6 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 29)
2. Champ Taps
We’ve seen Neville and TJP tangle with Austin Aries and Jack Gallagher multiple times, but we hadn’t seen was the WWE Cruiserweight Champion in this situation before.
Monday night, Neville tapped out for the first time since returning to WWE late last year, just six days before he defends his title in a submission match against Extreme Rules against Aries. And that was a perfect use of a repeated tag match. Given that A-Double has already faced Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship at the two previous PPVs, Austin needed a leg up for sorts, and this helped nullify doubt while instilling some in the champ.
That was on display backstage, when a distraught Neville was flustered by Charly Caruso’s question about him tapping out for the first time in the division. Whether that factors into Sunday’s match is immaterial, but it added that element to the lead-up to the bout.