You Wanted It, You Got It! WWE Reviving the Cruiserweight Division

[iwinulose]

Do you think that bringing back the cruiserweight title will elevate the undercard?

1) this is a great idea, this would give the midcarders who most likely wont win the big gold, this gives them a chance to have some glory and even elevate some guys to upermidcard where they can go after titles like the US and IC title. plus guys who arent around, who are kicked way to the back will get a chance to go out there and do something.

Does a divide in the division divide the talent ?

2) Yes this will divide the talent up some more. we have main eventers, upermidcard, tag team division, and then we have this huge group of guys who are chilling somewhere at the bottom. a cruiserweight/light heavy weight title would give us a solid midcard division, and then we would have the jobbers at the bottom.

 

[Allstar]

One word - awesome!!
This would be a great addition to the programme.
If this is true then I'd love to see WWE reach out to Chavo and make him the top heel or even face of the division,
I'd even like to see Tyson Kidd as the top heel and have Sin Cara or Bourne or even Ryder as top face.
(Kid Kash and Austin Aries and Kendrick are worthy mentions - damm you tna!)

I see it being shown on both shows much like the divas and tag titles. I just hope it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle and they base decent storylines around it! I hated it when Chavo Snr had his little run with it oh and get me started on Hornswoggle! I always liked Matt Hardys storyline a few years back when he was training to lose weight so he could compete for the title,i feel this really made the worth competing for

I'm all for it bring on the title!

 

[Kitten Cutter]

WWE absolutely needs the Cruiserweight title back. Hands down.

Could it happen overnight? Could they establish a Cruiserweight title tournament and have it ready by Night of Champions? Please?! Hell, someone buy one of the old-school plastic belts and give it to Sin Cara for Smackdown's next taping if need be! Let it be of the Light-Heavyweight Title, the WCW Cruiserweight title, the WWF's version...or someone get some duct tape and a Sharpie and tape over a title!

It should be unified, but I'd settle for Superstars, Smackdown, RAW, wherever. All I know is the WWE needs another title, and the Cruiserweight never should have left. Bring it back!

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

This is a great move if it's happening. Gives all the guys on the undercard something to work towards and more storylines will come from it. They could reach back out to Mexico again - give Sin Cara the title in due course then reach out to Mexico's promotions. Bring back Psychosis and Juventud (GREAT workers, really good talent for any cruiser division), and they've also got Hunico, Epico/Tito Colon as well as a lot of others in FCW.

Solid move here.

 

[Remix]

With Triple H's promotion to head of talent within the company there is a feel that the Undercard is lacking so by providing the with a revival to the WWE cruiserweight division it will enable the undercard to promote quality matches and hopefully lead to more stars like Mysterio, Gurerro, Jericho who all made their mark as Cruiserweight stars elevating themselves to the midcard and even (for these three in particular) world titles.

Except that none of them did though. Jericho was wasted by WCW by leaving him with the cruisers and refusing to let him break out and become a star, same with Eddie. And since Rey ya know did this

He's been playing the underdog giant killer to everyone who's bigger than him (which is near damn everyone in the company), and with his knee being shot to hell he's not really doing all that much super fast, high flying cruiserweight stuff any more. The cruiserweight division doesn't make stars. It might give people who go on to become stars a place to put on some fun matches, but ultimately it creates a stigma that he's "just a criuserweight" which hinders him more than helps him.

Now I have voiced my opinion about dividing the cruiserweights from the rest of the roster I am curious to see if this will give guys like Evan Bourne something to work towards, guys who were sparingly used in the midcard who have alot to offer the company rather than just jobbing to the next big thing.

And what about the following wrestlers who are technically criuserweights:

Rey Mysterio
The Miz (well he's all of 6 lbs over, but close enough)
CM Punk
Christian
and Chris Jericho (when he returns)

All of them are former world champions but still fit within the criuserweight division. All that separating them out will do is limit their choices of opponent. Want to push the 225 lb Leo Kruger (see his FCW work) as a guy who can beat far larger opponents than himself by baiting his opponents and making them screw up? You can't he's a criuser.

