Enzo Amore

For the second week in a row, the final segment on Raw (minus a short SHIELD tease) focused on the Cruiserweight Division vs. Enzo Amore. It’s a feud that has generated a double turn as an entire division turned face due to their disgust at the twat in a hat holding the belt. The question is, will this actually work? Is Enzo Amore the thing to save 205 Live?

The short answer is no. He’s not. While it’s nice to see the Cruiserweights get a prominent spot on Raw, the truth is that the main event is what closes out the second hour. No matter who is appearing in the third, there is almost always a drop-off in viewing figures. Last week, when the first of these segments aired, 20% of people turned off in the third hour. On paper this might look like a vote of confidence for the denizens of 205 Live, but, in reality, there are probably fewer eyes on them than there would be if they opened the show.

Then there’s Enzo himself. A mediocre wrestler (and that’s being quite generous) with a big mouth. Your view on how good that mouth is will depend on how funny you find random pop culture references. Personally, it does nothing for me. However, that’s not really the point. The point is, is he interesting enough to get people to watch 205 Live? Does he have what Neville and TJ Perkins apparently did not?

Well, if you are focusing on the in-ring he definitely doesn’t. Enzo takes a solid beating and that’s it. 205 Live is packed with talented performers, and Enzo isn’t fit to clean most of their boots. So, we come to personality. Enzo is a character, and that’s surely why he’s been chosen as the new face of the Cruiserweight brand? That brand has been struggling, so WWE is moving away from wrestling and towards character work.

But, then, that’s not true, is it? 205 Live moved away from wrestling the moment it aired. Neville was a fantastic personality and has flourished as a heel. If you’re looking for WWE’s wrestler of the year both in terms of gimmick and in-ring work, it’s hard to see past The Man That Gravity Forgot. Meanwhile, the rest of 205 Live is filled with all kinds of WWE crap. From Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick feuding over whether Gallagher is a clown, to that bloody Alicia Fox thing that went on forever. 205 Live was never about wrestling. The only difference with Enzo is that a handful of internet fans (like me) are moaning about it.

Because here’s the thing, 205 Live is bad and Enzo Amore is not going to fix that. However, he’s also not going to break it. It’s broken already. If you look up the most watched shows on the Network, it rarely breaks the top 10, nevermind getting near the top. The reason that Neville was allowed to lose to Enzo is the same reason that he was allowed to lose to Tozawa, no one in WWE cares. Or those that do care, don’t have enough power to make a difference. Most of the people complaining don’t even watch the damn show, I certainly avoid it most weeks.

I don’t want to watch Enzo Amore on my TV. I don’t like his gimmick,  I don’t like his wrestling and that entrance stopped being fun months ago. However, to treat him winning the Cruiserweight Title as some great tragedy is a bit silly. It doesn’t matter that Neville was brilliant, it was a title reign that no one was watching and like the proverbial tree in the forest, you have to ask whether it really happened?