7 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 9)
5. Cruiserweights Compressed
Every week, this column keeps practically begging that WWE give the cruiserweights a little more time and a little more opportunity to shine in the ring. Let them fly around a little and do something that lets them stand out a little.
Instead, we might get a couple highspots, a chinlock and then a quick go-home flurry. That’s about it. Jack Gallagher/Drew Gulak and Neville/Lince Dorado had brief matches that had their own little charm, but both were too short to be anything more than window dressing for the ongoing storylines involving Gallagher and Neville. Nothing in either match really wowed the crowd, though you could hear them get into the bouts for brief moments.
It’s not like this is rocket science. WWE did a smart thing by separating the cruiserweights from the rest of the roster, so we don’t see Braun Strowman mowing through three of them in a handicap match each week.
But even though that would happen in WCW, the former company knew how to let the lightweights fly around and dazzle the crowds. That division gave us Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Shane Helms and others. It just feels like WWE is compressing its cruiserweight division into a tiny, nondescript package.