More and more each week, we've seen members of WWE's cruiserweight show, 205 Live integrated back in to Monday Night Raw.
It started with Drew Gulak helping out during beat downs of the Shield, and continued with 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick serving as the manager of Authors of Pain. This week, we also witnessed Lio Rush paired with Bobby Lashley as his mouth piece.
Fightful asked several wrestlers and employees backstage about the news, and those within the know said that there was a push to implement more managers on the program in an effort to revive floundering acts. It's not a coincidence that all three cruiserweights to appear on Raw thus far are excellent talkers, and this is a bit of a way to ease those in charge of such decisions back into utilizing managers more prominently if it works out.
Quite often, members of the 205 Live roster are booked for less than a half-dozen dates per month, and this is being seen as an effort to maximize returns on investment in the brand. Past attempts to invest in 205 Live (Neville, Enzo Amore) would end up blowing up in WWE's face, whether it be their fault or someone else's. We're also told that the company is very hot and cold these days on any firm plans to make changes to the brand.
Members of the 205 Live roster are not generally flown to WWE Raw tapings these days, although there are some exceptions when WWE has to do pre-tapes, or they are filming a Main Event match.