wcwfan

Styles is one of the greatest that TNA has to offer. He would not fare as well in WWE.

Y2J The King Of The World

I think that anyone who watches WWE on a regular basis and has seen an A.J. Styles match would want him to come to WWE and be featured prominently. But, I think we'd be kidding ourselves to believe that such a thing would happen easily. Rey Mysterio is the only WWE cruiserweight to be given any kind of credibility in the midcard in the last 5 years. While I think A.J. is every bit as good as (if not better than) Rey in the ring, I don't know if he has the character development/mic skills to get that solid of a push in WWE - which is a shame, since he's the sole reason why I even bother to TiVo TNA Impact every week.

That said, I was thinking of a possibility for the cruiserweight division while watching last night's Velocity on TiVo today. What if WWE did an "art imitates life" type of storyline (I'm big on those, for anyone who's read some of my other posts) like this:
- The cruiserweights are subtly used as enhancement talent with heavyweights on Smackdown over the course of a couple of months. There is not a single cruiser vs. cruiser match booked, and frustration is shown on the faces of some of the cruisers when they are booked in matches by Theodore Long.
- Eventually, a group of cruisers are backstage, discussing how they feel that they're being held back and that they're going to go to Theodore Long to demand a main event spot on Smackdown. Long can squash their idea, but give them a "consolation prize" of getting a main event spot on Velocity (a laughable prize, to say the least).
- That week, they should tape Velocity after Smackdown (and continue to do so from that point on), and have a full-blown, crazy, high-flying, spot-filled cruiserweight match to end all other cruiserweight matches.
- The next week on Smackdown, Cole & Tazz could put over the match at the start of the show. Later that same show, have Teddy Long approach the participants in the match (let's say it was Paul London vs. Rey Mysterio), and have him commend them for their great match on Velocity, and then offer them the main event slot on Smackdown for a rematch that week.
- Mysterio and London would "think about it" during the show, and be confronted by other cruisers to tell them to do it, in order to elevate the division. They decide to go ahead with it, and put on another classic match.
- The following week, they go back to Teddy Long to see what he thought of their efforts last week, and he says that they were very impressive. Mysterio and London then pitch an idea to Long about having some other cruiserweight main event that night. Long says he appreciates the input, but he'd rather have a different main event (featuring heavyweights). But, since London and Mysterio were so impressive, he's going to book them in singles matches against prominent stars on Smackdown - London vs. Heidenreich and Mysterio vs. Big Show (or something comparably disproportionate). Both matches would be classic David vs. Goliath type matches, but in the end, both Mysterio and London would lose.
- The next week, Teddy Long would approach London and Mysterio about competing on Smackdown again. They would ask if it was their proposed cruiserweight match from the previous week, but instead, Long would book them into another set of mismatches against heavyweights. During a match between, say London vs. Luther Reigns, the entire cruiserweight roster comes down to the ring and unload on Reigns in a spot fest. They'll get on the mic and stage a protest, that if they aren't "good enough" to be showcased in cruiserweight matches on Smackdown, then they demand to have Velocity all to themselves. Long would come to ringside to try to squash the protest, and says he'll rethink how he's been treating the cruisers on the roster.
- The following week, Long decides to have some kind of "cruiserweight showcase," in which the cruisers each take on a high-level heavyweight star on Smackdown, citing that he feels that they feel underappreciated. The cruisers react negatively towards this, and in each of the first three matches of the show, the entire cruiserweight roster repeats their attack that they did on Luther Reigns the week before, until Teddy Long steps in and agrees to give them Velocity. The cruisers demand a GM for Velocity who they feel is looking for their best interests, and an ex-cruiser (let's say Dean Malenko) is named as the GM of Velocity.
- For the next several months, Velocity would become the cruiserweight showcase, where the matches can be fast-paced, high-flying spotfests (much like TNA's X-Division). Smackdown would plug the Velocity matches in advance, and storylines for the division would develop over time. They could also show gimmick matches on a more regular basis (e.g. ladder matches, etc. - a little edgier than what's currently on WWE TV). At this point, they could try to bring in guys like Amazing Red, Low Ki, Petey Williams, and A.J. Styles to become stars on Saturday nights.
- Over time, under Malenko's guidance, the cruisers would decide that they were better than the Smackdown guys, and invade Smackdown - in order to get two hours of exposure every week instead of one hour on Saturday nights. This could evolve into some sort of PPV, bringing the conflict to a head.

What do you think? Sure, Velocity is the unofficial spot for cruiserweight anyhow, but I think that bringing attention to the division is what's needed, plus, if every Saturday night, viewers knew they could see true cruiserweight matches, they'd show more interest in Velocity. If the matches weren't watered down (like they are now for fear of upstaging the heavyweights), there'd be more quality action going on, and a better reason to watch/care. Additionally, I think that if the division was given that kind of attention, WWE could attract talent like Styles, Williams, Red, and Low Ki.

Dr. Giganto

You know, Y2J...thats a good idea. It reminds me of the good ol days, when every wrestler on the roster had a storyline, instead of HHH and Bradshaw having 5 segments a show

Blitzkrieg

WC Hall Of Famer

I do like it when every wrestler has some sort of storyline, but Hell will have to freeze over before the cruiserweight division in WWE has credibility. Same with both tag championships.