RJ's Two Cents - WWE 205 Live

By RJ Marceau
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​When the WWE announced during the summer that they were launching an exclusive tournament on the WWE Network for the cruiserweights I was excited. When I became a fan it was the best part of wrestling and why I enjoyed SmackDown over Raw. The CWC was amazing and was the best wrestling for the time it was around. They then announced during the brand extension that the cruiserweights would be on Raw.
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This one was a head scratcher. Cruiserweights made a name in the WWE by electrifying on SmackDown back in 2002 but for some odd reason they decided to put them on Monday Night Raw. Since the cruiserweights have returned it has lost the uniqueness that it once had. The character development is lacking, they are put in random six-man tag team matches and their in ring style is toned down. In 2002, the cruiserweights were unique because technical wrestling was still mainstream wrestling. Now in every match you will see suicide dives and flips. It’s more impressive to see Kevin Owens who weighs over 260 pounds do a flip then a cruiserweight.

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The Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick is a familiar face but the rest of the wrestlers are lacking in character development. They give us no real motivation to invest in a Rich Swann, Tony Nese or Lince Dorado. I love Cedric Alexander but if I didn’t know his ROH work then he would fit in with the rest of these guys.

It was recently announced that the WWE is starting a new WWE Network exclusive show called WWE 205 Live. This show is dedicated to the cruiserweights but they are still exclusively on Raw. The WWE is now adding another weekly hour program after SmackDown now. We have Raw, Smackdown, NXT & WWE 205 Live. I don’t know how this program will work but it seems like an overload of wrestling. If they want to commit to the division then give them the first hour of Raw. 8-9 is exclusively the cruiserweights and 9-11 Monday Night Raw.
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The only way this will work is if they give these guys real character development and feuds other than over the championship. I want the cruiserweights to succeed but another program could lead to massive overexposure.


SEE ALSO: "RJ's Two Cents - Why WWE Must Get Rid of Hell in a Cell as a PPV Concept"