WWE has been teasing the transfer of the Cruiserweight Division from RAW to SmackDown Live, after this year’s Survivor Series event. If Kalisto, from SmackDown Live, beats Champion Brian Kendrick, from RAW, he wins the CW Title and brings, not only the title but every man on the cruiserweight roster with him.
It’s a good idea in theory, but is it the best way for WWE to go? There are plenty of ways for this to go very wrong. It could be a great success, but failure could be utterly disastrous.
Here are 5 reasons the Cruiserweights should stay on Monday Night RAW.
#5 There’s more time on RAW
The way things are set up right now, RAW has a full hour of TV time more than SmackDown Live. The blue brand already has some difficulty with time management, and bringing a whole new set of superstars could really cramp up the shows even further.
With teams like American Alpha and The Usos going weeks at a time without appearing and the tag teams champions barely being showcased, adding a whole set of guys and their own title could spell all sorts of disaster.
RAW is able to showcase the Cruiserweights in two different matches on most weeks, and that would be lost, if the division left RAW and headed to SmackDown Live. It’s a shame that the CW division fits in so much better with the ideology of the SmackDown Live brand because there simply is no space for them.
That said, I still hope they end up on the show, out of interest in seeing how they handle it, especially with 205 Live airing on WWE Network directly after the show goes off the air.
#4 Better exposure
Yes, SD Live is still a top-tier WWE television show, but the company has spent many years making it very clear that RAW is the flagship brand. With that in mind, a move from the flagship to the secondary show is almost like a demotion for these men, who have worked so hard and made it to the big time, only to be shunted down the card to the land of the perceived second-best.
Not only that, but the viewership is lower, and the aforementioned time crunch on SD Live, becomes an issue because they will only get one match and probably no backstage segments. Suddenly the already deprived division stands to lose even more resources.
Even though there’s not a whole log going on with the Cruiserweights on RAW, at least the opportunity easily presents itself. There is no such opportunity on SmackDown Live, which could actually lead to the downfall of a whole set of talented wrestlers, who came to RAW with a tonne of momentum.
#3 No Neville
Unless Neville finds himself as part of the Cruiserweight Division this upcoming week on RAW, he may be left on the Red brand alone, while his brethren from the same weight class move away without him. Neville is currently and has been for a very long time, a man without a country.
There’s nowhere for him on RAW, and if the Cruiserweights leave him behind, he may as well just punch his ticket for the train to Braun Strowman’s Squashville.
Neville is not just the kind of guy you build a division around. He's the specific guy that the Cruiserweight Division needs to be built around. He might not be the best “mic worker” in the business, but his natural charisma and amazing in-ring talent make him a no-brainer for being the face of the Cruiserweights. Don’t let this man continue to flounder.
#2 Leaving forces more fillers on RAW
One of the biggest misgivings that RAW is currently guilty of, is time-wasting. There’s a tonne of filler segments on the show because they don’t know how to properly structure their three hours, without losing their minds.
If the Cruiserweight Division skips town, that means we’re all going to be stuck with even more Golden Truth, Shining Stars and Titus O’Neil segments.
WWE has a roster of at least ten men who could be used to fill up space and time on the show, and they are all guys who can use their in-ring ability to rope-in a bored crowd, instead of making them want to head to the bathrooms or the parking lot early.
It is mind-boggling that with all the time they waste that WWE doesn’t let the Cruiserweights have more than sub-10 minutes matches every week.
If they move to SmackDown, that opportunity is out of the window, and we will be left with even more Goldust and R-Truth matches!
#1 Opportunities for Growth
The biggest thing that RAW can do for the Cruiserweights would be giving them the entire first hour of the show, similar to what WCW did when they initially brought in the Luchadores in the mid-1990s is a luxury that SmackDown doesn’t have, due to lack of time.
The great thing about this, is that it gives the wrestlers a structured opportunity to move up the roster. The CW division is kept solely from 8pm to 9pm, so when one of the members of that division appears somewhere else on the show, it’s a big deal.
Whether it is a match for the Cruiserweight Title or one of the Cruiserweights getting an opportunity at a different singles title, it’s great because it adds a whole new dynamic to Monday Night RAW.
You also get to give the guys time separate from the rest of the roster, for the crowd to latch onto some of them. It’s something that worked for a guy like Rey Mysterio, who did all of his talking with his wrestling. The crowd loved him and he eventually moved up the ladder and became a star outside of the Cruiserweights.
That could happen to any of these guys. They just need the chance, and SmackDown cannot provide that right now.
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