Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness welcome us to the show.
SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan kicks off the show and Rockstar Spud is standing next to him. Bryan says that in Summer of 2016 he was part of the Cruiserweight Classic, and it made him extremely proud. He is equally proud to introduce us to the man who will lead 205 Live to the same kind of quality action we got from the Cruiserweight Classic. He introduces us to Drake Maverick (Nigel McGuinness and Vic Joseph quickly points out that his name was Rockstar Spud).
Maverick says that he is excited to be here in WWE, and to lead 205 Live. First thing they need to do is crown a new champion, and they will do that with a 16 person single elimination tournament, the finals of which will take place at WrestleMania 34. We are going to get two first round matches tonight: Cedric Alexander vs. Gran Metalik and Tyler Bate vs. TJP.
Cedric Alexander comes out first, then we go backstage where we see Maverick shaking the hands of Metalik. He then tells him to show him something out in the ring. Metalik heads off.
Cedric Alexander vs. Gran Metalik (First Round Tournament Match): Hand shake to kick things off and bit of a stalemate in the early stages of the match. Alexander with some chops, then he whips Metalik to the corner and he jumps to the apron. Metalik hits a springboard drop kick to send Alexander out of the ring. Alexander then hops up and hits a springboard clothesline, followed up with a front flip over the top rope and to the floor. Alexander then tosses Metalik back into the ring and goes for the pin, but only a two count. Metalik goes for a hurricanrana, but gets denied by Alexander. Alexander with a handspring kick, then goes for a pin, but only a two count. Metalik walks the ropes and lands the dropkick. Alexander is sent out to the floor. Metalik with a step-up senton that hits. A “205!” chant breaks out. Big strikes from both guys. Alexander with a spanish fly and goes for a pin, but only a two count.
Both men are on the second rope and Metalik hits a hurricanrana. Metalik goes for the pin, but only a two count. Alexander hits a spinning elbow and tries to hit the lumbar check, but it gets countered into a DDT. Metalik goes for a pin, but only a two count. Metalik drags Alexander near the corner and heads to the top. Metalik goes for the moonsault off the top rope, but Alexander counter with his feet and hits the lumbar check for the 1-2-3. Winner & Advances to the Second Round: Cedric Alexander
We get a video vignette on Tyler Bate.
We get a promo from Gentleman Jack Gallagher. He says that he is excited that a fellow countryman is running the show, and he hopes that he knows how important it will be to have a fellow Englishman represent the brand at WrestleMania.
We head backstage where we see General Manager Maverick instructing a backstage crew member on his plans when Drew Gulak approaches him with a big bouquet of red roses. He offers them to the new GM. Gulak says that he is excited to see what he has in store. After he walks off, GM Drake busts out a big grin and shoves the roses off to the stage hand.
Mustafa Ali walks into a random room and he talks about his match with Cedric Alexander from last week’s show. He says that last week was great when he and his boy Cedric tore the house down while the fans chanted “This Is Awesome”. But then he lost. And that stung, but Ali says that it will give him the motivation he needs for the tournament, so he can go to New Orleans and become champ.
We head backstage where Dasha Fuentes is ready to interview TJP, but first he makes her introduce him as “first ever Cruiserweight champ TJP”. She starts to ask him about his match with Bate when he complains about everyone’s short attention span, and how he won the Cruiserweight Classic to become the first champ. The GM interrupts him and tells TJP that he is living in the past, and that he is facing a hungry competitor in Tyler Bate. GM Maverick wants to know if he is gonna see the TJP who won the Cruiserweight Classic here tonight, or the one who whines and complains all the time.
We get a promo from Akira Tozawa. He says that he is disappointed that he won’t be the first GM, but he is excited that he will get to be in the tournament and when he wins the title at WrestleMania, he is looking forward to firing a crew member. He then shows us this by facing a crew member and telling him “You’re FIRED” in his best Vince voice before walking away with a McMahon strut.
We head back to ringside for our second tournament match of the night.
TJP vs. Tyler Bate (First Round Tournament Match): A “Let’s go Tyler” chant breaks out before the match gets going. Some chain wrestling to get things going. TJP lands the first pin attempt, but barely gets the two count. TJP with a “dab” as he continues to lock his legs around Bate’s neck, but Bate is able to reverse and do the same to TJP. Back and forth pin attempts. Bate locks in a reverse surfboard submission, then he rolls it around and turns it into a swinging pendulum. TJP gets bounced to the floor. Bate picks up speed and hits a suicide dive with a kip up.
TJP hits a belly-to-back suplex and goes for the pin, but only a two count. TJP goes right to work on Bate’s shoulder, but Bate is able to jam TJP back into the corner a couple of times to break the hold. Bate charges in and misses. TJP locks in a single leg boston crab while he sits on the top turnbuckle. TJP tries to go for a pin, but only a two count. TJP continues to work on Bate’s knee. TJP kicks Bate to his knee, then goes for the detonation kick, but he gets denied.
Bate hits the suplex then does another kip up. Bate with a running shooting star press and goes for a pin, but only a two count. Bate with a kick to TJP’s face, then he hits the ropes. TJP hits a low dropkick to hammer the knee yet again. Flurry of attacks by TJP who finally gets the knee bar lock, but Bate gets to the bottom rope. Bate gets to his feet and gets and airplane spin going. Bate is looking for the Tyler Driver ’97, but TJP trips him up and lock in the knee bar again. Bate is able to roll through and goes for the pin, but only a two count. Bop and bang by Bate. Bate heads to the top rope and attempts a corkscrew senton, but misses. TJP locks in the knee bar once again and this time it is in deep. Bate is able to roll over again and he gets to the rope. TJP is getting angry now and he charges in and gets a shoulder to the mug. Bate tries to hit the Tyler Driver ’97 again, but TJP gets near the turnbuckle and uses that to flip over Bate. TJP rolls him up with a handful of tights and gets the victory. Winner & Advances to the Second Round: TJP
After the match, TJP stands tall and he celebrates to end the show. Next week’s matches will be Kalisto taking on Lince Dorado and Roderick Strong in his main roster debut taking on Hideo Itami.