WWE Cruiserweight Division Thread - Includes Raw & 205 Live *Spoilers*

Mr. Guappa

Drake Maverick (Rockstar Spud) is the new GM.
16-man tournament to crown a new champion. Tournament final will be at Wrestlemania.

PTH2009

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

Drake Maverick (Rockstar Spud) is the new GM.
16-man tournament to crown a new champion. Tournament final will be at Wrestlemania.

already sick of listening to Spud

I imagine that championship match will be part of the pre show for mania ??

Loughc

PTH2009 wrote: »

I imagine that championship match will be part of the pre show for mania ??

Lord TSC

I actually watched 205 and enjoyed the two matches.

Will also tune in next week for Hideo and Strong.

Insect Overlord

I've fallen a bit out of the loop over the last year or so when it comes to the weekly shows. Can ye tell me, is 205 Live part of the show on Sky Sports or does it go up separately on the Network?

spektorfive

I think it's only on the network. Roderick Strong now on 205. Be interesting to see who else from NXT is 205 bound. They clearly trying to beef on the roster.

ShagNastii

Is the way 205 live is viewed different to how it was at its inception? Has a bit of an WWECW vibe off it at the mo.

I completely forget how it was sold when it kicked off.

spektorfive

I think that's the vibe they want now. But as long as they film in front of the post-smackdown crowd it's not really going to work.

beakerjoe

ShagNastii wrote: »

Is the way 205 live is viewed different to how it was at its inception? Has a bit of an WWECW vibe off it at the mo.

I completely forget how it was sold when it kicked off.

It was sold as a continuation of the CWC. The CWC was brilliant but 205live was more of a WWE after thought and not present in the same way.

Last nights episode was the best yet. the 2 matches were excellent. Cedric is a star and if they actually book him well he has the potential to be a star.

jeffk

Tried to watch it with new GM and kinda Relaunch

The dead crowd don't help it, could be the best match in the world but silence or barely nose kills it

Then commentary is crap, Nigel about to tell story, cut off with random shouting etc, then stumbling over each other, again not helping matches

CastorTroy

Well Drake needs to cut down on the tan. Though with the smile, it seems to be part of the character.
Strange introduction with him coming out with Daniel. Why not say why he's qualified, announce the name then have him come out. The name change wouldn't have felt as weird then.

Shows they need to build their characters as well when 3 of the first 4 matches are seemingly face vs face (assuming Itami is face here)

Lord TSC

PWInsider says there's been a major creative shakeup behind 205 the last two episodes...

====

If you have paid attention to WWE's 205 Live series the last several weeks on the WWE Network, you may have noticed that the series feels far closer in essence to the Cruiserweight Classic tournament that spawned it than what has been the overall presentation of 205 Live itself over the last year.

There is a very good reason for that, PWInsider.com has confirmed. As of last week's episode kicking off the tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight championship, Vince McMahon has stepped aside and is no longer personally putting 205 Live together.

PWInsider.com has confirmed that the series is now being overseen by Triple H, who has brought back many of the hallmarks of the Cruiserweight Classic including the style and presentation of the Cruisers inside the ring. While Vince McMahon had been personally working with the 205 Live stars to bring out their personalities to present them in a certain light, there has been more a focus on the in-ring work and competition under Triple H's vision.

In recent months, there had been talk behind the scenes about why the brand wasn't firing on all cylinders. We are told that McMahon believed that a character-driven show was the best way to get the 205 Live brand over, as seen by his decision to have Enzo Amore shifted there and become the nucleus of the brand, since he was such a strong character.

While Enzo led to an uptick in viewership and interest (before being fired by the company), others in the company still argued that presenting 205 Live similar to how the Cruiserweight Classic was presented was the right way to go. The belief among those who pushed for a return to the CWC presentation was that having smaller talents echoing Raw and Smackdown personalities wasn't going to showcase what made the Cruisers different and unique and it wasn't going to help 205 Live grow beyond being an hour of WWE TV on the Network.

It should be noted that aspects of the CWC were dropped almost immediately from 205 Live after the series debuted, including personality packages that had been produced to introduce viewers to the performers that were almost immediately discarded.

McMahon finally made the decision to allow Triple H to take over as show runner two weeks ago in an attempt to reboot and fix the brand. While there's always a chance McMahon could place himself back in control (it is, after all, his company), the last two weeks of 205 Live have been compared by those behind the scenes to WWE NXT, in that Triple H has been the alpha and omega when it came to being the decision-maker for the product.

The lead writer for 205 Live is currently Jonathan Baeckstrom, who has been part of the company's creative team since August 2013. He's been working for the company as a lead writer since November 2016, coming into the company after working in talent management. Adam Pearce, the former NWA champion who transitioned into a WWE Performance Center Coach before being moved up to a Producer for the main roster, remains the lead Producer for the 205 Live brand.

