Crusierweight Championship > Divas Championship

[Derf]

So this bothers me. A year ago, they get rid of a great title in the Crusierweight title, and now we have the Divas title. And I don't see why. People loved the crusierweights, and when they had multi man battles for the title, it was always fun to watch. Now a good chuck of the roster is set on perma job duty.

The Divas title is a joke anways, but when is it EVER going to be defended? there are three people on Smackdown that should be fighting for female gold, and they ALL belong on the ever stale growing RAW divas roster. Plus, this title will NEVER be defended on PPV, who wants to see two womans title matchs on PPV?

So right now, the following is the who is where...
Cherry
Maria
Maryse
Michelle
Natalya
Vicoria

Curt Hawkings
Funaki
Gregory Helms
Jimmy Yang Wang
Kenny Dykstra
Super Crazy
Brian Kendrick
Zack Ryder

and over on ECW...
Chavo Guerrero
Colin Delayne
Evan Bourne
Stevie Richards

so there are TWICE as many people that could be fighting for the CW title, and I don't think half the divas should EVER hold gold in the WWE. So lets discuss why the Crusierweight title is clearly better than the Dias title.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

It's clear that the cruiserweight title is a thousand times better than the Diva's belt and that the cruiserweight belt would lead to better matches. The only reason y the Divas belt is even important is so that the Divas have something to "live-for" on smackdown. Before the belt the Divas just fought because one of them called the other fat or ect, but since the WWE doesnt seem to want to make the belt a storyline it now serves 0% pointless and its just used to make Michelle look prettier. The cruiserweights have something to fight for in both the tag and us title, but with the cruiserweight title you would see alot more "high action" matches and it could spice up smackdown again.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

This is a great thread, but you are missing the BIG PICTURE here. WWE, namely Vince McMahon, does NOT respect Cruiserweight wrestling. He never has and he never will.

Back in the heyday, when WCW happened upon the a new weight format that could showcase both high flyers and undersized mat technicians, WWE decided to capitalize on this concept and created their own light heavyweight title. And while they has hopes that some of the better known names that were left in Japan could help this division, they found gold in Taka Michinoku, a wrestler who they had only signed to fill out the roster. Shortly after WCW's cruiserweight division cooled off, WWE became bored with their toy and decided to let it die out into obscurity.

When WCW came aboard with the Cruiserweight title, the division was reborn as they dusted off the old Light Heavyweight title and had a unification match between the two. The Cruiserweight division was reborn with the wealth of new matches that WWE could do with the combination of WCW's and WWE's wrestlers. But alas, with nothing to compare it to, WWE decided to let their division go out without even a whimper. Thusly stabbing it in the heart once again.

Then came the popularity of TNA. With the X-division turning the attention of every wrestling purist and smark away from WWE tv, they desperately had to do SOMETHING to get back in the game. So they dusted off the Cruiserweight title and waved it back and forth to entice some of TNA's high flyers into considering switching teams with the promise that they could help take WWE's title to the next level. And sure they got a name or two to switch teams, but overall, WWE wasn't serious and was only using the title as a "golden carrot" to lure away TNA's weaker stock. In the end, WWE not only killed the Cruiserweight division, but they humiliated it with the Hornswoggle championship angle. A true low point in it's inception.

I don't think that WWE takes this division seriously as the don't want a division of wrestlers who could showcase a good quick match. Instead they want wrestlers who can take squashes or become "giant killers' if they have a big enough following. The Cruiserweight title won't be back, unless something comes along that WWE wants to emulate or to compete with. And with TNA not putting as much emphasis on the X-Division title, I don't see it happening.

