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Jordan Devlin defeated Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott, Angel Garza and Travis Banks in a Fatal Four-Way Match at Worlds Collide to become Cruiserweight Champion earlier this year in January. He was the first Superstar on the NXT UK brand to become Cruiserweight Champion. As Champion, he has defeated the likes of Tyler Breeze, Tony Nese, Lio Rush, and most recently, Travis Banks.
In light of current circumstances in the world, The Irish Ace is unable to defend his Cruiserweight Championship because he is stuck in the United Kingdom currently.
On this week's WWE Bump, William Regal announced a tournament to determine an interim Cruiserweight Champion while Devlin is out of action. The Irish Ace will then face whoever is acting as Cruiserweight Champion to unify the titles whenever everything has been fixed and he can come back to America.
#8 Tony Nese
Tony Nese has been a part of 205 Live ever since the Cruiserweight Championship was first introduced in the Cruiserweight Classic in the summer of 2016. He finally won the Cruiserweight Championship from his former friend Buddy Murphy on the WrestleMania 35 kickoff show.
Tony Nese had a pretty successful reign where he defeated Superstars like Ariya Daivari, Ligero, and Drew Gulak. He lost the title to Gulak in a Triple Threat match that also involved Akira Tozawa at the Stomping Grounds kickoff show and has been determined to win his title back ever since then.
Since then, he has faced a lot of NXT Superstars. He has had matches with Superstars such as Tyler Breeze, Lio Rush, Jordan Devlin, Raul Mendoza, Angel Garza, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan and is portrayed as a leader of the 205 Live locker room. He was also the captain of Team 205 Live in the 205 Live Originals vs. NXT Cruiserweights.
After his team failed to beat the NXT Cruiserweights, he defeated both Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch on 205 Live. He will likely be a part of this tournament due to his status as a 205 Live veteran that frequently scores victories
#7: Tyler Breeze
Tyler Breeze had floundered on the main roster for many years since being called up in 2015. He eventually moved back to NXT and embarked on a singles run initially. Prince Pretty challenged the Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXV, took Roderick Strong to the limit and handed the monstrous Jaxson Ryker his first singles loss.
He eventually reunited with his tag team partner Fandango and the two had moderate success. However, Fandango recently suffered an injury, and as a result of that, Tyler Breeze moved to 205 Live. He has scored victories over Superstars like Samir Singh, Ariya Daivari, and Tony Nese and also participated in the team of NXT Cruiserweights that faced Team 205 Live Originals in a tag team elimination match.
He almost earned a Cruiserweight Title opportunity earlier in the year in a triple threat match that also involved Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott and Lio Rush, and has already taken Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin to the limit in a singles match once.
His exploits in the NXT back in 2014 mean that he's forever over in the eyes of the NXT fans, and this makes him a major favorite for the tournament.
#6: Oney Lorcan
Oney Lorcan joined 205 Live in 2019 after wrestling on NXT for almost three years. He spent the majority of his time in NXT in a tag team with Danny Burch before he had his debut performance in the number one contender's tournament for the Cruiserweight Championship.
He defeated Humberto Carrillo in his first match on 205 Live before being eliminated by Cedric Alexander. Oney Lorcan had scored victories over Superstars like Cedric Alexander, Ariya Daivari, and Kalisto before challenging Drew Gulak for the Cruiserweight Championship.
Drew Gulak managed to defeat Oney Lorcan both times, and after that, Oney Lorcan reunited with Danny Burch in 205 Live, NXT, and NXT UK. Since then, the two have faced tag teams like Drew Gulak and Tony Nese, The Singh Brothers, Imperium, Primate & Wild Boar, Gallus, the Broserweights, Undisputed Era, and even Cedric Alexander & Ricochet on the RAW after WrestleMania.
Oney Lorcan is still a pretty high-profile wrestler on 205 Live, and he was one of the last three Superstars on Team NXT Cruiserweights. He was also protected in his loss to Gentleman Jack Gallagher that only came about because Tony Nese was attacked, which makes it reasonable to predict that he will be a part of this tournament.
Oney Lorcan's high energy performances always steal the show, so he would be perfect for this tournament.
#5: Mansoor
Mansoor won his first WWE match by outlasting the likes of Elias, Samoa Joe, Ricochet, Cesaro, Rusev, Cedric Alexander, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a Battle Royal at Super ShowDown. He would then take Damian Priest to the limit before defeating Shane Thorne in his NXT debut.
Mansoor also managed to defeat Cesaro at Crown Jewel and Dolph Ziggler at Super ShowDown 2020 while he has also wrestled in EVOLVE, where he beat Superstars like Curt Stallion and Anthony Greene.
