WWE Cruiserweight Division: Keep It, Fix It Or Scrap It

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, when it comes to the Cruiserweight Division, the only thing that's really been going on has been the Neville/Austin Aries feud and even it is hampered by what many fans, wrestling journalists, insiders, etc. view as problems with the division. There are probably some who feel the division is fine just the way it is, there are obviously fans who feel things need to bet tweaked and some want the division to simply go away altogether. Which would you prefer?

For me, I think there's a lot of potential that's untapped and I'd like to see WWE try tackling at least some of the problems. There are a lot of good in-ring wrestlers involved and it just seems like a shame for all the time, effort and money to go to waste. In no particular order:

Let the Cruiserweights "be" Cruiserweights - One thing you'll notice if you've watched 205 Live regularly is that there's very little to differentiate the Cruiserweight wrestlers from just about every other wrestler on the roster. What I mean is that aside from an occasional high spot or momentary quickness of pace, most of the matches, most of the time, see the Cruiserweights wrestling a much slower, methodical pace like the bigger guys. When we think of "Cruiserweight Division", I think it's fair to say that most of us automatically think back to WCW's Cruiserweight Division during the Monday Night War and remember how those matches were often the in-ring highlight of Monday nights. I'm not saying that the Cruiserweights should go full blown indy style with one high spot after another, little to no selling, 20 super kicks, etc. but the match formula isn't really getting it done as it is with these guys. If these matches aren't going to be really high paced with some flashy moves, then the division might as well be scrapped altogether.

Make the Cruiserweight Division part of NXT - Given that the Cruiserweights often tour with NXT, moving the division to being part of NXT seems like a good fit. Vince allows Triple H to have total control over NXT and he's shown that he's generally much better at utilizing these smaller wrestlers than Vince is. Whether or not Vince isn't all that interested is anyone's guess, but it's supposedly himself and Kevin Dunne that's in charge of the division on the main roster.

Add new talent to the division - There's only so many times you can see Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and Noam Dar get beaten up and we've seen it a whole helluva lot. There are a good number of wrestlers on the main roster who can pass for Cruiserweights; even if the 205 lbs. weight limit isn't strictly enforced, there are guys who're close enough that they could pass. Enzo Amore is someone who could bring a lot of personality to the division, he may not be the best in-ring guy based on what we've seen, but it's possible there's more to him than we've seen. Sami Zayn is billed at 212 lbs. but my guess is that he's in the 190 to 200 lbs. range, Dolph Ziggler could pass for 205 lbs. as could Seth Rollins or AJ Styles. Hell, upon his return, I wonder if Chris Jericho would be interested in dropping 10 or 15 lbs. to work with them.

Rebrand the division - One of the fundamental flaws with the division is something that myself and others have said numerous times in all the various threads made years past talking about bringing back the division: American fans don't really respond well to limiting wrestlers via weight class and it can send a message that the "little guys" have to have a division all to themselves because they don't have what it takes to hang with their bigger counterparts. Generally speaking, Impact Wrestling's X Division is a Cruiserweight/Junior Heavyweight/Light Heavyweight division in everything but name only; at various times, a weight limit has been imposed and then it's been rescinded but for most of its history, it hasn't had limits imposed by body weight. Even though the vast majority of the wrestlers who've seen success in the X Division have been lighter, a few bigger guys have competed as well and it's created the perception that it's not just a division for "little guys." Even if WWE keeps the division one of lighter wrestlers, they could still go a long way in changing that perception by having Cruiserweights wrestle against and beat heavier opponents.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The division needs to be done away with entirely. No one benefits from it. Guys like Neville, Aries, Jack, Kendrick, and TJP could fit in just fine in the Intercontinental Championship scene. The rest could be put into tag teams or be used as jobbers. The division currently gives the impression that these guys are inferior to the rest of Raw and that isn't fair to anyone involved. The purple ropes look cool although there is literally nothing else I like about the division. End it completely. 205 Live's timeslot could then go to other shows on the Network.

I dislike the idea of having it become part of NXT. There is nothing wrong with NXT in its current form and adding the Cruiserweights seems very unnecessary. It would hurt NXT more than it would benefit the Cruiserweights. It does no one involved any favors in its current form, so keeping it as it is would clearly be the worst of the thread's three options. There is no way to fix it since there is nothing this division brings that the Intercontinental Championship scene could not provide in a more entertaining and more prestigious way. So if there's no point in keeping it and no logical way to fix it, just scrap it. Put the best Cruiserweights (Neville/Aries/Jack/TJP/Kendrick) in Raw's Intercontinental tier or on Smackdown in the United States Championship tier. Then put the rest into tag teams since both brands need more teams. There. No more pointless inferior division and add more names to divisions that do need additions. Problem solved.

