Who Will Popularize the WWE Cruiserweight Division?

[BigBombB]

This has been a slow burn. From being completely irrelevant in a mostly ignored corner of the WWE Network to getting a spotlight shone on them with the addition of Enzo Amore, the cruiserweights are slowly starting to gain some traction. There are a lot of talented workers but it seems that the same guys who held the division together initially are the same guys doing a lot of the heavy lifting now (namely Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher, so it's cool to see them together as a unit). The others are starting to get some footing but still seem far away from being the breakout stars the brand needs.

Kalisto, in theory, would have been a great face for the brand but he had been so overexposed and undervalued in the public eye for so long that their hope of creating Rey Mysterio V2 isn't going to happen the way they wanted it to. It doesn't help that his costumes all look oversized on him which may be an attempt at making him look bigger but really just makes him look like he is too small to fit into normal clothes. It's quite distracting and so comical looking that it is hard to take him seriously.

Akira Tozawa had a little bit of hope with his surprise upset of Neville and how he has been treated like a top member of the division from day one but his association with Titus Brand hasn't exactly helped his image thus far (especially since the group is mostly made of jobbers). Plus, when he immediately lost the title back and the angle was quickly dropped, it snuffed out any flame that could have been lit. Had they built him as a major babyface and had him lose to Enzo instead then it could have been a bigger deal than the Neville loss. Hindsight I guess.

Neville, assuming he isn't already gone, becoming some sort of tweener instead of a full on heel would have some promise as well. If he fights both sides, good and bad, then he could easily create some interesting television. If one good thing has been shown from the cruiserweight project, it is that Neville went from a forgotten waste of potential to being legitimately viewed as one of the top performers in the company. I don't blame him for being upset if he really was being treated like he was a nobody by management, he easily could have walked out of the cruiserweight division and into a feud with someone like AJ Styles to launch his way even further up the path to true superstardom.

TJP and Rich Swann flopped, Cedric Alexander has been treading water, and no one else has shown any potential for being a major player since. Now, I will say, part of the problem with Cedric is that he has the potential to be a star but there is no one to make him a star. Guys like Kendrick and Gallagher may be two of the best guys in the WWE right now but neither are or have ever been main event level players. This isn't a knock on them, it is just that they don't have the necessary flame that can spark a white hot babyface.

So what needs to happen? Is it possible for the cruiserweight roster, as it is, to develop a star capable of carrying the flag and starting to make a big impact? Or does WWE need to start reaching out to other talent that can step in fresh and add some fire to the division? Or do they need to start groveling to someone like Rey Mysterio, who has all the star power and credibility necessary as well as the heritage in the division, to return in order to help bolster all of these guys up?

What do you think?

 

[Snugglebites]

Nobody. The Cruiserweight division is pointless. When you have a lot of main roster guys running around and doing flips all over the place, there's no reason to watch Cruiserweights. They no longer have the thing that makes them stand out.

 

[BaconBits]

It's never going to be popular. No cruiserweight/light heavyweight division has even been popular. People watch wrestling for larger than life characters doing larger than life things. Cruisers as a general rule do neither.

Giving the division Enzo is basically their last ditch effort to get people to give a fuck. If that doesn't work, it'll be curtains for a dedicated division for the little guys.

 

[BigBombB]

It's never going to be popular. No cruiserweight/light heavyweight division has even been popular. People watch wrestling for larger than life characters doing larger than life things. Cruisers as a general rule do neither.

Giving the division Enzo is basically their last ditch effort to get people to give a fuck. If that doesn't work, it'll be curtains for a dedicated division for the little guys.

I see your point, and that of Snugglebites as well, but this is something that easily could have been said about the women's division too back in the day. Without the proper talent, or the proper efforts being made to help add to their credibility, there simply isn't any hope for success. However, as the women have proven, if you put those two things together then some real progress can be made.

As for the style, was it even the high flying that made the cruiserweights great? Sure, it was an element of their matches and helped add some extra flash, but if we look at the height of the cruiserweights popularity in WCW, who did they have? Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, among many others. These were people who excelled at telling an in-ring story and building excitement in their matches where even the slower parts still felt meaningful.

I think the size limitation isn't even a limitation in many ways, it is a chance for smaller wrestlers to demonstrate what they are uniquely capable of that larger athletes are simply too bulky to pull off. Even the most athletic of them would struggle to do a lot of the faster segments that the smaller wrestlers excel at. The cruiserweights in WCW had some of the most intense, heated rivalries in the company and no one saw them as "second rate" during those moments; if the new crop of guys can piece together a more modern version of the same attitude that produced some of the top stars in the history of the business back then, I think that it is very possible that the cruiserweights can overcome the stigma just as the women have.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Nobody.

