Revival of the Cruiserweight Title

[RobertTheBruce]

It seems to me, and largely because of the rise of a particular kind of guy in NXT, but for the first time in years WWE (I would assume not by design) has a large array of exciting competitors who to sustain a thriving cruiserweight division.

Justin Gabriel, Kalisto, Kidd, Breeze, Woods (and maybe as a maint event launching pad for Neville), to name just a few.

Even if not the Cruiserweight title, then a lower mid card title (akin to the WCW TV Title) needs to be brought in, and a unification of the US & IC Titles, to give guys on the Heath Slater/Bo Dallas level something to aim for.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

It is by design. the New administration has an expressed goal of getting all sorts of styles/shapes/sizes into the WWE. Which is why a CW title is unecessary....because this type of guy will be more the norm than the oddity soon.

Currently, guys at anything other than the Main Event dont really have anything to aim for. Lets fix the current mid card and tag title situations before we bring ANOTHER belt in.

 

[RobertTheBruce]

Exactly my suggestion, merge the upper-mid card titles and introduce a lower-mid title again. Back to the 1998 model; World Title, IC Title, European Title, Tag Titles.

 

[armageddon99]

I'm torn. I like the idea of the CW title, and a legitimate CW division, but there are a few reasons I don't. For one, WWE mishandled the division so many times that I wonder if they'd ever think enough of it to properly promote it. Another is of course the way the other two mid card titles tend to float around inactively. But, one of the biggest reasons is that I think it tends to hold people back from being seen as anything else.
If something like the X division title came about, that would be one thing. It's not based on weight or size. CW division can just get stale if the writers aren't behind it. And that's when we'd end up with torito (?) as the CW champion...

 

[RobertTheBruce]

...And that's when we'd end up with torito (?) as the CW champion...

Precisely my biggest fear, isn't this EXACTLY how the original CW Title died? Last reigning champion for mind was Hornswoggle.

Enough time has passed that this wouldn't be perceived as a WCW product that required trashing and immediate burial. There is also a wealth of legitimate WWE talent who would fit this division perfectly now, whereas in the last CW Title run, the only guys who fit the mould were former WCW Superstars.

Even if it's not the CW title per-sé, then a TV/European Title to give the lower-mid carders something to aim for. Run a Ziggler/Cesaro program (assuming Cesaro takes the US Title at NoC), combine the titles at Survivor Series.

Opens the door for a tournament for the European/TV/CW title, culminating at WM31, that allows those guys down the pecking order to have their "Wrestlemania moment".

Hell even use Ryder's "Internet Championship", they already have a belt!

 

[Roman Empire]

Deeming guys cruiserweights is just a way to pigeonhole them as the little guys, and keep hem away from titles that matter like the IC , US, tag, and World title. Granted the IC & US aren't treated as importantly as some of us would like, to me they are always prestigious regardless of how they're currently perceived.

 

[RobertTheBruce]

Mysterio, Guerrero, Jericho are just a few off the top of my head that have had significant Cruiserweight Title reigns, only to go on to have multiple World Title reigns.

As mentioned previously, the solution doesn't HAVE to be a Cruiserweight division. A Lower Card title in general is needed.

 

[Reflection]

These are all NXT and under-card guys who don't even get TV time on the main shows. A title for these guys would inevitably be of lesser value than the ones for guys like Cesaro, Sheamus, Rusev, or The Miz. When they are promoted from NXT to the main roster, they should be aiming at least for the Intercontinental or Tag Team Championship, and not a title of about the same value as the NXT Championship.

I also do not see how the Cruiserweight Championship can serve as a launching pad for the WWE WHC when the former is at the bottom, the latter is at the top, and there are two more titles in between, unlike the X-Division/World Title scenario in TNA where the X belt is clearly the second-most valuable title.

The under-card shouldn't have a championship, in my opinion. Holding the title of the tallest dwarf is of no use. They should either be fighting to earn their spot in the mid-card and above, or perish trying.

 

[Mudlup50]

How many guys fall into cruiserweight right now on the main roster? Seriously I can't imagine it's more than 6. Which is quite a bit less than divas on the roster, so you'd have a small number of guys fighting for the belt. I don't agree with a cruiserweight belt, it just doesn't fit into WWE now in my opinion.

But a new midcard belt might work, but as Smarkmadden points out, being the tallest dwarf doesn't say a lot. Isn't Neville the NXT champ now? So say he comes up and wins a TV belt which has about the same amount of prestige as the NXT world title, so who cares? He should be aiming high. I think the number of belts now works, they need to work on making all of the belts worth something, which surprisingly they're doing decent with right now.

World title is valuable, Tag titles are pretty important right now and the Diva's Championship is valuable. Let's just be content with the 5 belts we have now. Imagine if all 5 were booked well, the US belt would be worthwhile but Sheamus hasn't been defending it(not a knock at him just the division in general).

