The Light-Heavyweight/Cruiserweight Divison

[hellfirebrian85]

With guys like Chavo, Bourne, Noble, Yang, Funaki and other smaller guys being lost in the shuffle of the same old boring crap you see on WWE TV I would like to see them go for a Cruiserweight/LH Belt. You have guys that are coming in like LowKi, Danielson who could also add to that division. Instead of having two women's title, why not bring back on of the other parts of wrestling that WWE seemed to have just completely ignored.( The other being the Tag Division)

I missed the days of WCW for this reason and this reason alone. If you hated everything else about WCW before it closed, you knew if their crusierweights were on the card that you were going to get a damn good bout. I was just want to know your opinions.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Frankly, you've hit the nail right on the head, here. The cruserweight division is pretty much forced adjust the more artful and exciting style they've trained for in order to accommodate the bigger bruisers with the power game. While these "David and Goliath" matches can be rather fun to a point (especially when the seemingly impossible odds are overcome with clever maneuvering) I too miss the true cruserweight matches. In these, you really got the art, the dance if you will, of the matches and truly some massively impressive stuff happened there that didn't have to do with just sheer strength. I'll put up any match between Rey and Eddie as an example.

Furthermore, many gimmick matches involving height (ladder, TLC, etc) are perfect for the crusers. TNA is still doing great with the X-Division and I think the WWE should take some note from that and actually bring back the cruserweights, not as a joke but as a credible division.

 

[gtajoker01]

I agree they need another division to keep the crowd excited cuz obviosuly the heavyweight division is dead because the whc and wwe title just shuffles off between orton cena hhh batista and cm punk. and if they are to re-create the cruiser-weight division they should keep hornswoggle out of it. they need to bring back the european title as well.

 

[kodiak69]

If nothing else bring the both titles back one on each show and also bring back the ECW TV title to help elevate some of the younger stars on ECW in the fans eyes to get a better reaction from the fans for these up and coming stars

 

[stryfe604]

You guys are spot on. I loved the cruiserweight division, it was among the best wrestling matches put on. The creativity and athleticism put into the matches were amazing. It was a perfect balance between scripting the match to execution of the match. Along with great story it could blow you away. But I guess with the way the trends are now the tighter the shirt the more credibility you have (I am talking about the tough guy affliction and ed hardy wearing juicers). But we could dream and pray they bring back a credible and exciting part of wrestling back to the mainstream.

 

[shaunseven]

i've suggested many time to wwe that they reveive the cruiserweight title and make IT the title that is competed for by ALL brands (but they opted to unify the tag belts) there was a time when all 3 brands could make a solid division... hornswoggle, chavo, hurricane, funaki, evan bourne, tyson kidd, jamie noble, rey mysterio, jimmy wang yang...

 

[kotg]

I think the the smackdown and raw and ecw brands should each have a novelty title, a mid title and then all three brands should share the WWE/WHC and the WWE/W Tag Championships... Have smackdown carry the US title as a top, with the cruiserweight as a gimmick... have raw carry the intercontinental as a top, with womens/divas unified as a gimmick, and change the ECW championship to the TV championship, and bring back the hardcore belt for a gimmick title there.

I truly do miss the cruiserweight/lhc for the many reasons seen above, I wish they had the relationship with new japan and IWBC that TNA had to get some new talent in for some new shows... could you imagine the way the themed ppvs are going they running with a Money in the Bank PPV, where each match is that, and a cruiserweight MITB match... would be insane.

 

[SUBMIT2GR8NESS]

If the wwe wants to stay the top of wrestling then they would have to bring back the CW/LH title. Honostly how do you compete with tna's X division. I have said this before wwe is for storyline and tna is just action. If wwe brought back this division of crazy maniacs then ratings would go through the roof. Then I think they sould bring back SABU to be the champ cause he is a crazy son of a bitch.(pardon my french but you know it's true)

 

[JBK2008]

There needs to be a cruiserweight division championship again. There are 2 female titles and not enough women on each brand to make it worthwhile and the david vs goliath matches, while fun for now, can't go on forever. The smaller guys deserve a championship to chase again. There are a lot of smaller guys in the WWE now, so it would make a lot of sense.