First of all, the format makes if fucking impossible to get over. RAW is already 3 hours, SmackDown is 2 hours. Adding another hour long show dedicated to cruisrweights was a terrible idea in the already mind-numbing, over-saturated WWE ecosystem. Making things worse, 205 Live is taped AFTER the 2 hours plus of SmackDown. Fans are burnt out and have already seen the bigger names. So the crowd is basically dead.

The 205 Live roster doesn't help matters either. They're mostly bland guys that do flips. Guys like Seth Rollins and Finn Balor also do flips, are generally better at it, but have other character aspects that make you care about them. Rollins is a great worker because he uses his athleticism at the right time in the right way.

The WWE crusierweight division is a niche thing being filmed in front of a general audience and it just dies an embarassing death for that reason. A vast majority of the fans watch RAW on TV or even in the arena aren't following up on any characters or angles on 205 Live, and RAW's reliance on 205 Live to try and build up the cruiserweights is completely pointless for that reason.

205 Live was a concept that should have been killed as soon as it was proposed, mainly because the last thing WWE needs is more guys having matches every week. But if it HAD to exist then the way forward would be to truly treat it as a separate entity and not even take it on the road to larger arenas to begin with. The guys in the Cruiserweight Classic torunament got over because they were in front of an indy mark crowd at Full Sail University. Taping 205 Live alongside NXT, in the same venue, would have been the only way for it to have a chance at succeeding.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Nobody.

It has nothing of difference compared to the rest of the WWE.

If anything, WWE sould do a Super Heavyweight Divsion. That's different.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I have to go with the consensus on this in that nobody is going to popularize the Cruiserweight Division in its current format, with its current format being that it's ultimately a group of guys, most of whom are well under 200 lbs. who're ultimately doing the same thing as the rest of the roster. If you're expecting something like the WCW Cruiserweight Division of the 90s, that featured high flying, fast paced, innovative matches in which at least some of the wrestlers were able to develop personas, then you're probably not gonna have a chance to see that until after Vince McMahon no longer runs things.

When Triple H restarted it via the Cruiserweight Classic, it was obvious that what Vince and Kevin Dunn have done is the polar opposite of what his vision was. The talent of 205 Live work hard, they do their very best with what they're given and told to do, I respect that because it's ultimately all ANYBODY is able to do. The problem is that they're mostly told to go out there and wrestle against the same guys week after week in matches that don't matter and the few who are involved in some sort of storyline are in the middle of angles that nobody is invested in.

My guess, and that's all this is as I obviously have no means of proving it, is that Vince looks down on these wrestlers as they truly are "little guys" that you can just tell aren't going to get chances to move out of the division and further up the card. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he thinks he's doing them a favor by having them work for him in his company. Looking back, it's a good thing that Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. didn't sign with WWE; maybe they had an idea on what was coming before anyone else did.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

They will never be able to recapture what WCW had. You can point to guys like Rey and Eddie and Jericho to an extent who went onto hold World Titles and say that WCW was just filled with superior cruserweights, and you wouldn't be completely wrong. THe issue is that when WCW did it, it was the first exposure to that style of wrestling that a lot of US based fans had ever had. It was new and exciting and a change of pace from the main event scene.

Now a lot of top guys can pull off most of those moves in their sleep. It is still exciting and a change of pace from time to time, but guys like Rollins, Balor, Styles, ect have worked so many of those moves into their move set that it isn't special. You have small guys playing big roles these days. Being small isn't the death sentance it once was in the industry.

So when you throw that in with all the other issue plaguing the division, it is on borrowed time. If it hadn't been for Stephanie drafting the entire division to Raw, it would have been Old Yellered a long time ago.

 

[sMark]

1) Every TV/wrestling show/brand need at least 1 established and popular star, that this show can dance around, get audience attention and make new stars. So until they will hire someone like Mysterio and Pentagon Jr. 205 will not have any attention. Seriously SD have Styles, Owens and Nakamura, RAW have Braun, Brock and Shield. Who 205 have to offer? Enzo Amore? Who was a jobber all his main roster career?

2) Every show need to know it's fansbase. NXT crowd will be more interested in them, than RAW and SD Universe.