And to the people suggesting combine the 2 mid card belts, and then add a new one in there. Why? Lets keep it 5

 

[Roman Empire]

Mysterio, Guerrero, Jericho are just a few off the top of my head that have had significant Cruiserweight Title reigns, only to go on to have multiple World Title reigns.

As mentioned previously, the solution doesn't HAVE to be a Cruiserweight division. A Lower Card title in general is needed.

That's a selective way to view it. The cruiser weight title they won was in WCW. It was a sign that no further opportunities awaited them there. The line was drawn in the sand. They would go this far and no further. When they came to WWE they were treated as equal talents and went on to become world champions. Mysterio is the only one in that list that won the short lived WWE CW title. Of the guys that won *that* belt, he's also the only one to win a world title.

It's an outdated concept who's day has come and gone. I know it's easy to romanticize the belt due to the high flying matches that were had for the strap, but facts are facts.

Smark Madden has a good grasp on reality here, I would listen to him if I were you, Rob.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Aside from various reasons already brought up, another reason why the Cruiserweight Championship being reactivated would be redundant is that it sends the wrong sort of message. When it comes to restricting wrestlers via weight classes, most American fans simply aren't huge fans of it and it's never been widely popular. For instance, the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship has been in existence since 1945, yet how many holders of the title have become widely known names among American fans? Limiting wrestlers via weight restrictions sends a message to a lot of fans, unintentionally in most cases, that these "little guys" simply can't hang with "big guys" and are therefore inferior. Is it true? Of course not, but it's certainly a perception that's created and perception is very often perceived as reality.

On the WWE's main roster, pretty close to half the wrestlers could qualify to be "Cruiserweights" as many of them weigh less, right at or just slightly more than 225-230 pounds. Even in NXT, a lot of them could be "Cruiserweights" as well. The main event from NXT Takeover II featured a fourway match in which the heaviest of the wrestlers, namely Tyler Breeze, was billed at only 205 pounds. Kenta Kobayashi, now known as Hideo Itami, has been hyped as one of the biggest international stars and signings in history and he weighs all of about 185 pounds, yet he sent both members of The Ascension, one of whom is billed at about 270 pounds. When you consider the sort of success we've seen "little guys" accomplish in WWE, it just doesn't make sense to limit them based on how much they weigh.

I agree with the opinion that WWE needs to get its current mid-card titles to a better place before even considering adding another one to the roster. I ultimately get the feeling that Miz, Ziggler and Sheamus have been placeholders for the titles they've carried or currently carry until WWE feels that certain wrestlers are positioned to take them. My opinion, and that's all it is, is that Wyatt & Rusev should be the next IC & US champ as Wyatt is rumored to be up next to feud with Ziggler and it just makes logical sense that Rusev, the "hero of the Russian Federation" gains even more heat by being the first big, bad, "Russian" heel to win the United States Championship in nearly 30 years.

At some point, maybe sometime next year, I can see WWE unifying the IC & US titles and if they want to create another mid-card title, possibly for more of the lower mid-card guys, I think they should just go the route of reactivating the WCW World Television Championship and renaming it the WWE Television Championship, or create a new TV title altogether.

 

[Uncle Sam]

The suggestion's been pretty well shot down by the tenth reply and rightfully so.

NorCal's right: "smaller" wrestlers are going to be more and more the norm as time goes on.

Sami Zayn's over six foot, Prince Devitt is just under. Kalisto's really the only genuinely small guy in NXT - at five foot six.

Jack-Hammer's right: it sends the wrong message. No more cruiserweight ghettoes.

Plus we need fewer belts, not more.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think the first thing they need to do is to address the situation with the current mid card titles, namely the Intercontinental and United States Championships. First of all, are they going to unify them, or are they going to keep them as separate and distinct entities. Once this has been decided, they need to elevate the status of this belt(s) to a point reminiscent of the way they used to be, and make them relevant again, not only to the fans, but to the wrestlers themselves.

Since I've gotten the WWE Network, I've been watching a fair bit of old vintage wrestling. One thing that has been very obvious to me, and not at all surprising, was the fact that these belts, especially the IC title, used to mean something. Significant wrestlers fought for these titles, and the matches had a "main event" feel to them. The crowd was highly invested in them, and it was obvious that the mid card titles were relevant and were a true stepping stone to the main event. Today, these titles are treated as afterthoughts. The guys competing for them are not always the cream of the crop, half of the time the titles are not even defended on PPV, and the fans and wrestlers alike act like they couldn't give a rat's ass as to who holds these once prestigious titles. I don't know what the answer to this problem is, but that would be a priority for me. Forget adding even more meaningless titles that no one cares about; let's re-emphasize the titles that are already there, and make them mean something again. Ricky Steamboat versus Macho Man. Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramon. This is where the focus of WWE should be (over and above the main event obviously). Making the IC title like the aforementioned matches, as opposed to seeing a Dean Ambrose hold the title (all due respect to Ambrose, I love the guy) and never ever defend it.

