Rookie Year: Grading the first year of several stars new to WWE's main roster in 2019

#6 Buddy Murphy

Buddy Murphy

'The Best Kept Secret' is one of the most appropriate nicknames for a recent WWE Superstar. Due to being on 205 Live, a good portion of the WWE Universe did not see Buddy Murphy's phenomenal defenses of the Cruiserweight Championship.

His bouts at both the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber this year were among the best matches of those two PPVs. Due to both bouts being on the pre-show, or on a show that might not get as much viewership as either RAW or SmackDown, many fans might not have known who Murphy was.

That all changed when he became an instrumental part of the "Who attacked Roman Reigns?" storyline following WrestleMania 35. His involvement led to a prominent weekly spot on SmackDown and high stakes matches against both Reigns and Daniel Bryan. In those matches, Murphy pushed both stars to the limit, but only defeated Bryan.

Murphy didn't have many big matches on PPV, but he did face Apollo Crews on the SummerSlam pre-show. The Australian Superstar also competed in the King of the Ring Tournament, but fell in the first round to Ali. He has regularly competed on RAW following the WWE Draft and is apparently a big favorite of Paul Heyman's.

Grade: B