3) Every show need to become bigger and better and understand it's goal.
RAW and SD exists to get sponsorship, and to sell PPVs (shows that makes the most money income)
NXT exists to create future stars, so these future stars can sell PPVs 5-10 years from now.
Main brands have like 15 PPVs a year today + network specials, NXT have Takeovers.

Now what the goal of having 205 and how this show can grow in todays format?

4) every show need personalities that people will want to see much more than 1 time. People tune in because of the big names, but if someone really able to catch their attention, people will return to see this guy. (like in WCW, fans tune in for nWo, but "hey, this Jericho guy is fun to hear, to watch and he wrestle better than these old guys, i will watch him"). Is there anyone who can talk, have great charisma or memorable personality and can wrestle better than others, all at the same time? I don't think so.

So, to summ it up, 205 need to change: they need stars like Mysterio or Pentagon, they need new talent who can catch fans' attention with their charisma and other skills, they need other audience to perform in front of, then they will have a chance.
...
you know what, give them to Heyman, his SD 2002-2004 work was fantastic and he will know what to do with these guys.

 

[Kamala316]

Neville. Hear me out - First, Shane says he has signed someone to be the final member of team Smackdown Live. Then, Neville is introduced as the surprise team member. He gets the winning pin fall for SD Live. And just like that, he has a fresh start, momentum, and can go after any belt on the show. In doing so, they show that a Cruiserweight can compete at any level (including going back to 205 Live). Also, it opens up door for other Cruiserweights to do the same.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Cruiserweight Division was always pointless because it shits on whole premise of wrestling, and that is that no matter how you look you can beat guys that are twice your size. Sure, in history best draws are those jacked up big sweaty men and if we look at Lesnar we could see why he is main Champion and not someone like Neville, but "David vs Goliat" kind of story is why Daniel Bryan stood tall after Wrestlemania 30. Today they would probably stuck him with Enzo Amore and be done with him instead of utilize him on bigger things. Another problem they have with Division is that 2 of best(Neville and Aries) left because they clearly are not happy with breadcrumbs they got from WWE as third grade show they are in is clearly not that lucrative for anyone who wants real money and who could be at least utilized as some midcard Champion or at least contender. So in conclusion: They are "beating the dead horse" and nobody new can fix that.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

205 Live is where TV14 should return. It's a late night program that can turn off the attitude for Raw and PPVs. With the Network's parental controls I think parents have the ability to censor what their kids can see.

With that WWE should supplant the current 205 appearance with something that is strictly focused on Enzo. Get rid of the purple and make the ropes and belt cheetah print. Bring in more wrestlers who can play up the NY/NJ stereotype. Is Little Guido still a thing?

Make Lana the GM. She can appear on SD and 205 Live and just look good. She doesn't need to get physical, just stand there and talk for a minute or two.

Do more (maybe once a week, or once every two weeks) Mexican style clusterfuck spot fest tag matches. Give up on pleasing the kids. They failed pretty badly with TJP. Kids don't have time or attention to give to the wrestlers who look like their older brother. Other guys like Gallagher and Gulak are one trick ponies who have quickly diminishing returns. Hardcore just feels like it would have a nice home on 205 Live.

Etc. Etc. Etc

But in the end, no 205 Live won't be popular. I'm not sure what the point of it is. No one is buying the Network for it. I don't think they can ever brand it and tour. Maybe they are hoping to sell it to a syndicated or international group as it's own show some day.

But for now it just seems like a way to help fill that third your of Raw that needed filling after the recent brand split.

I don't know. Some of the arguments here against it don't make sense. While there are some terrific David and Goliath stories in wrestling, the reason the stories succeed is partially because of the precedent WWE sets by having Goliath win most of the time. A guy like Neville was never going to have a large influence on 205 Live's popularity. He's a fine hand but not that interesting. Women's wrestling has grown significantly and has more room to grow. But women are different from men in a different way that smaller men are different from larger men.

Ramble over.

 

[Wolf Pac]

They could use more charismatic characters as Enzo is really the only one on the roster. He carries himself like a rockstar and has that 1998 Jericho personality going on. He's brought more interest to the show than before. We could use more Rey's, Eddie's, Juvi's, La Parka's and I'm not talking guys like Kalisto, Rich Swann, who are dull as dishwater and poor attempts of guys like Rey and Parka.

