WWE 205 Live Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 14

The final stop before WWE SummerSlam 2018 is 205 Live, but Cedric Alexander didn't take the week off to prepare for his title defense against Drew Gulak.

Instead, the champ chose to compete this week against Jack Gallagher, who is known for being just as technically gifted as Gulak.

Drake Maverick banned Gulak and The Brian Kendrick from ringside to keep the contest fair and protect his brand's only match at Sunday's pay-per-view.

We also saw Akira Tozawa finally receive his rematch against newcomer Lio Rush after weeks of taunting The Man of the Hour.

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

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa

Credit: WWE.com

Lio Rush finding out about his rematch against Akira Tozawa from Drake Maverick.

Rush got himself a little cheap heat on the way to the ring by insulting the South Carolina crowd, but he didn't need to resort to cheap tactics since most fans find his promos annoying anyway.

Tozawa didn't let him take his time after the bell and rushed him in the corner. The Japanese Superstar was aggressive as he showed the rookie why he deserves to be shown respect.

The 23-Year Old Piece of Gold had a hard time finding his balance until Tozawa had to fix his kneepad and Rush was able to capitalize by shoving him into the ring post. He showed off some surprising power when he held up Tozawa during an octopus stretch for almost a minute. 

The match had a good pace and featured some exciting action, but it felt more like a sequence of choreographed spots instead of having a natural flow.

Tozawa controlled the majority of the match, but Rush finished him off with a picture-perfect frog splash to pick up another win. 

Grade: B-

Notes and Highlights

• Rush is somewhat annoying, but that's the point of a heel. If he gets under your skin, he is doing his job.
• Tozawa's fakeout jab is one of the best moves in his arsenal. It always looks and sounds brutal.
• Rush is young and talented enough to have a long and fruitful career in WWE, but he needs to slow down sometimes. He ends up looking a little sloppy when he tries to do too many high-energy moves in a row. 
• Tozawa may have hit the most beautiful suicide dive of his career in this match. Rush took it like a champ. 

Hideo Itami vs. a Random Jobber

Hideo Itami went from headlining 205 Live against Mustafa Ali last week to facing an enhancement talent this week. 

The Japanese Living Legend made quick work of the jobber with some vicious strikes, but he pulled his shoulders off the ground during a pin so he could keep inflicting damage.

Itami continued to mercilessly beat his opponent as the ref tried to get him to stop. After checking on the kid, Mike Chioda chose to stop the match and award the win to Itami by technical knockout.

Grade: C

Notes and Highlights

• Maverick gave an interview before the match where he said Mustafa Ali would not be allowed to compete again until he is satisfied with his recovery. 
• WWE showed a backstage promo during Itami's entrance of him bragging about putting Ali on the shelf. 
• This match might not have been great, but it did its job of making Itami look like an unrelenting villain who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
• Since this match was so short, Itami vs. Ali has been included instead to show you why The Heart of 205 Live is out of action.

Cedric Alexander vs. Jack Gallagher

Credit: WWE.com

Cedric Alexander posing for the crowd.

The early moments of the match saw Gallagher play some mind games with Alexander by using the ropes for protection every time the champ got close to him. Both of these competitors are quick on their feet and possess great technical abilities, so their exchanges of counters and reversals were a lot of fun. 

Gentleman Jack's heel tactics allowed him to take control for several minutes, so the pace slowed down quite a bit while he punished Alexander with submissions. As expected, the cruiserweight champion made a comeback late in the match and hit all of his big signature maneuvers. 

This was a solid performance from two talented wrestlers, but it fell a bit short of some of the recent main events on 205 Live. 

Control shifted between them a few times toward the final moments of the match, but in the end, Alexander picked up the win to gain some momentum heading into SummerSlam. 

Grade: B+

Notes and Highlights

• Maverick was shown booking a Tornado Tag Team match for next week with The Lucha House Party taking on Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese. He didn't specify it was a handicap or two-on-two situation. We also found out Noam Dar would take on TJP again next week.
• Alexander should be getting a significantly bigger reaction from the crowd during his entrance. This guy has been one of the best performers on the entire roster in 2018.
• Gallagher using the apron as a weapon was a creative bit of offense.
• Alexander sold his head hitting the ring post so well that the ref had to check to make sure he was actually able to continue. 
• Alexander winning with a Spanish Fly instead of his patented Lumbar Check was a nice surprise. 
• Gulak and Kendrick attacked Alexander after the match. The show ended with Gulak posing with the title after choking out the champion.