Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: WWE 205 Live's 1st Year Has Been Major Disappointment

1. The Cruiserweights' Continued Crash and Burn

There seems to be no saving WWE's cruiserweight division.

205 Live feels doomed. It's the company's least-compelling show. The buzz around it only comes in flashes. No matter what kind of talent WWE plugs into the cruiserweight showcase over the course of its first year, it can't get off the ground.

And WWE wants to know why 205 Live is failing. The company recently surveyed its fanbase (h/t Irvin Lassley of SEScoops) about why it's not watching the show.

The interest level for it is simply not what WWE had to be hoping for.

Credit: WWE.com

The most viewed clip from Tuesday's show on WWE's YouTube page, a Kalisto vs. Jack Gallagher match, has 59,000 views as of this writing. A snippet from Total Divas featuring The Miz and Maryse has nearly twice that. So does Triple H talking about a house match he's going to have against Jinder Mahal.

If you can't compete with that kind of material, you're in serious trouble.

205 Live's issues aren't a product of a lack of talent. Akira Tozawa, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali and Gallagher are all highly skilled performers. WWE has brought in Neville, Austin Aries, Enzo Amore and Kalisto to bolster the cruiserweight division over the past year. None of those Superstars have proved to be the missing piece.

The show still feels largely irrelevant.

In August, David Bixenspan wrote (link contains brief profanity) for Deadspin: "The result has been a tepid division, one that arguably doesn't even reach the heights of the previous cruiserweight crop, where at least Rey Mysterio could headline SmackDown with title matches if he was in his hometown."

Daily DDT tweeted more harsh criticism:

These aren't the only ones voicing an anti-205 Live sentiment. It's commonplace to see fans and analysts trash the show.

What went wrong? Why has the show failed to get its legs under it?

The answers are plentiful.

TJ Perkins (now TJP) turned out to be an underwhelming first champion for the division. His short supply of charisma gave the show an issue with connecting right away.

But even when Neville took the belt and was having a hell of a run, the show didn't catch fire.

205 Live's other problems persisted. Too many cruiserweights are crammed into tag team matches, not allowing individual characters to shine enough. The matches have been excellent on a regular basis, but the stories surrounding those bouts have been third-rate.

And WWE has billed the cruiserweight show as the place to see high-flying action, but it's not as if we don't see AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and others pull out the same kind of moves on Raw and SmackDown.

On 205 Live's one-year anniversary, it's already time to start considering moving on from it.

It's fitting that during the theme song for the WWE 2K18 video game, no cruiserweight is mentioned by name. Instead, Snoop Dogg refers to Gallagher as "this guy." Even in a video game ad, the cruiserweights are afterthoughts.

2. Asuka the Devourer

Victory is coming to Asuka quickly.

The former NXT women's champ has taken to flattening her foes in record time. Asuka defeated Dana Brooke in just four seconds on Monday's Raw.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful pointed out the historical significance of that feat:

The sudden win continued a recent pattern. Per CageMatch.net, four of the seven wins Asuka has amassed on the main roster so far have been over in three minutes or less. Three of those opponents didn't last a full two minutes.

At NXT, she finished off a total of seven opponents in under three minutes.

More challenging battles will come. For now, though, it's smart to let her dominate. Asuka has looked like a beast to this point.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Starrcade 1986

WWE scratched a nostalgia itch by branding a house show Starrcade. In the past, this was a premier event for NWA (and later WCW). This weekend, WWE called back to those shows by welcoming Arn Anderson, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair to Greensboro, North Carolina, on a night where today's SmackDown stars took the stage.

One of the most memorable Starrcade contests ever remains the Scaffold match between The Road Warriors and The Midnight Express. That bout is now over 30 years old believe it or not.

Before the teams tangled high above the ring, The Road Warriors hyped the match with quite the promo:

You don't often see rivals describing what they're going to do to each other by throwing pumpkins into the street.

4. Safest Bet of the Squad

Ruby Riott (formerly Riot) is going to dig her claws into SmackDown.

Of the recent NXT invaders, the former Heidi Lovelace is the surest thing. She sports a unique punk-rock look, which will help her stand out. She's the most experienced of the bunch with tenures at everywhere from Shimmer to Chikara.

And Riott is a versatile worker. The 26-year-old can thrive in a brawl, trade strikes with her foe or take to the air. She's poised to have some strong matches against the likes of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in the coming months.