 

[Kamala316]

Neville "took one for the team", and saved the Cruiserweight division. He brings legitimacy to the division, and looks like he can take on the 'big boys'. Out of all the cruiserweights, the only other performers that catch my eye are Tony Nese, Austin Aries, Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher. Nese has the look of a contender, A Double is, well, A Double. Swann is beyond talented. And Gallagher's gimmick makes him stand out. Who else stands out? Kendrick? Maybe. Drew Gulak? No. Ad please stop comparing him to Dean Malenko! Noam Dar? I could kick his ass. Tozawa? If he went ballistic, maybe. At the end of the day, this failed. They tried, but it failed. Put it out of its misery.

 

[swallop]

All they need to do is just have match after match after match. The only problem is there not letting them wrestle. What was the reason the cruiserweight classic was so successful? the matches were awesome. i watch 205 live and the matches suck. Thats literally the only thing they need to do. And why isnt gran metalik ever wrestling? that dude was awesome. i see him wrestling on main event like wtf? What is wrong with this company lol.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Right now, the cruiserweight experience as fail completly, it's not really the fault of te performer or even how they booked those guys but because they didn't really introduce who those guys are. They just thought that the casual fans would instantly know who these guys are because if cwc. But outside of the hardcore wrestling fans, nobody watched the CWC

It's kinda the same problem that they have with the NXT called up. They think that because they are on a network show that everybody knows who these guys are.

What I would do is not a complete overhaul of the division, but just a couple of change in thinking. First 205 live isn't working the way it's booked. They book it for the casual fans but it's a show for the more hardcore fans. So what would I do is, stop filming the show after smackdown, go back to be a taped show at full sail and air it after nxt. That way you will get a better crowd ad they can have a good lead in with nxt.

On the main roster, first stop changing the rope colors. It's maybe a small thing but it will make all the difference if you don't tell everybody that the cruiserweight are completly different from anything else.

Also, you would have to put some restrictions on the main rosters offense. What I mea is that alot of guys, especially in the main event scene are wrestling like cruiserweights. That's hurting the cruiserweight division because they don't feel special. I not saying that gus like finn balor and seth rollins need to take all their high spot out of their move set, but they need to only use them when they truly need it.

Finally, make sure to introduce thoses new wrestlers before making them start on the main roster. You need to make the casual fans cares about thoses guys and if they don't know who they are, they won't cares. Also why not put kalisto in the division. The guy is still over with the fans and could help the division.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's not working. I thought Neville and Aries would be able to cement it as a division worth watching. While there's been highlights its still fallen flat. I can't imagine Aries wouldn't get a much improved reaction were he featured just normal TV filler.

205 has its moments but if it isn't being booked before Smackdown is filmed and everybody isn't allowed to do what they want then what is the point.

 

[enviousdominous]

I see it as an example of the WWE's dominance of pro-wrestling, and I'm fine with that.

What I sometimes like to do is miss an entire week of programming, and just watch it all on Hulu in a five hour splurge. RAW, Smackdown, 205 Live, and NXT all in one lazy Saturday afternoon when there's shit else to watch. I'm hoping that they eventually give the women their own program so I can watch that as well.

205 Live doesn't necessarily excite me, but it's still fun to veg out to. I say keep it.

 

[That N Word]

TBH with you it was a bad idea to begin with. If they wanted to have a Cruiserweight Open show to just let Cruiserweights come wrestle including the Balor's, Neville's, Aries of the world. That's totally different, but a whole division with a championship and all is where the F'ed it up. Back in the day the division worked because WCW wasn't really pushing guys of that side outside of the division. Now in 2017, it doesn't work because only thing it does is make it seem like they're not on the level as the other competitiors on the roster because they can't wrestle outside of the division or for any other titles. I'd say scrap the division and keep 205 Live and just let it be like a show where Cruiserweight competitor's from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT can just come and wrestle and not the new "WWE way" but actual matches. Scrap the title, scrap the division on Raw and let certain names (Aries, Neville, Kendrick, Swann, Tozawra) remain on Raw as regular competitors. Neville and Aries should be challenging for either the Universal or IC Title by now.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I say they should keep the Cruiserweight division, but just on 205 Live. I say scrap them from Raw. Their matches on raw are short and meaningless. I thought once 205 Live launched they wouldn't be on raw anymore. I don't think they are a good fit on raw which is mostly sports entertainment. Smackdown is more wrestling based, but they only have 2 hours. Bottom line- they have 205 Live so just keep em there.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

I have been saying this since it was even rumored to begin. There is no point to a Cruiserweight Division. Think of it this way, two guys that were no way over 205 pounds were major focal points from the last decade. That being CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. CM Punk needs no explanation and had the match of the year in 2013 against Brock Lesnar. Daniel Bryan had a WrestleMania built around him where he defeated 3 of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Randy Orton, Batista and Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Finn Balor is currently the front runner and seems to be the one most want to see take on the Beast in July for the Universal championship. That dude is 190lbs wet.