 

[kodiak69]

I think the the smackdown and raw and ecw brands should each have a novelty title, a mid title and then all three brands should share the WWE/WHC and the WWE/W Tag Championships... Have smackdown carry the US title as a top, with the cruiserweight as a gimmick... have raw carry the intercontinental as a top, with womens/divas unified as a gimmick, and change the ECW championship to the TV championship, and bring back the hardcore belt for a gimmick title there.

I truly do miss the cruiserweight/lhc for the many reasons seen above, I wish they had the relationship with new japan and IWBC that TNA had to get some new talent in for some new shows... could you imagine the way the themed ppvs are going they running with a Money in the Bank PPV, where each match is that, and a cruiserweight MITB match... would be insane.

going with this game plan they would be destroying the whole concept of seperate brands and some of the stars we are seeing would get lost in the shuffle and never see the light of day again as far as TV time except for maybe a spot in the Rumble and get elimnated as quickly as they arrive this is not the way to improve the WEWE but destroy it by taking away all of the young talents TV time because all of the older guys would want all of the TV time

 

[joseph_creed_superstar]

They have merged the Tag Team Titles....that was step one.....Step 2 would be to unify the Women's Titles and allowing the champion to go throughout all shows....They COULD unify the U.S. & IC Titles to create the International Title....But, that is just an option......BUT, merging the Women's, the World Titles, and bringing back a Cruiserweight Title is almost REQUIRED to obtain the viewership they had back around the time the brand extension 1st came into effect.

 

[hellfirebrian85]

One reason why I doubt it'll happen is for the same reason why I think Vince got rid of it, it shows up the WHC and the WWE Title. People like Bourne, Noble, Chavo, and all the other smaller guys would steal the show. Vince was the guy who always prefered the big guys to the fast pace style. It's only been a few years since he semi-embraced guys like Hardy's, Edge, Rey, Jericho, and look who they usually are matched against.

Okay, here's another question for you guys. How would you bring the title back?
I'd like to see an old fashion 8 to 16 man tournament. With Bourne beating Rey to become the new champ.

 

[hellfirebrian85]

They have merged the Tag Team Titles....that was step one.....Step 2 would be to unify the Women's Titles and allowing the champion to go throughout all shows....They COULD unify the U.S. & IC Titles to create the International Title....But, that is just an option......BUT, merging the Women's, the World Titles, and bringing back a Cruiserweight Title is almost REQUIRED to obtain the viewership they had back around the time the brand extension 1st came into effect.

They should leave the rest alone, unite the Women's titles and treat it the way they are the Tag Titles and let them defend on all three brands. They should split the Tag Titles though. And have the Women's title and the Cruiser/LH title defended on all three brands. That way all three brands smaller guys can go for the belt.

 

[StampedeWraslin]

They need to bring the CW division back without question. They should bring it back on Raw. Have a guest host give Hornswoggle his belt back then make him defend it against Chavo. Chavo cleanly destroys Hornswoggle and we all get 2 things we want, the CW division back and an end to the stupid Chavo/Swoggle comedy fueds. Then Chavo can enter a fued with, well anybody... and he could move between brands but not be all over TV like JeriShow, just Raw one week maybe SD and ECW the next. He can drop the belt to somebody on ECW after a month or 2 run with the belt then CW can stay on ECW to add something to that show.

 

[kodiak69]

One reason why I doubt it'll happen is for the same reason why I think Vince got rid of it, it shows up the WHC and the WWE Title. People like Bourne, Noble, Chavo, and all the other smaller guys would steal the show. Vince was the guy who always prefered the big guys to the fast pace style. It's only been a few years since he semi-embraced guys like Hardy's, Edge, Rey, Jericho, and look who they usually are matched against.

Okay, here's another question for you guys. How would you bring the title back?
I'd like to see an old fashion 8 to 16 man tournament. With Bourne beating Rey to become the new champ.

