Money in the Bank 2019 - 5 Things we learned at Money in the Bank
WWE missed the boat with Buddy Murphy's title reign
Buddy Murphy's reign as Cruiserweight Champion was so fantastic that it forced WWE to move him to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake Up. He had routinely defended the title in matches that could have been 'Match of the Night'.
His defense against the former champion, Cedric Alexander, was another fantastic showing by the 'Best Kept Secret'. The 'Fatal Four Way' at the Royal Rumble was fast-paced and exciting. His match with Akira Tozawa at the Elimination Chamber PPV was awesome. But at each PPV, Murphy's matches were on the pre-shows instead of the actual PPV.
Even the match at WrestleMania 35 in which he lost the title to Tony Nese was great, but it was ten minutes and on the pre-show. In a strange but deserving move, Nese actually defended the title on the actual PPV against Ariya Daivari. It was a decent match that was better in its last two minutes, but practically every one of Murphy's defenses was exponentially better.
WWE might have wanted to give a little love to the smaller athletes of 205 Live who had consistently been relegated to the pre-show of PPVs, but this wasn't the match that deserved to be on the main show. Murphy's title defenses should have been as they were often better than matches on the PPV itself. A swing and a miss.