Following a brief six-day stretch in which Akira Tozawa held the cruiserweight championship, the title is back around the waist of the Neville, and the most dominant man in the division was in need of a new challenger. On 205 Live, five fresh faces took part in a Fatal 5-Way elimination match to see who would get the next crack at dethroning the champ at No Mercy.
Let's examine what each of the five contenders would bring to the 205 Live main event scene.
The most obvious choice would be Enzo Amore. Amore joined 205 Live just two weeks ago and instantly provided a much-needed charismatic spark. The move should benefit him in that there is a real possibility that he'll achieve singles success in the division. After continuous beat downs by Big Cass on RAW, Enzo appeared destined to serve his role as a punching bag on a weekly basis. On 205 Live, he's one of, if not the star of the show. Capitalizing on his magnetism right away would be a shrewd way to create some much needed buzz for the brand.
The only former cruiserweight champion in the match was Brian Kendrick. Kendrick is trending upward following a bloody victory over Jack Gallagher last week and a logical next step would be a chance to regain his spot atop the division. The only knock on that plan would be his lack of babyface appeal against the evil Neville.
A superstar who wouldn't have that issue is Cedric Alexander. Alexander is perhaps the most thrilling in-ring performer in the entire division. He's smooth, quick, innovative and has the ability to energize a crowd one lumbar check at a time. The only question mark surrounding Alexander is his capability of connecting to the audience from a personality perspective. Once an engaging character begins shining through, the sky's the limit for Alexander.
Gran Metalik's inclusion in the match presents the element of the unknown. Ever since his advancement to the finals of the Cruiserweight Classic last year, Metalik has been sparingly used on 205 Live and hasn't sniffed a legitimate rivalry as part of the division. A Cruiserweight championship match at No Mercy would be a heck of a way to change that. However, for Metalik's sake, a slower build to the championship scene would allow the audience to become more acclimated to his character, which is the only aspect missing from his repertoire as he's stellar in the ring.
Finally, Tony Nese is an interesting option. He has the look, the in-ring prowess and can cut a promo better than he gets credit for. Unfortunately, he faces the same issue as Kendrick in that his heel persona eliminates the excitement that would come out of a legitimate protagonist attempting to defeat the villain.
The outcome
After one of the better matches to have ever taken place on 205 Live, the obvious route was taken as Amore prevailed by eliminating Alexander after Alexander had single-handedly eliminated the other three combatants. Amore didn't truly play a big role in the action of the match, but his timing on the rollup of Alexander was perfect and should also likely lead to an Amore-Alexander encounter based on the way it ended.
While Amore and Neville should provide an entertaining championship match at No Mercy, tonight's match is the type of performance that the WWE needs to get more eyes on for the sake of the brand's popularity. A match of this this quality on the grand stage of a pay-per-view event has the power to attract a wider audience. That's what 205 Live truly needs.
Other action
TJP was back in action this week against Ariya Daivari while his friend/rival Rich Swann sat and watched on top of the announcers table while eating popcorn. Fun. TJP's win propels his momentum forward as his "friendly" rivalry with Swann continues.
Former cruiserweight champion, Akira Tozawa saw action this week against Drew Gulak. Gulak's continued plea to eliminate aerial attacks from his opponents' offense, which he comically presented by way of a PowerPoint presentation on Tuesday night has been one of the most underrated aspects of 205 Live. It's a shame Gulak was omitted from the Fatal 5-Way. Instead, he suffered a loss against the former champ.
Move of the night
Gran Metalik, Kendrick, Alexander and Nese converged to perform an incredible sunset suplex power bomb.