All adding a division for high fliers does is make it harder to make them a real star. You can have a great midcard. You can have small high fliers make up a core of the midcard. But making a division of small high fliers just doesn't work when you want to make one of those small high fliers something more than just a criuserweight.

On to your questions

Do you think that bringing back the cruiserweight title will elevate the undercard?

No, no a thousand times no.

Does a divide in the division divide the talent ?

Yes and it adds another glass ceiling for guys to bust their way through.

I will start, the fact is bringing back the title will help the undercard produce more quality matches but it will also segregate the talent, look at guys like daniel bryan, cm punk, sin cara guys who may be in danger if this division is set in motion,

And the same fucking thing could be accomplished by (for example) Justin Gabriel and Cody Rhodes having a feud, Daniel Bryan feuding with Christian, the two Sin Caras feuding over the Identity theft and Evan Bourne and Kofi facing Troof and Miz for the tag team titles. Done with no separate division needed

but there is a plus, alot of talent such as evan bourne will finally get a shot at becoming champion in the WWE and may even be able to elevate themselves within the division in hopes of gaining a spot on the uppermidcard.

Oh Bullshit. Criuserweights can get titles if they have something going for them other than "I can move fast, do flips and put on great matches". It takes more than that to connect to an audience. Look at the midcard titles, the Tag titles are held by 2 criusers, the IC title's held by a criuser, and the US title is held by a third criuser. Yes, the sub 225 weight class truely needs to be separated from the rest of the roster

 

[martymcfly]

Hmm...no offense to the original poster, but the title of your thread makes me think you could be one of the writers on the main wrestlezone news site. You cut and paste some unsubstantiated conjecture, and then create a title to your post that grabs attention yet is inaccurate and exaggerated, based on the tidbit of news that you found.

According to your post, this is the "news" that you found:



- There has been discussion within WWE lately about the company looking to see what cruiserweight or light heavyweight talents are out there and signing them to developmental deals.
It hasn’t been confirmed yet that WWE will be doing a full-fledged revival of the cruiserweight division but they are interested in bringing talents who fit that bill. The idea is that cruiserweights will give guys like Evan Bourne or Sin Cara someone to work with and would add a quality of wrestling to WWE’s undercard.
This goes back to Triple H and changes he is making as he slowly takes over day-to-day control of the company.
Source: PWInsider


The title of your thread claims that WWE is bringing back the cruiserweight division, which is in no way substantiated by that. First, even if you assume that everything you posted is true, all that means is that there has been discussion, and even the quote itself states that nothing has been confirmed yet.

However, all that aside, I think the answer to that is the same as any other belt. They can bring it back but they need to be willing to devote time to it. Right now a common complaint is the midcard belts have lost prestige because feuds are not developed properly, etc. If they aren't willing to take the time to build feuds and add prestige to a cruiserweight title, then they are better off not bothering.

 

[killer425]

I don't really see the benefit of it at all the lighter guys can just wrestle in a high flying tag team match via Evan Bourne and Koffi Kingston or the US or IC title or non title

it will just be a piece of useless gold in my mind just like it was before

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I have personally never been enamoured by the Cruiserweight division. The moment you place a weight limit on that division, it seems to me as if the bookers are saying that these set of guys are only good enough to feud with one another because they will get totally punked when they face anyone bigger. Also look at the way they have been treated over the years and you cannot say that Bischoff has been the only culprit. He may have been the ones to call them vanilla midgets but even Vince used them only to curtain jerk cards on most occasions.

What Vince did that Bischoff did not was to give a few talented cruiserweights a push higher up the card. But that makes one thing clear, doesn't it? That these guys were nothing until they interacted with wrestlers outside the cruiserweight division.

The cruiserweight division is a boon for guys who are athletic but can do little else. Trent Baretta and Evan Bourne look to me as the guys who fit the bill but even with them I think that they would have better careers if they interacted with regular superstars than with cruiserweights exclusively. For guys like Bryan or Kofi Kingston, I would hate to see them be bound by the cruiserweight division because they should obviously be much higher on the card than that.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Hmm. Mixed feelings there. On the one hand this promises exciting matchups. On the other hand you just know that these exciting matchups will be far down on the undercard and involving guys that will most likely never be big stars in the WWE. If they bring back the cruiserweight title it will be worthless. It would rank beneath even the IC title and that title is pretty much a label that says "This wrestler is on hold without any significant storyline until further notice."

