10 New Directions For WWE After Royal Rumble 2017
7. The King's Coronation
Nobody has impacted 205 Live quite like Neville. The show is still several improvements away from becoming “must watch” television, but the former NXT Champion’s heel turn has been a revelation, and his feud with Rich Swann has produced the Cruiserweight division’s most cohesive story yet.
Neville has slotted effortlessly into his role as the division’s focal point, and last was his big opportunity. Fortunately for him, the self-anointed King of the Cruiserweights was able to overturn Swann in one of the division’s most enjoyable matches thus far. His coronation is complete, and the division’s anchor finally has some gold to justify his status.
This move doesn’t represent a huge change for the division, as Neville was already 205 Live’s biggest star, but it should prompt some interesting switch-ups from the babyfaces. Neville has already defeated TJ Perkins, and now Swann must find a way to realign and recover. There’s very little standing between Neville and complete domination at this point, and it’ll be up to the good guys to find a way to stop him.
Rebuilding 205 Live around Neville was a deft choice by WWE. He’s comfortably the hottest thing on the show at the moment, and his change in character has made him more relevant to WWE programming than ever. Expect the division to revolve entirely around Neville on the road to WrestleMania, and for a number of fresh challengers to ascend around him.