The views expressed in this article are of the author’s and don’t represent the official views of Sportskeeda.
The Cruiserweight division had the possibility of being one the best things on Monday Night Raw. After all, most people enjoyed the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network. However, 205 Live and the Cruiserweight division has failed miserably.
205 Live and the Cruiserweight division are both experiments by the WWE that have, for the lack of a better term, failed.
So today we’re going to discuss 5 reasons why WWE needs to pull the plug and end 205 Live and the Cruiserweight Division altogether.
#1 They killed it on night one
On September 19th, four wrestlers from the Cruiserweight Classic had a match on Raw to determine who the No. 1 contender for TJ Perkins’ Cruiserweight title would be.
The Raw general manager Mick Foley had the task of putting these guys over by introducing them and telling the fans where they were from. Usually an excellent talker with superb mic skills, Mick Foley blew his promo.
He fumbled his words during the promo, resulting in the crowd being uninterested in anything that he had to say.
Also read: 5 ways to improve WWE's Cruiserweight division
The match would have been far better suited to the SD Live brand, with Daniel Bryan introducing stars that he was familiar with. Although the four wrestlers put on a solid match that night, the fans in the crowd could not care less.
The only wrestler who received a loud pop from the fans that night was Brian Kendrick. Fast forward to now and nothing has really improved since then. The quality of the matches are only part of the problem.
The main issue is that the fans STILL have no reason to care about the Cruiserweight wrestlers.
#2 Alicia Fox is NOT relevant and NEVER will be
The introduction of one more hour of programming gave the WWE a chance to actually build storylines for the Cruiserweights. The wrestlers could also get the chance to show their personalities on the mic, which is something they had not been able to do on Raw.
However, the main storyline they opted to run with was a love triangle involving Alicia Fox, Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar.
Alicia Fox was the worst possible choice for this. Firstly, she isn’t relevant, meaning the perception of the Cruiserweights was that they are irrelevant and secondly, she is almost 6 feet tall, which highlights how small the Cruiserweights were.
Finally, Alicia Fox is one of the worst actresses in the history of the WWE. Her poorly played crazy gimmick is a huge turn off, and the last things fans needed was yet another reason to not watch 205 Live.
#3 Kota Ibushi turned them down
Ibushi seemed to be destined to be a big star in WWE and was a talent that the company desperately wanted to have on their roster. He looked WWE-bound since he first left Japan, and when he was announced for the CWC, he looked like the overwhelming favourite to win it all.
Then, he failed to sign with the company.
Ibushi would have had the star power and would have been unique enough to give 205 a different feel and maintain the feel of the Cruiserweight Classic. Unfortunately, he refused to sign and TJ Perkins was made Champion instead.
Perkins has never been accepted as a legitimate star by the audiences and has certainly lacked the x-factor needed to carry the division. It’s a shame that WWE didn’t opt to replace Ibushi with the more charismatic Neville from day one.
Instead, the division simply died, with Neville only added later to the mix in an attempt to salvage it.
#4 Finn Balor is a priority
At 190 pounds and 5’10, people are likely to question why Finn Balor is going toe-to-toe with top stars like Brock Lesnar, while he is the same size as the Cruiserweights on the SAME SHOW.
The Cruiserweights are now considered change-the-channel TV and it will damage Finn Balor to be associated with these wrestlers, most of whom he has previously worked with.
This wasn’t an issue when Daniel Bryan was being pushed, as there was no other division for him to wrestle in. However, Finn Balor will clearly be seen as a Cruiserweight who is battling the top stars.
It would be best for his career to not showcase him and the Cruiserweights on the same brand. Anti-Balor WWE fans will instantly use the line, “he looks like a Cruiserweight” as soon as he pushed. Ric Flair already alluded to this on his podcast the night after Finn Balor debuted on Raw
According to Flair, Bálor is too physically small to main event a WrestleMania, as no Cruiserweight will ever headline a WrestleMania. Flair said:
"If I'm looking at what's going to draw money, what I would pay to see, I would pay to see Dolph against Ambrose before I'd pay to see Finn Bálor against Seth Rollins, so I think it's phenomenal. I think Finn Bálor is great too.
I just think you've got a legitimate heavyweight in Seth Rollins, a legitimate heavyweight in Roman Reigns, and I don't think we'll ever see the day, and I could be totally wrong, that a Cruiserweight will ever main event a WrestleMania.”
And as unfortunate as that might sound, Flair is probably right.
#5 Nothing like the Cruiserweight Classic
The matches in the Cruiserweight Classic were entertaining and the structure of the tournament made every bout matter.
With an intimate setting, smart fans in the audiences, ample time to lay out the best matches possible and no limitations in terms of wrestling styles, the Cruiserweight Classic thrived.
However, 205 Live and the Cruiserweight segments on Raw are nothing like that.
Recreating the success of the Cruiserweight Classic was never going to be easy. Especially when the Cruiserweights were only given ten minutes a week to build up feuds and storylines.
The most significant differences are:
- The segments are goofy and meaningless, with indie talents who can’t act and deliver their overly-scripted lines poorly. They are not ready for WWE-style TV segments, - The matches are much shorter, with huge limitations, so that the WWE main event talents aren’t upstaged.- Nobody cares about the characters, as fans have been given no reason to care, unlike the great videos and packages on the Cruiserweight Classic.- Mauro and Daniel Bryan were established as the popular voices of the CWC. Therefore, the show was a better fit for SD Live, where Bryan is currently the GM and Mauro is on commentary.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
