WWE SummerSlam 2018: Results, Highlights, and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak (Kickoff Show)

Result: Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Gulak going full Balboa with the stars and stripes attire, what a guy! As you can tell from recent days, we’re very big on ring gear here at Daily DDT.

But the match itself was just what you’d want it to be. What makes Cedric and Gulak work so well in the ring against each other is their contrast in styles. While I wouldn’t say Alexander is a high flyer, he definitely has more of a focus on speed and agility than Drew. And everyone who moves fast needs a good, steady guy to keep him grounded, and no one does that better on 205 Live than Drew Gulak.

The faster the pace, the more you felt Alexander was going to come out on top, especially when he hit his topé suicída in the latter stages of the match. But more impressive was Cedric turning up the aggression right before, with the flurry of right hands off a modified Thesz press.

I really appreciated Gulak going Terminator murder machine with the Gu-Lock in the ropes. The edge his character has is a great addition to 205 Live, which is why it seems like a missed opportunity to put the title on him and run with it.

This was definitely one of the hardest-hitting cruiserweight matches in recent memory, which benefitted Gulak tremendously. When things got super technical in the last minute or so, it looked like that meant it was Gulak’s day in the sun, but it was not to be.