10 Ways WWE Are Still Stuck In The Past
9. Lacklustre Cruiserweights
WWE have always had a bad record when it comes to lighter weight classes. Their old Light Heavyweight division was just a cheap knock-off of WCW’s highly-successful Cruiserweights, and was never treated as anything more than an afterthought. Things didn’t get much between when WWE merged the Light Heavyweight Title with the WCW belt in November 2001 either, and the fact that Hornswoggle served as the final champion says everything about WWE’s disregard for the style.
WWE revived the division last year, and while the Cruiserweight Classic built plenty of enthusiasm for the relaunch, there was always the danger WWE would return to their old ways. Sadly, this is exactly what they’ve done, and the Cruiserweight Division has fast become one of the least important parts of the modern WWE product.
The company’s inability to book high-flyers is alive and well in 2017. 205 Live presents a group of once-exciting wrestlers working with clipped wings. Their styles have been toned down, there’s little to no character development outside of Neville, and no crowd investment as a result. WWE could have had something special on their hands after the CWC, but seem determined to repeat the mistakes of old instead.