 

[iwin122]

i posted they need to bring cruiserweights back too half of these divas have like 1 rivalry a year and are just put in pics up for wwes website. Cruiserweights are sometimes the most entertaining guys. I think the title should go to ECW so all the SD! cweights could still fight on ECW this would easily help ECW ratings, and instead of having 2 matches no one cares about(sometimes 3)put a cweight match in. Im pretty sure id rather see a Shanon Moore vs Gregory Helms than Michelle Mccool vs Natalya(yes i know shanon was released but id like to see him come back if they bring the title back, i liked him and i think he had some potential in a real rivalry). Plus theyre giving kendrick such a push right now they should make him CWeight champ and have him defend it once in awhile....i dont like him but they seem to think hes going to ve something, theres no way he'll make a good WWE champ(or WH or ECW)i cant see him being US champ so what are they gonna do after this push? Give him a feud with ezeikel that no one will care about and just be done with him? I dont think theyre going to book him in tag matches if they do him and ziek will be the worst team ever. This just picks people up jumps up and down twice like its supposed to hurt him? Please.
Cruiserweights WAYYYYY more needed than Divas.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

As said before, Vince and a number of the guys directly underneath him don't think cruiserweight wrestling is a draw. Eric Bischoff realised that people wanted to see the Lucha Libre and Japanese style wrestling in contrast to the sweaty beefcakes slamming other sweaty beefcakes, which is why they tempted them away from ECW with stable paychecks and their own division. Ok, so they went a little overboard with the cruiserweight tag titles, but still. Vince thinks everyone must get hard ons 4 giants purely because he does.
Another nail in the coffin for WWE cruiserweights (and the same for the other divisions) is WWE can no longer be bothered to give promo time and fueds to anyone below the Upper mid-card tier, unless the crowd fall in love with them or they have some kind of special gimmick they've saved for just the right guy, or one of them jumps to do Vince's insane angles (i bet Paul Burchill, is very annoyed that he was never forced to make out with Katie Lee every week on TV and be called a sick freak, while at the same time being used frequently instead of once every three weeks, if that).
Thirdly, now that WWE wants to play it safe, only guys who are guaranteed not to screw up high risk moves get to do them. Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio and HBK are the only guys i ever see doing moves over the top rope these days. Apparently Bourne had to do the Shooting Star Press like 50 times before they said "ok, i doubt he'll ever pull a Lesnar" and was allowed the to use the move as his finisher. As cruiserweights tend to want to do lots of spots, they'll be out of luck in WWE. Look at Paul London. I heard he once pulled off a shooting star press after running up a ladder in ROH. Now he's been reduced to his mule kick and maybe a standing moonsault, and that's it.

As for the Divas..... why not just have all of them on Raw for a women's championship? Like they do on the games. If you pick Raw, you get lumbered with the Women's belt and struggle to boost their popularity through rivalries because Women can't do more than singles/tag/triple threat/4-way matches, whereas if you pick Smackdown you get the Cruiserweight belt and can at least try to get fans with them (even if they do start with the lowest popularity). Apart from the terrible lack of development in terms of music, commentary, and AI, the Smackdown GM mode is how WWE should be. Having to use at least 75% of your roster in fueds all the time to gain fans. How is it THQ realise this yet WWE doesn't?

 

[RadioGaGa]

The Divas title is ugly and it doesn't mean a damn thing. The Cruiserweight title would have benefited from a brief hiatus after Hornswoggle made the belt's reputation lower than crocodile piss. Putting the title on Hornswoggle was such a ********ed call, which robbed us of good, fast paced matches contested for that belt.

A resolution in my opinion would be to move all the Divas that can wrestle to Raw where they can contest for the Women's title and keep the ones who can't on SD for entertainment. Bring back the CW title to SD and/or ECW which would give smaller wrestlers something to do rather than job to Kozlov and the likes. All of the above will never happen though because Vince doesn't give a shit about the CW title.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

I'd say something here, but I believe people have said it all. Vince McMahon has not, nor will he ever be attracted to little guys as much as he is to big men. Creepy guy, that McMahon.

I don't think there's anyone who'd want to see the Divas Championship instead of the Cruiserweight Championship. It so pissed me off that we didn't even get an explanation of why the CW title was retired. At the high point of the Cruiserweight division, it was more entertaining than the WWE and ECW Championship title pictures are right now. Take a pill McMahon.

 

[Slyfox696]

This is a great thread, but you are missing the BIG PICTURE here. WWE, namely Vince McMahon, does NOT respect Cruiserweight wrestling. He never has and he never will.

Close, but not quite.

It's not Vince McMahon that doesn't respect it, it's wrestling fans that don't. Little guys with no charisma don't draw. They just don't. However, beautiful half-naked women do.

