7 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Sept 19)

1. Revisionist History

Someone is going to have to explain the gyrations and rotations WWE went through to get to the point that they can announce TJ Perkins as the “first-ever” WWE Cruiserweight Champion. It’s quite the display of verbal back-bending.

Of course, to anyone who has followed wrestling for more than five years, this claim is preposterous, and those fans are well aware of the Cruiserweight Championship last held by Hornswoggle in 2007 before it was mercy-killed. That title traced its roots to WCW before coming over to the then-WWF, which then became WWE in 2002, thus making it the *ahem* WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

So how can WWE legitimately claim that the title Perkins won last week is a new title? When the United States and Intercontinental Championships were restarted in the 2000s, their lineages continued from their previous existences. Is WWE claiming that the different weight class (the old version was capped at 215 or 220 pounds, and this version tops out at 205 pounds) means this is a new title? Or because the title was inactive for nearly a decade, WWE is just starting over?

Whatever the case might be, it’s a little shady to just brush the old Cruiserweight Championship off by claiming Perkins is the “first-ever” champ. Guys like Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Billy Kidman and Eddie Guerrero deserve better.