The WCW Cruiserweight division was one of the highlights of the company. Every week you could usually count on one or two cruiserweight matches and then they'd get a chance to have long matches too. The storylines weren't really that elaborate. The main guys in the division were Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Psychosis, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Juventud Guerrera and a cocky brash Canadian named Chris Jericho. It was Jericho that brought some interesting storylines into the division and made it more than just a showcase for talented wrestlers to have awesome matches. Jericho really started to take off as a heel in early 1998 while feuding with Mysterio, Malenko, Guerrera and others. He injured Rey, he beat Juventud in a match that led to him removing his mask and did everything to make like difficult for Malenko. There was a great moment where Malenko wrestled as the masked wrestler Cicople only to unmask as Malenko, which led to him winning the Cruiserweight Title from Jericho. What was cool about Jericho's heel run was that he wasn't a part of the NWO like a lot of heels in WCW. He was his own guy that was adding a different dimension to the Cruiserweight division. If you didn't watch WCW and you were wondering why Jericho was so beloved when he got to WWE in 1999 it's because of how entertaining he was in WCW. As a side note, Jericho using Ralphus (a toothless fat guy in a shirt that didn't fit) also added to the greatness of that character.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