The Saudi-Arabian Superstar is a cruiserweight and had a match on 205 Live earlier in November 2019. He would defeat the veteran The Brian Kendrick in his 205 Live debut but has not been seen on 205 Live since then.
This tournament would be a perfect opportunity to reintroduce him as he needs to be given a spot on NXT TV if WWE is going to have him defeat main roster talent on all of their Saudi Arabian specials. He is a pretty talented wrestler despite his lack of experience, and working with the cruiserweight division would only make him better.
#4: Gentleman Jack Gallagher
Gentleman Jack Gallagher has also been a part of 205 Live since the Cruiserweight Classic, but he has yet to win the Cruiserweight Championship. The closest he got was when he challenged Neville for the title at Fastlane 2017, but he has not had another shot at the title after that.
He has struggled quite a bit and has switched between heel and face turns. Gallagher has seemingly returned to 205 Live with a new attitude. Besides a dramatic new look, which includes a tattoo, a beard, and a new haircut, he appeared much more aggressive and laid out Lio Rush.
Gentleman Jack Gallagher injured Lio Rush and also managed to eliminate Tyler Breeze and Oney Lorcan from the 205 Live Originals vs. NXT Cruiserweight Match. He recently faced Tyler Breeze and flattened him with his new discus elbow finishing move. Because of his status of being a 205 Live Original and the fact that he has been so successful over the past few weeks, he is a certainty for this tournament.
#3: Lio Rush
As a part of NXT in 2017, Lio Rush faced Superstars like Lars Sullivan and the Velveteen Dream. He joined 205 Live in 2018, where he fought Superstars like Noam Dar, Cedric Alexander, Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and Akira Tozawa. The Man of the Hour then left 205 Live to join RAW as Bobby Lashley's manager.
He would challenge Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship on an episode of RAW one time before he had a contract dispute that caused him to go on a hiatus for several months.
Lio Rush made his return on NXT's debut episode on the USA Network and defeated Oney Lorcan to become number one contender to the Cruiserweight Championship. He would then defeat Drew Gulak to become Cruiserweight Champion. As Champion, he defeated Superstars like Tony Nese, Raul Mendoza, and Akira Tozawa before losing the Championship to Angel Garza.
He would then unsuccessfully challenge Jordan Devlin for the title on an episode of NXT before being injured by Gentleman Jack Gallagher. He will likely make his return soon, and this tournament would be an excellent spot for him to do so.
#2: Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott
Isaiah Swerve Scott first appeared in the NXT Breakout Tournament in 2019 where he lost to Cameron Grimes in the first round. He then had a number of impressive matches against Superstars like Roderick Strong, Bronson Reed, and Dominik Dijakovic.
Scott made a few appearances on 205 Live by taking former Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak to the limit and participated on Team Oney Lorcan in the Team Oney Lorcan vs. Team Drew Gulak tag team elimination match.
He has also scored a number of victories on 205 Live over the likes of Ariya Daivari, Raul Mendoza, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Lio Rush, Tyler Breeze, Oney Lorcan, and Joaquin Wilde. Isaiah Swerve Scott was one of the sole survivors of the Team 205 Live Originals vs. Team NXT Cruiserweights.
He helped the new additions to the cruiserweight division score the victory by eliminating Ariya Daivari and The Brian Kendrick. Due to the number of wins that he has secured in the past few months, he is one of the favorites to become the new NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
#1: Kushida
Kushida made his WWE debut in 2019 and scored a number of victories over Superstars like Kassius Ohno, Drew Gulak, Kona Reeves, Jeff Parker, and Apollo Crews. After NXT moved to the USA Network, the Time Splitter started a feud with NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER and the rest of Imperium.
Kushida would then team up with Breezango to defeat Imperium before losing his first-ever WWE match in a non-title encounter to WALTER on an episode of NXT.
He would return to NXT a few months later and secured victories with Cameron Grimes while also reuniting with Alex Shelley in a losing effort to the Grizzled Young Veterans in the first round of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Kushida has had a few floating appearances on 205 Live. He teamed up with Gentleman Jack Gallagher to beat Akira Tozawa and The Brian Kendrick and also helped Team NXT Cruiserweights defeat Team 205 Live Originals by last eliminating Gentleman Jack Gallagher.
The newest addition to the Cruiserweight division has overcome several cruiserweights like Danny Burch, Raul Mendoza, and Joaquin Wilde. Due to Kushida's star status, it is only right for him to be given a long-overdue chance to become a Champion in NXT.