Bringing back the cruiserweights sounds good in theory, but in reality I think it only creates more harm than good for the smaller guys, because it only separates them further from the big time players.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I too have no wanting of the Cruiserweight division on my television screen, ever again.

Cruiserweight division was used as a tool, it categorized the Superstars into the division and so few ever broke from it, if they did it was usually to form a tag team who'd job every week to another lacklustre team. Then the actual Championship was disgraced towards the end of its tenure, being held by Hornswaggle and even Funaki in its dying months. I respect Funaki's effort and all, sure he worked for WWE for nearly a decade but in 2007 Funaki didn't deserve a run with any belt whether it be Cruiserweight, Tag Team, Diva's or otherwise.

Hornswaggle gaining it was a huge slap in the face of every performer who were classified as belonging to that division. Rey Mysterio broke from it and he did very well to do so, but nobody asides from him ever got over with the fans in a similar fashion. Bourne and Mistico are great and all but just because a few lightweight performers have to be brought in does not mean that the Cruiserweight division has to be revived by the company.

Personally I hope they don't even discuss it being brought back. TNA have the X-Division and currently its their selling point, they do it better than WWE did the Cruiserweight division. WWE can push the smaller guys by bringing in people have similar builds but they don't need a title and defintely not a label.

 

[vthokie8]

I'm excited, if this is booked right. WWE already has a decent CW roster, and with Kofi and Bourne winning tag team gold, they already have a decent storyline within the division by breaking the team up and having them in the hunt for the belt. I don't want to see Daniel Bryan hold the belt, unless it is to give it credability then hand it off. I think this would be the perfect chance for guys like Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu and Justin Gabriel to finally make a name for themselves as singles stars. Here is the list I figured out of guys who actually fit in the CW classification on the current WWE roster:

Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Curt Hawkins, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyson Kidd, Zack Ryder, JTG, Primo, Trent Baretta and Santino and you have Derrick Bateman on NXT who fits the CW description as well.

Personally, I don't want to see the first four work the division, unless it is to make the title look credible, being that they are all already in the main event picture in some form or other. FCW also has Xavier Woods, Peter Orlov, Tito Colon, Richie Steamboat, Brad Maddox, Byron Saxton, Hunico & Epico who could all be called up as well.

I would like to see a 16 man tournament to crown a champion, but I know it would more than likely be 8 so I would say Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Kofi, Evan Bourne, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd and Yoshi Tatsu just to kick things off then build it up from there.

 

[TM Punk]

In theory, yes, having a cruiserweight division would be awesome. I feel that the lucha libre/cruiserweight style while not the most technical style, is the most fun to watch. Especially for casual fans. But let's disect what I'm 99% posative most of you mean when you say you want the cruiserweight divisioun back.

When you say "I want the cruiserweight division back!" What you really mean by that is "I want the cruiserweight division from WCW back!" Because let's be honest, when WWF introduced us to Esay Rios and the brand new light heavyweight championship, we were all interested. But Esay Rios (I'm sure that is spelled wrong) quickly turned into Gillberg, and the whole title was made a mockery until it was unified with the cruiserweight title in 2001. And quickly after that it was all but forgotten, cept for rey reys run with it. My point is that a) WWE doesn't know how to book cruiserweights. They have the move set restrictions, the back breaking schedule (seriously, why hasn't that ever changed?). And b) there is just not enough time for these guys to really make a real impact. Raw usually has at least two to three 5 - 10 minute in ring segments per show, couple that with four to five 30 second backstage segments, along with three or four ten minute matches and there's basically no room.

WCW's cruiserweight division was a success because eric bischoff had time. He had to book a three hour show EVERY WEEK! That's enough time to throw some people out there that maybe no one knows, but by the end of the match they'll leave them wanting more. WWE doesn't have that kind of time, never have, never will.

People are always talking about how the US and IC titles are basically meaningless at this point. So why have a cruiserweight belt when these guys can just fight over those two titles. That makes more sense to me, because there is no room in WWE for another title, especially with the current revamping of the tag titles that is supposed to take place. That is even more time that will be taken up.

