Greg DeMarco’s WWE 205 Live Star Ratings & Review (3/12/19 edition)

Greg DeMarco takes a closer look at this week’s edition of WWE 205 Live, featuring the semifinals of the tournament to name Buddy Murphy’s #1 contender and WrestleMania opponent!

We kick things off on WWE 205 Live this week with comments from Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, Oney Lorcan, and Cedric Alexander. This is followed by comments by our commentary team, and Buddy Murphy’s Instagram promo…because social media. Finally, we head to the ring!

Cruiserweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Cedric Alexander vs. Oney Lorcan – ****

• During the entrances, it does appear that a good portion of the Dayton crowd is still around. That’s a smart crowd right there!
• Oney Lorcan does the little things so well–like snatching Cedric’s arm out from holding him up, rolling Alexander to his back in a headlock.
• I wonder if Cedric Alexander can be “the next Mustafa Ali,” moving to Raw or Smackdown and coming in with a huge fire behind him. He’s done all he can do on the purple and orange brand.
• Dayton bought all the way into Alexander’s nearfall with the Michinoku Driver! Love seeing a good crowd for the cruiserweights.
• Lorcan with the HUGE Half-And-Half from the top! Alexander somehow kicks out!
• Alexander would soon pick up the win with the Lumbar Check, as both men deliver another amazing match.

We get some storyline advancement for Mike (and Maria) Kanellis, and Ariya Daivari talks. I’m interested to see where they go with both.

Cruiserweight Tournament Semifinal Match: Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak – ***3/4

• Drew Gulak low key has one of the best themes in WWE today.
• This is technically heel vs heel, for those who care about that sort of thing. I don’t, but I do credit both men for maintaining a heel attitude.
• Nese did a back flip off the top for no reason–Gulak was so far away that he had to run closer just to pull the hair!
• Thanks to Gulak, this match slowed down to a halt–and that’s not a bad thing. It’s great psychology from Drew, but you might have been better served to reverse the order of matches tonight.
• Like Cedric Alexander, Gulak is a guy who is probably maxed out on 205 Live. I could see him on Raw or Smackdown as part of a tag team (Gulak and Gable, anyone), aligned with The Revival (I mean, that’s obvious), or in NXT where he’s already kicked all kinds of ass with Matt Riddle.
• Macho Man Rope Snap from Nese!
• Tony Nese makes everything look so easy, he truly is the Premier Athlete.
• Nese steals a page out of the Bret Hart playbook reversing the GuLock into a pinning combination. Anytime a highly competitive match ends with a move other than a finisher, I am a happy man.

Two great matches tonight, and next week we get Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander for the right to challenge Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania. Now let’s see Drake Maverick make this a 2 Out Of 3 Falls match and give them the whole show!

Here’s your updated bracket: