WWE: Mustafa Ali Opens Doors For Every Cruiserweight On The Roster

Mustafa Ali has officially joined the WWE SmackDown roster. Since returning as a division in WWE, the cruiserweights were largely treated as a sideshow. Slowly but surely that is beginning to change, and Ali is an example of this progression.

Remember the earlier version of 205 Live and the WWE Cruiserweight Division? The cruiserweights would get maybe one throwaway segment on Monday Night Raw. There was no effort to even give the best wrestlers 205 and under some real back story.

That made it a bit harder for fans to care. The presentation was basically put these smaller guys in the ring and make the ropes purple. However, since then 205 Live has slowly carved out a place as WWE”s fourth brand. The heart and soul of 205 Live Mustafa Ali, deserves a lot of credit for that.

This is not to discredit talents like Lio Rush who has been making the most out of his exposure. He has helped enhance Bobby Lashley to some degree as a hype man. Rush did also beat Elias, albeit in dirty fashion.

Yet, Ali shattered through the glass ceiling like he was shot out of a canon. He got spontaneously paired against WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in a match. Mustafa Ali did not look out-of-place at all. Later the next week he pinned “The New Daniel Bryan” in a tag team match. Fans are already buying into him as an underdog. This led to Ali being the first cruiserweight to be promoted to the main roster.

First off, this is great because it gives the rest of the 205 Live roster something to strive for. Mustafa Ali’s promotion shows that any cruiserweight that works hard with opportunity can graduate from the brand. Instead of just being boxed into the cruiserweight division, now they can grow to be involved with the heavy hitters. Talents like Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander, must feel reinvigorated. They can be like Ali in a year or two.

Additionally, Mustafa Ali’s promotion challenges the notion that the cruiserweights are lesser than other wrestlers. Let’s be honest – that is always a stigma attached to smaller guys. It is not really fair to think that way. Superstars like Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor are technically cruiserweights. That never stops them from flourishing or being taken seriously.

Those two know how to perform so well that their size becomes less relevant. Just because they are at a certain weight does not mean they can’t entertain on a larger platform. 205 Live has talents that can contribute to main storylines.

Hopefully  cruiserweights moving up periodically becomes a trend. It helps freshen things up. In addition, to legitimize the brand further it would be wise to have certain superstars cut weight to go to 205 Live. It would show that it is a brand people desire to go to.

Talents like Aiden English or even Dolph Ziggler can get a fresh start by entering 205 Live. Their names would add some credibility as well. Mustafa Ali has entered the land of opportunity while opening doors for all cruiserweights.