My latest column for upgruv.com is about the Cruiserweights and why they don’t work on RAW or SmackDown in this era of pro wrestling. Here’s an excerpt:
To comprehend the challenging dynamic WWE’s cruiserweights are facing, it helps to take a look at the WWE Universal champion. That would be Kevin Owens.
Owens can move and fly given his size. He’s not alone amongst the WWE’s heavyweights, either. From Seth Rollins to A.J. Styles to almost the entire group of main-event talent on RAW and Smackdown LIVE!, suicide dives and moonsaults are commonplace — almost as routine as a wrist lock.
Good for Owens and the like. No good for the 205-pound and under wrestlers who make up the cruiserweight division.
What’s so special?
Here is how we know the cruiserweights are on our TVs:
Purple ring ropes. A different ring mat. They’re all subject to a weight requirement.
Beyond those branding features, the division has a lot of talented athletic guys who otherwise aren’t in a position to matter. They are are identified as the smallest wrestlers, but seems derogatory in a day and age when every big boy (or woman) on the roster can do what used to make the little men stand out.
The decision to launch a cruiserweight-specific show on WWE Network was best for business to maintain any value remaining in the Cruiserweight brand. This will be their program, free of competition from more popular and bigger performers who have tended to diminish the cruiserweights since they started showing up on RAW.
If nothing else, the cruiserweights will finally be in a main event.
TJ Perkins, Tony Nese, Rich Swann, Cedrick Alexander and others signed for this division all have strong followings on the Internet. Theirs are fans who consumes more pro wrestling than the average person. Their fans are likely to bring new subscribers to the WWE Network.
CLICK HERE to read more on why they worked in WCW in the 90s, the best Cruiserweight WWE has and how to get the most success out of them moving forward.
