Buddy Murphy’s “Best Kept Secret” moniker, while quite clever, isn’t really that accurate anymore. Since arriving to 205 Live less than two months ago, Murphy has consistently been one of WWE’s leading performers, participating in some of the most entertaining matches WWE fans have seen this year. Although it’s been a short amount of time, it’s safe to say that the secret is out, and that secret is that Murphy is for real.
Prior to joining 205 Live, Murphy got a taste of success in NXT as a tag team wrestler, capturing the NXT Tag Team Championship in January of 2015 with Wesley Blake. The duo, managed by Alexa Bliss, had an impressive run as tag champs, holding the titles for 219 days before finally being defeated at the first ever NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event by The Vaudevillians. After the tag title run, each member of the trio went their separate ways, with only Alexa Bliss finding success post-split.
Blake, Murphy, and Bliss with the NXT Tag Titles (Photo Credit: WWE.com)
In 2016, after failing to gain any traction as a singles star, despite a few strong performances, Murphy slowly started to drift off the radar in NXT. For the entire calendar year of 2017, Murphy made only one appearance on NXT’s weekly television show. Although not an active on-screen character, the 29-year-old Australian-born Superstar consistently stole the show at NXT live events, participating in exciting matchups with the likes of Aleister Black and Andrade “Cien” Almas on a weekly basis. Non-televised events aside, if you wanted to see Murphy on your screen of choice at home, you had to watch videos of him talking about his pet pig on YouTube to get your fix.
Perhaps it was the matches on the NXT house show circuit, or 205 Live’s dire need of new blood, but Murphy finally got another chance to shine on television earlier this year. He successfully cut quite a bit of weight to get down below the 205-pound limit, which in return made him look like a human tank, and joined the 16-man Cruiserweight Championship Tournament.
Buddy Murphy shakes hands with his new GM, Drake Maverick (Photo Credit: WWE.com)
Murphy didn’t win the tournament, but he did win over the fans with his strong performances, which in the long run may end up being a more significant victory. He has the ability to keep pace with the best high fliers 205 Live has to offer, while at the same time capitalizing on his size advantage over the rest of the cruiserweights, which is a beautiful mix. His style is graceful, but grimy, which pleases the palates of hardcore wrestling fans in 2018, the demographic the show is catered to.
Cedric Alexander, the newly crowned WWE Cruiserweight Champion, appears to be heading toward an epic clash with Murphy sooner rather than later. The two had an altercation on last week’s episode of 205 Live, which is exciting to see, as both men are extremely talented and should mesh well together. It’s absolutely amazing to think that WWE had a star as capable as Murphy sitting on the shelf, but with a loaded roster, it’s understandable that not everyone is going to get opportunities. Thankfully, Murphy not only got an opportunity, but he made the most of it, which has fans around the world begging to see more of what he has to offer.
