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What's the story?
Cedric Alexander has found himself on the receiving end of the new partnership between The Brian Kendrick and Gentleman Jack Gallagher, who are trying to weed out weak Superstars in the Cruiserweight division. But, on Monday Night Raw, it was announced that at TLC 2017, Cedric would have help to combat the duo in the form of Rich Swann.
In case you didn't know...
The Brian Kendrick is 'The Man with a Plan' and for weeks his plan seemed to be to torment and berate Gentleman Jack Gallagher for not being strong enough to make it in the Cruiserweight division. This led to Gallagher coming out during a match between Kendrick and Cedric Alexander and turning heel, attacking Alexander and aligning himself with Kendrick.
Since then the duo had been attacking Cedric Alexander in 2-on-1 situations until he was able to even the odds on 205 LIVE by attacking The Brian Kendrick backstage and then turning Gallagher's own umbrella against him in the middle of the ring.
The heart of the matter
On the October 16th Monday Night Raw Cedric Alexander took on Jack Gallagher in singles competition, however, the presence of The Brian Kendrick at ringside looked like it was going to complicate the match for Alexander. Luckily, he had called in some backup to even the odds in the form of Rich Swann and was able to put Gallagher away with a brutal Lumbar Check.
During the match, the ring announcers confirmed that we'd be seeing Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander teaming up to face The Brian Kendrick and Gentleman Jack Gallagher at the upcoming Raw brand pay-per-view TLC 2017, and it was later officially announced on WWE.com.
What's next?
All four men involved in this match are actually incredible wrestlers; Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander speak for themselves with their in-ring work; Gentleman Jack Gallagher is technically excellent and has his character-work spot on and let's not forget that The Brian Kendrick held the record for longest reigning WWE-Tag Team Championship run for ten years, from 2006 to 2016.
This match has the potential, if given enough time and taken seriously by the WWE, to steal the show at TLC and elevate all four men and the Cruiserweight division.
Author's take
I'm enjoying the spotlight that seems to have been placed on the Cruiserweight Division of late; they're receiving multiple storylines across both Monday Night Raw and 205 LIVE; they're main eventing the main show and they have two separate matches on the RAW brand pay-per-view. Let's hope this continues.
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