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WrestleMania 35 left the WWE Universe with a lot of surprises, one of which was the shocking upset involving the Cruiserweight Championship.
Buddy Murphy seemed destined for an incredibly long run with the title but wasn't able to overcome the onslaught of his former friend Tony Nese. On the Grandest Stage of Them All, the Premier Athlete put the Juggernaut away with his patented Running Nese, capturing gold for the first time in his WWE career.
However, Murphy would get a shot at redemption tonight, as he would face the new champion in the main event. Could he reclaim his throne, or would the newest King of the Mountain hold his ground at the top?
Jack Gallagher w/Drew Gulak vs Humberto Carrillo
Gallagher and Gulak continued to teach Carrillo lessons about technical wrestling. Tonight, Carrillo would face off against one of his coaches in a one-on-one match.
Gallagher quickly took Carrillo down to the mat with his grappling ability, but Carrillo escaped a monkey flip, landing on his feet. Carrillo avoided another attack from Gallagher, flipping across the ring, continuing to show off his athletic ability. However, this would quickly come back to bite him, as he went up top for a top rope arm drag. Gallagher managed to bring him down to his shoulders, draping him across the ropes neck first.
Gallagher continued to punish Carrillo from here on out, landing some strong punches to the jaw, leaving him in a heap in the corner. Carrillo made it back to his feet, but when he went to the ropes, Gallagher picked his leg, again keeping him grounded. Carrillo again rose back up, but was taken down with a dropkick from the Gentleman.
Gallagher kept up the ground and pound offense, breaking apart his pupil. Carrillo escaped a back suplex and struck Gallagher with two right hands. Gallagher caught a kick and countered with an elbow strike. In the corner, Carrillo avoided the running single leg dropkick. Carrillo took him down with a crossbody off the top rope, then followed Gallagher to the outside with a tope, angering Gulak.
Gallagher was caught in the back of the head with a missile dropkick when rolled back inside the ring. Carrillo attempted to follow up with a kicking combination, but was rocked by a rolling forearm from Gallagher. Carrillo finally landed the combination and launched him across the ring with a handspring arm drag.
Instead of going for the cover, Gulak went up top, forcing Gulak to shove him off.
Results:Humberto Carrillo defeated Jack Gallagher via DQ.
As Gallagher recovered, Gulak beat Carrillo down, attempting to show the "importance" of the ground and pound style. However, he was eventually foiled by the Gentleman, who leveled Gulak with a headbutt, saving his protégé from anymore punishment.
Backstage, Murphy and Nese were shown getting ready for the upcoming Cruiserweight Championship bout. Murphy thanked Nese for giving him the best challenge he could receive at WrestleMania, but looked to regain his title tonight. Nese said that, just like Sunday, he planned on stopping the unstoppable.
Backstage, Drake Maverick met with Oney Lorcan, revealing that he had a match next week. Before he could address that, Cedric Alexander interrupted them. Maverick revealed that next week would indeed be the rematch between them.
Lorcan said the reason he came back to 205 Live was because of the words Alexander said about him during the last tournament. He recalled that Alexander claimed the cruiserweight roster would one day belong to him. He planned to speed up the process a bit by defeating Alexander one-on-one next week.
Cruiserweight Championship Match: Buddy Murphy vs Tony Nese (c)
Nese and Murphy locked up in the middle. Nese managed to overpower him and send him into the corner. Murphy quickly applied a headlock and was shot off into the ropes, where he drove Nese down to the mat with a shoulder block.
Locking in a side headlock, Murphy tried to wear down Nese early. Nese escaped and leveled Murphy with a running forearm. Murphy shook off the cobwebs and got back to his feet, where the two men locked up once again. Nese took him to the corner, but this time Murphy rocked him with an elbow to the jaw. Nese responded with his patented combination, finishing up with a leg sweep and getting the first near fall of the match.
Murphy fought out of the corner, but his knee seemingly buckled as he was rolling away from Nese's range. Murphy dragged himself to the corner where the ref kept Nese away. Murphy went outside to shake it off. As the ref went over to Nese, Murphy attacked him, sending him into the ring post where he crashed to the outside.
Murphy launched him into the barricade, then brought him back inside for the cover. Nese kicked out. Back outside, he launched Nese across the announcer's desk. Back inside, he delivered a devastating running knee to the side of Nese's head, then brought him down with a powerful running suplex.
Murphy picked up Nese, but the Premier Athlete fought back, catching Murphy with a few shots across the jaw. However, the challenger launched Nese over the ropes and connected with a dive to the outside, followed by a meteora inside the ring. Nese, again, kicked out.
After dishing out some more punishment, Murphy went up top, allowing Nese to catch him with the pop-up uppercut, sending Murphy crashing into the barricade below. Murphy pulled himself back in, holding onto Nese's leg. Nese escaped and hung him up with a leg drop in the ropes, followed by a Fosbury Flop to the outside. The Premier Athlete drove Murphy into the barricade repeatedly.
Murphy was bounced off of the announcer's desk, then launched across into the barricade on the other side. Back in the ring, Nese went up top. Murphy blocked him and looked for a top rope powerbomb. Nese countered with another shot to Nese's jaw and a hurricanrana off the top rope, sending Murphy across the ring.
Murphy was hung up in the ropes again, allowing Nese to drop his weight across his former ally's body with a springboard moonsault. Murphy avoided a spinning back kick, however, but was caught in a pumphandle driver from the champion. Nese took Murphy up top and was caught with the package superkick. Murphy then planted Nese square in the middle of the ring with a sit-out powerbomb. Nese kicked out.
Murphy set Nese up for another knee, but the champion caught it, suplexing him into the corner. Nese went for the Running Nese, but Murphy was watching for it. He avoided it and brought Nese to the apron, attempting a German suplex. Nese fought out but was hammered with a jumping knee from Murphy, bouncing his head off the apron on his way down to the ground.
With Nese seemingly out cold, Murphy set up for a powerbomb through the table. Nese was out on his feet, however, and Murphy instead looked for a knockout victory from the ref, who checked on him before starting the ten count. Murphy rolled inside to break it, but when he came back outside was sent over Nese's shoulders with a back body drop, landing spine first on the edge of the table.
Murphy barely beat the ten count and followed Nese back inside. Nese countered the final shot of Murphy's combination and stunned him with a superkick, but was leveled by a clothesline. Murphy planted him face first with a DDT, following up with Murphy's Law. Nese, again, kicked out.
Murphy landed two more knees across Nese's face. However, Nese countered a suplex into a reverse hurricanrana, leaving Murphy crumpled in the corner. Nese delivered a Running Nese, but wasn't satisfied, finishing the Juggernaut off with one final Running Nese.
Results: Tony Nese defeated Buddy Murphy via pinfall to retain the Cruiserweight Championship.
With another victory over Buddy Murphy, it's clear that the former champion is in Tony Nese's rearview mirror. Who will step up next for Nese? Will the next No.1 contender emerge from the matchup between Cedric Alexander and Oney Lorcan next week? WIth a hungry roster, the Premier Athlete won't have to wait long before finding his next challenger.
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