The Case Of The Cruiserweights & 205 Live In 2018

Pre-Show’d (Again)

Last year Austin Aries and Neville tore it up on the pre-show, but their placement on the show, and lack of representation on the WrestleMania 33 DVD, was reported by PWInsider to possibly be one of the reasons why Neville walked out just a few months after. At the time, Neville was on top of his game and put on some of the best heel work in the company, but the constant lack of respect of his abilities led to the issue we currently have; No Neville and no hard confirmations for his return.

It seems WWE learned nothing from 2017 and sadly, this year the cruiserweight championship match once again occurred on the WrestleMania pre-show. The match itself proved that cruiserweight competition can be exceptional in front of a WrestleMania crowd. You would think that WWE would give Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali at least a 10 minute slot on the main card for a few logical reasons:

1. Give the competitors a reward for their hard work in the title tournament
2. Help 205 Live achieve the legitimacy it desperately needs (so they can make money off it)
3. Expose the fast-pace cruiserweight match style to a mass audience

Conclusions

The WrestleMania card was understandably jam packed with matches this year, but a spot for the cruiserweights on that bill would have done quite a lot for the division and for the experience of the two guys in the match.

Either way, if WWE wants to bring eyes to the WWE Network every Tuesday night after SmackDown for even more programming, they have to make the fans actually care about who is on the show. The additions of Hideo Itami may help, but if WWE does nothing to legitimize the product, the viewership will remain on a plateau until they pull the plug. The cruiserweights deserve a main card WrestleMania match in the future, as well as more high profile opportunities in 2018, and there’s no good reason to keep them stifled.