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Post by ________ has left the building on Nov 24, 2014 12:31:34 GMT -5
I would rather they just put the cruiserweight teams in the regular tag division instead of separating them. At the time, WCW's regular tag division was in the dumps. Adding new teams would did more good than saying they aren't big enough to hang with the real men. Yeah, and then they would have been jobbed to Team Canada and whatever team Chuck Palumbo was on that week. The answer was more tag teams, not to merge divisions. The answer to the cruiserweight dilemma was to push cruiserweights. Place emphasis on the cruiserweight division and give them more to work with than "here are two hungry cruiserweights who want to be cruiserweight champion... ohwatamaneuver!" If you treat and call them as cruiserweights, you basically are saying these guys are good but not good enough to hang with the real stars. Some of the bigger stars in pro wrestling today would be considered cruiserweights. People liked the cruisers not because they were undersized. It was because they brought a level of excitement and athleticism not seen in the big men dominated main event. I rather a wrestler get treated like he belongs and hang with anyone than he's good for his kind. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2014 13:27:13 GMT -5
Yeah, and then they would have been jobbed to Team Canada and whatever team Chuck Palumbo was on that week. The answer was more tag teams, not to merge divisions. The answer to the cruiserweight dilemma was to push cruiserweights. Place emphasis on the cruiserweight division and give them more to work with than "here are two hungry cruiserweights who want to be cruiserweight champion... ohwatamaneuver!" If you treat and call them as cruiserweights, you basically are saying these guys are good but not good enough to hang with the real stars. Some of the bigger stars in pro wrestling today would be considered cruiserweights. People liked the cruisers not because they were undersized. It was because they brought a level of excitement and athleticism not seen in the big men dominated main event. I rather a wrestler get treated like he belongs and hang with anyone than he's good for his kind. It really depends on the wrestler. Some were good enough that they transcended a weight division, but most weren't. Most were exciting workers who were on the show because they were exciting workers, not because they looked good, could talk, or were particularly marketable. For every Chris Jericho there are about 5 Billy Kidmans who would be jobbers if it weren't for a division where they could be logically paired against guys comparable to them and protected from the rest of the roster. WCW recognized that Malenko, Guerrero and Jericho were big stars and brought them out of that division, however the division was still necessary for guys like Evan Karagias, Billy Kidman, Blitzkrieg, and the dozens of luchadors who didn't even speak English. |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Nov 24, 2014 14:04:26 GMT -5
I wouldn't say it diminished them at all, guys like Eddie, Rey, Kidman, Jericho, they were some of the most over guys in the company at points while in that division.
It's just a weight class, while some people can move up, but it's just a difference, just like Brock never fought GSP when he was in UFC.
It's not putting someone down to say a guy 5'3 and under 200lbs wrestles in a different weight class to guys almost 2 feet taller and double his weight.
NJPW have done pretty well with their junior heavyweight division and it's tag belts.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Nov 24, 2014 14:16:16 GMT -5
I think it would have been cool had it been the Cruiserweight Tag Team Cup or Cruiserweight tag Team Invitational. Take two cruiserweights who happen to be a great team, and let them winning the tournament would give them some prestige to feud with the other tag teams. They could make it an annual event and have it build or re-build a new team each year.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Nov 24, 2014 14:19:22 GMT -5
I wouldn't say it diminished them at all, guys like Eddie, Rey, Kidman, Jericho, they were some of the most over guys in the company at points while in that division. It's just a weight class, while some people can move up, but it's just a difference, just like Brock never fought GSP when he was in UFC. It's not putting someone down to say a guy 5'3 and under 200lbs wrestles in a different weight class to guys almost 2 feet taller and double his weight. NJPW have done pretty well with their junior heavyweight division and it's tag belts. I'd also throw in how boxing's biggest stars right now would be cruiserweights in wrestling, and when you can establish someone as a breakout star who can beat everyone in their division, then it makes them beating athletes in the next division up a bigger deal, not as a fluke, but for credibility. Look at how Bernard Hopkins beat everybody to the point where they HAD to have him fight in other weight classes. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2014 16:08:38 GMT -5
I remember loving Air Raid when they came in, mostly because they were so great in whatever the main booking sim before EW was. Promotion Wars. And the data you played was data that I created and Air Raid was indeed awesome in it. Only so much you can do with a game that has exactly ONE rating encompassing talent... they were great flyers so... in that game's system, they were effectively as good as anyone in the business. One of the best ways to play the game was to find the talent that had high talent but low popularity so they'd be awesome but cost very little. They fit the bill. Incredibly simple game, but the one and only that beat Adam Ryland at his game. EWD, Promotion Wars' rival game made by Ryland, was very passé and behind the times. Then, Ryland started making games in Basic (instead of Pascal) and hired me and my team away from Adam Jennings and PW and we created EWR. In which the data that comes with the game is mine, also. Lots of you know me thru my work! I still regularly play Promotion Wars |
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Nov 25, 2014 20:34:23 GMT -5
I remember in another thread on here (possibly years ago) someone did a realistic break down of what the roster would be like. I remember it looked like they could have had arguably the best cruiserweight division ever. Not so much for the heavyweights. The biggest name was like Rick Steiner.
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MrElijah
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Post by MrElijah on Nov 26, 2014 15:47:21 GMT -5
Did WCW's cruiserweight tag titles debut before or after the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag titles?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2014 9:22:15 GMT -5
I get that WWE wouldn't have wanted the titles, but I never understood why they weren't unified with the regular tag belts on the last Nitro since they went gonna use them.
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Juice
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Post by Juice on Nov 27, 2014 11:51:56 GMT -5
I had no idea this was a thing. Interesting to say the least. Though I would be against it today. Multiple tag divisions wouldn't work. I like seeing the smaller guys against the hoss. And too many titles on a roster become a complicated prop to entertain. Having a separate brand like Nitro for them would have worked ala the WWE brand split, but on the same show as the regular tag titles someone is eventually getting overshadowed.
Divisions work well with variety. Rather than having a variety of wight classes.
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Sephiroth
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Post by Sephiroth on Nov 29, 2014 8:06:40 GMT -5
Do any other photos of the belts exist?    |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2014 8:23:33 GMT -5
The Cruiserweight tag titles were part of a long-term plan to bring in more guys of the "lighter" weight. Yeah, it seemed to revolve around the same 6-8 guys that were on the roster at the time, but Eric Bischoff was working on a talent exchange with New Japan and a couple of the lower-level feds in that island country, had a deal with Ultimo Dragon's Torymon (?) in Mexico to bring in guys, still on good terms and working with Fit Finlay to infuse some British/European wrestlers, etc.
They weren't meant to headline, but all Cruiserweight titles were brought about to introduce new talent without exposing the size difference and job-match expectations if they were to debut against heavyweights/super-heavyweights. Give them a carrot instead of the stick just because they aren't jacked to the gills and weight 350 pounds.
So Rey Misterio Jr was still stuck there, as was Billy Kidman. You needed "veteran" talent to help out with things the new guys should learn to become the next possible star.
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