A variation of the king of the ring is what you are looking for than well that could work I kind of would like to see the WWE come up with their own version of the Ultimate X or maybe a 10 man MITB with instead of a briefcase be the title and the other way is the only way to win is a WWE version of the King of The Mountain match

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

I think the WWE should bring back the cruisweight/lightweight championship and have it defended by all 3 Brands and only defend it on ECW n Superstars.... They should also bring back the ECW TV championship on ECW and have it defended every ECW episode or as there match on Superstars, that would bring more ratings cause it would give people a reason to watch ECW and Superstars.... It would also bring credibility to the holders of the championships and will Make there starshine faster or if anything gve some type of achievment to dat wrestlers name.... I dont know bout yall but i would love to see a straight cruisweiht or up and coming star show it will show who has what it takes and who doesnt.....

 

[kotg]

going with this game plan they would be destroying the whole concept of seperate brands and some of the stars we are seeing would get lost in the shuffle and never see the light of day again as far as TV time except for maybe a spot in the Rumble and get elimnated as quickly as they arrive this is not the way to improve the WEWE but destroy it by taking away all of the young talents TV time because all of the older guys would want all of the TV time

but the separate brands are dead anyways... in the minds of most fans, really... it's A show, B show, and D show... I think that they keep the unified WHC and tag titles rotating between the 3 brands, maybe each brand gets a shot at one of the old Big 4 PPV's... And title matches get TV time... so with more belts to chase, there would be more shots for the younger guys... they could start with the CW, or the HardCore... work for the TV title, or the IC or the US, then after they prove themselves at midcard, they could get a bump for the big belt...

Give the cruiserweights a shot, don't just have Evan Bourne, be squash meat. As much as I love the dude, but I don't think I have seen him win a TV match yet.

 

[PEP3]

Once again, I'm in direct opposition to the majority on these boards. While I unquestionably think the LHW/CW performers provide incredible matches, having a belt exclusive to that weight division was almost always been considered a joke or, at a minimum, a "consolation prize."

Quite frequently people were slapped into that division because they weren't yet ready to compete as a heavyweight or creative didn't have anything for them in the grander scheme of things. As soon as they did, those same people were "called up" to the big leagues. As more and more get called up, eventually the Cruiserweight division started to look like a trumped up "jobber" league or the place for also-ran performers no longer getting heavyweight pushes.

Meanwhile, more often than not, top cruiserweights would still get booked in matches against larger opponents and be completely crushed. It made them look incredibly weak and like they couldn't hold their own against the bigger guys. Not to mention watching the top performers in that weight class get destroyed only reinforced the idea that the Cruiserweight title was a total joke.

To be honest, I think the company would be better served to book these talents against one-another and allow them to spotlight their incredible skills without over-emphasizing their weight bracket. In the grand scheme of things, placing the "cruiser weight" label on competitors only does more to restrict their growth than promote it.

WWE is getting better about having people like Jeff Hardy, John Morrison, Rey, The Miz and others who would generally be considered cruiserweights compete for major (even World Heavyweight) titles. And to that end, I think most of the guys who'd benefit from a Cruiserweight belt in the short-term are more than talented enough to get a run at one of the heavyweight belts in the future.

To be honest, I think those deserve something like that much more than being saddled with a cruiserweight title that by its very nature relegates those competing for it to "second-class citizen" status.

 

[PEP3]

Give the cruiserweights a shot, don't just have Evan Bourne, be squash meat. As much as I love the dude, but I don't think I have seen him win a TV match yet.

That's just the thing, KOTG. Even if WWE gave Bourne a Cruiserweight title, they'd probably STILL book him to get squashed by the big guys. Then what good would it do? We'd just have a cruiserweight jobbing to the heavyweights . . . and a title that didn't mean jack $hit that he'd get to wear as a consolation prize for being the rag doll getting thrown around.

 

[tsull2121]

i dont know WHY anyone would want to bring back a division that Vince McMahon has absolute DISDAIN for? It's been proven, and a well known fact, that VIncehas NO USE for cruiserweight/light heavyweight wrestlers except for cannon fodder for his "big muscleheads".

There was ONE TIME a LONG time ago that Vince actually pulled his head out of his ass and REINSTITUTED the light heavyweight division (for all of you who DONT know.. there already WAS a wwf light heavyewight champion and division back in the early 80's.. one of bret harts FIRST matchess with the wwf was in MSG challenging for the title).

