WWE Raw’s Cruiserweight Division Will Boost the Ratings

The Cruiserweight Division made its highly anticipated debut on WWE Raw, and right from the start, it stole the show.

Less than a week after the Cruiserweight Classic finale, we saw four men make the step up to Raw and immediately they showed the WWE Universe what they have been missing. During what was another downer episode of Raw, the Cruiserweight Division made an immediate statement of intent. The sub 205 pounders are here to steal the show and give the rest of the Raw roster a hard act to follow.

The CWC was something of an open tryout for 32 of the best-unsigned cruiserweights in the world. Every single one of them made an impact, and the best were signed up to fill out the Cruiserweight Division on Raw. So far we have seen four of those men, and they stood head and shoulders above the majority of the rest of the action on Raw.

But what happened was only what people who had watched the CWC knew would happen. Allowing some of the best in-ring talents in the world to go at it, without having their hands tied behind their backs, was only going to end in the way it did.

In the last few weeks, Raw has dropped off in terms of being the better of the two shows. With the great strides that SmackDown has made since the WWE Draft, Raw needed something to give them a shot in the arm. The Cruiserweight Division seemingly was destined to do that right from its first announcement.

What was good to see was that the crowd in Memphis seemed to be well into the match, after some far from stellar action leading up to it. At a time when SmackDown appears to easily be becoming the better of the two shows, Raw needs to do everything it can to keep fans interested. The Cruiserweights are the way forward.

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Whilst three hours of Raw feels like a grind to watch every week, seeing the excitement of the high-flying Cruiserweight Division will be a breath of fresh air. As someone who has been a fan of wrestling since the early 1990’s, I remember a time when WCW hit on something fantastic. In the heyday of Monday Nitro, men like Rey Mysterio Jr, Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis and Eddie Guerrero were sent out to get the crowd off to a hot start on  the show every week. It worked a treat, and the Cruiserweights of Nitro stole the show almost every time they stepped into the ring.

That is exactly the same situation we now find the Raw Cruiserweight Division in. TJ Perkins currently holds the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, he can spearhead the charge of what looks set to be an integral part of Raw going forward. If the weekly “flagship show” got off to a frenetic start with a Cruiserweight Division match it would make a stark contrast to the usual formula.

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We don’t need to see a 15 minute, talking segment in the ring, why not have that on the pre-show? Get the show off to a hot start and give these brand new WWE Superstars the platform to show what they can do. Raw needs a remedy to flagging ratings, the Cruiserweight Division can be just what they need!