In March of 2008, the Cruiserweight Championship — and with it, the Cruiserweight division — was put to rest, ending a history that dates back to 1991. A year when Brian Pillman defeated Richard Morton in a tournament to be crowned the first ever Champion of that division. At the time, it was known as the Light-Heavyweight Championship in WCW and was a separate entity from the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
History lesson aside, the Cruiserweight division was a spectacle in its own accord. It gave talent that weren’t exactly large in stature to show to the world that what they lacked in size, they more than made up for it in ring ability. It was their own platform to showcase the ability to be larger than life and wow the crowd with quick-paced, high-flying action.
Since 2008, the WWE has sorely missed this kind of television. We are six years removed from the division’s demise and there is no hope at this current time for a resurrection. The proof is there in black and white with the releases of talent like Yoshi Tatsu and Evan Bourne, two wrestlers who couldn’t make WWE programming if their lives depended on it, yet two men that had what it took to entertain an audience. Bourne had a unique blend of quickness, high flying and an assault of kicks that he used frequently. His shooting star press was executed to perfection every time he hit the top rope. Tatsu brought the disciplined Japanese style with kicks, technical ability and an array of suplexes.
Both these men fall well under the 215 pound weight limit to qualify for the Cruiserweight Division of old. Some others that qualify are: Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Justin Gabriel, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio (when he’s healthy), Sin Cara, Tyson Kidd, Xavier Woods and Zack Ryder. Even guys like Heath Slater (216 pounds) and Seth Rollins (217 pounds) could eat a little less red meat to shed the few pounds to be able to qualify — although Rollins is less likely now granted his big push is currently underway. All the men mentioned above offer a wide variety of different offensive strategy
Even in NXT, you have men like Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, Corey Graves and the current NXT Champion Adrian Neville that all qualify for a Cruiserweight division. Heck, there are wrestlers not even linked with the WWE currently that could make the jump and be an instant threat, like Kenta Kobayashi, who received a WWE try-out and has been rumoured to be finishing up in Japan to join the WWE. Had there been a legitimate division for him to participate in, we could have been treated to a match between Kenta and Evan Bourne or Yoshi Tatsu, instead of the three of them sitting on the outside looking in.
Case in point; If you tuned into NXT this week, you witnessed a match between Tyson Kidd and Adrian Neville, a match for the NXT Championship. That match could have easily taken place in a WWE ring and both these men could easily have been fighting for a different Championship. The match had high-flying, fast-paced action but it also did not lack in some strong story-telling, especially on Kidd’s part and a nice addition by Natalya by ringside. Something like this is what is missing in the WWE right now. It’s nice to have it on NXT but it will look that much better in the WWE and will mean more to the young career of Neville if he is holding a Cruiserweight Championship on his shoulder. And it would certainly have made the PPV card stronger than an El Torito/Hornswoggle repeat.
What does the WWE have to lose? Every single name mentioned above who appear on the main roster are either not being used at all or for the sole purpose of being squashed in the ring. While I’m sure fans haven’t had enough of Kingston being beaten by Bo Dallas or Ryder tapping out to Rusev’s camel clutch, I’m almost positive that they would rather see their talents utilized differently. A chance is all they need. Instead of Ziggler being the guy that gets scraps, have him as one of the bigger names in the Cruiserweight division. Give him a title run or two. The only thing that WWE stands to lose by giving these men a match or two in the five hours of weekly television they put out is twenty minutes, give or take. When you think of some of the non-sensical material that gets thrown out there every week, is it so much to ask to have a division chalk-full of talent and excitement instead?
I hear you though. Loud and clear. But if guys like Zayn and Neville are reduced to wrestling for a low-end Championship, they’ll never amount to anything. I’ll easily point you to such names as Chris Jericho (who became the first ever Undisputed WWE Champion), Rey Mysterio (former WWE Champion and two-time World Heavyweight Champion) and Eddie Guerrero (former WWE Champion). You can even add Christian if you consider the WWF Light Heavyweight title. They are the exception a list of others who never reached that level but who are we to assume that a Sami Zayn can’t reach the same level Jericho, Mysterio and Guerrero have?
The point is this; when you see a wrestler with a Championship on their shoulder or around their waist, it’s commonly linked to that wrestler being successful. If you are a Tag Team Champion, you are the BEST tag team in the company. If you are the WWE Champion, you are the best SINGLES wrestler in the company. To be a Cruiserweight Champion, you are the best of your weight class and that means something to your career. Most importantly, it gives a platform to both the wrestlers who are sparsely used as well as the wrestlers on the rise that are ready to jump from NXT to the WWE.
Instead of adding them to the main roster and eventually trailing off because there isn’t much left for them, bring back a division in which they can compete in and have something to fight for. Something the bigger boys like a Wade Barrett or a Sheamus cannot touch.
It’s time to bring back the Cruiserweight Championship.
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