I'm sorry, but unless they can figure out a way to fit them on raw and smackdown, the cruiserweight title/division is going to be stuck on superstars. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[killer425]

see the thing is there's enough belts and I love TNA's X division though WWE light weight guys don't really do to much for me I mean Evan Bourne good in the ring no mic work and should stay like that, Tyson Kidd = boring and who else you got it would be a down grade for Sin Cara, Bryan, Rhodes, or Mysterio I don't like it

It just seems like a waste of time to me that's all

I think TNA X division works barely only because of the Ultimate X and Austin Aries though they do some guys with some moves I'll give them that way more then WWE

 

[RawDealWrestling]

WWE could desperately do with a cruiser division, though look at the guys they had when there was a cruiser division and they didn't do much with it, doesn't give me much hope but I'm optimistic...

 

[GW_Hart86]

I think this could would be the best thing that could happen in the WWE. Right now, things have gone a bit flat in the WWE, especially on SmackDown. The main event scene on RAW is pretty good, but as for the rest of the roster, it pretty much sucks at the moment.

I think 10 years ago, you had tables, ladders and chairs giving that added entertainment and excitement to the fans, where as now the WWE has very little of this.

The only other thing that gives the fans that WOW factor is the high flying, acrobatic cruiserweight matches. Remember back to the days of Taka Michinoku, Essa Rios, Phycosis, Rey Mysterio, Matt/Jeff Hardy, Aguila, Dean Malenko, Billy Kidman, Tajiri and even Spike Dudley. These were massively entertaining performers that put on great matches and always got the crowd going and heated up.

Right now there is quite a few performers around that would fit right into this division if it were to be re-created. Guys like Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Santino Morella etc...not to mention talent that could be scouted from Mexico and Japan.

Ultimately if the WWE is going to stick with the "PG" era then they really need to bring back the cruiserweight Title as a matter of urgency and bring back that WOW factor, giving the fans something to get excited about for the mid card....

 

[Odisho]

first i would like to say that i dont want just 225 and lower to be in the division, the reason why i want some thing like the CW tittle is so that people that dont fit to be mid card can be in this division, under card, people from superstars. it has no weight limits.

here's the division roster:
Curt Hawkins
Drew mcentire
Evan bourne
Heath slater
jey uso(as a single player)
jimmy uso(same with jey)
johhny curtis
jtg
micheal mcgilicutty
primo
zack ryder
santino marrella
sin cara
ted dibiase
trent barreta
tyler reks
tyson kidd
yoshie tatsu

thats a good list, and if they want they can add. now what i want is a new tittle, that if u win the new CW tittle, after u lose it u get a mid card tittle shot.

 

[ocekit]

I am highly cynical when discussing the possibilities for a WWE Cruiserweight/Light Heavyweight division for numerous reasons.

1) While I witnessed the decent job WCW did with their smaller wrestlers, I also witnessed the debacle that was the Light Heavyweight division. Even in its prime, they weren't treated with much respect. Granted, the management backstage has changed a bit, but I hesitate to say much would be different. I'd hope I'm wrong though.

2) I have seen too many pro-CW divsion arguments that portray the title as a kind of consolation prize for the "Superstars" level low-midcarders. Would it be nice and add a new line to the champ's Wiki? Yeah. But would it actually elevate the champ? Not likely.

3) The value of WWE gold has greatly diminished over the years. The IC and US titles aren't near what they used to be. They also have trouble focusing time on their Tag Team and Women's divisions. The Cruiserweight division would likely suffer the same way much of the midcard divisions are.

4) Just because you add a belt doesn't automatically mean more screen time, developed feuds or more meaningful matches for those who fall under it. Nor does it mean that characters will get developed. Which is exactly what most of the people previously listed by other posters need.

But again, I could be wrong. They could decide to recreate it and it could be good. I won't be holding my breath, though.

