Buddy Murphy Reveals 205 Live Run Was His Idea

In an interview with Fightful, Buddy Murphy revealed that his run on 205 Live was actually something he campaigned for and WWE was initially hesitant to do it. Here are highlights:

On his current weight: “215. So I’m up. I was a little, from coming to 205 and then getting drafted to Smackdown, obviously there’s been a period from that day to now. A little long period, but that was kind of a little strategic way that I wanted to go about things. I wanted get a little bit more size just before I mix it up with guys on Smackdown Live. It’s been a little longer than expected, but I definitely wanted that break in period to get more size. I came in to NXT at about 235. I hovered around 230. And the initial cut started at about 225. So 20 pounds to make the Cruiserweight division.”

On his 205 Live run: Yes. I definitely pushed for that. I asked for it originally and it was declined. And I kept pushing for it. Declined. Then I just took it upon myself, man. I dropped the weight so that they didn’t really have any excuse. And then there was an opportunity for the Cruiserweight Championship tournament in which they said yes to and I took it and ran, man. Wasn’t really given a reason, man. Just “no.” So, I turned that into a “yes.”

On if Wesley Blake could make the same jump: “No, he’s a little bit bigger. He’s a bigger dude, a little thicker dude. I remember when we originally came to NXT, I think our original name was Team Thick. That was our original name. But, he’s killing it in NXT. He’s doing [the Forgotten Sons] thing. Him and Steve Cutler are a great tag. Yeah, man, if he wants to try… It’s not a great life. I can assure you of that.”