Why WWE Protected Murphy On This Week's Raw

The Raw Tag Team Champion is going places at the moment.

by Andy H Murray
Buddy Murphy
WWE.com

Murphy has shot to new levels of prominence on WWE television lately, with the former 205 Live man finding new life as a member of Seth Rollins' heel stable, having captured the Raw Tag Team Championships alongside 'The Monday Night Messiah' on 20 January.

WWE is granting the Australian a degree of protection he hasn't enjoyed since he was the king of the Cruiserweight division. The reason for this is simple: WWE sees the guy as a "big project" at the moment, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer noted that this was why Murphy didn't take a clean loss to Angelo Dawkins on this week's Raw, with the referee calling a disqualification when Rollins ran in and Stomped the babyface.

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This new report is in line with recent stories suggesting that Paul Heyman is very, very high on the former NXT Tag Team Champion and wants to make him one of the faces of Raw. Such a role remains a long way away, but Murphy's progress up the card can't be denied. He's a wonderful in-ring talent and an underrated personality to boot and it's great to see him shining.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.