So, it makes much more sense to have half-naked beautiful women with a chance for a title, then have a 5th title, just for men who are not interesting enough to win one of the other 4 titles on Smackdown.

 

[Rusty]

I agree with this. I always loved watching the Cruiserweights wrestle for their title. They were so entertaining and usually the highlight of the entire show for me. I liked how the title traded hands pretty frequently and I liked the multi man matches especially on pay per view. They were a great way to kickstart a pay per view. In 2007 the title really meant nothing so they got rid of it. But the way the Cruiserweights were booked in 2006/2007 was pretty damn poor as most of them are jobbers now. Its sad watching guys like Jimmy Wang Yang and Jamie Noble get jobbed because you know that they deserve better.

Everyone knows Vince has never been a fan of the little guys. He doesn't like pushing them with the exception of Rey Mysterio but look how his World Title reign was booked. It was terribly booked and made the World Champion look like a jobber that couldn't win a match to save his life. Look at C.M Punk right now, sure he isn't a cruiserweight but he sure aint a heavyweight either. His title reign hasn't been booked well so far in my opinion. Most of the releases from the WWE this week were cruiserweights. The guy just doesn't give a shit about them.

The Divas Championship has been very pointless so far and hasn't even been defended once since Michelle McCool won it last month. The title serves no purpose other than to let Divas like Maryse and Maria actually win a title. Nobody really cares about the Divas on Smackdown so why would giving Smackdown a Divas Title suddenly change that? The Cruiserweights are more important than Smackdown's Divas in my opinion. I loved it when Raw had most of the Divas and Smackdown had most of the Cruiserweights and both brands had the suitable titles for them.

The Divas and Cruiserweights should be treated equally in my opinion. It isn't fair at all to the Cruiserweights but in all honesty, I can't see the Cruiserweight Title returning. It looks as if the Divas Championship is here to stay but I find this disappointing. This is where TNA has the edge over the WWE. They treat their Knockouts and X-Division wrestlers equal and both get air time every single week. If only the WWE could follow this simple logic, they would benefit from it.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Close, but not quite.

It's not Vince McMahon that doesn't respect it, it's wrestling fans that don't. Little guys with no charisma don't draw. They just don't. However, beautiful half-naked women do.

So, it makes much more sense to have half-naked beautiful women with a chance for a title, then have a 5th title, just for men who are not interesting enough to win one of the other 4 titles on Smackdown.

Noone said that a cruiserweight, x-division, or lightweight wrestler could not have charisma. The simple fact of the matter, which is completely being missed, is that whenever this particular weight class has been at the height of it's popularity WWE has shown that it can capture the market share and make it profitable. The only problem is that eventually they get bored and decide to kill it rather than build on it. And the potential is there.

I mean if these wrestlers were so undrawable, then why would WWE go out of their way to bring them in in droves when they decided to push this division? Why would they feature these wrestler or even bother to sign and develop wrestlers of this style and weight class. You honestly can't tell me that WWE went out and signed Matt Sydal because they thought he was going to be the the next Triple H on the mic. It was for flare and style, and excitement. And that is something that this division brings.

And it certainly deserves more consideration than making up two titles to have every silicon stuffed bimbo compete for. Hell, they could at least add the cruiserweight title to the Smackdown roster as a secondary title. Given it's heritage and liniage, it deserves at least THAT much.

 

[Slyfox696]

Noone said that a cruiserweight, x-division, or lightweight wrestler could not have charisma.

If they have charisma and talent, they get pushed to a midcard position, with the tag titles or US title.

See: Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, etc.


The cruiserweight title is for guys who don't have charisma, but the WWE feels they should have someone with a title. Well, why give a title to guys who suck, when you can give it to half-naked women which are proven draws on your show?

The simple fact of the matter, which is completely being missed, is that whenever this particular weight class has been at the height of it's popularity WWE has shown that it can capture the market share and make it profitable. The only problem is that eventually they get bored and decide to kill it rather than build on it. And the potential is there.

You can't make entertainment value. You can't make Shannon Moore fun. You can't make people buy a ticket, or stop the channel changing to watch Jimmy Wang Yang.

And, if those guys DO draw, then Smackdown has 4 other titles they can put on him.

I mean if these wrestlers were so undrawable, then why would WWE go out of their way to bring them in in droves when they decided to push this division?

