The era of Buddy Murphy on 205 Live is arguably the best content the brand had ever produced. Offering fantastic matches against the likes of Mustafa Ali and Tony Nese. The brand was reaching new heights of popularity before SmackDown pulled both Ali and Murphy off the brand within months of each other.
Buddy Murphy was the latest guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet to discuss his WWE career and what’s next for him when his 90-day non-compete expires.
When Buddy Murphy was asked about his time on 205 Live before being called up to SmackDown, Murphy admitted that he loved his time on the cruiserweight brand:
“My whole time in the cruiserweight…loved it,” Buddy Murphy said. “I can’t be more appreciative of my time in 205 Live. It was fun, I was creative, I was having great matches. We felt like we had a little bit of pull and we could suggest stuff and it would be considered. It was an awesome group of guys, we all traveled together. I win the title, do some great stuff, go to WrestleMania, lose it, pass it to Tony Nese. And then I get drafted to SmackDown. I’m like this is it! But then I don’t do anything for 4 to 5 months. Then I just so happen to accidentally be in the background of a Roman shot, which gave me a spotlight and had the internet talking. When the internet talks they [WWE] can shy away from it.
“But luckily in my case, they brought attention to it. Then I had this killer match with Roman and the week after I had this killer match with Bryan. Then I was in the King of the Ring against Ali. Three weeks in a row I have killer matches, but then I’m just dropped. I didn’t understand it. I was in talks with [Paul] Heyman, and he was going to take over RAW. I assumed that he had spoken up and said he wanted me, and the people of SmackDown didn’t want to use me. They didn’t want to highlight someone who is going to Mondays. They say that if Paul wants to advocate for you, it can work for you or against you. Maybe it worked against me, but I felt like I was delivering. Did I lose out or did you?”
When asked about his 90-day non-compete which expires on August 31, Buddy Murphy says he believes these clauses are done to kill all buzz and hype before they can arrive elsewhere:
“The 90 days is to kill all buzz and all hype,” Buddy Murphy said. “It’s so you don’t have any momentum when you go somewhere else. I’m not going to blow my load in the first week. I have to expand it over the 3 months. That’s why I drop the progress photo. Then I will drop something else. I feel like they hoard a lot of talent, and now they are saturating the talent. It is a business move I believe they are making. If you send out 3 guys, they can do what they want. If you send out 40 guys, the work gets cut. But wrestling can boom again. Now the pandemic is ending, more talent can go to the indies, and the fans can see it all.”
Did you enjoy Buddy Murphy’s time in 205 Live? Where do you think he will end up when his 90-day non-compete expires? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