But at the same time I also agree with the criticisms the division gets. Even some of the top guys pull off the same moves, spots and style as the Cruiserweights do, so it doesn't make them exciting, stand out or anything. And the purple colour scheme with the ropes and everything needs to go. They're trying to make the division look special but it isn't special and everybody can see through it for what it really is. It makes them look too desperate & tryhard and they need to stop. Make it feel like a part of the show than a separate show. Get rid of 205 Live as no one really cares for the show. The Cruiserweight Division of the mid-2000's was much better than today's and didn't have any of that ridiculous stuff. It felt like a good part of Smackdown. Make it feel like a good part of Raw today.

 

[adam]

Unless Finn Balor becomes the guy to carry the Cruiserweight division, its going to be really hard to find the next Rey Mysterio to be the star in that division.

I tend to think they WWE would be better off giving the hour to the women.

 

[Navi]

Gee at this point in time I don't think anyone can. They've pretty much tried everything at this rate by making Neville actually relevant, putting the mouthpiece known as Enzo Amore on the show and moving Kalisto over. They should have done the last two a long time ago.

Now I hear talk of Itami and Rockstar Spud coming on board as well. Issue is the boat has sailed already. Itami was a big thing when he first arrived in NXT, unfortunately injuries have pretty much done him in. I think everyone is just waiting for the next one to happen, poor guy. Rockstar Spud, I don't know that well. Like Dagger, I had stopped watching TNA by the time they signed him.

The thing with 205 Live is this. I used to watch the show when it first debuted and it was okay. The WWE in their infinite wisdom though, never really gave these guys a chance. Instead they were used as filler matches on RAW and no one really got a chance to know what they were about. The WWE just expected fans to watch a match here and there, then tune in. Even when fans tuned in there wasn't much of a storyline involved for anyone.

Neville becoming King of the Cruiserweights changed that somewhat, but like I said before the ship had already left the dock. Fans wouldn't stay after SD Live to watch 205 Live, lot's of empty seats. It's a shame really because some of these guys are pretty good in the ring. Kind of unfortunate for them that there is so much else going on. Maybe the suggestion of filming 205 right after NXT in the same place makes some sense. I mean crap we know that the NXT crowd likes everything don't we?

 

[JoeMallard]

Aliester Black and Johnny Gargano, hope Vince and beaver Dunn won't screw it up with like 90 percent of the talent in the division.

 

[BigBombB]

Here's an idea that I think could definitely have some potential.

It would begin with some small changes. Bring in Rockstar Spud but use him as a manager initially, put him with Drew Gulak and Tony Nese; Spud does the majority of the promos while the others add a few touches that reflect their individual characters. Along with Amore, Kendrick, and Gallagher, the heels could start to absolutely dominate the division.

In the meantime, Johnny Gargano becomes NXT Champion. With the growing momentum of Gargano, both Shane and Kurt want to sign him to their brands before the other one can. Gargano is invited to both shows, given all the perks and luxuries, then asked to make his choice. He arrives on Raw the next week, where Kurt is there with Seth Rollins (the first NXT champion) who says his piece about what Raw did for his career then Daniel Bryan comes out with Kevin Owens, another former NXT champion, and they both talk about Smackdown being the place to be. Gargano says the decision has weighed heavily on his mind then gives an impassioned speech about a roster that is full of some of the best talent he has ever worked with, who he came through the indies with, and that he think will be the future of the WWE. Gargano chooses...205 Live.

This seems insane to everyone with Owens losing his mind, having wasted his time coming to the "inferior brand" and this leads to the "first ever" match on Raw that doesn't even involve members of the brand (Smackdown vs. NXT)! Without Zayn there to turn the odds, Gargano is able to pull out a freak win and heads down to 205 Live to give his victory speech. This is when Tomasso Ciampa decides to make his return, attacking Gargano and moving their feud from NXT to 205 Live.

Just like that there is already one reason to tune into 205 Live. Then they start pushing even harder. X-Pac is brought in for a one off feud with Enzo Amore, it is built up through promos and the two tear each other apart verbally building up to...the first 205 Live special event. With a double main event of Gargano/Ciampa for the NXT Title and Amore/X-Pac for the 205 title, especially if they are built up on Raw, along with a few undercard matches and maybe even a big surprise (maybe the return of Neville?) then it could easily be a big deal.

Looking into the future, they bring in someone like Rey Mysterio to headline the second special event against another top cruiserweight talent (maybe Gargano?) then toss in a debut of Hideo Itami, put him against Akira Tozawa for the Japanese dream match, and you have another big event. If Neville returned on the last show, this could be the Neville vs. Amore rematch, and suddenly you have three legit big matches on a "cruiserweight show".