We are also told that the vision seen the last several weeks is very much in line with the original plans for 205 Live series before Vince McMahon decided to get personally involved with the direction of the product and the nurturing of the 205 Live talents, who may end up being the last generation of talents McMahon worked with on a specific one-on-one basis to groom.

We are also told that 205 Live house shows are not off the table after the two test shows in Lowell, MA and Poughkeepsie, NY last month, but there are no current plans for additional live events at this time. Instead, the focus is going to be building the brand up by presenting strong athletic characters and in-ring competition before taking the brand back on the road for another experimental house show run.

So, if you enjoyed the likes of Hideo Itami vs. Roderick Strong last night, expect more of that in-ring style going forward as Strong was specifically brought up as a way to help freshen up the 205 Live roster and product - and there may be other additions in the weeks to come.

DM_7

Enjoying it. Kalisto and Lince was what I want to see on a cruiserweight show.

Lince really looked great without as many limitations, Kalisto had more chances overall to show his skills in WWE before.

A Rogue Hobo

It has to be said the last two weeks have been very enjoyable solid wrestling shows. The only worrying thing is the live crowd doesn't seem to be getting any more into the show than they were before. Hopefully, that changes as the weeks go by if they stay in this direction.

jaykhunter

Anyone think it is suspicious that Vince was named as the 'leader' of 205 Live creative? He barely cares for Smackdown, there's no way he's spending days pouring over 205 Live, the internet only show with tiny guys. Feels very odd to me, like a bit of PR rhetoric. It's like hearing 'oh Vince goes to indie house shows every week, he just wears a cap and sunglasses'

A Rogue Hobo

Yeah I think the article is probably grossly exaggerating his role. I feel like he may have had one on one interactions with the 205 roster about what to do and how to act on an intermittent basis but certainly not on a weekly one. I do think he probably was hands on in the sense of telling other people in charge of 205 Live general instructions as in "This is how I want the show presented in the ring" or "I want 4 backstage or interview segments per show" that type of thing. But there definitely has been a different feel to the last few weeks. My only worry is, is this a permanent switch or just a temporary one while the tournament lasts? What happens after the tournament? Will it revert back to how it was or stay on this course?

sky88

With the cruiserweights being on raw i thought thats were vince managing them has come from and possibly true

jaykhunter

Aha getcha. Maybe it's an overall shift in general production mindset/focus; like i can't see Vince sitting down with Lince Dorado once a week to work on his promo skills

A Rogue Hobo

Exactly! But then what the hell do I know I'm just trying to read between the lines as much as the next person. For all we know, Vince has been telling Jack Gallagher once a week to BE A GENTLEMAN DAMNIT! But as you said, that seems highly unlikely for reasons you already pointed out.

Enjoyable show the last 2 weeks I have to say.

Doing the show after Smackdown though has to be changed. I know they want it live on WWE network but the crowd couldn't give 2 ****s.

HandsomeBob

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Enjoyable show the last 2 weeks I have to say.

Doing the show after Smackdown though has to be changed. I know they want it live on WWE network but the crowd couldn't give 2 ****s.

Yeah it's painful to hear the difference as they deserve better. Have they ever considered stripping things back and recording it with NXT.

Blue_Dabadee

What are chances of Neville coming back either during or after this tourney?

I really like Mark Andrews I hope he is a main stay for CW division since he is a such a likeable babyface.

Ali Bomaye

I'm loving the new 205 Live. I like how Spud, as the GM, has basically been used to berate what 205 Live was in his backstage segments with Gulak, Nese and Gallagher.

The Gulak & Nese match from this week was so good. While Gulak goofing around with the PowerPoints and placards was quite fun to watch, his performance here as an ultra serious and motivated competitor was amazing to watch as a complete change to what he had been doing before. The end of the match with Gulak beating the hell out of Nese until the referee stopped the match was by far the most interesting character development Gulak has had since joining the show.

Pentecost

I never really took an interest in it previously. Must give it a whirl some time.

Ridley

Crowd sitting on their hands sucks the energy out of the room for me.

Omackeral

The finish to the Buddy Murphy vs Ariya Daivari match was bloody wonderful. What a sequence and what a signature move. Popper the crowd nicely too. Skip to 2:25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePSjPXwGAK4

beakerjoe

Murphy looked great, enough smarks in the crowd knew him frim NXT too which helped. He really impressed and the pre match vignettes did a good job of putting him over.

CastorTroy

So we have 5 205 originals and 3 new guys in the quarters. If they keep at 2 matches a week, it means we've only 3 weeks left in the tournament. Wonder what the plan is then to stop backsliding

cian68

I'm catching up on a couple of things so just watched Gulak vs Tony Nese and I LOVED the last minute with Gulak dishing out the punishment to his former friend. Definitely got me invested to see where Gulak goes from here. There's no easier way to get me invested in wrestling than tournament brackets so interested to see what the show looks like after Mania.

CastorTroy

Had to laugh at the fact they were talking about innovation yet both of the winners this week have the exact same finisher