It was a big week for the NXT (US) cruiserweight division, as not only did champion Santos Escobar defend the title at New Year's Evil, but he did it against a main roster cruiserweight, so that's always good for a boost.
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, now on 205 Live
While we got the Gran Metalik championship shot out of the way, we still don't know when Curt Stallion is challenging for the title, but at least we now know that it's something that's "in his back pocket," meaning it's some sort of Money in the Bank shot. I guess that's enough for me to stop asking for it.
The good news is the men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is starting, and some of the first-round matches will be on 205 Live!
I've been advocating for more NXT tag team division matches to happen on 205 Live when they involve cruiserweights. A number of existing teams already are cruiserweights—Ever-Rise, the Bollywood Boyz, and the current tag team champions Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan. The seemingly-neverending spate of tag matches between the Bollywood Boyz and Ever-Rise on the show was a step in the right direction, and holding part of the Dusty Classic on the show is a bigger one, too.
Last but not the least: it's also great for 205 Live because it gives some cruiserweights an added thing to do. Curt Stallion and August Grey are joining the Dusty Classic as a makeshift team because a field of 16 is tough to fill, and while you know they're likely to be first-round fodder, they've had worse jobs. I'm all for this, and they better be pulling out all the stops to get some eyes on the purple brand.
In fact, they already warm us up with some great tag team action this week on the show's main event. With guys willing to please like this, you know we're in for a solid tournament this year.
205 Live 1/8/21 Final Grade: B+
*****
Romeo Moran (@roiswar) is the Editor-in-Chief of Smark Henry and one of the three hosts of the Wrestling-Wrestling Podcast. He gets by in this hard knock life through working in advertising. Smark Henry was his and Stan Sy's original vision of a watering hole for local wrestling fans. He roots for the undersized guys who hit hard, and he likes taking your wrestling questions over on his Curiouscat account.
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