100 Episodes of 205 Live

Hi guys,

It seems like only yesterday that I was trying to prove to the world that 205 Live was the best hour on television. Fast forward 100 episodes, and Triple H taking over the booking, and it seems like the world is finally realising what I always knew: the wrestlers on 205 Live put on some of the best matches in WWE. Maybe all it took was a change in management, a focus on the wrestling and a certain wrestler being released for this to happen. I mean 205 Live was always amazing but it maybe just needed a little push and some proper investment. So, today I'm going to be looking at the last 100 episodes and see the development of the show and what's making it so successful and best kept secret of WWE. 

When the Cruiserweights started off on Raw, and eventually got their own show in 205 Live, there was high expectations for it to be amazing, especially considering the high standard of wrestling we'd seen in the Cruiserweight Classic. There was great promise and some of the matches and storylines were really well thought out, like the personal backstory to TJ Perkins v Brian Kendrick and the amazing set of matches with Ariya Daivari which culminated in the I forfeit match. But, from the get go, you could see that there wasn't the interest or support from any of the crowds that watched the show. I couldn't see why they'd find any faults in the wrestling (which was top class) but I could see why there would be a lack of connection with the stars themselves. A lot of these guys were Indy stars who many of the crowds would never have heard about, put that with the fact that the CWC was a network exclusive and you could say that a lot of the crowd may have never heard of these competitors. No matter how amazing matches were, if a crowd doesn't connect or relate, then you won't get that appreciation.

Yet, after a a shaky start, bringing a returning Neville to 205 Live with a new heel persona was the perfect way to inject some life into the crowds - I mean they finally saw someone they knew and got to see hisamazing character development. The brand started getting a lot more attention and a bigger fanbase, we were even getting more high profile matches and there was more consistency with Neville being an undefeated champion for a long ass time. It got even better with the addition of world class star Austin Aries who brought his charisma (and bananas) to 205 Live and had an amazing rivalry with our Neville. As well as the amazing Wrestlemania and Extreme Rules match between the two, we had more storylines, more matches and more videos to help us connect to all of the roster. It finally seemed like 205 Live was on the way up and we were getting some proper investment into the brand!

After Neville returning, everyone thought that things were looking up for the Cruiserweights, even with Austin Aries leaving. Cue Enzo Amore (who I don't want to mention but have too) and an extremely dark period in the brands history. Don't get me wrong, the guys were still putting on amazing matches like the Drew Gulak v Mustafa Ali series, the Halloween fatal 4 way and Kalisto's debut. However, it suddenly seemed like creative pushed Enzo to the top of the mountain by giving him the title and making it the 'Enzo show'. The prime example of this was when I saw it in Manchester in November. I specifically booked to watch WWE on Tuesday for 205 Live but it ended up being mostly Enzo talking shit. It seemed like the company was relying on this below par wrestler to prop up some of the best in the company. Even with some great matches, it got so bad that people lost faith in Enzo more than ever and thus lost faith in the brand which just became a joke with a joke as the champion!

However, darkness doesn't last for long and, after Enzo's release, 205 Live started a new era. With new management in the shape of GM Drake Maverick (Spud) and Triple H taking control, the 205 Live roster were able to show their full potential and make the crowds realise how good the guys are! We started the year off with an amazing tournament to determine a new champion with some amazing appearances from the 205 Live roster and stars like Roderick Strong and Buddy Murphy. We also had a successful US 205 Live tour which did a lot better a lot of haters wanted and it showed that this brand is popular with fans. I also can't forget some of the stand out matches which included Mustafa Ali v Cedric Alexander for the title at Wrestlemania which really turned heads! Since then, we've had an amazing and fighting champion in Cedric Alexander and a ton of great matches and storylines like Hideo Itami v Mustafa Ali, Buddy Murphy v Ali (no DQ) and the continuous need by Drew Gulak to make 205 Live better #powerpoint. The crowds were also starting to connect to these wrestlers and their stories which then got them excited for the matches - I mean hearing 'this is awesome' chants started to become the norm and a lot more than even on RAW and SD!

So, what's next for 205 Live? With Buddy Murphy at the top of the brand and new stars like Leo Rush, the possibilities are endless for how much 205 Live can expand. We've already had one PPV where the CW title match hasn't been on the pre-show, so let's make this normal! By pre-taping 205 Live before SD, we've got more enthusiastic crowds. Let's expand the roster even more. Give us more worldwide 205 Live tours! Let's show the world why 205 Live is the most exciting hour on television! Let the likes of Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, TJP, Noam Dar, Lucha House Party, Buddy Murphy, Jack Gallagher, Brian Kendrick and so many more show what they can do!

I hope you all enjoyed my look at the last 100 episodes of 205 Live, here's to 100 (or 105) more and a bright future for all the guys on the roster! Let me know what you've all thought about 205 Live's development!

Until Next Time

Bye!