Just saying, it isn't impossible, and this isn't even involving new talent on the Indy scene like Ricochet and Will Ospreay, or bringing in any former X-Division stars, or anything else that could bolster the division.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Nobody.

The division is useless and 205 Live is even more useless. Some will argue that guys like Enzo and Neville have benefited from it. Perhaps, yes. I can see the argument in Neville's case, but is there truly anything he did as Cruiserweight Champion that he couldn't have done as United States Champion or Intercontinental Champion? He could have still cut the same types of promos while holding one of the two midcard titles. The Cruiserweights are treated terribly. Up until this summer they had the purple ropes which, while they do look cool, only further showed how inferior the cruiserweights looked. 205 Live is pointless. Why should people waste their time watching that when the important angles for the cruiserweights are still featured on Raw? Neville and Aries did not make me want to watch 205 Live. The additions of Enzo and Kalisto did not either. Why bother? Nothing that happens on that show matters.

Adding anyone else would be a demotion for guys on Raw/Smackdown and a missed opportunity for anyone on NXT. People sometimes say that Finn should go to the Cruiserweights. That's a horrible idea. He is a former Universal Champion. Why go from the top division to the weakest one? Others have said Gargano should go there after NXT. Why? He could have a ton of potential as a top face on the main roster. Itami has been rumored to be going there. I have mixed thoughts on that. He is less likely to get jobbed out, though he will have less opportunities if he is "stuck" like the other cruiserweights. The division will never be what the WCW version was and it has become what the divas division once was, a chance to head to the pantry for a snack. It adds NOTHING to the table and should be removed. Put the guys currently in it into tag teams (both brands need them) and have bigger names go challenge the midcard champions. Enzo can't save the division and no one else has the charisma to even have the chance to do so.

 

[GetTheTables]

It can't be made into something the fans really care about and invest in. Unfortunately, Vince is unable to admit his mistakes so we will have to keep watching this 205 train wreck.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

The biggest problem facing the cruiserweight division is the fact that cruiserweight wrestling is no longer special.

Sexcellence of Sexection pointed out that main roster guys Balor, Rollins, and AJ Styles all do flips too.

Cruiserweight style matches have been creeping into the WWE's main event spotlight from Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels to Chris Jericho, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan.

But even John Cena does springboard stunners, sunset flip powerbombs, and has landed at least one hurracanrana out no where.

Kurt Angle moonsaults with Kevin Owens frog splashing.

And I bet Brock Lesnar wants to land at least 1 shooting star press to make up for his botch. It must be eating him up inside.

Shane O'Mac has landed a few awesome shooting star presses for chrissakes!

WCW's cruiserweight division was special b/c only cruiserweights did lucha libre style moves.

Blitzkrieg, Psychosis, and Juventud Guerrera put on live Matrix/Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon style matches without the benefit of wires, special effects, and editing tricks every Monday Night.

And then they still had the star power of Rey Mysterio Jr, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, and Eddie Guerrero.

The division was so stacked that Dean Malenko was rated the #1 Professional Wrestler in the PWI 500 in 1997.

The cruiserweights were special because you never saw Sting, Goldberg, nor DDP moonsault.

I can't think of a single NWO member that ever even attempted a single hurracanrana.

And no Big Pumpa Pump doesn't do hurracanranas. He does frankensteiners. There's a subtle but key difference.

The WWE needs to take away the lucha style moves from the main roster.

Instead, they watered down the cruiserweights to slow down the pace for the story telling.

This is worse than Pete Carroll's playcalling when the Patriots intercepted the pass at the goal line to beat the Seahawks.

This way the cruiserweights get the Brock Lesnar treatment when the fans know that only their matches have the cool lucha libre moves.

Also, the cruiserweights will get a kayfabe tactical advantage for competitive balance against larger opponents that have no defense against moves they rarely see.

Furthermore, I agree that another thing missing from the Cruiserweight division is star power.

I disagree that they need main roster guys like Finn Balor and Seth Rollins.

Also, I disagree that NXT will save the division when Ciampa and Gargano get pulled up.

I think they are missing Zack Sabre Jr. and Kota Ibushi.

Every participant in the Cruiserweight Classic was an awesome worker and they were all given time to work.

The tournament told an awesome story and everyone contributed to make it feel special.

But Kota's match against Cedric Alexander was the match of tourney.

Sabre Jr. put on consistently great matches too.

