205 Live Results: March 19th, 2019 - WrestleMania 35 title match confirmed
We advanced to the finals of the 205 Live tournament to determine Buddy Murphy's #1 contender. Cedric Alexander, the winner of last year's Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, managed to pick off former Cruiserweight Champion Akira Tozawa and Oney Lorcan, this time around. His opponent, Tony Nese, didn't have an easy road to the finals either.
The Premier Athlete had to make his way through former Cruiserweight Champion Kalisto in the first round, then avenged his loss against Drew Gulak at last year's tournament in the semis. Now, with that painful loss redeemed, Nese only had one more man left to beat before getting to WrestleMania... and that's the Soul of 205 Live.
Mike and Maria Kanellis started off tonight's show. Last week, Drake Maverick insinuated that if Kanellis lost tonight's match, he would be released.
Mike Kanellis w/ Maria vs Akira Tozawa
Mike Kanellis, sporting a newly shaved head, was put into a one-on-one match against Akira Tozawa. Kanellis seemed even more aggressive than usual, and it seemed that tonight, Tozawa was dealing with a different beast.
Kanellis avoided a rolling kick to the jaw, but Tozawa caught him with a second attempt followed by a running senton splash. He sent Kanellis to the outside and looked to go for a suicide dive. Kanellis stopped him dead in his tracks with a superkick to the jaw.
Kanellis took Tozawa to the corner where he stomped him out of frustration. Back in the middle of the ring, he dropped the former champion with a suplex, then worked over Tozawa's body with repeated elbows to the sternum and a rear chin lock. Tozawa fought out and escaped a back suplex attempt, sending Kanellis across the ring with a hurricanrana and connecting with a shining wizard.
A missile dropkick nearly earned Tozawa the victory and almost lost Kanellis his job, but he kicked out. Tozawa locked Kanellis in the octopus stretch. Kanellis managed to fight out and drove Tozawa down to the mat with a side slam.
Back to their feet, the two men traded chops, but Tozawa rocked Kanellis with a jab. However, Kanellis caught him coming off the ropes with a spinebuster. Tozawa kicked out at two, but was clearly dazed.
Tozawa escaped a Michinoku Driver and followed Kanellis up top with a yakuza kick. Kanellis fought at the top of the turnbuckle and dropped Tozawa with a Michinoku Driver. Tozawa kicked out, leaving Kanellis irate.
Kanellis looked for a rolling cutter only for Tozawa to get out and drop him with a spinning heel kick. He went to go for the top rope Senton Splash, only for Maria to attempt to distract him. Tozawa moved to another corner, but by then, Kanellis had recovered and lifted his knees, countering Tozawa's Senton and driving his face into the mat with the rolling cutter.
Results: Mike Kanellis w/ Maria defeated Akira Tozawa via pinfall.
Backstage, Cedric Alexander stated that he was confident tonight. Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese interrupted him. Alexander got the better of them, asking what would happen if Nese won tonight and they had to face each other for the Cruiserweight Championship.