A terrific match announced for tonight: Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander. I’m getting Ten Gold Medals ready for that one. Hopefully it lives up to my expectation
IN-RING PROMO: LIO RUSH
His 205 Live promos are much better than his Raw promos have been. I have to believe he’s much more produced and held back on Raw. He throws out an open challenge answered by Lince Dorado.
Promo Rating: Seven Rick Rudes
LINCE DORADO VS. LIO RUSH
Understatement: they’re both fast. Rush looked shitty selling both the hurricanrana and the dropkick by Dorado. Something is off, all the moves look like they’re just missing the right spot. Rush’s suicide dive looked really good, it looked more effective than most do, and with Rush on offense the moves look a lot better. I don’t know it the problem was Dorado’s striking, Rush’s selling, the timing, or a combination but it was very noticeable.
I think it’s Dorado. His punches look weak as hell. Rush is terrific at being an obnoxious asshole. He goes for Dorado’s mask, and Dorado gets mad. His strikes get a little more powerful, especially his kicks. Overall though, his offense just lacks energy tonight, and the match is suffering. Rush hits some version of the Unprettier in which he spins after he sets it up instead of dropping to the ground. It looked AWESOME.
We finally see some intensity for Dorado with a springboard stunner and a corkscrew suicide dive. He’s interrupted by Maria Kanellis! Mike Kanellis out of nowhere throws Dorado off the ropes, kicks his ass, and celebrates with Maria. We actually saw Mike Kanellis in a dark match before SmackDown Live over SummerSlam weekend. He looked great.
Match Rating: Three Gold Medals
Surprise Return Rating: Two Dudley Boyz
BACKSTAGE PROMO: GENTLEMAN JACK GALLAGHER & DREW GULAK
Gulak and Gallagher say Kendrick had gotten too sentimental and there’s no room for weakness in their group. Gulak gets Tozawa next week.
Promo Rating: Two Roddy Pipers
TONY NESE VS. CEDRIC ALEXANDER
They two spend the early part of the match avoiding each other in the most athletic ways possible. Alexander is wrestling pissed off after losing his championship, and that’s something that Nese can take advantage of.
Nese does take advantage and controls the match until he misses from the top rope, then Alexander finally gets his shit together and starts knocking Nese all over the place. He hits a Michinoku driver for a two-count and the pace slows down after Alexander’s huge flurry. Nese has Alexander well-scouted as is able to viciously counter a couple springboard attempts, then gets a two-count off of a rib breaker.
Nese yells at Alexander that he was a fluke and his championship run meant nothing. This leads to a chop battle and copious “WOOOO!” ‘s. I dunno what the fucking grammar should have been on that, who cares. Alexander awesome reverses a pumphandle into a shove off the ropes right into a Spanish Fly. I LOVE that move. Both guys are great at counters and escapes. Alexander could not escape a Running Nese, then Nese hits a 450 Splash for the win. What a huge win for Nese. I wonder if he’ll be pulling double duty on 205 Live and NXT. It was obvious that Alexander was in some bad head space tonight after losing his title, and Nese was totally on his game. It’s not going to get the Ten Gold Medals I set aside, but I won’t have many left over.
Match Rating: Eight Gold Medals
The first match didn’t set a great tone, but the Mike Kanellis return was really good, and I hope we finally get to see him fulfill his potential.
Overall Show Rating: Five Gold Medals
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