8 Ways WWE Can Build Interest In 205 Live
With a few quick fixes, WWE can save their struggling brand.
WWE's Cruiserweight division isn't in great shape at the moment.
205 Live has increased in quality throughout 2017, but it has struggled to build a following since its inception, and remains WWE's most disposable weekly show. 205 regularly draws dismal Network viewing figures, and the live audience are often quiet and unengaged, with most performers barely eliciting a reaction as they walk down the ramp.
Last year's Cruiserweight Classic was a critical success, but the lighter weight class isn't prospering as a full-time affair. This is partly down to WWE abandoning some of the aspects that made the CWC so refreshing in the first place, but 205 Live's problems run far deeper, and it's hard to imagine the show improving until they're addressed.
What's disappointing is that guys like Neville are currently putting in some of the best work of their career, but nobody's watching. The good news is that WWE aren't blind to the problem, and have at least acknowledged the need to increase 205's interest levels.
Their current solution involves bringing the likes of Sasha Banks and Titus O'Neil into the mix, and while it'll take a lot more than that to turn this ship around, the company aren't short of options...
8. Exciting Raw Showcases
Though 205 Live is the Cruiserweight division’s main outlet, Raw has been its parent brand since last year’s revival. The ropes turn purple for a varying period of time every Monday, with 205’s stars hitting the ring to sell main roster audiences on the Tuesday night show, and hopefully leave a strong enough impression to convince them to tune in.
Unfortunately, these showcases aren’t having the desired effect. Raw’s Cruiserweight matches are typically short resthold-fests that do little to further the participants’ angles, and rarely allow them to demonstrate the full range of their abilities. There’s nothing differentiating them from any other lower/mid-level match on the show, which defeats their purpose in the first place.
Instead of mailing it in with Raw’s Cruiserweight content, WWE should be handing them at least 10-12 minutes to produce the night’s most athletically exciting match every week. Brian Kendrick slapping Noam Dar in a headlock isn’t going to sell anyone on 205, but a breathless, all-action six-man tag or singles clash almost certainly would, and while this point ties-in with one of the division’s greatest problems (WWE’s in-ring restrictions), Raw is 205’s biggest advertising platform, and should be maximised.