Cruiserweight division: A Boon for RAW
WWE has put out 14 hours of just wrestling shows during SummerSlam week which was 5 hours with pre-shows, three hours of RAW, two of Smackdown Live, three on NXT Takeover and one on NXT. However, some of the best wrestling of the week happened to be the one hour show they have been doing all summer called the Cruiser Weight Classic. The Classic has been just that, really something special in a summer that WWE has been trying desperately not to get stale.
For weeks names from all over the world like Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr. and Tj Perkins indie darlings like Chikara stand out Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander and WWE favorites like Tajiri, Brian Kendrick, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have been delivering classic matches. Despite most of the wrestlers not having a relationship with the audience, almost every match has gotten a huge reaction from the fans. Blowing away most segments from Smackdown and Raw regularly. Every episode ends of topping the next, which almost seems impossible but the CWC has yet to let fans down.
Fortunately for the WWE, they have all of this talent at their fingertips. Some stand-out matches include the last match of the first round where NXT tag-team partners Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa had an all out battle to decide who would go on to the next round and recent WWE signee Cedric Alexanders match against Kota Ibushi.
WWE first announced it was going to bring Cruiserweight action back to RAW when the WWE Draft first got announced. It recently announced that the Monday following the CWC finale will be the start of the Cruiserweight Division. Fans could be sceptical about the return because the Cruiserweight title was garbage, in its dying days of 2008, won by Hornswoggle in one last match and then weirdly shoved away and forgotten about. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Cruiserweight division gave Rey Mysterio a place to get recognized or helped start Matt Hardy’s ignite a singles career. It gave weirder fun gimmicks like Funaki and The Hurricane a place to shine as midcard champs.
The same could be done with bringing back the title to RAW. This could be the place where NXT stars like Neville, Sami Zayn, Enzo Amore or Johnny Gargano could really start to shine on the main roster. Xavier Woods could have a place to show off how great of a wrestler he really is (imagine every member of New Day holding a title at the same time!). Popular CWC participants like Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, TJ Perkins and Jack Gallagher will all have a place to show off an alternative their unique style. By giving smaller wrestlers a chance to gain momentum with their own talent WWE has a way of getting more talent more important exposure.
The Cruiserweight title will offer high-flying action amidst the marathon that is the 3-hour Raw and keep fans excited and entertained. Much like the success of the John Cena US Title Open Challenge fans should be able to see weekly Cruiserweight Title matches that with the right participants(Neville was a star of the Open Challenge) could be just as successful, even without John Cena.
Think of how much fun it would be to see Neville versus all 32 members of the Cruiserweight Classic for 32 weeks straight. While that is obviously fantasy book it would still be better than most of the past summer feuds on RAW, where Darren Young and Titus O’Neil have had a weird on/off feud and The Club have made freshmen penis jokes that make DX look funny. Good matches for the sake of good matches seems worlds ahead of the same wedding cake joke gag you’ve seen 10 times. The prestige of a title fight would be enough storyline to go around and with the level of writing the WWE has been putting out that could be a breath of fresh air.
The title also acts as a way to introduce new independent talent. WWE has gone to every single promotion to take talent from Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling to CMLL. While this shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing for some wrestlers have been getting part time deals to wrestlers like Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. This part time deals let’s WWE use these wrestlers when needed, but also work independently when they aren’t being used.
Deals like this could be huge for the new Cruiserweight Division. Instead of overbooking a division with talents that will be underused or forgotten, talent could be picked up for one night acting as a local favorite and fight for either the Cruiserweight Championship if they are a bigger name or the right for the Cruiserweight Championship if they are a smaller named competitor.
This acts as an exciting way to introduce different wrestlers weekly and never getting stale match-ups. Similar to the Braun Strowman segments WWE has been doing but instead giving wrestlers a better shot at winning instead of jobbing. It also brings back memories of territorial wrestling. Picture Austin Aries acting like Ric Flair defending the Cruiserweight Championship around the world insulting and cheating his way past local favorites would be something different from the recent WWE.
A fun look back at wrestling history that would be new and exciting for younger fans. The one off Tyler Breeze vs Jushin Thunder Liger match at NXT: Takeover Brooklyn last year is the best example of this but imagine that being for a Cruiserweight Title and being on the SummerSlam card.
Quick title matches that will keep fans interested and give them a reason to tune in. Honestly, what was the last time you even thought a title change was going to happen on RAW or Smackdown? I’m not talking about the exceptional cases like the fata-4-way that Kevin Owens won a few weeks ago. Why bother watching a show when you know nothing is going to happen until the monthly PPV. But if there was a title that could change hands weekly it would be more of a reason to match.
Giving people PPV quality matches during the regular week is something WWE used to do during the Monday Night Wars but has died off. With the Network, they should be able to put more matches on TV to keep fans interested in a title fight, not a 6 man tag match with all the good guys vs all the bad guys.
Three hours is far too long to be watching wrestling and everyone knows and complains about that but it will never change. Creating ways to make that three hours more interesting would be a way to fix this problem that has plagued the WWE for so long. By adding a new title that feels like anyone (under 205 lbs) could win a new dynamic is added to the show. Fans will tune in for the rare opportunity to see a title change because the Cruiserweight title should be often up for grabs to keep it feeling important. Hardcore fans would turn up to see if Aerostar or Jushin Thunder Liger might show up for a one-off title fight.
Stars who end up getting underused like Neville will have a title to fight for to keep fans happy. WWE should be reaching for anything that can make its coWWE has put out 14 hours of just wrestling shows during the week of SummerSlam which was 5 hours with pre-show, three hours of RAW, two of Smackdown Live!, three on NXT Takeover and one on NXT. However, some of the best wrestling of the week happened to be the one hour show they have been doing all summer called the Cruiser Weight Classic. The Classic has been just that, really something special in a summer that WWE has been trying desperately not to get stale.
For weeks names from all over the world like Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr. and Tj Perkins, Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander and WWE favorites like Tajiri, Brian Kendrick, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have been delivering classic matches. Despite most of the the wrestlers not having a relationship with the audience, almost every match has gotten a huge reaction from the fans. Blowing away most segments from Smackdown and Raw regularly. Every episode ends of topping the next, which almost seems impossible but the CWC has yet to let fans down.
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