According to a new report from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, there’s been a shift in power of 205 Live and it’s more than the cosmetic on-screen addition of former Impact star Drake Maverick (aka Rockstar Spud) becoming the show’s new General Manager. It appears that Vince McMahon, who was previously overseeing the show since it’s launch last year, has finally stepped aside and has handed over the reigns to Triple H.
It was Triple H who has mandated that going forward 205 Live will be presented more like 2016’s Cruiserweight Classic, with more emphasis on longer matches to showcase the individual talents unique abilities and eliminating long promos and vignettes that seemed to try and put the Cruiserweight division on the same display as Raw or Smackdown. In other words, he’s making 205 Live more like the Cruiserweight Classic, which is what most people have been yearning for in the first place. Enzo Amore‘s firing gave the perfect opportunity to reboot the show and the division, by creating a CWC type tournament to re-introduce the roster and let them show once again why they were brought in in the first place.
With Roderick Strong getting the surprise upset over Hideo Itami in the tournament last night, it’s speculated that Triple H will be looking to bring up some of his 205 Live weight compliant stars to freshen up the roster as well. No word yet if Strong is a temporary addition for the tournament or if his call-up is permanent. UK stars Tyler Bate and next week’s competitor Mark Andrews were also calls made by Triple H. While Triple H is the overseer for the division now, he’s joined by a familiar face – lead producer is former Ring of Honor star (and PWG and NWA World Champion) Adam Pearce, who previously worked with Triple H in NXT, and head writer is Jonathan Baeckstrom, whose been on creative since 2016 after three years in the talent relations department. There had been reports that Vince McMahon was so frustrated with 205 Live‘s stagnation and the Enzo Amore incident that he was considering dropping the show and division all together, but it looks Triple H has got it a reprieve and is working on finally giving the fans what they’d been asking for all along: just let the Cruiserweights do their thing.
