It didn't take long for Enzo Amore's impact to be felt on 205 Live.
After his shocking debut last week, confronting the cruiserweight champion Neville after his title defense against Akira Tozawa, this week seems like it could've been titled: "The Cruiserweight Division, Starring Enzo Amore."
The only cruiserweight segment this week on Monday Night Raw featured Enzo's division debut, getting the win over Noam Dar with his new finishing move, essentially a jawbreaker using his foot. Tuesday on 205 Live, Enzo teamed with Cedric Alexander and Gran Metalik to pick up a six-man tag-team win over Dar, Tony Nese and Drew Gulak.
The match being in the main event slot was a curious one, because Alexander-Metalik versus Nese-Gulak had been a "straight-up tag-team match" each of the past two weeks. Although we added a couple of new players, and the match was fun, it wasn't nearly the built-up storyline of the match that opened the night: a no-disqualification match between "Gentleman" Jack Gallagher and "The" Brian Kendrick.
But that's the power of adding Enzo, a strong character who is being groomed for a matchup with Neville. The King of the Cruiserweights kept a close eye on both of Amore's segments this week, chuckling at the mere notion that Amore could be a threat to his title.
And it's a reasonable reaction to have. Neville has not only held the cruiserweight championship for more than half of the time since its relaunch about a year ago, but he's also been a dominant force within the division. From a body and in-ring ability standpoint, he outclasses Amore across the board. Where Enzo gets the nod is his charisma and ability to connect with the fans. Neville's outstanding heel work makes them a good matchup there, but the in-ring action could be a tough sell.
That has been the story of Amore's early work in the division. It took his feet on the ropes to get the pin on Nese on Tuesday. The trio of heel opponents he faced Tuesday made light of the fact that Enzo didn't belong in the division prior to the match. Even his own teammates seemed to scoff at him early on, telling him that they were functioning just fine as a team without him the past two weeks, and laughing off his role as as "player/coach."
And that will also be the issue that WWE has in integrating Amore in with the cruiserweights, never mind vaulting him into the title picture. The cruiserweight division has high fliers, solid strikers and technical wizards.
Enzo doesn't fit any of those categories.
Rather, he's what this division has really been lacking -- a charismatic figure who connects with the crowd. Somebody whose mic skills can get the crowd energized after sitting through a SmackDown Live. And somebody who might be able to make the Monday Night Raw segments not seem like popcorn breaks.
Enzo can do all that. But can he hang with the cruiserweights in the ring and make it seem believable? That will be the key to his long-term future on 205 Live.
Hits and misses
His work with Gallagher hasn't been my favorite Kendrick feud, but if the end result is a more physical Gallagher who shows what he can really do in the ring, it's a net gain and shows how everyone who works with Kendrick comes out better than they came in. You knew Gallagher meant business when he kept his button-down and slacks on for a street fight.
Rich Swann and TJ Perkins took a turn with TJP doing commentary, being complementary of Swann, and then revealing he's been faking his knee injury. I'm not ready for this rivalry to end, but I'm ready for the next step in their story.
Amore ruined that dry erase board by using a Sharpie on it.
Superlatives of the night
Move: A stereo suicide dive with Alexander and Metalik. Which do you like better? Alexander's no-touch or Metalik's stepping somersault over the top?
Line: "Drew, why are you standing in the ring, looking like Captain Underpants?" - Amore, to Gulak, before their six-man tag match.
Match: I liked how Gallagher-Kendrick started out, but the match lost the momentum once Gallagher was split open.