Neville Beats Akira Tozawa, Retains Cruiserweight Title at Great Balls of Fire

Neville maintained his status as King of the Cruiserweights at Great Balls of Fire on Sunday, as he defeated Akira Tozawa to retain the Cruiserweight Championship.

Tozawa hit his senton finisher off the top rope, but Neville rolled out of the ring before the challenger could get a pinfall attempt.

Upon regaining his senses, Neville caught Tozawa and threw him onto the top rope, with Tozawa injuring his groin. Neville kicked the rope to add to Tozawa's pain. From there, Neville delivered another kick to Tozawa's midsection and pinned him for the victory.

WWE showed Neville holding his title belt:

TDE Wrestling was entertained by the pre-show match:

Bleacher Report's Kazeem Famuyide thought the bout should've gone on the main card:

"

Neville and Tozawa deserve more than the pre-show

— Kazeem Famuyide (@RealLifeKaz) July 9, 2017"

With Neville running through the cruiserweight division, Tozawa stepped up as his latest challenger on the heels of winning a feud against Brian Kendrick.

Tozawa has largely been dominant in his own right during his time in WWE, and he earned the right to be called No. 1 contender after Neville ran through the likes of Rich Swann, TJP, Jack Gallagher and Austin Aries.

The Japanese Superstar received some added backing in his rivalry with Neville as well in the form of Titus O'Neil.

After signing Apollo Crews to Titus Worldwide, the former WWE tag team champion targeted Tozawa in an attempt to expand his empire and chase cruiserweight gold.

Tozawa eventually agreed to join, but it didn't do much to change Neville's outlook, as the Man That Gravity Forgot announced his intention to make Tozawa pay, according to 205 Live on Twitter:

Since deciding to join the cruiserweight division, Neville had shown himself to be head and shoulders above the competition.

Although he was always a top-flight talent dating back to his time as NXT champion, Neville previously lacked the aggressiveness and killer instinct needed to reach a truly elite level.

Once he turned heel and refocused his efforts on inflicting pain, however, Neville became the best and most dangerous he has ever been during his WWE tenure.

Tozawa has taken a different approach than Neville, but he is no less vicious and no less capable of accomplishing great things in the ring.

While it didn't take long for Tozawa to build a strong connection with the fans, WWE brought him along slowly by keeping him in the mid-tier portion of the cruiserweight division for an extended period before finally elevating him to title contention.

That turned out to be a wise move since Sunday's bout was made to feel even more important by the fact that it featured two competitors who have been nearly unbeatable in recent months.

Tozawa represented one of Neville's toughest challenges to date, but he still managed to come out on top at Great Balls of Fire, which raises the question of whether anyone can dethrone The King of the Cruiserweights.

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