What’s the story?
Based on a story on stillrealtous.com, there are rumours circulating that WWE may possibly be dropping the Cruiserweight division from Monday Night Raw altogether.
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The Cruiserweight division became a reality in WWE after the conclusion of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic last summer. It was announced that the division would be exclusive to the Monday Night Raw brand.
The announcement was made on the July 18, 2016 episode of Raw just before the Draft occurred on Smackdown the next night.
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The heart of the matter
If the rumours are to be believed, Vince McMahon is about to rid Monday Night Raw of the Cruiserweight Division entirely because of the poor ratings that they have been garnering since their debut on the WWE’s flagship show in September of 2016.
Cruiserweight matches have been cut down drastically in regards to the time that they’re given on Monday Night Raw, which could be an indicator that the end of the Cruiserweight Division’s stay on Monday Nights could be imminent.
Also read: WWE Rumours: WWE to tone down Cruiserweight division
It won’t be the end of the Cruiserweights in WWE, however. It’s expected that 205 Live will be continuing, due to Triple H’s heavy involvement with the show. It’s also viewed as a viable asset to the WWE Network, as they need as much exclusive live programming as they can possibly produce.
What’s next?
Only time will tell if the Cruiserweight Division will continue to be a part of Monday Night Raw, as there is no concrete information about the fate of the 205-pound and under division yet.
Sportskeeda’s take
Based on how the Cruiserweights have been presented on Raw, we are not surprised that this rumour is gaining steam.
We think a lot of what is missing from the WWE Cruiserweight Division is what made the WCW Cruiserweight Division so successful. When your average wrestling fans think about Cruiserweights, they think about spectacular high-flying manoeuvres and fast-paced action in the ring, overall.
What we’ve been presented, as far as the WWE Cruiserweight Division is concerned, are flashes of that style, but nothing concrete.
A lot of Cruiserweights use submission finishing manoeuvres, including three of the four champions in the short history of the WWE Cruiserweight Division (TJ Perkins’ kneebar, Brian Kendrick’s Captain’s Hook, and Neville’s modified Rings of Saturn manoeuvre).
Sure, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and Ultimo Dragon all used submission moves as finishers, but they also kept up the pace in the ring before slapping on their finishing holds.
The wrestling should be the most important thing for these smaller wrestlers, and when they’re not given a proper chance to showcase what they can do in the ring, they’re certainly not going to get the type of reaction that can sustain a division.
If the division is to survive at all, they’ve got to take the leash off of the wrestlers and let them actually do what they’re capable of.
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