It's hard to ignore the fact that there's a whole lot of nothing in the 205 Live midcard.
There are good stories, yes. There's Akira Tozawa and Brian Kendrick. There's... something... with Rich Swann and Noam Dar and ALICIA FOOOOX. Neville and Jack Gallagher is great. There might be something with TJ Perkins and Tony Nese. But everyone else? Nothing.
This is why guys like Drew Gulak, Mustafa Ali, Ariya Daivari, and Cedric Alexander (Cedric frickin' Alexander) get thrown into a random six-man tag match in the middle of 205 Live. Yeah, it was an absolutely fun match that I wish we got to see more of on the show, but you can tell that other than advancing Nese/Perkins, the other four guys were filler. You'd think I'd be happy after complaining previously about where they were exactly, but I want the writing on the show to be more hardworking.
Here's where the key lies: the commentators keep talking about a narrative background in which these guys are competing to move up some metaphorical championship ladder. At this point, that ladder ranking needs to be more than metaphorical. If the cruiserweight division wants to stand out, if they want it to (and they should), they need to treat it and the show like the most sportslike place under the entire WWE umbrella. You know, just like they did with the Cruiserweight Classic.
Think about it. A wins-based ranking system would keep the other midcarders busy with each other, and if they come back from some long absence they can get thrust back into a story that makes sense. At the same time, if you're in a feud that doesn't have to do with the championship scene, you can still be on the ranking and not move until it's time for you to. This ranking could also be interacted with on RAW, and that's automatically a sensible segment in a three-hour show that needs more of them.
Come on, WWE, this isn't hard to do. Make it happen.
Short stops
- Props to The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived for pointing out the hypocrisy of Ariya Daivari's hometown pop. Sometimes, wrestling logic is perpetrated by the fans themselves.
- WHERE IS TAJIRI?
- WHERE IS GRAN METALIK?
- The story between Tozawa and Kendrick remains low-key fire. Both men are playing their parts to a tee, and the Stamina Monster (and his slightly-racist-on-our-part surprising command of English, and acting) could not be a better choice for the angry underdog being bullied by the cranky old guy.
- Okay, so I think my worst fears are coming true: Rich Swann is feuding with Noam Dar, if the Fastlane kickoff match is any indication. Dear Cruiserweight Jesus Tony Nese, please don't make this happen.
- Every time I think they're going to give Lince Dorado a big win, they dash my hopes and have him lose. Feels like another masked wrestler I like...
- I really do hope they give Gallagher and Neville more than 10 minutes on Fastlane. The story's got a lot more gravitas than it seems, and this is going to be a great match if they give it enough space to be a great match.
*****
Romeo Moran (@roiswar) is the Editor in Chief of Smark Henry and one of the three hosts of the Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast. He gets by in this hard knock life through working in publishing. Smark Henry was his and Stan Sy's original vision of a watering hole for local wrestling fans. He roots for the undersized guys who hit hard, but really hates Davey Richards with his entire soul.
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