10 Ideas WWE Blatantly STOLE From WCW
7. The Cruiserweight Division Template
What was the Light-Heavyweight Title if not a bid to claim some of the thunder WCW had with their own Cruiserweight belt? The WWF introduced a Light-Heavyweight Title tournament in late-1997, a mere month after Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero had torn the roof off the MGM Grand at Halloween Havoc '97.
There's no way that was a coincidence.
Rey vs. Eddie was just the latest example of everything right with high-flying action over on the WCW side, and the McMahon family wanted a piece. Bruce Prichard has pretty much admitted via his podcast that the WWF fancied grabbing some of that success by booking international workers like Taka Michinoku, Aguila and Pantera.
This is a rare example of something WWE lifted from WCW but executed poorly. The Light-Heavyweight strap felt less-than compared to WCW's Cruiserweight gold, and everybody knew it. Still, that doesn't change the fact they lifted the idea from elsewhere.