Neville or Balor?

[DaleBryan]

So something I've really been thinking about lately is how Neville would fair outside of the cruiserweight division with his new heel gimmick. When Neville debuted from NXT he was an athletic face with little personality, which didn't get him very far on the card. Now he is the King of the Cruiserweights. He's dominant, aggressive, and actually has a presence when he is in the ring/on camera.

Finn Balor is the first Universal champion, but just returned from injury. Right now he is just kind of floating around until he feuds with Bray. But after his feud with Bray, what's next? It doesn't seem like he will be getting a Universal title shot this year. (Which makes no sense storyline wise, as he never lost the title. Also Kevin Owens never even mentioning wanting or deserving a Uni title rematch bothers me. But both are different topics for different threads.)

So I am a little indifferent on the idea of Balor going for the Cruiserweight title since he was in the main event picture on Raw before he was injured. But the idea of "The Demon King conquering the King of the Cruiserweights" does intrigue me. Their matches would also very much intrigue me.

Or..

Maybe that never happens. Maybe Finn never goes to the Cruiserweight division. I'd be fine either way on that. But Neville can't be Cruiserweight champion forever.

So my questions for you ladies and gentlemen are:
Can you guys see Neville succeeding with his new gimmick outside of the Cruiserweight division? As in IC champ? Maybe more down the road? Like eventually next year a trade to Smackdown Live and potentially in the main event picture there?

Do you guys ever see Balor chasing the Cruiserweight title? Would that interest you? Would Balor vs. Neville interest you? If so, how would you want it to play out? Would you want it to be for the CWC? Or just a personal rivalry/feud?

 

[ramblinroy682]

Therein lies the problem with the Cruiserweight Title. By creating a weight division among the titles, you by default think that Cruiserweights are not able to compete with Heavyweights. I am much more a fan of a title like the Television Title for a "3rd" belt. However, I feel they need to keep the divisions separate.

To me two successful attempts at the lower weight class type of divisions are NJPW and the X-Division Title in its best run during the Styles/Daniels/Joe days. NJPW does a great job of keeping them as separate divisions. You can graduate from the juniors, but lower weight guys don't go back. In the X-Division it was a style of wrestling vs. a weight class.

I guess a say all that to say, no to Finn going for that belt.

I wouldn't mind seeing Neville ultimately graduate from that division, but need to be after a long successful run where he has defeated all opponents and finally loses to the next man ready to take on that division.

I do think a Finn/Neville feud would be great for the IC Title. Very different styles to some degree, but it would be reminiscent of the RVD/Jerry Lynn feud from ECW. Although, I still see Finn as a guy who could be a headliner, but I imagine injuries will keep him down the ladder for a while.

 

[mont3818]

Funny you should post this DaleBryan, a few days ago I independently had the realization of just how much a Finn Balor could elevate the division.

There are some issues though: WWE doesn't seem too keen on 'elevating' the cruiserweight championship or division, but rather having it as a separate side attraction. If they were interested they would have put Neville vs. Aries on the main card of Wrestlmania 33 and allowed them to work a 18-22min NXT main event style match (let Neville breakout every crazy athletic high-flying move imaginable, and let he and Aries have a lot of creative/psychological say in how the match plays out), with the winner getting a pyro celebration like Charlotte did after her WM32 match... THAT'S how you breakout a division. Aries/Neville could have easily been Match of the Night, but nah, we'll put them up first in the PRE-SHOW...

Then you got Finn Balor, just when you thought no one in the cruiserweight division was in Neville's league and that he'd be champion for a long long time. Balor is the perfect catalyst to (along with Neville and Aries) legitimize the cruiserweight division. He was already the top dog, first Universal Champion, and already beat Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins clean. What better way to legitimize a young new division in the WWE? Neville (c) vs. Finn Balor should 100% be a featured bout at Summerslam this year. Especially with Brock Lesnar holding the Universal Championship hostage for awhile and with WWE's insistence on making Reigns the man thereafter, why not a good strong Balor cruiserweight run??

In response to ramblinroy 682, a strong back-and-forth feud between Neville and Balor would legitimize the division alone. THAT in itself would show that cruiserweights (the best of cruiserweights) can indeed hang with the heavyweights (because Finn Balor already DID and here he is feuding with Neville). Cruiserweight is a weight class and ALSO a style of fighting simply because of how the guys in that weight class are built, so there's no reason to believe that the best of them couldn't hang given the style they employ. I thought we already learned this lesson with the likes of HBK, Jericho, Guerrero, Mysterio, and Benoit. Yet here we are. Shoot, Neville vs. Balor can even headline one of the minor PPVs like the women did last year. Why not? We know what they're capable of. And as long as we treat them no different (that they're still dangerous in their own way) outside of the cruiserweight division, why not? This shouldn't hinder Finn (or Neville) in the least, it only adds to his legacy, the division, and our entertainment. As long as we (or WWE) doesn't act like it would hinder one of their 'superstars', which is counterintuitive to having the division in the first place. Why not let it be strong and all it can be? Wouldn't there be more money in that?

 

[Glacier]

Cheeseburger or Hornswoggle can beat both those little runts.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Therein lies the problem with the Cruiserweight Title. By creating a weight division among the titles, you by default think that Cruiserweights are not able to compete with Heavyweights. I am much more a fan of a title like the Television Title for a "3rd" belt. However, I feel they need to keep the divisions separate.

To me two successful attempts at the lower weight class type of divisions are NJPW and the X-Division Title in its best run during the Styles/Daniels/Joe days. NJPW does a great job of keeping them as separate divisions. You can graduate from the juniors, but lower weight guys don't go back. In the X-Division it was a style of wrestling vs. a weight class..

True. The problem regarding the notion of weight divisions is a cultural one really. In the United States, fans have known and accepted that pro wrestling isn't an actual sport, thereby most American fans find the notion of wrestlers divided up based on bodyweight to be redundant. In Mexico and Japan, the fans of those countries view pro wrestling as more of a sport; they know it's ultimately mock combat with scripted finishes but it's become so ingrained in the culture over so many decades and generations that weight classes are seen as appropriate as wrestling is generally marketed as a sport there. American fans, we generally just wanna see guys get in there and have it out regardless of weight differences. Now IF WWE marketed itself as more of a sport rather than entertainment, a marketing strategy that I think fans would ultimately go along with, then I think the notion of weight divisions might be more acceptable since they're part of actual combat sports like mixed martial arts and boxing. As a result, MAYBE a Cruiserweight/Junior Heavyweight/Light Heavyweight Division wouldn't come off as a place where you stick the smaller guys.

As far as TNA's X Division went, one thing that helped it was that it was never marketed as or booked as a different weight division. Even though the vast majority of the wrestlers competing in it have been and are to this day smaller, you never heard the term "weight limit" used until several years ago when a 225 lbs. weight limit was implemented, even though it wasn't always adhered to given that some guys who competed in the X Division were ridiculously heavier than the weight limit. But yeah, the glory days of the X Division are gone.

 

[ShinChan]

Finn Balor should be nowhere near Cruiserweight Division. And I'm almost sure that Vince won't do this just because of the "demon" persona. If there was no such persona, I won't have any doubt in Balor joining Cruiserweight Division. But the "demon" persona ain't for just Cruiserweights.

About Neville, He's doing the best work of his career now and I think that he should and might be leaving Cruiserweight Division after a year or more. He could be a great addition to midcard & upper midcard scene.