Back in mid-September Triple H gave an interview with Newsweek where he stated that 205 Live would “sit under the NXT umbrella” as wrestlers would be allowed to freely on NXT going forward. Between that statement, SmackDown’s move to FOX and a No. 1 contender’s match on NXT’s first episode on the USA Network, many fans started to think the WWE Network show would soon be on the chopping block. However it appears the show will live on going forward, as the WWE announced via press release Monday that the show would be nmoving to Friday nights this week and take place after Friday Night SmackDown.
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“Beginning this Friday, Oct. 4, The Most Exciting Hour on Television is moving to Friday nights,” the announcement read. “As part of WWE Premiere Week, the home of the Cruiserweights — WWE 205 Live — is moving to Fridays at 10/9 C, streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network. At the conclusion of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX, tune in to WWE Network to see WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak, Oney Lorcan, Humberto Carrillo, Tony Nese and all your favorite Cruiserweights in an hour of action that will leave you breathless.”
Now that the show’s moving forward, it will be interesting to see if any NXT stars start popping up on the brand.
“NXT UK will sit under that NXT banner as well, probably 205 too breathing some life into it a little bit,” Triple H said in that aforementioned interview. “That creates three distinct brands that talent, over the course of their career — which hopefully is long — where they can migrate from one to the other and be reinvigorated and have fresh starts and have longer, more meaningful and lucrative careers while staying within the same company.
“I think it [205 Live] always existed as an island onto itself, a little bit, and it’s become lost in this limbo,” he added. “You’ll begin to see it move more towards the NXT banner and the talent there. We have a lot of talent. For them to begin to compete either open against anyone or in the cruiserweight division, but have that title sit under the NXT brand is more meaningful. It creates more opportunities for more people.”
WWE first reintroduced its Cruiserweight Division back in 2016 with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament. Several months later the division would be added to Monday Night Raw’s roster on top of launching its own show that November. In early 2018 Triple H took over the creative direction for the show, and its crossover with Raw was phased out shortly after.
