Neville vs. Rich Swann: WWE Raw Cruiserweight Title Match Winner and Reaction

Neville's reign as king of the cruiserweight division continued Monday night on Raw after he defeated Rich Swann in a Cruiserweight Championship match.

Swann went for a high-risk maneuver and missed the mark with a Phoenix Splash. That allowed Neville to lock in his crossface submission and force Swann to tap out. WWE shared a photo of the finish:

WWE Creative Humor and PWInsider's Mike Johnson enjoyed the match:

WWE wasted little time setting up Neville's next feud. During his post-match interview with the champion, Austin Aries attacked Neville, courtesy of WWE:

Neville was fresh off his title defense against Jack Gallagher at Fastlane on Sunday night. As Neville was walking back to his locker room, Swann told the champion he was exercising his rematch clause for Raw.

Neville and Swann first crossed paths at 205 Live in December, and a month later, Neville beat Swann at Royal Rumble for the Cruiserweight Championship.

Neville's Fastlane win over Gallagher was his first successful title defense. It was a tightly contested affair and arguably the pay-per-view's best match. Fellow cruiserweight Mustafa Ali praised both wrestlers:

The bout hit the sweet spot of generally following WWE's blueprint for a wrestling match while also allowing Neville and Gallagher to show off the athleticism and move sets that set the cruiserweight division apart from the rest of the product.

While Neville vs. Swann was an opportunity for WWE to continue that momentum, the division is likely in a holding pattern until after WrestleMania, which was largely the case for the women's division this time last year.

Even on a weekly three-hour show such as Raw, carving out enough time to build a strong, compelling cruiserweight division isn't easy.

The task is more difficult during WrestleMania season when part-time stars further deplete the available television time. Bill Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and Triple H have all become fixtures on Raw in recent months, and The Undertaker is seemingly destined to join the mix sooner rather than later as well.

With all of those four likely to fade from the spotlight in the summer, the cruiserweight division will have an easier time building a profile on Raw.

WrestleMania 32 essentially served as a soft reboot of the women's division. WWE ditched the "Divas" moniker and the "butterfly belt" became history along with it. Since then, women's wrestling has become a bigger focus of WWE programming, both on Raw and SmackDown Live.

The cruiserweight division would benefit from something similar.

The Cruiserweight Championship will likely be on the line at WrestleMania 33, whether as part of the preshow or on the main card. Fans hoping to see the much-needed revamp of WWE's stable of cruiserweights will likely have to wait until after the biggest show of the year, though.