Tag: WWE Cruiserweight Division

WWE Makes Name Change To Cruiserweight Title?

Triple H recently talked about the WWE Cruiserweight division possibly blending in with NXT and having the Cruiserweight Championship move under the NXT brand. That change went into effect this week, as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship has been re-branded as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on WWE.com.

Plus on last night’s NXT, they promoted a Crusierweight Championship for next week’s NXT between Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak and Lio Rush, by referring to the title at the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament Brackets Revealed

WWE NXT Superstar Buddy Murphy made his WWE 205 Live debut on last night’s show and defeated Ariya Daivari in a first round match in the WWE Cruiserweight Title tournament. The first round then wrapped with Mustafa Ali defeating Jack Gallagher in the main event.

The tournament brackets were revealed and they look like this:

First Round
* Cedric Alexander defeated Gran Metalik
* TJP defeated Tyler Bate
* Roderick Strong defeated Hideo Itami
* Kalisto defeated Lince Dorado
* Mustafa Ali defeated Jack Gallagher
* Buddy Murphy defeated Ariya Daivari
* Drew Gulak defeated Tony Nese
* Mark Andrews defeated Akira Tozawa

Quarter-Finals
* Cedric Alexander vs. TJP
* Roderick Strong vs. Kalisto
* Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy
* Drew Gulak vs. Mark Andrews

Semi-Finals
* Cedric Alexander or TJP vs. Roderick Strong or Kalisto
* Mustafa Ali or Buddy Murphy vs. Drew Gulak or Mark Andrews

Finals at WrestleMania 34
* Cedric Alexander or TJP or Roderick Strong or Kalisto
vs.
* Mustafa Ali or Buddy Murphy or Drew Gulak or Mark Andrews

Source: WrestlingINC

Vince McMahon Steps Aside And Puts Triple H In Charge Of ‘WWE 205 Live’

There are major behind-the-scenes changes going on with the WWE 205 Live brand as Vince McMahon has stepped aside and is no longer personally producing the show, according to PWInsider. The changes began with last week’s episode, which featured new 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick and kicked off the 16-man tournament that will end at WrestleMania 34 with the crowning of a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Triple H is now overseeing 205 Live and he has brought back some of the aspects of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic tournament, including the style and presentation of the wrestlers. Vince had personally worked with the 205 Live Superstars to bring out their personalities to present them in a certain way but there has been more focus on the in-ring work under Triple H.

There has been a lot of internal talk over the past few months about why 205 Live wasn’t succeeding like they had hoped. Vince reportedly believed that a character-driven show was the best way to get the brand over, which is why former WWE Superstar Enzo Amore was brought over to be the top star of the brand. Enzo’s arrival helped with viewership and buzz for the show but there were still people in the company that wanted to present the show like the Cruiserweight Classic was presented. Their feeling was that having smaller talents that were just echoing the Superstars from RAW and SmackDown was not going to showcase what made the cruiserweight talents unique, and it wasn’t going to help 205 Live grow into its own brand, more than just a weekly WWE Network TV show.

The product we’ve seen over the last few weeks is said to be very much in line with the original plans for 205 Live before Vince became personally involved with the direction of the show and the development of the cruiserweight talents.

While WWE is still considering non-televised 205 Live live event shows in the future, there are currently no plans to run more cruiserweight-exclusive events as the plan is to focus on re-building the brand by presenting strong athletic characters with strong in-ring competition.

Vince finally made the decision to let Triple H run the show back in mid-January as a way to reboot the brand, or fix it. Triple H is running the show, making all decisions, while Jonathan Baeckstrom is the current lead writer. Baeckstrom has worked on the WWE creative team since August 2013 and has been a lead writer since November 2016. Former WWE Performance Center Coach Adam Pearce is still working as the lead producer for the brand.

Regarding roster changes, there may be more additions in the coming weeks. WWE NXT Superstar Roderick Strong was brought up to help freshen the roster and the show. As noted, Strong defeated Hideo Itami last night to advance in the 16-man tournament.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Confirms Hideo Itami Coming To 205Live

Image result for Hideo Itami coming to 205 live

It was confirmed on last night’s WWE 205 Live episode that the next call-up from WWE NXT will see Hideo Itami join the cruiserweight division.

Itami’s NXT run has been plagued by injuries. He’s lost a handful of singles matches since returning to the ring back in March of this year. His last big match came at NXT “Takeover: Brooklyn III” in August, a loss to Aleister Black.