Is there any reason to believe that Neville couldn't whoop The Miz or Dean Ambrose's ass for the Intercontinental Championship? Absolutely not. The Cruiserweight Division was fine back in the day when the main event scenes were dominated by guys like Lesnar, Cena, Big Show etc. Back when Rey Mysterio was at (well almost) his peak. It also doesn't help that the Cruiserweight Division nowadays has replaced the women as the piss break of the show. There is just no reason to care about any of the guys. They were all thrown on Raw without any backstory. If the tagline is this division is for small guys to showcase incredible athleticism and matches then maybe they should actually do that instead of random 6 man tags and 3 minute matches on Raw.

 

[Azane]

Cut the division down to a half dozen stars, stop watering it down with so many nameless jobbers.

Cut the extra show. We already have too much WWE television, trying to add more, just made me care less for the division, and it means your Cruiserweights will have no exposure without being on the main shows.

Stop the purple rope gimmick. We get it, you want them to stand out. All you're doing is giving fans more signals to bathroom break.

Just have the title, and let light-weights compete for it. But don't focus everything on the division. It gives you an undercard title, a good opening match or preshow match for ppvs, and you can leave it to the super flippy guys, instead of trying to have mat technicians and flashy vanilla midgets.

There's money in the title, but there's not money in the division.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Send them all down to NXT and keep the guys you want to keep on the main roster. As long as Vince sees them as monkeys and not wrestlers, as long as the discrimination occurs that they are cruiserweights, the division will never succeed.

And on top of that I've said it many times. It's not the 90s. They are not different from the main roster. Everyone wrestles like them at the moment, even Cena. What they look like is a watered down version of the main roster. Not different.

Let them be different, if that's possible nowadays. If they can bring something different or jutt be done with it. Keep Aries and Neville on the main roster and just send everyone else down on NXT.

Plus, they are using them as a piss break between big matches.

 

[GhettoV1]

By getting rid of the purple ropes would show that the cruisweights are a part of Raw and not outsiders looking in.

 

[Navi]

I'm probably in the minority here but I like 205 Live and the division as a whole. It does need a little tweaking here and there though.

First of all give these guys some decent storylines. The two most consistent storylines have been this "love affair" between Alicia Fox and Noan Dar, which is boring as hell. Also the King Neville/Austin Aries/TJ Perkins triangle.

Mostly everyone else just comes out and does a match here and there. There is no reason to get invested in any of these guys if you are a casual fan. The WWE has guys on the main roster which could also help 205 Live. Sami Zayn, Kalisto, Enzo Amore are three that come to mind. They already have a following so just move them over, get the division cemented and then if need be move someone like Zayn back. Kalisto would thrive on 205 Live and Enzo would bring some much needed commentary on the mic. Get the fans interested and they will watch, bore them to tears and they will tune out.

I see a lot of "Well I don't watch it, so just get rid of it." Seriously, just because some fans don't watch it, doesn't mean there isn't a following for it. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head making them watch the show, but it shouldn't be taken off the air just because some fans don't like it. I don't like certain wrestler's but the WWE isn't going to get rid of them just to suit me, and nor should they.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It being a cruiser division and the weight limit is the issue... it's ruling out a lot of guys who could have found a home in the division if it was more the 225 limit... Slater, Hawkins, and even if Bo Dallas went on a diet... all could then go into that division and help make it interesting.

Light-Heavyweight worked as you could probably get away with anyone upto around 230... that meant Jeff Hardy could be in there... if they made it a 230 limit, you could give someone like Curtis Axel the old Matt Hardy gimmick of being overweight but always "weighing in on the limit".

Some Cruiser talent needs to be on the main roster, Jack Gallagher and Neville in particular... Why do they need Kalisto at this point? He could quite easily be the guy heading up the division and making it look "right". Gallagher and Paige as an "Avengers" style duo (60's version) would work a treat for example.

The other issue is that 205 is not MUST SEE...

