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What About The Cruiserweights"
February 15, 2006 by Michael Gilmour

Hello and G'day to all the people reading this column. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael Gilmour and I'm from Australia. I'm just going to talk a little about the Cruiserweight Division on Smackdown!

First thing that pops in my mind when I hear Cruiserweight Division I think..."What is Vince McMahon thinking putting the Cruiserweight Division only on Velocity"" These Cruiserweights are some of the most talented wrestlers on earth. They fly around the ring and they amaze the fans in doing so. WWE, as you have probably realised by now, are obviously biased towards smaller wrestlers and make them wrestle on the lower rating shows or not at all.

To make things worse, the best part about Cruiserweights - the high flying, high risk moves are now all apparently banned by Vince McMahon. Cruiserweights are not allowed to do 450s, Shooting Star Press, Moonsaults etc. From what I have read, Vince has said he doesn't think it is worth it putting their life in danger, which is of course a very safe thing to do but as you know that's what some Cruiserweights can only offer us in wrestling style. We are not going to see Cruiserweights pick up a guy over his head and body slam him like Chris Masters. This is what Paul London thought as well a few months back, when Vince made this rule. London was Cruiserweight Champion at that time and went into Vince's office to talk about the Cruiserweight Division and its new no high risk rule. Maybe a week of two later London lost the Cruiserweight Championship on Velocity!!! To Nunzio, a man who does not do high risk moves anyway. I'm guessing that meeting with Vince did not go well at all.

In my opinion, the people want to see something they have not seen before. (Am I right"") Look at TNA's X-Division. The X-Division is encouraged to make high risk moves, because that's want people want to see and that's what boosts up ratings. AJ Styles, wow! That man is a human highlight reel. Every time he steps into that ring he puts on a great match and does something the fans have not seen before. Vince needs to wake up and let these Cruiserweights take over Smackdown! and let them do their thing in the ring.

With Gregory Helms winning the Cruiserweight Championship at the Royal Rumble (which was a KICK A** MATCH) it seems like Kid Kash and Gregory Helms have started some sort of Cruiserweight storyline on Smackdown! We could hopefully see some Cruiserweight action on a weekly basis on Smackdown! but then again I could be wrong, they might have a couple of matches then back to Velocity. I'm sorry if anyone disagrees with me on this, but those are my thoughts. If you disagree, you're welcome to email me to tell me your thoughts.

Well anyway, that's my column; hope you enjoyed it, if you didn't" Oh well tough luck. If you have any questions or maybe you just want to chat about wrestling, email me at [email protected]

by Michael Gilmour

Andrew Betts wrote:
i agree 100% VKM is in love with guys that are big weather they can wrestle or not look at some of the guys on top all of them with the exception of Carlito and HBK are all 6'4" or taller and 245 or bigger and most of that muscle mass is artificial i.e. steriods and hgh (human growth hormone) and the guys under the VKM standard get shoved to the C-D level shows and then to ban high risk moves for those guys it's kinda hyocritcal on one hand a guy like Kane is expected to go up top and Paul London is baned from using the 450 splash so why make a big name star do high risk moves on a nightly basis and ban a smaller guy from using those same high risk moves i think VKM is slowly trying to kill off the CW division so he can have more gimmick matches and make this Juniors divsion work if the currnent trend keeps up all the CW's will get fired or quit i'd we have a year maybe two left of the CW divsion

Aidan O' Connor wrote:
This is a well-structured informal article that presents a clear point, where have the crusierweights gone" The wrestlers themselves are present but they are not given any flagship tv time. True, some high flying moves are banned, but mainly for good reasons. Eg 1. Moonsault - Kurt Angle attempted a moonsault on Hardcore Holly a few yers ago, however, Holly's forearm wound up shattered and now contains a steel plate. Eg 2. Shooting Star Press - Billy Kidman used the manoeuvre on Chavo Guerrero during his time in WWE and knocked Chavo out for 5 minutes by landing his knee on Chavo's head giving him a serious concussion that almost ended his carrer. Eg 3. 450 Splash - Not many people know this but during an edition of Smackdown Juvi Guerrera did a 450 splash on Paul London and landed right on London's head (not as serious but could have done real damage). Charisma is also an issue and something that very few crusierweights possess and results in the lack of storylines surrounding the division. However, there is one superstar that proves Vince McMahon isn't against crusierweight athletes - Rey Mysterio - one of the smallest crusierweights there is and the best, The guy has innovative moves that he can execute safely, skills with promos and an attitude/gimmick that gets him over with the fans and because of these he has earned a main event spot. And he won the Royal Rumble setting a record in the match's history (1hr 2mins). For these reasons, I understand why Vince can't push the CW division too hard, but maybe moving the Juniors to Velocity and the CWs to Smackdown! could make the difference. Then again, how about making Velocity a Crusierweight only show giving storylines, more superstars etc! Remember this, anything can happen in the WWE.

SEAN M. SULLIVAN wrote:
The whole problem with the Cruiserweight Division is the same problem they had with the Light Heavyweight Division.... the fan interest is not there, due in part to Vince s poor promotion of the division. While I agree the Cruiserweight division is finally starting to get more push now, you have to wonder just exactly how much push it's getting. Most of the Cruiserweight matches are last minute add on matches for PPV's with no storyline buildup at all which is why fans could care less about them. I personally love the cruiserweights, especially London, Kendrick, Helms & Kid Kash. I also agree with Mark Patai who said one thing that is killing the division is the short title reigns. While I love Helms, in order for the division to be given some credibility, Kid Kash should've held the belt for much longer than he did. Nunzio sucked as a champion & I cant believe they had him beat Juventud for the title. I also agree with Navin who said that giving Jacquelyn the title was a great idea. The only thing the WWE did wrong was not run with that. having her lose the belt back to Chavo that quickly was a bad idea. Add in the factor of firing awesome talent like Kidman & Ultimo Dragon, who couldve taken the WWE by storm, and theres yet another reason why the Cruiserweight division is not as good as it could be. Ultimo Dragon is an outstanding wrestler who is a marvel to watch, in my opinion, even better than Rey Mysterio. This is the problem with the Women's division as well. Commenting on something Mark Patai said that the Women's division has sunk to a low, I personally LOVE women's wrestling, but the same thing that happened here with the Cruiserweights is what happened with the women. Vince fired all the top notch WRESTLERS like Ivory, Molly Holly, Jazz, Nidia, Gail Kim & Jacquelyn, yet decided to keep fluff like Christy, Maria, Candice etc. I also have to disagree with one thing Mr. Patai said, saying that Trish & Mickie James are the only wrestlers left in the Women's Division..... have you forgotten about Victoria""" And even tho she's managing Edge, Lita is still in the WWE. In order for these divisions to be taken seriously, they need feuds and storylines just like the heavyweights, otherwise no one is gonna care. No more last minute thrown together matches, no more " we want puppies", bring me some good old fashioned WRESTLING!!

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