This has been bubbling away for some time. Murphy captured the title in front of a raucous home-town crowd during the Super Show-Down event in Melbourne last October and has been the best champion the title's had since its reactivation. He's defended it feverishly and had bloody stellar matches throughout. Indeed it seemed like "The Juggernaut" had run through everyone on 205Live... except for one guy: Murphy's training partner since surfacing on the purple brand - Tony Nese.

Nese is fairly unremarkable. Good physique and solid between the ropes, there's nothing about him that stands out above anyone else. Indeed, he's one of the few guys from the Crusierweight Classic to both still be with WWE and have done nothing. Guys like Gallagher, Kendrick, Tozawa, Gulak et al have at least had stand-out matches/characters or title reigns. Nese hasn't had any of that. And that's where his alliance with Murphy has come into play. Working with the Australian, he's been helping hone him into the dominant champion he is today. All while remaining obscure in the background. All while failing to propel himself up the ladder toward a title shot.

Indeed, it seemed like Murphy was deliberately suppressing Nese, offering title shots at intermittent points but always failing to deliver. Matters were taken out of the champ's hands though as Nese entered into the number one contender's tournament to determine Murphy's opponent for WrestleMania. Not only did Nese enter though, he won the whole thing, overcoming former champion Kalisto and the ever present Drew Gulak before ultimately slaying "The Heart of 205", Cedric Alexander. As the broadcast drew to a close, Murphy congratulated his comrade... before knee his face into the third row.

It'll be on the pre-show, it'll be mostly glossed over, but there's a fun, simple story to be had here and it'll be nice to see it paid off on the biggest stage the company has!