At the 2018 Royal Rumble, Enzo Amore was scheduled to defend the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander. However, after Amore was suspended from WWE on January 22 due to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, the match was cancelled. The following day, Amore was released and the title was vacated. It was then announced that a general manager would be appointed for "205 Live" and would address the championship; "205 Live" was previously controlled by the Raw General Manager, as "205 Live" is part of the Raw brand. On the January 30 episode of "205 Live", Drake Maverick (formerly known as Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) was appointed as the 205 Live General Manager. Maverick announced that there would be a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with the finals to occur during the pre-show for WrestleMania 34.