I don't know how they do it. Maybe bringing up the NXT guys in the manner that they are doing is the way to do it. Never mind fast tracking guys like Steen or KENTA to the main event. Maybe these guys, and Neville, Devitt, and a few others (such as AJ Styles, or even Sting) could bring some relevance, some prestige, some meaning back to the once coveted IC Championship. That would interest me far more than a return of the Cruiserweight title. Thanks, but no thanks on that one for me.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

They don;t NEED to do anything with the current title structure only the guys in the slots.

Adding a cruiser belt wouldn't solve the problem of the smaller guys, only add to them, someone like Adrian Neville on paper is a perfect cruiser champ, but by getting that label he is then tarred and it makes it harder to use him up the card later. Yes he's short but this is their chance to "do over" Dynamite Kid and Benoit... so they're not gonna want to restrict it needlessly.

The point about placeholders fits into the conveyor system I've written a lot about over the years... since Savage but particularly Bret there has been a perception that if you don't get a World belt within 2 years of losing the IC title or US then you have failed... it's wrong and it's stymied more talent than it's helped. Guys like Barrett are suddenly "on the bubble" yet guys like Christian took YEARS to win their first titles, and it was no less impactful that it did... The current booking of midcard belts is the same as it has been for years and it creates a needless treadmill.

On paper Bray Wyatt is the perfect IC champion... his gimmick doesn't "need it" but he is also the "workhorse" at the moment, not in terms of wrestling holds and moves but he is holding up the cards with his psychology, the fans are way into him and his gimmick is such that the belt becomes another thing he can subvert...so fans and the WWE themselves will care more when he wins the big one "if he does this to the IC what the hell will he do when he gets a world title..." would be a massive boost for him.

The ideal booking for midcard titles, Cruiser, IC or US would be to use NOC... for example the IC champion was always the defacto #1 contender, so use it at NOC and have IC v World every year, title for title... make holding onto the IC till September an important thing because if someone can hold it for a year but slip up a week before that's gonna be great TV. You wouldn't use 24/7 rules but you could capture some of that spirit with the countdown clock to NOC...as the clock runs down the drama builds...

Same for the Cruiser belt, put the cruiser champ against the US title at NOC but let the winner potentially hold both.

You then have the chance to even use King Of The Ring to crown the new IC champ in October. The only way a cruiser belt works is if there is a guaranteed chance to "move up" from it. Otherwise you then have a 2nd conveyor...if cruisers don't "move up" in 2 years they failed... it's silly and not needed.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Cruiserweight Championship should not be brought back. Don't get me wrong, the thought of a cruiserweight division with great matches filled centered around a belt specifically meant for them sounds great in idea form, but it would not end up going so well. In its last days the Cruiserweight Championship was a joke. WWE can't even make the Intercontinental and US Championships matter, so adding back another title that would receive even less attention is not a very good idea. Besides, there's really nothing that says the US Championship cannot be used for the same purpose that the Cruiserweight Championship would be if it got brought back. They have to focus on making the active belts matter before thinking about adding any new ones.

 

[NullVoid956]

We already have a cruiserweight championship in my opinion and it's the NXT championship.

I know its not the real deal but its the next best thing to it.

Instead of wishing and hoping WWE bring a CW title, why not just pretend NXT is cruiserweights, because it basically is considering all of the top contenders for it are all cruiserweights while all the big dudes in NXT are paired as tag teams

I doubt WWE will ever bring it back so its best to just make due with what you got.

If NXT isn't good enough to be considered a cruiserweight title, then I cant help you there.

I'm enjoying all the cruiserweights on NXT fighting for that specific title.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Call me old school, but I'd much rather see the lighter guys positioned for runs as tag teams and continue bringing prestige back to the tag titles, than try to establish another title that is automatically going to be a lesser version of any other belt. It's not like WWE is going to have someone channel Mike Tenay and start talking about the differences between Mexican luchador style versus Japanese styles. I would welcome it if it were to happen, but I'd always be waiting for the inevitable bad treatment the belt would receive because....well, because McMahon.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

I'd say the opposite. WWE would need a low-midcard heavyweight belt and division to stick people like Reigns, Rynack and Cena where they belong, and let the actual interesting wrestling wight for the main eventer WWE title.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The Cruiserweight title is basically saying "these guys aren't good enough to compete with the big guys, so we had to create one that limits them". That's why it's a bad idea.

You don't need a cruiser title. Just have smaller guys wrestle each other. Then there's not that stigma (and I promise, it's real, that's why it never took in the WWE and why eventually all the cruiser guys in WCW moved "up") that they can't hang because they're too small.