Welcome to a new monthly feature on SLTD Wrestling that features, debates and celebrates the WWE’s weekly highflying wrestling show, 205 Live.
This is Cruiserweight Corner.
Looking Back
205 Live has evolved somewhat over the six months or so, mainly following the removal of Enzo Amore from the Cruiserweight Championship picture and the WWE in general. Following Enzo’s dismissal and the subsequent disappearance of Neville, Cruiserweight Classic standout Cedric Alexander has taken it upon himself to carry the purple brand on his shoulders since he defeated Mustafa Ali at Wrestlemania, saving the Cruiserweight Championship from its period of vacancy.
But the changes that will see on live TV aren’t the only changes to the show as, according to reports, Triple H has taken over creatively from Vince McMahon and the previous production team which I believe has led to the show having a more refreshed and organic feel similar to that of NXT.
The most notable change 205 Live has adopted from NXT is that the depth of the roster can be simply felt by including stars each week who aren’t actually wrestling on the show but are featured in backstage interviews or backstage vignettes. For example, in the build-up to the fantastic championship match between Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy, we saw both men simply being interviewed backstage. There was no need for them to be in the ring cutting a promo or wrestling in a throwaway tag team match, instead, the emphasis was very much on building towards the match, making it feel important – almost PPV style akin to a pre-Takeover NXT – and to make the championship feel important. The exact same thing is being done with Aleister Black in NXT – we don’t need to physically see him but we know that he is champion. World building, simple.
Alexander’s Next Challenger?
Following Cedric Alexander’s recent victory over Buddy Murphy, 205 Live looked to find a new number one contender for the championship by pitting the aforementioned Murphy another match with Mustafa Ali (which again has been another fantastic series of matches on the show) and to everyone’s surprise the match ended in a double disqualification as Hideo Itami made his way to the ring and attacked both men. In order to keep things fresh, I for one would absolutely love to see Hideo Itami Vs. Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship and I also believe that Itami is not only the next challenger for the championship but he’s also going to be the next champion.
Hideo Itami is a guy who, since NXT, has – and I don’t want use the word ‘floundering’ here because it doesn’t seem like it’s something that Itami is doing wrong, its more something that the booking team/the decisions that are being made for him are doing wrong – been floating around Tuesday nights whether it be in a rivalry with the Lucha House Party and/or being in a tag team with Akira Tozawa or even separating him from Tozawa, Hideo has not really found his spot.
To any fan of NXT or even Japanese wrestling, Hideo Itami is an untapped main eventer not just on 205 Live but on the main roster in general and is currently being fantastically underused. That’s why I want Hideo to find his spot soon and I wholeheartedly believe that his time will be soon as he defeats Alexander to become Cruiserweight Champion, come across as the biggest threat on the 205 roster and hopefully become the first person to make the shift from the purple brand to Raw or Smackdown.
Missing MITB.
One thing that was missing from Backlash and the one thing that seems to be missing from Money In The Bank this weekend is the inclusion of 205 on the show (even the preshow!). Now I’m not suggesting that they rush into Itami/Alexander by having it on the pre-show just so that they can have some sort of presence on the show, I would have loved to have seen a Cruiserweight MITB match this year. Think of the potential show-stealing match when you pit Buddy Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, Hideo Itami, Brian Kendrick, Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher against each other and throw ladders into the mix. A real missed opportunity!
Thanks for reading the first edition of Cruiserweight Corner, I’ll be back the weekend of Extreme Rules to recap and look ahead in the land of the Cruiserweights.
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