WWE 205 Live Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from May 23

Ever since its debut, 205 Live has been nothing but singles and tag matches, but that changed this week when The Brian Kendrick fought Akira Tozawa in a Street Fight.

Their feud has been going for several months, and this week should be their final encounter before they move on and find new rivals.

We also saw the return of Cedric Alexander. The Cruiserweight Classic standout has been absent for a couple of months due to an injury, but he arrived this week looking revitalized.

Even if a hiatus is forced on a Superstar, time away from the ring can be good from time to time. It allows someone to step back and watch the product as a fan again.

The feud featuring Neville, TJP and Austin Aries continues to be the bright spot of the cruiserweight division, but a lot of other deserving Superstars are waiting in the wings for a shot at the title.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on this week's episode of 205 Live.

Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari

Rich Swann and Ariya Daivari did battle in the first match of the night. This contest came about after Daivari fell victim to a prank intended for Swann last week.

The Persian Lion claimed the shirt he was wearing was worth $1,500, so he was looking for reimbursement in the form of Swann's hide.

Daivari hasn't been relevant since his feud with Jack Gallagher ended a few months ago, so it was nice to see him show more aggression in this match.

He works a slower style than most of the members of the 205 Live roster, so the crowd struggled to find a reason to make noise while he was in control.

However, the quality of wrestling from both men was solid. After roughly 10 minutes of back-and-forth action, Swann secured the win with a textbook phoenix splash. Noam Dar attacked Swann during his post-match celebration to continue the storyline that never ends.

Grade: C+

Notes and Highlights

• Daivari needs to develop his character into more than a wealthy foreigner. It has been done to death at this point.
• How long is Swann planning on wearing his tuxedo jacket from the Hall of Fame ceremony? He probably can't get his deposit back after this long.
• Swann's front flip leg drop was cool, but he almost missed making contact.

Cedric Alexander vs. Johnny Boone

After Aries and Neville gave a split-screen interview to hype their upcoming Submission match at Extreme Rules, Alexander made his return after being out for several weeks with an injury.

His first match back was against a local talent named Johnny Boone. Facing a jobber let Alexander get a dominant victory to begin rebuilding his momentum.

The entire bout consisted of five moves, but having Alexander back in the mix will lead to some much better matches down the line.

Grade: D+

Notes and Highlights

• The spinning elbow Alexander hit at the start of the match looked ridiculous.
• Credit where credit is due. Boone sold everything like a pro.
• Swann put together weeks of mind games to get back at Dar on behalf of Alexander, but Alexander couldn't be bothered to help Swann when he was being attacked earlier in the show.
• After the match, a faux campaign ad played for Drew Gulak advocating against the high-flying style used by Mustafa Ali and other cruiserweights. Honestly, it was better than most of the real political ads we have to see every election season.

The Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa

The feud between Tozawa and Kendrick has taken up most of 2017, but this Street Fight felt like the final chapter in their story.

Kendrick tried to get a weapon from under the ring as soon as the match started, but Tozawa hit him like a torpedo with a suicide dive to stop him.

Both men did a great job selling the personal nature of this storyline by showing a lot of aggression and intensity from the opening bell. The Wizard of Odd took the stipulation to a new level by putting duct tape over Tozawa's mouth and using it to tie him to the ring post.

They discarded most of their usual arsenals in exchange for more strikes and spots at ringside. The brutality was there, but something else was missing that kept this from being as good as it could have been.

Tozawa got the win after hitting a senton from the top rope all the way down to the floor through a table before rolling Kendrick back in the ring for the pin.

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights

• Kendrick didn't even have a chance to take his jacket off for the first few minutes of the match.
• Tozawa played to the crowd a little too much. He would have looked a little better had he been more focused on inflicting pain than getting a reaction.
• Tozawa hit Kendrick right in the face with a leather belt. It will be a miracle if he doesn't have a black eye in the morning.