Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong made his latest title defense against Joe Gacy at the WWE NXT WarGames event in Orlando, Florida on Sunday night.
The match was kept short with Gacy dominating early only for Strong to make a comeback with a knee strike then a backbreaker for the win.
WWE set up this feud a few weeks ago when Gacy interrupted Strong and his Diamond Mine stablemates while Malcolm Bivens was cutting a promo. The following week, Diamond Mine interrupted a promo by Gacy and told him that Diamond Mine was going to steal the spotlight from Gacy like he did to them. Gacy said he has no respect for them or Strong and he said Strong’s name alone is an example of toxic masculinity. Gacy said the Cruiserweight division is meant to divide because it’s an example of exclusivity and weight shaming.
Strong offered the title match and Gacy accepted before noting that he looked forward to resolving this issue together as one. Bivens wanted Julius & Brutus Creed to attack Gacy, but he called them off after Gacy’s associate Harland appeared.
Strong won the NXT Cruiserweight Championship from Kushida this September. Dave Meltzer noted on an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio this week that he had heard WWE might be getting rid of the title and renaming it the All-Inclusive Championship.