeating Kalisto at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April and Murphy on 205 Live in May.
SmackDown and 205 Live are taking place at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire next Tuesday. Asuka vs. James Ellsworth in a lumberjack match has been announced for SmackDown, which will be the go-home show for Extreme Rules.
Following his win over Mustafa Ali, Buddy Murphy is set to challenge for Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Championship later this month.
In a video that was uploaded today, Drake Maverick announced that Alexander will defend the title against Murphy on the May 29th edition of 205 Live. The show is scheduled for the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, which is Alexander’s home state.
There was a storyline last month where Murphy was supposed to challenge for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble but missed weight ahead of the show. Alexander instead defended the championship against Kalisto. When Murphy returned to 205 Live last week, he defeated an enhancement wrestler and brawled with Alexander after the match.
Murphy then defeated Ali on this Tuesday’s episode.
There will be two more episodes of 205 Live before the title match takes place. Next week’s show will feature wrestlers from the United Kingdom division as Raw and SmackDown are being filmed in London during WWE’s European tour.
With the addition of a Cruiserweight Championship match, the card for the Greatest Royal Rumble has been finalized.
Cedric Alexander defending his title against Kalisto became the last match to be announced for the show. Kalisto won a gauntlet match on this week’s 205 Live to earn the title shot, coming in as the final entrant and eliminating Drew Gulak. TJP, Mustafa Ali, and Tony Nese were the three other wrestlers who participated in the gauntlet.
WWE also officially confirmed Rey Mysterio, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens for the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match. All of those names had been advertised for the show prior to this announcement.
Henry was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year and hasn’t wrestled since the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33. Khali’s last appearance for the company came when he helped Jinder Mahal defeat Randy Orton at Battleground 2017.
The Greatest Royal Rumble streams live on the WWE Network from King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at noon Eastern time on Friday. There will also be a one-hour pre-show before the main card starts.
Here’s the full lineup for the event:
50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
John Cena vs. Triple H
The Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against The Miz, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe in a ladder match
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Jinder Mahal
Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Cesaro & Sheamus for the vacant Raw Tag Team titles
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against The Usos
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Kalisto
A gauntlet match will decide Cedric Alexander’s challenger for the Greatest Royal Rumble.
The gauntlet will be taking place on next Tuesday’s episode of 205 Live. Drake Maverick announced the match last night, with the storyline being that Buddy Murphy was going to face Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship in Saudi Arabia but failed to make weight.
Participants for the gauntlet match weren’t announced, but Mustafa Ali and Drew Gulak cut promos about it.
WWE’s last gauntlet match aired on Raw prior to Elimination Chamber in February, lasting for the first two hours of the show and proving to be a success in the ratings. Braun Strowman was the winner, but Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns and John Cena and was the star of the first hour.
All seven men’s titles will be on the line at the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27th. The Cruiserweight Championship match is the only one that has yet to be confirmed.
The updated Greatest Royal Rumble card is listed below:
50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
John Cena vs. Triple H
The Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against The Miz, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe in a ladder match
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Jinder Mahal
Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs. Cesaro & Sheamus for the vacant Raw Tag Team titles
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against The Usos
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against whoever wins next Tuesday’s gauntlet match
Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali’s match from the WrestleMania pre-show was recapped, with footage of their back-and-forth promo exchange tying some of the match’s threads together.
Vic Joseph was at ringside and said that Nigel McGuinness will be back in two weeks, but Percy Watson will be McGuinness’ replacement and will then join the announce team to make it a three-man booth. Joseph hyped up Mark Andrews vs. Drew Gulak as tonight’s main event, while Alexander will also celebrate his title win.
Kalisto came out and we got a weird video promo with him welcoming Tozawa to the lucha house party.
Kalisto defeated Akira Tozawa
Tozawa worked on one of Kalisto’s arms to start things off. Kalisto did a hand-walk headscissors before starting a lucha chant. Tozawa landed a nice snap jab that sent Kalisto down, with Tozawa then stomping a mudhole in him. Tozawa got two off a senton before getting a chinlock.
Joseph talked about the Superstar Shakeup and what that could mean for 205 Live. Kalisto superkicked Tozawa’s gut and got two off a basement rana. Kalisto hit a springing Spanish Fly for two, hit a variety of PKs to the arm, and charged in — but he got monkey flipped into the buckle.
Tozawa hit a suicide dive to the floor and sent Kalisto into the announce table. He went for the senton off the top, but Kalisto got his knees up. They went back and forth on cradles before Kalisto turned one into the Salida Del Sol for the win. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado face Tozawa & Hideo Itami next week.
Mark Andrews talked to Tony Nese, who said that Drew Gulak was his friend — but now he’s a crazy egomaniac. He wanted Andrews to kick Gulak’s ass for him tonight, so it looks like Nese is a babyface now.
Gulak came out for his match against Andrews and asked for everyone’s attention as he showed off a new PowerPoint presentation! A giant “PowerPoint” chant broke out, so Gulak said there’s a time for those — but it’s not now, when he’s about to destroy Andrews.
