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More or less since the WWE Network got rolling, and NXT TakeOvers became a recurring event, hardcore fans have stood by the developmental brand as the most consistently strong product the company has to offer.
The greatness of NXT has only been reinforced by many of the propsects from the black and gold brand graduating to RAW or SmackDown Live and floundering, underscoring that the structure, management, creative process, and environment of NXT are all truly special.
If there's any weekly WWE show that can rival NXT in the hearts of devout fans, it may well be 205 Live.
While the Cruiserweight show didn't exactly light the world on fire in its original offerings, ever since Triple H took the reigns, after Enzo Amore's departure in early 2018, the brand has largely flourished as a more straightforward, old school wrestling show, centered on in ring action.
So what if the two brands that Triple H has successfully geared toward the hardcore fan base were to come together? This article takes a look at what such a merger could mean for WWE, its stars, and its fans.
#5 A wider pool of title contenders
205 Live is largely well received by hardcore fans, and the last year and a half have done a good job of stabilizing and giving fans a reason to take seriously the once volatile Cruiserweight Championship.
However, with only one title at stake for the brand, it does tend to leave a number of wrestlers without a clear goal to pursue. Lucha House Party, for example, is a fun fit for 205 Live, but moved to RAW in part to be part of a proper tag team division with titles available to pursue.
Merging NXT and 205 Live would mean having four titles accessible to the men involved with the super-brand, between the NXT Championship, the North American title, the NXT Tag Team Championship, and the Cruiserweight title (not to mention the UK Championoship, though that title is mostly tied to the NXT UK brand now).
Particularly given that many of NXT's top stars like Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole are at or around the 205 pound mark, the Cruiserweight title ranks could become all the more competiitve, while 205 Live stars could also pursue established NXT titles.
#4 NXT narrows the gap between it and the main roster
Despite the high quality that NXT continually churns out, the brand continues to carry the small stigma of being a developmental territory.
Particularly in the eyes of more casual fans, there can be a sense of it being minor league, with stars not yet ready to shine on WWE's more prominent main roster brands.
Combining NXT and 205 Live would offer the opportunity to enrich NXT's ranks with more names familiar to the more casual fan base, like Brian Kendrick, Mike Kanellis, and Drake Maverick.
The larger roster, with more familiar names from main roster stints could bolster NXT's clout and lure over even more fans, besides deepening the already lengthy list of compelling talents NXT has available to mix and match for fresh rivalries.
NXT increasingly comes across as a legitimate third brand more than a developmental spot in many ways already. Combining forces with 205 Live may push it over the edge to feel more like an additional show on more or less equal footing to the red or blue brands.
#3 Chad Gable returns to NXT
There have been a number of cases when a top star for NXT has not quite lived up to the potential he or she demonstrated in developmental after graduating to the main roster. Such has been the case for Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura, and arguably even someone like Finn Balor.
Chad Gable represents a slightly different beast. He was the never NXT Championship, or really in the main event mix, but rather a star in the making who was mostly known for his tag team run with Jason Jordan as American Alpha.
The two moved up to the main roster as unit, but failed garner much momentum, before WWE split off Jordan to make him a singles star. Gable has struggled since in tag teams with Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Roode, before most recently shifting to the ranks of 205 Live.
205 Live stands to offer Gable a chance at reinvention, but it could be interesting to see what would happen if that new direction for his career were merged with his last successful one in NXT.
The idea of Gable versus Johnny Gargano or Matt Riddle in an environment where he commands respect and would get time to put on solid match has a lot of promise.
#2 Deeper tag team ranks
NXT has long been known for its tag teams, more often than not offering a deeper and better featured slate of teams than the main roster.
If the 205 Live ranks were to be merged with NXT, it would hold the promise of offering even more teams, including pairing up talents without much better to do as singles acts, and creating some interesting combinations that mix current NXT and current 205 Live talents.
A veteran like Brian Kendrick, for example, could be compelling as a tag team partner and behind the scenes mentor to a younger talent.
Moreover, a unit like Lucha House Party could finally get the kinds of matches it deserves mixing it up with NXT’s finest like The Street Profits and The Undisputed Era. Moreover, now but be the optimal time to infuse some new blood in the NXT tag ranks, given they’re in a bit of a rebuilding phase after the abrupt call up of The Viking Raiders.
#1 Johnny Gargano edges toward the main roster
Johnny Gargano has spent nearly two years operating toward the top of the NXT ranks, and that’s after several months in a featured tag team during the original #DIY run.
He finally captured the NXT Championship over WrestleMania weekend, and now that he has dropped the title to Adam Cole, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before he gets the proper call up that WWE teased for him earlier this year.
If Gargano got to mix it up with 205 Live talent on his way, it might further his kayfabe credibility while also further showcasing the kind of sensational bell to bell performances he is capable of.
This could offer one more natural step toward him debuting on the main roster and not getting shoehorned into the lower ranks like a man of his stature always has the risk of having happen to him, but rather getting pushed at the high level his talents warrant.
