10 Big Lessons WWE Must Learn From 2016
9. Niches Need Identities
The Cruiserweight Classic was a big WWE Network success. It didn’t draw huge audiences, but it was almost universally praised and produced a handful of genuine Match of the Year candidates in its latter stages. The finals had fans salivating at the prospect of these exciting talents eventually hitting the main roster, and TJ Perkins looked like a made man as WWE’s next big babyface.
Sadly, things took a complete U-turn as soon as the Cruisers arrived on Raw. Perkins was buried beneath an awful video game gimmick, the matches were short and toned down, and character development became a myth. A potentially exciting division became listless filler, and while WWE have tried to alleviate this with the introduction of 205 Live, there’s still a lot of work to be done.
This is a niche division, but it lacks character and identity. For the most part, WWE’s Cruiserweights wrestle like smaller versions of WWE’s existing roster members. They’re working restholds, applying holds, and sprinkling in a token dive or two to remind people what the division’s supposed to be about. It’s not enough, however, and if WWE want the division to succeed, they must take the stabilizers off.
People don’t watch Cruiserweight wrestling to see Drew Gulak and Gurv Sihra trade wristlocks: they want fast, fluid, exciting action. Without this, the Cruisers’ only defining characteristic is that they’re shorter than everyone else, and they’ll never split from the pack. Give them their identity back and 205 Live will flourish: otherwise, it’ll be cancelled by January.