It's not the talent's fault, but in 1996 you had exciting talents who people had to tune into Nitro over RAW to see...because they'd heard about them and the only way to see them was to trade tapes or tune in... now everyone's shit is all over Youtube and the net... guys like Noam Dar have reps, but he doesn't have the same aura as Dean Malenko had...

Thinking back to those days of being blown away by Rey, Eddie, Jericho, Juvi etc... it felt like something fresh, exciting and important as the guys signed to WCW were pretty much the top names. Were there bigger people than Ultimo Dragon at that time with his 8 belts? in Mexico was there any bigger name than Rey or LA Parka? Even guys like Yuji Nagata...

WWE had had great and arguably better talents like Hakushi (biggest dropped ball they ever had) and Waltman around that time but didn't know what to do with them... Today it's the same story, Jack is toiling on 205 when he's a SD/RAW talent all the way and the BEST guys are not signed like Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll or Richochet.... if they had them they'd be trying to shoehorn them into the main shows rather than allowing them to define 205...

Even now with Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.... either or both could and should be on 205 as top contenders rather than a UK based show.

Can you fix it?

Possibly... but not as 205 - it needs to go to being 225/230 limit and at minimum put someone like Slater in there... Neville has improved to the point he HAS to move on after this week... he's wasted there and he could legit be IC or an MITB winner on Smackdown. and stop the cheesy shit angles... Do we buy Noam and Alicia? do we heck... knowing she banged Barrett kinda kills that....

 

[filthyanimalz]

I'm not sure what the problem with WWE is, despite them having so much money and so much talent and despite them buying out some of the biggest talents in the history of the X division Impact are somehow managing to put out a better product with their re-energized X division than WWE are with 205 live.

 

[MWRedskins]

i say keep the Cruiserweight Division, but just scrap 205 Live (since it's basically a B show for the Cruiserweights) and STOP taping the ropes purple. i get that that's WWE's "look" for the Cruiserweights, but it hurts more than it helps because it makes it seem like they arent part of RAW, just part of 205 Live. i think the division has potential as long as they give them 1) airtime on RAW (without purple ropes), 2) better storylines (get rid of Fox and Doar's story), 3) Give them promo work. Austin Aries is a wonderful promo guy, he's not Punk, but he can cut promos. Also, have the Cruiserwieghts feud with some mid card guys. i would love to see Cedric Alexander or Rich Swann feud with Miz or even Austin Aries. just because they are in the Cruiserweight Division doesnt mean they should not even wrestle or talk to mid carders. Austin Aries (if he appeared on MizTV and had a match with Miz) could be good for the division, especially if he sneaks in a win.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

I certainly wouldn't scrap it. The people that are saying guys like TJP, Gallagher, etc. would be fine on the main roster are fooling themselves. Without this division they aren't getting any TV time period. The only ones who could do okay without it are Aries and Neville and I don't think either would ever get above the mid-card.

The first thing I would do is get rid of the branding everywhere. It's stupid, it wasn't even cool for a little while, it's been awful since day one. No more purple ropes, no more Cruiserweight logo on the LED ring screen, none of that. You can keep it on 205 Live because that's THEIR show but when they're on RAW, actually make them feel like they're part of the main show instead of just some side act.

Secondly I'd get rid of the rule, and it's not even a rule it's just how it's gone, that Cruiserweights can only face other Cruiserweights. That's the quickest and easiest way to get the division as a whole over. Have matches like Neville/Rollins or Neville/Reigns. Put Austin Aries up against a Finn Balor or something. When you have your Cruiserweights face only Cruiserweights I think it sends a bad message that they can't hang with the big boys. It makes them instantly inferior. Then the next night on 205 Live, you can have Neville take on someone like Tozawa. You put over how competitive Neville was in his match against Rollins and then have him and Tozawa put on a competitve match. That now makes Tozawa look better.

Another obvious answer would be just give them character but that's more than just a Cruiserweight problem, it's a WWE as a whole problem. These are things they can do specifically with the Cruiserweights to buff up the division.

 

[MWRedskins]

The first thing I would do is get rid of the branding everywhere. It's stupid, it wasn't even cool for a little while, it's been awful since day one. No more purple ropes, You can keep it on 205 Live because that's THEIR show but when they're on RAW, actually make them feel like they're part of the main show instead of just some side act.

Secondly I'd get rid of the rule, and it's not even a rule it's just how it's gone, that Cruiserweights can only face other Cruiserweights. That's the quickest and easiest way to get the division as a whole over. Have matches like Neville/Rollins or Neville/Reigns. Put Austin Aries up against a Finn Balor or something. When you have your Cruiserweights face only Cruiserweights I think it sends a bad message that they can't hang with the big boys. It makes them instantly inferior. Then the next night on 205 Live, you can have Neville take on someone like Tozawa. You put over how competitive Neville was in his match against Rollins and then have him and Tozawa put on a competitve match. That now makes Tozawa look better.

