Neville vs Rich Swann, WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Winner and analysis

Neville is no longer the “self-proclaimed” “King Of Cruiserweights” after he defeated Rich Swann at the Royal Rumble to become the new and 4^th Cruiserweight champion. Neville finished Rich Swann with a cross face butterfly armbar and made the now former champion tap out.

"The CORONATION has HAPPENED at the #RoyalRumble!!" - @MauroRanallo@WWENeville is the NEW #Cruiserweight CHAMPION, def. @GottaGetSwann!! pic.twitter.com/T3m2oGWGS9
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017

Rich Swann put on a heroic effort against The Man That Gravity Forgot but it wasn’t enough, as Neville came on top with his new mean streak.

The vicious MEAN STREAK of @WWENeville is on FULL DISPLAY, as he takes apart @GottaGetSwann on @WWENetwork! #RoyalRumble #205Live pic.twitter.com/BZycsbTXS2
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2017

Neville came back to action at Roadblock: End Of The Line, when he officially entered the Cruiserweight Division and turned heel when he attacked Rich Swann and TJ Perkins. Since then, Neville has been praised for his performance as a heel, as it has given new life to his WWE career.

Even when Neville returned around the time of the brand split from injury, he was not involved in any storylines and was barely even featured on television. It took 4 months for WWE to finally decide to debut Neville in the Cruiserweight division.

When the Cruiserweight division debuted in September 2016, many fans wondered why Neville was not involved in the division, as he has the look and body type to be in the division. Now, the division seems to be centring around Neville.