Last night (Dec. 18) WWE held its last pay-per-view (PPV) of 2016. Roadblock: End of the Line took place inside the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The PPV had four title matches and one of them was a triple threat clash for the Cruiserweight Championship.
Title holder Rich Swann successfully defended the gold against The Brian Kendrick and T.J. Perkins.
After the match, Neville’s music hit and Swann expected to embrace “The Man That Gravity Forgot.” Instead, the champion was greeted by a thrashing at the hands of Neville, who turned heel in the process.
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The match preceding the beatdown was fast-paced and all three men worked hard. The live crowd, however, wasn’t very receptive to the action. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross saw Roadblock and took to his Twitter account to chime in on why the fans weren’t hot for the title match:
WWE has struggled to get fans excited about seeing Cruiserweights lock horns inside the squared circle so far.
While the Cruiserweight Classic (CWC) gained rave reviews and the live crowd at Full Sail were engaged throughout the tournament, that same level of success has not been replicated on the main roster.
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In an effort to get fans more acquainted with the cruiserweights, WWE created 205 Live on the WWE Network. The show airs every Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET after SmackDown Live. Images of fans leaving the arena before 205 Live even begins don’t bode well for the division.
Neville’s return as a heel could breathe some new life in the struggling division.
He’s a name that has already established himself within the WWE Universe. Perhaps his heel turn is what the Cruiserweight division needs to create a new babyface that the fans can get behind. Time will tell.
Here’s a clip from the match where the lack of crowd interest is evident:
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