There should NOT be a cruiserweight division. That’s right, I said it. This Summer’s Cruiserweight Classic was a thing of beauty. The tournament produced a couple match of the year candidates. We also got to see guys we thought we would never see in WWE like Kota Ibushi, Tozawa, and Gran Metalik. I looked forward to watching the CWC every week, especially as it got closer to the finals. You would think that since I loved the CWC that I would be thrilled that WWE decided to bring back the cruiserweight division. Wrong. I’m happy that guys like Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann are getting a chance to be highlighted on WWE programming. However, the cruiserweight division shouldn’t be the vehicle to do it. Here are three reasons why there shouldn’t be a cruiserweight division.
1. Size Doesn’t Matter
There was a time in WWE where smaller guys were discriminated against due to their size. Wrestlers weren’t getting in the main event unless they were over six feet and weighed more than 230 lbs. As time moved on WWE’s mindset on smaller wrestlers has changed. We can thank performers like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan for this. Two guys who were viewed as “too small” and who many officials thought had no chance in hell of getting over. They broke the mold and demonstrated that size doesn’t matter, what matters is in ring ability and your ability to connect with the audience. Punk and Bryan proved that cruiserweight sized competitors can not only hang in the main event but be the top stars of the company. They paved the way for guys like Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor. A cruiserweight division forces all these guys to compete within a weight limit. In my eyes, that reverses all the work Punk and Bryan did. Now guys like Cedric, Tozawa, and Gran Metalik have less of a chance of being pushed pass the division.
2. Wrestling Has Evolved
Just like everything in life wrestling has evolved. The reason the cruiserweight division was so great in the 90s was because they wrestled a completely different style than the heavyweights. The unique high-flying offense made the 90s cruiserweights must watch TV. Guys like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Chris Jericho proved that not only were they great cruiserweights, but they were great wrestlers. Their style inspired the next generation of wrestlers. The “cruiserweight style” began to be implemented as the norm in promotions such as Ring of Honor and TNA. You no longer needed a division to showcase the “cruiserweight style”. You can watch any great match from a promotion and see some great high flying action. Today in WWE you have great high flyers such as Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and Sami Zayn who can go move to move with any of the cruiserweights. The only thing that makes the cruiserweight division stand out from everything else are the purple ropes, graphics, and lighting. The cruiserweights should not be pigeonholed into a division.
3. You Can’t Get Everyone Over At Once
It’s hard enough trying to get one person over. WWE is trying to get close to twenty guys over at once. This leads to a lot of 50/50 booking and nobody getting over. WWE would have an easier time getting these guys over if they were in NXT and then called up one by one. The big challenge moving forward is getting the fans invested in all the cruiserweights and creating new stars.