Mustafa Ali has firmly established himself as the best guy in the tournament with this match. Another spirited babyface performance from him that makes this match so much better than the emotionally cold Cedric vs. Roddy match last week. Several spots here look really brutal just from the way Drew looks so vicious and angry with his facial expressions slamming Ali into the post etc... A one point in the match Mustafa loses his temper with Drew and hoists him up onto the announce table to hit him with something, only for Drew to counter and back body drop him straight to the floor. A lesson learned about letting your anger get the better of you. Great stuff.

 

****1/4

Talk about getting a dead crowd into a great match. 205's historically dead crowd popped huge by the end of this match because Ali and Gulak worked a tight, stiff, simple babyface-heel match. Gulak brought the viciousness with crazy scary intensity (especially towards the finish) and Ali brought some crazy bumps. Bumping face first off the top rope? Check. Back bump off the table? Check. Face first into the turnbuckle followed by a body slam onto the concrete? Check. Hard not to root for the guy after what he put himself through.

 

****

Best match of the tournament for me - and it's been a really enjoyable series of matches. Gulak started off in round one facing off against his mate Tony Nese, bringing the aggression and then completely losing it and he hasn't really stopped since. He's a madman here and it rubs off on Ali who starts to lose it to with that almost costing him. This was going well already but when they moved to the outside it really kicked into another gear. Great bumping from Ali, I liked the convincing count out false finishes. Excellent match. Alexander/Ali is the right choice for the final, I'm not sure who I want to win now. Probably Ali.