He did "ok" by the division, but decided to "bastardize" it by merging it with WCW's cruiserweight title. and we ALL know how he destroyed that one! (hornswoggle?!?! gimme a friggin break!)

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it.. the pathetic Divas title needs to be done away with and all the "creampuffs" need to be fired and focus on the WOMEN'S division, the US Title can go away.. theres only room for ONE "mid-card championship" and that SHOULD be the Inter-Continental Title.. the World title needs to be merged with the WWE title (snd for GODS SAKE redesign that HORRID piece of garbage!) and the TAG TITLES need to be ONE belt.

Have each champion defend on EACH show.. whether it be the wwe champ, womens, tag, IC or ECW titles that way NO TITLE will be "brand specific" and MAYBE the feuds will mean something again.

But as in everything concerned with "VINNIE LAND" this is all just wishful thinking and we ALL know its NOT gonna happen anyway!

 

[Leafy]

The WWE could benefit from a lightweight division right now. With WWE aiming for a younger audience a lightweight would excite the audience after a slow heavyweight match. Today's kids have shorter attention spans which a lightweight match could supply. With high flying moves happening constantly, this would draw them in and excite them for the entire match and ready for the rest of the show.

 

[jcmichaels42]

Why not just move the Cruiserweight/Lightweight title to ECW exclusively? Along with it move Chavo, Funaki, Noble and the others. Make it kind of like how WCW used the title....seemed like every Nitro the title was on the line and you never knew what cruiserweight was getting the shot. It brought out a lot of exciting matches, and also might get a few more people watching ECW.

 

[Freddy4190]

I miss the Cruiserweight title so much. That's like the main reason I loved Smackdown back in the day because of how amazing their Cruiserweight division was. I loved how versatile it was too, it wasn't all flips and high-flying. They had some serious technical wrestlers, they had some wrestlers with actual wrestling ability. It'd be great for the Cruiserweight title to make a return, I don't care if they have to bring Hornswoggle back to do it, i'd love it.

 

[shafe_41]

Now I know we all miss the light-heavyweight/cruiserweight division in the WWE. I can't be the only one. We certainly don't need 2 titles in the Women's division. It's a ridiculous thought to need 20 Divas in the WWE. Sure they're nice to look at, but Alicia Fox on more PPVs than Gregory Helmes, Evan Bourne, etc... is just... well... ridiculous. But I guess you could keep that all in tact and still bring back the light-heavyweight/cruiserweight division. How you ask? Simple. E-C-W.

Could this work? I believe it could. I mean my two prime examples are Bourne and Helmes. Now I know Helmes is on ECW but I haven't caught ECW at all in the last few months due to some previous commitments. I haven't caught it on WWE.com either. But I did attend Bragging Rights and saw Christian is still ECW Champion. I have no gripes with that because I'm a huge fan of Christian. He's one of the few guys in the WWE right now being used absolutely perfectly. The light heavyweight/cruiserweight division would make ECW just as entertaining... if not more entertaining than it already is at this point. That division could very easily be a training ground for future ECW Champions. I know Yoshi Tatsu is also in this discussion. The title could very occasionally be featured on PPV (once or twice a year), but mostly on TV, and even be regularly defended on Superstars. The E could also pick up some of these TNA departures. Petey Williams would be absolute gold for the light-heavyweight/cruiserweight division. I mean it just baffles me how Petey Williams is unemployed by the WWE or TNA, but Hornswoggle is still getting paid. Yes he's over with the kids... but whatever.

Anyway... thoughts? The light heavyweight/cruiserweight division on ECW? Could this be something that could actually work and actually be taken into any serious consideration?

 

[Tastycles]

The WCW cruiserweight division was one of my favourite divisions anywhere ever, but if we're honest the WWF Light HEavyweight one was abysmal. I would love to think tha a cruiserweight division could come back and be kept seperate from the main division and not just fodder for squash matches, but you know that isn't what would happen.

That being said, something that the WWE has always been good at is stealing other people's ideas and making them better. The X division is pretty much what launched TNA, and it would not be a bad thing to stick a load of cruiserweights on ECW and have similar matches. I'd love to see that, and I'm sure there is a certain market for it, but I won't hold my breath.