10 Biggest WWE Creative Mistakes Of 2016

4. The Entire Cruiserweight Approach

From the moment they debuted on Raw, WWE’s Cruiserweight division has been a complete creative flop. Their first mistake came from introducing the division without its champion, TJ Perkins, who was white-hot after winning the Cruiserweight Classic. It has been a hot mess ever since, and while the Cruisers now have their own Network show, 205 Live has offered little hope that the situation will ever improve.

For whatever reason, WWE have the Cruiserweights wrestling like nothing more than smaller heavyweights. Instead of showcasing their speed and agility, the Cruisers spend most of their time working restholds and slowing the pace. They’ll throw the odd dive or two into the equation, but that’s it: there’s very little to differentiate them from the company’s other wrestlers, and thus, little reason to pay attention to them.

The lack of character development is unforgivable, though. Rich Swann is building some popularity on his own, but TJ Perkins’ goofy video game gimmick has killed him, and Brian Kendrick’s redemption story died the moment he begged Perkins to let him win. Nobody outside the main title program is ever given a chance to cut a significant promo or let their character grow, and this it impossible to get invested in them.

Creative have botched what should’ve been an exciting niche division, and barring a hard reset, there’s little that can be done to salvage it.