205 Live was a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of the American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

promotion WWE that was established in November 2016 and discontinued in February 2022. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to 205 Live primarily appeared on the brand's weekly television program, '' 205 Live''. From October 2019 to February 2022, the brand served as a sub-brand of WWE's developmental territory, NXT, which allowed 205 Live wrestlers to also appear on its show, '' NXT''. 205 Live originally only centered on male wrestlers that were promoted as weighing 205 lbs. and under – designated by WWE as cruiserweights. The cruiserweight division was revived by WWE in 2016 and was originally exclusive to the promotion's main brand, Raw, with ''205 Live'' serving as a supplementary show for Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers until 205 Live was established as its own standalone brand in April 2018. 205 Live then merged under NXT in October 2019. Following the merger, the ''205 Live'' show featured women's matches, and occasionally some non-cruiserweight wrestlers from NXT and NXT UK. In February 2022, the ''205 Live'' program was replaced with '' NXT Level Up'', marking the end of the 205 Live brand.

History

2016–2019

'' WWE 205 Live'' was established following the success of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament to feature wrestlers who competed in the tournament and others who became full-time members of WWE's revived cruiserweight division (the original cruiserweight division had been dissolved in 2007). Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE executive producer and wrestler, stated the brand was designed to serve as a showcase for the division, with its own distinctive feel and style compared to WWE's other brands. The Raw brand was originally established as the exclusive home of the division during the 2016

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

, with all cruiserweights being assigned to Raw following the 2016 WWE draft. While still under the Raw brand, the ''205 Live'' show premiered on November 29, 2016; the main event of the inaugural episode saw

Rich Swann Richard Anthony Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. he is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2020–2021), ...

defeat The Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Cruiserweights would appear on both '' Monday Night Raw'' and ''205 Live'' for the next year and a half. However, following WrestleMania 34 in 2018, cruiserweight wrestlers ceased to appear on ''Raw'', becoming exclusive to ''205 Live'' and thus establishing the 205 Live brand as a separate brand from Raw.

In January 2018, Triple H took over the creative side of ''205 Live''. On January 30, 2018, Drake Maverick was announced as the first on-screen

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Maverick would announce a 16-man tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship, which was won by

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH). Alexander worked for ROH ...

. Once the tournament begun, WWE's cruiserweight division began to wrestle exclusively on ''205 Live'' and ceased to appear on ''Raw'' with select exceptions. Namely, Lucha House Party ( Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado) began competing in Raw's tag team division while Lio Rush and Drake Maverick began managing Raw superstars Bobby Lashley and AOP ( Akam and Rezar), respectively, and occasionally competing in matches on ''Raw''. Even though Maverick portrayed a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

while managing AOP on ''Raw'', he was a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

General Manager on ''205 Live''. Although 205 Live had been separated from Raw, the brand was still featured on several of WWE's main

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) events with Raw and SmackDown until late 2019. That year's Clash of Champions was WWE's final main roster PPV to include a 205 Live feature match.

2019–2022

Prior to '' NXT'' moving to the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

in September 2019, NXT head Triple H spoke with ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' and said that "You'll start to see 205 ivebegin to" become part of NXT. He said that 205 Live's talent would start moving towards NXT, that 205 Live had "become lost in helimbo", and that the Cruiserweight Championship would have more meaning on NXT where it could create more opportunities for the cruiserweight wrestlers. It was then reported that the NXT creative team would be in charge of 205 Live. The following month, the title began being defended on ''NXT'' and was renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship, officially becoming part of the NXT brand. Since October 18, 2019, 205 Live began to include talent from NXT and vice versa. On April 12, 2020, Maverick would compete in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament, while he was replaced as General Manager by

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the vice-president of Global Talent Development. He is also known for ...

, who also served as NXT's General Manager. On August 14, 2020, it was reported that retired professional wrestler and current WWE producer Adam Pearce and Dewey Foley, son of

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and author. He is signed to WWE, under a Legends contract while also serving as an ambassador. Foley worked for many wrestling promotions, including the W ...

, were in charge of producing 205 Live. By June 2021, the brand's roster had shrunk significantly due to several wrestlers being released; including Ariya Daivari, The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh), Ever-Rise (Jeff Parker and Matt Lee), August Grey, Curt Stallion, and former Cruiserweight Champion

Tony Nese Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also appears for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor, where he is a member of The Premier Athletes stable. He is best known for his ...

. In August 2021,

Jake Atlas Kenny Sanchez Marquez (born October 5, 1994), known by his ring name Jake Atlas, is an American former professional wrestler known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and WWE. Professional wrestling career As a native resident of Los Angel ...

, Asher Hale, and Ari Sterling were also released. On January 4, 2022, as part of the New Year's Evil episode of ''NXT 2.0'', the NXT Cruiserweight Championship was unified with the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champi ...

. The Cruiserweight Championship was immediately retired after the match with the winner going forward as North American Champion. The following day, 205 Live General Manager William Regal was released from WWE. On February 15, ''PWInsider'' reported that WWE was ceasing the production of ''205 Live'' episodes, replacing the series with '' NXT Level Up'', which premiered in ''205 Live''s former Friday night timeslot on February 18. This marked the end of the 205 Live brand.

Championships

Overview

The primary championship of 205 Live was the

NXT Cruiserweight Championship The NXT Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. Before its retirement, it was defended across the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brand divisions, which wer ...

, originally called the WWE Cruiserweight Championship before 205 Live merged under NXT. It was WWE's only championship with a weight limit, wherein only wrestlers 205 lb (93 kg) and under—designated as cruiserweights—could compete for the title. One other championship was also available to the 205 Live brand. Introduced in May 2019, the WWE 24/7 Championship was a specialized championship in which it could be defended anytime, anywhere, as long as a WWE referee was present, allowing it to be defended on any brand. The championship remained active until November 2022. After

Nikki Cross Nicola Glencross (born 21 April 1989) is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE where she performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under the ring name Nikki Cross and is a member of The Wyatt Sicks faction. In WWE, ...

won the title on the November 7 episode of ''Raw'', she discarded the belt in a trash can backstage and two days later, it was listed as inactive on WWE.com. Former WWE wrestler Jack Gallagher revealed in July 2021 that WWE had also planned to introduce a Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship, which would have been distinct from the short-lived WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship that the then-WWF acquired along with the assets of WCW in 2001; these plans, however, were dropped.

History

2016–2019

2019–2022

Championships

Overview

Previous championships

Other championships used by 205 Live

Notes

References

External links