Drew Gulak defeated Mark Andrews
Andrews took Gulak down quickly several times with arm drags, so Gulak went outside for a powder. Gulak came in and got kicked in the leg, so he took Andrews down to the mat with his arm and Andrews escaped with fancy flips. Gulak briefly got the dragon sleeper in, but Andrews cradled him for two.
A wheelbarrow bulldog hit for Andrews, with Gulak then going to the apron and tossing Andrews into the steel turnbuckle posts. Gulak stomped his back before hitting a backbreaker for two. He locked in a crossface chicken wing, but Andrews escaped and hit a standing enzuigiri.
Andrews hit a crucifix bomb for two. Gulak landed a nasty rabbit lariat for two, but Andrews hit the Stundog Millionaire. He went up top, but Gulak got to the other side and baited him in before smacking him into the buckle and earning a tap with the Gu-lock.
Gulak locked it on again after the match, but Nese made a save and hit a Fosbury flop to officially turn him face in front of the fans.
Drake Maverick told Brian Kendrick, who was returning to television, and Jack Gallagher that he has some reservations about them teaming up and wants to make sure there won’t be a vendetta against Hideo Itami. Gallagher said a vendetta is beneath them and Kendrick said that their issues are water under the bridge.
Maverick came out and put over the Cruiserweight title match as one that stole the show at WrestleMania. Alexander came down, thanked the fans, and thanked his family for always being there for him. Ali entered and said that there are a lot of people backstage who want a shot, but he wants one too. He got a “One more match” chant.
Buddy Murphy’s theme then hit. Maverick and Ali were looking at the entrance ramp as Murphy snuck in from behind and hit the Murphy’s Law on Alexander. Maverick yelled at Murphy while Ali checked on Alexander, with Murphy motioning that he’s going to be the next Cruiserweight Champion.
WWE’s Cruiserweight title tournament will conclude with either Cedric Alexander or Mustafa Ali being crowned as the new champion at WrestleMania 34 on April 8th.
After Alexander defeated Roderick Strong in a semifinal match last Tuesday, Ali beat Drew Gulak on 205 Live this week to move on to the finals. Alexander won matches against Gran Metalik, TJP, and Strong to get to WrestleMania, while Ali defeated Jack Gallagher, Buddy Murphy, and Gulak.
Alexander cut a promo about wanting to become a champion for his daughter after he advanced to the finals. In Ali’s post-match promo, he said his mission for his entire life has been to prove that it’s not about what your name is, where you’re from, or the color of your skin — it’s about what’s in your heart.
Whether Alexander vs. Ali will be on the pre-show or main card will be officially decided as we get closer to the show. It will be a matchup of two babyfaces, and it was listed to be the final when the idea of the champion being decided at WrestleMania was first put together.
Here’s the updated WrestleMania 34 lineup:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon & Triple H
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defending against Asuka
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Nia Jax
Intercontinental Champion The Miz defending against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor in a triple threat match
United States Champion Randy Orton defending against Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal in a triple threat match
Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against Braun Strowman & a partner
Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals
One half of the finals for WWE’s Cruiserweight Championship tournament were set on this week’s episode of 205 Live.
Cedric Alexander defeated Roderick Strong last night to advance to the tournament finals at WrestleMania on April 8th. After both got near falls with their finishers when their opponent caused a rope break, Alexander caught Strong in a small package for the pin. Alexander then cut an emotional post-match promo about wanting to become a champion for his daughter.
With Strong now eliminated, the finals will feature two wrestlers who were on the 205 Live roster prior to the tournament starting and Triple H taking over as showrunner. Mustafa Ali will face Drew Gulak in a semifinal match next week to decide Alexander’s opponent for WrestleMania.
Here’s the updated WrestleMania card:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Roman Reigns
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon & Triple H
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defending against Asuka
Intercontinental Champion The Miz defending against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor in a triple threat match
Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against Braun Strowman (either in a handicap or tag match)
Cedric Alexander vs. either Mustafa Ali or Drew Gulak in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament finals
The Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal (featuring wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT)
WWE’s Cruiserweight Championship tournament is down to its final four wrestlers.
The last two quarterfinal matches took place on 205 Live last night, with Mustafa Ali and Drew Gulak advancing to the next round. Ali moved on by pinning Buddy Murphy, while Gulak submitted Mark Andrews with a dragon sleeper.
With that, the semifinal matchups are Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong and Ali vs. Gulak. Alexander defeated TJP and Strong beat Kalisto to advance last week.
Alexander vs. Strong will take place on next Tuesday’s episode of 205 Live. Of the wrestlers from outside of the cruiserweight division that WWE had appear in the tournament, Strong is the only one to make it to the final four.
The winners of the semifinal matches will go on to WrestleMania, where the new Cruiserweight Champion will be crowned on April 8th. Whether that match will be on the pre-show or the main card will become clear as we get closer to WrestleMania.
