Buddy Murphy Beats Mustafa Ali, Retains Cruiserweight Title at Survivor Series

In his first title defense since winning the Cruiserweight Championship in October, Buddy Murphy beat Mustafa Ali at Survivor Series on Sunday to retain.

Murphy countered an aerial attack by Ali with a vicious knee to Ali's head. That might have been enough to keep Ali down for the three-count, but Murphy eliminated any doubt by hitting Murphy's Law.

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge thought Murphy and Ali delivered in the ring.

Murphy became cruiserweight champion at WWE Super Show-Down in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia, when he beat Cedric Alexander for the belt.

That represented the culmination of a long road to the top of the cruiserweight division on 205 Live for Murphy.

He was originally a tag team wrestler in NXT, and he even won the NXT Tag Team Championships alongside Wesley Blake, with Alexa Bliss as their manager.

Blake and Murphy fell out after Bliss got called up to the main roster, though, and the Australian wasn't doing much of anything until he got down to 205 pounds and transitioned to the cruiserweight division.

He was part of the tournament to crown a new cruiserweight champion that ran until WrestleMania 34 and featured Alexander against Ali in the final.

While Ali put on a great performance and nearly came away with the title, Alexander prevailed and went on to dominate the division until Murphy took the title from him.

Like Murphy, Ali has come a long way during his time in WWE, as he debuted in the Cruiserweight Classic to little fanfare in comparison to some of the bigger names in the tournament, such as Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr.

After beating Hideo Itami in a hard-hitting Falls Count Anywhere match on October 24, Ali also beat Tony Nese in a No. 1 Contender's match to earn a shot at Murphy and the title.

That set the stage for an exciting clash between two of the best and most consistent workers 205 Live has to offer.

While there wasn't much focus on the Cruiserweight Championship match entering Survivor Series, given how stacked the rest of the card was, Murphy and Ali used the big stage to put on a show.

The Aussie emerged with the title still in his possession, but considering how deep and talented the cruiserweight division is, there figures to be a long line of worthy contenders waiting in the wings.

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