Those dudes were the exclamation points at the end of how awesome the Cruiserweight Classic was!!

Then came the division went to Raw.

Things might've been better had they gone to Smackdown. But they lost all of the initial buzz and momentum pretty quickly.

Outside of a few standout matches from Neville, I have been slowly losing interest in the 205 Live product since the Cruiserwight Classic.

Maybe Hideo Itami might also save the day.

But after Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka's main roster debuts, I worry for the former Kenta Kobashi.

 

[ShinChan]

No one can now. It's like a gone case now. The people weren't given reasons to care for this Cruiserweight Division. The Cruiserweight Classic was one of the best tournaments and that showcased the actual talent of this division. The problem isn't with the talent, rather it's with the booking. Multiple feuds were dragged so much that people stopped caring even if they were initially interested. There have some damn good matches here but that's all. And I surely oppose addition of Aleister Black or Finn Bálor to this division.

 

[ShinChan]

I wonder if WWE allows Cruiserweights to wrestle without as much selling as they currently do, this division could make people care for them. Add Ricochet, Will Ospreay and such wrestlers and I think that it could work if they wrestle in a more high flying style. After all, Ricochet Vs. Will Ospreay had bunch of exposure. Regardless of people liking it or disliking it, people did have their opinion on it.

 

[Mohit3590]

They need to move it to Full Sail and let them Wrestle, and not the WWE Style, but the style that made them great. Part of what made CWC so good, was the NxT crowd, the crowd is dead because it is taped after Smackdown. It should no longer be featured on Raw but smackdown. 20-25 minutes need to be given to the Cruiserweights on Smackdown either in the beginning or somewhere in the first hour.

 

[TheBadGuy92]

Here's an idea that I think could definitely have some potential.

It would begin with some small changes. Bring in Rockstar Spud but use him as a manager initially, put him with Drew Gulak and Tony Nese; Spud does the majority of the promos while the others add a few touches that reflect their individual characters. Along with Amore, Kendrick, and Gallagher, the heels could start to absolutely dominate the division.

In the meantime, Johnny Gargano becomes NXT Champion. With the growing momentum of Gargano, both Shane and Kurt want to sign him to their brands before the other one can. Gargano is invited to both shows, given all the perks and luxuries, then asked to make his choice. He arrives on Raw the next week, where Kurt is there with Seth Rollins (the first NXT champion) who says his piece about what Raw did for his career then Daniel Bryan comes out with Kevin Owens, another former NXT champion, and they both talk about Smackdown being the place to be. Gargano says the decision has weighed heavily on his mind then gives an impassioned speech about a roster that is full of some of the best talent he has ever worked with, who he came through the indies with, and that he think will be the future of the WWE. Gargano chooses...205 Live.

This seems insane to everyone with Owens losing his mind, having wasted his time coming to the "inferior brand" and this leads to the "first ever" match on Raw that doesn't even involve members of the brand (Smackdown vs. NXT)! Without Zayn there to turn the odds, Gargano is able to pull out a freak win and heads down to 205 Live to give his victory speech. This is when Tomasso Ciampa decides to make his return, attacking Gargano and moving their feud from NXT to 205 Live.

Just like that there is already one reason to tune into 205 Live. Then they start pushing even harder. X-Pac is brought in for a one off feud with Enzo Amore, it is built up through promos and the two tear each other apart verbally building up to...the first 205 Live special event. With a double main event of Gargano/Ciampa for the NXT Title and Amore/X-Pac for the 205 title, especially if they are built up on Raw, along with a few undercard matches and maybe even a big surprise (maybe the return of Neville?) then it could easily be a big deal.

Looking into the future, they bring in someone like Rey Mysterio to headline the second special event against another top cruiserweight talent (maybe Gargano?) then toss in a debut of Hideo Itami, put him against Akira Tozawa for the Japanese dream match, and you have another big event. If Neville returned on the last show, this could be the Neville vs. Amore rematch, and suddenly you have three legit big matches on a "cruiserweight show".

Just saying, it isn't impossible, and this isn't even involving new talent on the Indy scene like Ricochet and Will Ospreay, or bringing in any former X-Division stars, or anything else that could bolster the division.

Im into everything that is going on here! none of this would happen in a million years. but, could you imagine?? from a fan standpoint. If i had to add something. At the special event i would have Aliester Black debut. maybe interupt a heel promo and have him kick the mic out of his hand and sit down then the heel frighteningly leaves the ring. segment ends.