WWE 205 Live was established following the success of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament to feature those who competed in the tournament and others who became full-time members of WWE's cruiserweight division. Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE executive producer and wrestler, stated the brand was designed to serve as a showcase for the division, with its own distinctive feel and style compared to WWE's other brands. The Raw brand was originally established as the exclusive home of the division during the 2016 brand extension, with all cruiserweights being assigned to Raw following the 2016 WWE draft. While still under the Raw brand, a show dedicated to the cruiserweights premiered on November 29, 2016; the main event of the inaugural episode saw Rich Swann defeat The Brian Kendrick for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Cruiserweights would appear on both Monday Night Raw and 205 Live the for the next year and a half. However, following WrestleMania 34 in 2018, cruiserweight wrestlers ceased to appear on Raw, becoming exclusive to 205 Live and thus separating the 205 Live brand from Raw. In January 2018, Paul "Triple H" Levesque took over the creative side of 205 Live. On January 30, 2018, Drake Maverick was announced as the inaugural 205 Live general manager. Maverick would announce a 16-man tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship, which was won by Cedric Alexander. Once the tournament begun, WWE's cruiserweight division began to wrestle exclusively on 205 Live and ceased to appear on Raw with select exceptions. Namely, Lucha House Party began competing in Raw's tag team division while Lio Rush and Drake Maverick began managing Raw superstars Bobby Lashley and AOP, respectively, and occasionally competing in matches on Raw. Even though Maverick portrayed a heel while managing AOP on Raw, he was a face general manager on 205 Live. Just prior to NXT moving to the USA Network in September 2019, NXT head Triple H spoke with Newsweek and said that "You'll start to see 205 begin to" become part of NXT. He said that 205 Live's talent would start moving towards NXT, that 205 Live had "become lost in limbo", and that the Cruiserweight Championship would have more meaning on NXT where it could create more opportunities for the cruiserweight wrestlers. It was then reported that the NXT Creative Team would be in charge of 205 Live. The following month, the title began being defended on NXT and was renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship, becoming part of the NXT brand. On October 18, 2019, Drake Maverick – who himself was drafted to SmackDown but remaining as the General Manager of 205 Live – announced that following the 2019 WWE Draft, he had made a talent exchange agreement with NXT General Manager William Regal, whereby NXT's cruiserweight wrestlers could also wrestle on 205 Live. On April 12, 2020, with the announcement that Drake Maverick would be competing in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament, Maverick confirmed via Twitter that he had stepped down as the 205 Live General Manager so that he could return to in-ring competition. NXT's General Manager William Regal was announced to take over the managerial duties of 205 Live in addition to NXT.
Champions
Note – The WWE 24/7 Championship can also be defended on 205 Live as it is shared among all brands – Title shared with the NXT and NXT UK brands