Below is the graphic teasing his upcoming arrival and Twitter comments from Itami:

Source: WrestlingINC

Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champ Rockstar Spud & NXT Star Hideo Itami Reportedly Joining WWE Cruiserweight Division

As noted, former TNA X Division Champion Rockstar Spud is no longer with Impact Wrestling. PWInsider is reporting that WWE is looking to sign Spud and add him to the Cruiserweight division. Spud joined the TNA roster after winning the first TNA British Boot Camp in 2013. He had most recently been feuding with Swoggle, f.k.a. Hornswoggle in WWE, losing their blowoff match on the June 29th episode of Impact Wrestling taped in India.

PWInsider is also reporting that WWE is looking to finally call Hideo Itami up from NXT and join the Cruiserweight division. It was noted that while there is no date set for his debut, WWE intends to move him to 205 Live when they have creative plans for him. Itami signed with WWE in 2014, however had been plagued with injuries. He made one appearance on the main roster, competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by The Big Show, who went on to win the match. Itami recently was defeated by Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III on August 19th in Brooklyn, NY.

You can read the full report at PWInsider by clicking here.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE 205 Live Preview 5/2/17

Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

* Noam Dar and Rich Swann finally go one-on-one

* Is the alliance between TJP and Neville about to break?

Noam Dar Injured On This Week’s RAW

Image result for noam dar RAW

WWE cruiserweight Noam Dar suffered an injury during this week’s RAW match with Austin Aries, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on details of the injury but Dar missed this week’s 205 Live where he was to continue his feud with Rich Swann in the ring.

Dar is set to be examined in Orlando this Sunday before WrestleMania 33 to determine how long he will be out of action.

Source: WrestlingINC

205 Live Preview 12/13/16

WWE 205 Live takes place tonight on WWE Network at 10PM ET. Due to the tapings of the Tribute to the Troops special airing Wednesday on USA Network that will take place prior to Smackdown Live tonight in Washington, DC, 205 Live was taped prior to last night’s RAW TV Tapings in Philadelphia, so it will not be a live broadcast this evening.

Scheduled for tonight:

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins in a Non-Title Match

Lince Dorado vs. Mustafa Ali

Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak.

205 Live Premiere Tonight on WWE Network

WWE 205 Live, showcasing WWE’s new Cruiserweight division, will premiere tonight at 10 p.m. ET, exclusively on WWE Network. The one-hour, live weekly show will be called by Mauro Ranallo, the voice of SmackDown LIVE, and Corey Graves, color commentator for Monday Night Raw.

Coming off the success of WWE Network’s recent Cruiserweight Classic tournament and the formation of the new Cruiserweight division, which airs exclusively on Monday Night Raw, 205 Live will feature Superstars that are 205 pounds and under, including: new WWE Cruiserweight Champion The Brian Kendrick, as well as TJ Perkins, Rich Swann, Noam Dar, HoHo Lun, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra.

“205 Live is a natural progression to showcase the depth of our roster,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “With world-class talent such as Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and Rich Swann, 205 Live will be a must-see program on WWE Network.”

Scheduled for tonight is WWE Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann for the WWE Cruiserweight Title.

WWE Announces New Weekly Cruiserweight Series (205 Live)

WWE has announced that a new one-hour, in-ring program called 205 Live, featuring the WWE Cruiserweight division will premiere Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m. ET, exclusively on WWE Network.

WWE announced the following:

STAMFORD, Conn. — A one-hour, in-ring program called 205 Live, showcasing WWE’s new Cruiserweight division, will premiere Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m. ET, exclusively on WWE Network. The live weekly show will be called by Mauro Ranallo, the voice of SmackDown LIVE, and Corey Graves, color commentator for Monday Night Raw.

Coming off the success of WWE Network’s recent Cruiserweight Classic tournament and the formation of the new Cruiserweight division, which airs exclusively on Monday Night Raw, 205 Live will feature Superstars that are 205 pounds and under, including: new WWE Cruiserweight Champion The Brian Kendrick, as well as TJ Perkins, Rich Swann, Noam Dar, HoHo Lun, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, Gran Metallik, Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra.

“205 Live is a natural progression to showcase the depth of our roster,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “With world-class talent such as Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and Rich Swann, 205 Live will be a must-see program on WWE Network.”

“With the addition of 205 Live to an already robust programming schedule, WWE continues to enhance the value of WWE Network for our subscribers,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer. “We take pride in listening to our fans and delivering even more live, premium content that they are asking for.”