 

[4LC]

only problem is this could bury guys like sin cara and bourne in the sense that they all plateau when they win the cruiserwiehgt title, but then again it will open up a new exciting division and can also work as a great stepping stone, i think it would be a good idea have light heavyweight on raw and cruiserweight on smackdown, and then after who ever the biggest draw or most successful guy is can become like 3 time cruiser 3 time light heavyweight and then step up to the IC or US title path or tag title path and then after theyv done all they can do they will hopefully be over enough to go for a world title shot

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

A cruiser division would be great if done right. Now get this, I'm going to explain what I think "if done right is" instead of just saying it and then bitching when WWE does something and now you can criticize my ideas.

You need to have guys who are small and have that "cruiserweight style". Small guys who do the same shit as big guys isn't really that appealing, it'd be like women doing the same shit as guys. It has to add flavor to the match.

Second, these guys need to be characters. You can't just have random mexican guy vs random japanese guy throwing each other on their heads. People need to identify with these characters.

Third, has to be great stories for this division. A "respect and professinalism" based division doesn't sell. It has really never sold in pro wrestling. Damn near always been heel vs face for some reason or another.

Fourth, the title has to be valuable. I don't mean you have Bourne win it and win a bunch of clean matches for a year. I mean you have the guys on commentary say "I'm excited for the Cruiser title match this week on smackdown" you have wrestlers tweet about how they enjoy watching the high flying action, you have a heavyweight babyface endorse the cruiser babyface going into the match. When the babyface wins the title, he celebrates like HBK at Mania 12. Well maybe not that dramatic, but bourne/kofi on Raw was a good way to do it.

Add all of that up and you have a division people care about. I will also add that you shouldn't limit these guys to that division. Put them on tag teams and not just with each other. This way it seems more like "another" division and not "the lesser" division. Splitting them up kind of makes it seem like they aren't good enough to go against the big guys. In fact, I would even ponder not even having a cruiser title because that's what I think a lot of mainstream fans see it as. "these small guys can't compete so we give them this title" like a minor league title. Just having more small guys that add flavor to a show could do the trick.

I would like for it to be on Smackdown since that's the "testing" brand and if it gets over enough, move it over to Raw.

When you go to sign guys, you don't look for spotters. You look for guys who can tell a story and carry a character. Well actually, since they'll be going to developmental first, just look for great athletes who are willing to learn. It is KEY that they understand that the highspots are only a tool in their appeal, that without a character and without a coherant match, nobody cares about a corkscrew 450 suicide dive.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think this is great news. I have always been a fan of Cruiserweight wrestling and I think that the WWE has suffered from not having this division over the last few years (and completely butchering it when they did have it.)

The Cruiserweights were one of the absolute best things about WCW. They hardly ever gave us a bad match ,and just look at some of the talent that came out of that division and ended up moving up the card and becoming multi-time champions. Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and plenty of others such as Malenko, Kidman, Juventud, Pcicosis etc. They blow away almost anything that WWE put out now.

If Vince is serious about bringing this division back it looks like WWE will be fighting with TNA to sign up the hottest Cruiserweight talent, and TNA have a head start on this. It will be extremely interesting to see who WWE sign, whether they look to Mexico or Japan for their talent, or closer to home on the Indie circuit.

Sign Jack Evans Vince!

 

[TempestH]

I would put the Cruiserweight title on Cody Rhodes. Actually, I would have him suddenly carrying one or more defunct titles, claiming to have "resurrected" them just as he did the IC title.

 

[nWo2]

I think with Smackdown's roster featuring so many cruiserweights you don't need to name the belt you can just use the IC belt and achieve the same result.

Cody Rhodes is a cruiserweight and currently the IC champion.

 

[flawd101]

i think they need to make the other titles relevant before adding a new one. just make a superstars belt and let the lower card guys fight for that every week. it could be on smackdown every once and a while. there is nothing better than a cw beating a hw for the title. cw takes a huge beating but is able to win with a big move or roll up is classic

 

[Dagger Dias]

People have been begging for the Cruiserweight Championship to return ever since it got deactivated. Looks like they might get their wish. I personally did not want to see it come back because the IC and US titles more or less have become the PPV openers that high flyers and the occassional jobber challenge for. However if they did bring that title back then the jobbers and high flyers would have a title to fight for as well as letting the midcard titles stay in the midcard where they truly belong since the CW almost always opened shows. It should be dual branded too.