In the U.S, the WCW cruiserweight division was an elite collection of talent. It had some of the best stars and up-and-comers from North America, Europe, and Japan come through it. For the most part, the division has a roll call of champions that would be hard to dispute.
However, WCW mismanaged it in some ways. There weren’t many hiccups with the booking since it was presented as a purely competitive title for half of its duration. Once WCW began mixing in actual storylines things started to mixed. Depending on who was involved the title lost a little of its luster while the division was still really good.
What Was Done Right With the WCW Cruiserweight Division
The talent signed was the best the main thing WCW did right. While interviews in the past decade or so have pointed out that there were too many guys or the masked guys made it hard to show emotion, the WCW cruiserweight division was the most consistent part of the show.
Along with whatever was going on with the Television title, the cruiserweight held down that first hour and some of the second. Since those masks could prove a problem in conveying emotion, the cruiserweights mixed crisp, fast-paced mat work with dynamic high flying. And by 90s and early 00s standards, a lot of this stuff was futuristic.
The rest of the roster was doing stuff you’d already seen if you were a wrestling fan for a while. For those of us who hadn’t gotten into the tape trade yet or didn’t have access to ECW, this stuff was mind-blowing. Once Nitro went two hours, those guys were doing the product a huge favor. It made WCW stand out from WWE’s in-ring product which was similar but with a younger crew.
And Now WCW Drops The Ball
One area where WCW failed was in presenting actual characters early on. The cruiserweights were mainly highly skilled athletes who squared off in lengthy exhibition matches that were often good or great. However, when you leave them at that, you could just run them on Saturday Night. It’s kind of why Brian Pillman wanted to move beyond the Light Heavyweight division.
Things were like that until Syxx, a member of the new World order took the title in 1997. He presented a threat not only in the ring but by his association with the dominant faction. Waltman was too short-lived in WCW. Once he bounced, Eddie’s run and Jericho’s heel turn made for interesting stories in the WCW cruiserweight division.
Outside of that, the title was involved in storylines depending on who was holding it. Often times, the champion was involved in some other story where the title wasn’t a focus but something of prize because “Hey, you’ve got that belt.”
The other area WCW messed up in was running the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team title ultra late. I mean, the belt was around for a week and it was established right before the company closed. What? Why bother? The best time for WCW to create the belt would’ve been 1997 or 1998 when the company had a beefy roster and the cruiserweight division was beefy itself.
New Japan’s IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team title was the inspiration for the title and that company didn’t have the largest junior division. It was sizable. While there were departures in this time, WCW could’ve had a strong tag division for the belt!
I loved the idea for the belt but it came far too late. Some of WCW’s decisions never cease to confuse.
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