Exactly my thinking!!!! especially the 2nd part. the issue is that it's always the same thing, the Cruiserweights fighting the Cruiserweights. have tag matches where they team with a midcarder or main eventer....have feuds OUTSIDE the Cruiserweight division, just because they're cruiserweights doesnt mean they should be stuck in one spot and one division, the cruiserweights arent women, even Mysterio battled the Big Show in the past. one way to start this (if wwe wants to) could be when Aries beats Neville, have him on MizTV (after he wins the IC title) and have Miz brag about himself, then have Aries not be happy only to have Miz say he's a small or baby champion (insult his title) and then have Aries attack Miz and then they have a match later. the Cruiserweights should be used outside of just fighting each other. on 205 Live, yes, just fight Cruiserweights, but on RAW, fight other stars.

 

[HORRORHOLIC]

Scrap it!! It's going nowhere fast and holding down the talent involved.

 

[ShinChan]

I voted for "fixing it".

In July, an year will pass since Cruiserweight Classic. You don't scrap an idea just after an year when it has shown potential. If it would've been totally boring, then i would've changed my decision. But it has given us bunch of good to great matches and some good feuds as well. Adrian Neville, Austin Aries, Jack Gallagher, TJP, Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa etc are some very good talented wrestlers and can make the division awesome if given proper booking.

Fix a "Broken" thing instead of getting rid if it.

 

[Messiah]

Scrap this shit.. 205 Live is just a glorified Main-Event show and the matches on RAW are boring and the fans have no investment in any Cruiserweight on the show... It's been a huge flop and it's time to focus their time on something else.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Someone like Gallagher WOULD get TV time... the gimmick works, and give him an "Emma Peel" and it works even better. Sure he's not going to the World Title... but in the same way that Crash Holly was a fixture for years, he would be...

Someone like Noam Dar or Tony Nese... those are the guys who are dead without 205... but they just go back to Evolve or wherever...

Austin Aries is an interesting case... he's in the Cruisers cos Vince doesn't see enough in him for the main roster...and with his injury shortening his career, it's hard to see him ever moving on from it. He reminds me of Taz... got to the party too late and injury meant he barely did a year in the ring. At least we know Aries can commentate if needed.

 

[mont3818]

Neville (c) vs. Finn Balor for the Cruiserweight Championship at Summerslam. There. Enough said. Give them enough opportunity to steal the show and, boom, you've gone a long way to legitimize the division right there alone. Finn isn't fighting for the Universal Championship any time soon unfortunately, so this would be perrrrrfect! Shoot, a Finn Balor win and reign as Cruiserweight Champ would help big time. I mean, the guy did go over Reigns and Rollins clean last year and has a lot of star power/star quality to him. This wouldn't and shouldn't hurt him in the least. That is, if the WWE cares to legitimize the cruiserweight division in the first place, which remains to be seen...

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Right now, i'm really starting to enjoy the cruiserweight division for what it's is. Their some minor change that i would do like not putting to much focus on the fact that it's not part of raw per say by having a ring with purple ropes instead of the regular ones. Have them also interact more with the rest of the roster would help in my opinion. The mix tag match at extreme rules was the first time that i didn't think of the cruiserweight as a different part of the show. Rich Swann and noam dor felt like just 2 regular guy on the roster having a wrestling match on a PPV.

That's kinda what they need right now, just be integrated into raw like guys on the rosters.

As for 205 live, the main problem in my opinion is that 9 times out of 10, they are wrestling in front of a crowd that don't know who the hell they are. What they don't realize is that a lot of fans only what either Raw or Smackdown and if you got a crowd that only watch smackdown every week and you have them watch guys that are wrestling on Raw every week, you're not going to get a great response from the crowd.

What i would do to change that, first change the name of the show and not have it be live every week, it doesn't help them and serve no purpose, secondly switch the Main event and 205 live tapings. have the 205 live matches get tapes before Raw and the main event matches tapes before smackdown. Finally you got some guys on the roster right now that are just their and they don't know what to do with them and could fit in the cruiserweight division. Guys like heath slater, Kalisto and maybe bo dallas. Bring back tajiri for a little bit. Have those guys help establish the newer guys. Use guys like Gran metallik that can do awesome luchadores moves to makes peoples react to this stuff.

That's the small changes that i think the division need to grow and become successful.