WWE 205 Live: Buddy Murphy’s Cruiserweight Championship Win Is Well-Deserved
Buddy Murphy’s Australia homecoming at WWE Super Show-Down resulted in a Cruiserweight Championship victory over Cedric Alexander. “The Best Kept Secret” is now less of a mystery after such a win in front of 70,000 people, but anyone who has followed Murphy over the years realizes his big win has been a long time coming.
WWE 205 Live had built the reputation of being the death-knell for anyone on its roster due to the program slowly stripping away everything that made the Cruiserweight Classic great. Along with the controversial departures of Enzo Amore and Neville, it appeared that the program was running on life support. However, the land of the Cruiserweights got an incredible spark when it was revealed that Buddy Murphy would be joining the ranks of 205 Live.
Save for an NXT Tag Team Championship reign, Murphy had just about faded into obscurity beforehand. Not known for having a flashy cruiserweight style, it was unusual to suddenly see Murphy appearing on the same show as Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, Kalisto and others.
Having never had a detailed singles resume in NXT, expectations for Murphy going into 205 Live weren’t necessarily high. Murphy proved his nickname to be truth by crafting excellent matches against Kalisto, former champion Cedric Alexander, and Mustafa Ali.
Murphy masterfully combined his grit and intensity with the quick-paced high-risk style of the Cruiserweights to steal the show on a weekly basis. Until capturing the Cruiserweight title at WWE Super Showdown, the apex of his 205 Live tenure was his rubber match against Mustafa Ali.
After wrapping up his rivalry with Ali, Murphy joined the tag team ranks with Tony Nese against the Lucha House Party. While he shined with Nese, it was surprising to see him join the tag ranks instead of placing himself in title contention to avenge his May loss against Cedric Alexander. That all changed when it was announced that Murphy would be challenging Alexander for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in Melbourne, Australia at WWE Super Show-Down.
Come match time, Murphy predictably received a massive hometown ovation from the 70,000 Australians in attendance. 205 Live’s juggernaut opened the contest with a brutal knee that nearly won him the Cruiserweight Championship then and there. From then on, it was a back-and-forth sprint of a contest that saw Murphy endure a standing Spanish Fly, a top rope Michinoku Driver and even a Lumbar Check.
Alexander’s springboard attempt at the match’s climax was intercepted by a knee from Murphy. After landing Murphy’s Law, the Australian pinned Cedric Alexander to not only claim his first Cruiserweight Championship, but become the first man to defeat Alexander in more than a year.
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Murphy’s championship victory at Melbourne Cricket Ground was the culmination of months of hard work to erase the negative stigma surrounding 205 Live. Alexander laid the ground work with a six-month title reign that is only second to Neville in length. Now it is time for the former NXT Tag Team Champion to continue to break new ground for himself as well as the Cruiserweight division.