WWE 205 Live, also simply called 205 Live, was a taped professional wrestling WWE Network series produced by WWE, which initially featured the promotion's cruiserweight division, wherein all participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs. or less. By late 2021 wrestlers from NXT over 205 lbs. and female wrestlers also from NXT began appearing on the program.
The show premiered on November 29, 2016, and airs following SmackDown Live. Talking Smack, which previously held the 10:00pm eastern time slot, moved to 11:00pm eastern following the debut of 205 Live until Talking Smack's cancellation in July 2017. Due to the premiere of the second season of Mixed Match Challenge on September 18, 2018, the show moved to 7:00pm eastern every Wednesday. In January 2019 the show returned to Tuesdays at 10pm eastern.
History
205 Live was established following the success of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, to feature those who competed in the tournament and others who have become full-time members of WWE's cruiserweight division. Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE executive producer and wrestler, stated the program is designed to serve as a showcase for the division, with its own distinctive feel and style compared to other WWE programming.
The Raw brand was originally established as the exclusive home of the division during the 2016 brand extension, with all cruiserweights being drafted to Raw during the 2016 WWE draft. Following the premiere of 205 Live, the cruiserweight wrestlers appear on both Raw and 205 Live, as well as making occasional appearances on NXT.
The show premiered on November 29, 2016; the main event of the inaugural episode saw Rich Swann defeating The Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
On November 7, 2017, The United Kingdom Division was invited to 205 Live. This would be the main roster debuts of most of the UK Division with the exception of Pete Dunne, who debuted the previous night on Raw.
In January 2018, Triple H took over the creative side of 205 Live. The first of the changes under Triple H was announced on January 23, with Daniel Bryan announcing that the first 205 Live general manager would be announced the following week. The GM was revealed to be Drake Maverick, formerly known as "Rockstar Spud" from Impact Wrestling. He announced a 16-man tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
On February 15, 2022 during NXT Vengeance Day WWE announced a new weekly show named NXT Level Up would debut on February 18, 2022, replacing 205 Live.
Commentators
| Commentators | Date started | Date finished |
|---|---|---|
| Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves and Austin Aries | November 29, 2016 | February 28, 2017 |
| Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves | ||
| Tom Phillips and Corey Graves | March 14, 2017 | June 6, 2017 |
| Vic Joseph and Corey Graves | June 13, 2017 | August 29, 2017 |
| Vic Joseph and Nigel McGuinness | September 5, 2017 | September 19, 2017 |
| October 3, 2017 | April 3, 2018 | |
| September 18, 2020 | April 16, 2021 | |
| June 4, 2021 | January 21, 2022 | |
| Vic Joseph and Byron Saxton | ||
| Vic Joseph and Percy Watson | April 10, 2018 | April 17, 2018 |
| Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson | April 24, 2018 | June 12, 2018 |
| June 26, 2018 | January 22, 2019 | |
| Tom Phillips and Percy Watson | ||
| Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson and Wale | ||
| Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Aiden English | January 22, 2019 | April 16, 2019 |
| May 21, 2019 | June 11, 2019 | |
| June 25, 2019 | July 16, 2019 | |
| July 30, 2019 | August 20, 2019 | |
| Vic Joseph, Aiden English and David Otunga | ||
| Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Aiden English and David Otunga | ||
| Byron Saxton, Nigel McGuinness and Aiden English | ||
| Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness and Aiden English | ||
| Vic Joseph and Aiden English | ||
| Vic Joseph, Aiden English and Dio Maddin | September 10, 2019 | September 24, 2019 |
| Tom Phillips and Aiden English | October 11, 2019 | January 10, 2020 |
| Jon Quasto and Aiden English | ||
| January 24, 2020 | April 3, 2020 | |
| Jon Quasto and Mansoor | ||
| Jon Quasto and Byron Saxton | ||
| Byron Saxton and Corey Graves | May 15, 2020 | July 10, 2020 |
| Byron Saxton and Drew Gulak | June 26, 2020 | July 3, 2020 |
| Vic Joseph and Drew Gulak | July 17, 2020 | September 11, 2020 |
| Byron Saxton and Nigel McGuinness | September 25, 2020 | October 9, 2020 |
| Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuinness | April 23, 2021 | May 28, 2021 |
| Sudu Shah and Nigel McGuinness | January 28, 2022 | February 11, 2022 |
Ring announcers
| Ring announcers | Date started | Date finished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Hamilton | November 29, 2016 | May 28, 2019 | Ring announcer for Friday Night SmackDown |
| June 11, 2019 | October 2, 2020 | ||
| Kayla Braxton | June 4, 2019 | November 11, 2019 | |
| Alicia Taylor | October 9, 2020 | April 16, 2021 | Also ring announcer for NXT |
| Samantha Irvin | April 23, 2021 | February 11, 2022 |