When did this happen?

Honest question.

You honestly can't tell me that WWE went out and signed Matt Sydal because they thought he was going to be the the next Triple H on the mic. It was for flare and style, and excitement. And that is something that this division brings.

I thought Matt Sydal was on ECW, and signed after the cruiserweight title was already gone.

And it certainly deserves more consideration than making up two titles to have every silicon stuffed bimbo compete for. Hell, they could at least add the cruiserweight title to the Smackdown roster as a secondary title. Given it's heritage and liniage, it deserves at least THAT much.

Not really.

The women on Smackdown had NO reason to compete. It was just randomly set matches for no reason. Now, they wrestle for a title. Where as the Cruiserweights still have both tag team titles, the US title, and the WWE title that they can work for.

Why have a 5th title on Smackdown for the small male roster they have, which doesn't draw?

 

[Showtime]

The cruiserweight title absolutly has to come back to SD. I see nothing better than a returning Gregory Helms coming back and bringing the title with him and challenging all cruiserweights on RAW, SD, and ECW, thus maybe being able to either begin unifying some titles or possibly the shows. I think the Cruiserweight title, much like how I think the Divas title should be, should be defended on any of the shows. Yea, I know it would make for some hectic schedule to go to either Raw or SD house shows and WWE likes to change titles on the fly so anybody could be forced to change their schecule, but really they'd get more exposure by being on both shows as champ and it's really only the TV shows they need to make. I think that's what should happen.

 

[klunderbunker]

If they have charisma and talent, they get pushed to a midcard position, with the tag titles or US title.

See: Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, etc.


The cruiserweight title is for guys who don't have charisma, but the WWE feels they should have someone with a title. Well, why give a title to guys who suck, when you can give it to half-naked women which are proven draws on your show?

You can't make entertainment value. You can't make Shannon Moore fun. You can't make people buy a ticket, or stop the channel changing to watch Jimmy Wang Yang.

And, if those guys DO draw, then Smackdown has 4 other titles they can put on him.

When did this happen?

Honest question.

I thought Matt Sydal was on ECW, and signed after the cruiserweight title was already gone.

Not really.

The women on Smackdown had NO reason to compete. It was just randomly set matches for no reason. Now, they wrestle for a title. Where as the Cruiserweights still have both tag team titles, the US title, and the WWE title that they can work for.

Why have a 5th title on Smackdown for the small male roster they have, which doesn't draw?

Back in the late 90s if nothing else. When WWF decided to make the Light Heavyweight title mean something due to the cruiserweight division taking off in WCW, there were at least 5 or 6 contenders to Taka's title. I think Spawn is right in that WWE has never taken the cruiserweights seriously at all. Even when the title is given a push it is usually shortlived. I get that the Divas would likely draw better, but so far it seems as if the Divas title really is serving no purpose either. If the cruiserweight title doesn't exist, why does the Diva's title exist either?

 

[Slyfox696]

Back in the late 90s if nothing else. When WWF decided to make the Light Heavyweight title mean something due to the cruiserweight division taking off in WCW, there were at least 5 or 6 contenders to Taka's title. I think Spawn is right in that WWE has never taken the cruiserweights seriously at all. Even when the title is given a push it is usually shortlived. I get that the Divas would likely draw better, but so far it seems as if the Divas title really is serving no purpose either. If the cruiserweight title doesn't exist, why does the Diva's title exist either?

The pathetic attempt that was the WWF lightweight division doesn't count in this discussion, because it was proven that the lightweight division wasn't cared about.

And, the WWF actually DID try. They brought in TAKA, they brought in the Great Sasuke, they brought in guys who could fly in the ring. They brought in guys like Brian Christopher and gave him a big backer in Jerry Lawler.

They DID give it a chance. It failed miserably. Coincidentally, it wasn't long after this that we saw what fans really wanted. They wanted a beer drinking, finger waving redneck beating up his boss, and they wanted a self-absorbed egotistical former collegiate football player telling people to shove things up other people's asses. And the lightweight division? Fell by the wayside.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yes it did fail, but I don't know if its fair to say that's the wrestlers faults. At that time WWE as a whole was just beginning to get back on its feet. It was just around the time that WCW was slipping a bit, but they were still #1. Their cruiserweight division was well established in WCW and had a far bigger roster to work from. It was no suprise to me at least when the lightweight division fell apart because it was a cheap imitation of WCW's division. The lightweight division always seemed to just be an attempt to say "Hey, we've got small guys too." It was given next to no time, then as soon as it started to falter it was dropped, which might not have been the worst idea.