Count on her being the first of The Riott Squad to win gold.

5. Over or Nah?

Under the skills section of Finn Balor's resume, he needs to put "internet trolling." There may be no one better in WWE in that department.

The inaugural universal champion has taken to inserting the word "over" (wrestling parlance for becoming popular with fans) into several of his tweets:

This is presumably a response to rumors of WWE officials not being high on him. Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported recently that WWE head Vince McMahon "sees Balor as bland when he is not portraying 'The Demon' character."

Balor, meanwhile, is having fun with it all.

6. Bucks on Top

The Young Bucks continue to change the business. The superkicking tag team is thriving outside of WWE, in large part because of its self-promotion skills.

That has translated to the duo being T-shirt champion at a ubiquitous retail chain. Dave Meltzer noted on Figure Four Online: "For the first time ever this week, The Young Bucks T-shirts beat Rick and Morty (who are synonymous with Hot Topic) to become the best selling T-shirt at Hot Topic."

The Young Bucks have worked their way into pop culture without the backing of the WWE machine, and that's something to truly marvel at.

7. The Hype Bros' Final Resume

Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley's alliance imploded on Tuesday's SmackDown to mark the end of the tag team. Frustration inspired Rawley to attack his own partner and march off in anger.

Their partnership ended before they accomplished much numbers-wise.

Credit: WWE.com

The Hype Bros began their time on the main roster together with seven straight victories, per CageMatch.net. But they were in the midst of a nine-match losing streak when they split.

Rawley and Ryder only had a single two-on-two match on a PPV, not counting the pre-show. They amassed zero title wins and zero title matches. They battled in three No. 1 Contender's matches, of which they won one.

Their overall record of 16-15 is indicative of how they were booked, like a middle-of-the-pack team.

After the breakup, both men get a fresh start. Rawley will be a heel for the first time in his career. And Ryder will look to revive himself as a solo act.

8. The A-List IC Champ

The Miz will be missed. His recent reigns with the Intercontinental Championship have been some of the best stuff on WWE TV during that time. But that's over for now.

Roman Reigns dethroned him last week. And The Miz is now off shooting a movie.

With the red brand now Miz-less, it's a good time to reflect on his highlights as the titleholder. His strength was his vocal work and how compelling of a character he was. The A-Lister, though, had some standout performances in the ring, as well.

Check out some of his best bouts with the IC title on the line:

• The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes: Night of Champions 2012
• The Miz vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro: Extreme Rules 2016
• The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler: No Mercy 2016
• The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler: TLC 2016 (Ladder)
• The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose: Extreme Rules 2017

Reigns will soon compile his own list of top-notch title contests. He nailed his first try, a successful defense against Elias on Monday night. More quality work is on the way.

9. The Breaking Truly Begins

It appears to finally be happening. Matt Hardy is morphing into his broken self.

After a long stretch of teasing the arrival of Hardy's "broken" alter ego from his Impact Wrestling days, fans have now seen the strongest signs that this persona is moving over to WWE.

Hardy fell to Bray Wyatt on Monday's Raw, extending a recent loss-heavy period for him. He lingered in the ring afterward. The former tag team champion began to jerk his right arm out to the side and repeat the word "delete," a staple of his previous gimmick.

He continued to use jargon associated with his broken character on social media in the hours and days that followed.

Now things get interesting. At Impact Wrestling, Hardy had creative freedom he presumably won't have with WWE. He was allowed to explore and experiment with the eccentric character.

In this new environment with McMahon overseeing everything, Broken Matt Hardy is not guaranteed to be nearly as entertaining, weird or original. Hopefully, McMahon gives Hardy room to breathe, letting this transformation be everything it can be.

10. Taven on Net Neutrality

The wrestling world is often schismatic but will unite in a hurry to combat an outsider. We're seeing that play out now as word gets around that the FCC is poised to roll back regulations on net neutrality.

Samoa Joe, Kayfabe News and Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com have all pushed back against the proposal.

Former Ring of Honor television champion Matt Taven spoke up on the issue, as well:

Pro wrestling, like many industries, is heavily dependent on the internet. The hype process is reliant on it. Promotions post matches and events on the web. Wrestlers connect with fans on social media.

To come after the internet is to come after wrestling itself.