10 Reasons WWE's Cruiserweight Division Isn't Working

by John Bills

1. WWE And Cruiserweight Wrestling Don't Mix

Hornswoggle Cruiserweight Champion Studio
WWE.com

My final point is the most pessimistic of all, but probably the main one that needs making: WWE just has an abysmal history when it comes to booking cruiserweight wrestling. I can't think of a single time a cruiserweight division was booked in any sort of way that had any lasting significance in WWE, and I'm not just talking about Hornswoggle's well-documented final 'reign'.

Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero feuded over the title during which Chavo's dad won the belt. Gregory Helms held the belt for over a year, and had a grand total of zero memorable stories and defences. Jacqueline was champion for 12 days, before losing the belt back to Chavo (who had one hand tied behind his back).

Until the death of Eddie Guerrero, traditional cruiserweights had little chance of upward movement in WWE. Sure, Guerrero and Chris Jericho won world championships in the company, but this was long after they had transcended the weight division and bulked up considerably.

Until shown evidence to the contrary, WWE will always book cruiserweight wrestling as a distraction at best, a comedic sideshow at worst. Vince McMahon and cruiserweight wrestling simply don't mix.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.