 

[Syxx-Pac]

The Cruiserweight Championship was WAAY better thsn the divas championship. I really wish that WWE Unifies the Women's Championship with the Diva's Championship, and defends the Women's/Diva's Championship on EVERY brand. And the Cruiserweight Championship should be on every brand also. That way, we could have both.

PS. Cruiserweight Championship FTW!

 

[Darkshot77]

Plain and simple the SD! Cruiserweight division is why I started watched wrestling, seeing Paul London facing off against Akio, and ending the match with a 450 splash (my first Holy Shit move) was very entertaining. Even when Helms held it for a year the division was still ok to watch. So why not have people who need a title to be interesting compeat for one in stead of women who dont need one. The SD! divas dont need to compeat for anything to make good entertainment. Stacy Keibler v. Tori Wilson didnt need a story to be fun to watch, in fact giving them a so called "Goal" to fight for and only having one title match puts us in the same position where people watch the match to see boobs and blond hair fly arround the ring, and not paying attention to the stories. The title is useless cause no one cares about McCool and Natalya's feud cause women with skin-tite clothing are "trading off holds." Just like it was 3 years ago. Not to metion the story writing sucks.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

And, the WWF actually DID try. They brought in TAKA, they brought in the Great Sasuke, they brought in guys who could fly in the ring. They brought in guys like Brian Christopher and gave him a big backer in Jerry Lawler.

Only you Sly, could randomly find yourself defending a second-rate T and A Championship. The W.W.E. already has one Women's Championship, and it's got a great deal of history and legacy. So why do they feel they need a secondary one? Because they fail to attempt doing the more logical thing and merely letting Mickie James, as Women's Champion, defend the title on both brands? It's happened before, no reason to feel it couldn't be just the same.

And here's a great big shocker for you. If all the fans care about are Tits and Ass, then a Championship around their waist isn't going to be noticed one way or another, so you defending this Championship being more valuable than the Cruiserweight title is void. Defending Divas over Cruiserweights is another story, but defending title over title, I think you're going to lose for once in your life.

The fact is, you're right.. the W.W.E. failed miserably with the Light Heavyweight division, but you need to ask why, and that's because they didn't focus on it as much as W.C.W. did. And if fans didn't or rather "don't" care for the division as much as you say, then why did the cruiserweight division help promote W.C.W. for a time?

Wow, they brought in Taka and Sasuke, two guys the W.W.F/E. fans have absolutely NO idea who the hell they are. Granted when the likes of Milenko, Mysterio, Guerrera and others came into W.C.W. noone knew them either.. but unlike the W.W.F. promoting maybe 10 minutes per show to them, W.C.W. marketed their division properly by giving a decent two matches per show, as well as promos, segments and interviews by guys knowing what they're talking about.. instead of booking guys like Brian Lawler with his Daddy, and hoping something clicks.

Don't even bother telling me W.W.F. "tried" by sending Jerry fricken Lawler in as a "big name" to promote the division. That's as half-assed, and "piss bucket" as you say, as Kevin Nash trying to put over the X-Division by mocking it greatly.

The Cruiserweight division was a great division and the W.W.E. killed it, because much like their Tag Team division, they just fail to understand how to handle it like W.C.W. did.

Now, as far as the Diva's Championship goes, again.. you said yourself fans care more about half naked girls than high flying cruisers.. so what's a title have anything to do with that? The Smackdown Divas have been taking up plenty of time and television segments without a belt before, why do they need one now?

 

[Shock]

I honestly think that when Gregory Helms went out for over a year with a legit injury, the Cruiserweight division sort of... died out. Hopefully, when he returns, there will be a revolution. Viva la Cruiserweights!!!

P.S. If he doesn't win the WWE title, hopefully the Cruiserweight title can come back to The Brian Kendrick.

P.P.S. [not mentioning the pile of crap known as the Divas Title.]