“Push the Cruiserweights!” was once the cry of the Internet pro wrestling fan who was sick and tired of seeing the same old World Wrestling Entertainment main events on programs such as Raw and SmackDown and also on WWE pay-per-view shows. Such a method of creating storylines did not, of course, ever truly happen. While the WWE did, for some time, attempt to make the Cruiserweight division something worth watching following the death of World Championship Wrestling and the subsequent WWE brand split, those running the company soon grew bored with the idea. The division now no longer exists.

This leads to the obvious question: Why not bring back the Cruiserweight division to the modern-day WWE product? The company has, over the past year or so, taken positive steps towards pushing a product that is about in-ring action as much as it is about performers cutting promos and about the more entertainment-geared television that leads some wrestling fans to change the channel on Monday nights. The time could be now for WWE creative to, at the very least, consider revisiting the division and how it would be recreated with the company's current roster.

There are all kinds of easy arguments to make for the WWE abandoning this idea once and for all. Why would anybody who has followed this company for any significant amount of time even believe that the WWE would not, in time, once again bury the wrestlers in the division and make it an afterthought? An answer to that question serves as a reason for why the WWE should attempt to push a new version of a Cruiserweight division, one that would allow top in-ring performers to get over among crowds on televised programs and also during house show matches.

10 10. WWE Needs a Change

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Unless you are a diehard WWE fan or a WWE apologist who will watch whatever the company puts out there on a weekly basis, odds are that you have not been enthralled with the shows and the feuds that the WWE has pushed since the conclusion of WrestleMania 30. This is a product that needs multiple shifts in direction following WrestleMania 31, a show that was polarizing among groups of fans and journalists. Reintroducing the Cruiserweight division could be one step in the right direction of captivating fans who are feeling unenthusiastic about the WWE as the summer months approach.

9 9. Eliminate a Midcard Championship

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via wwe.com

The official end of the WWE brand split which came in the summer of 2011 meant that both the United States Champion and the Intercontinental Champion would routinely appear on both Raw and SmackDown. It is no wonder that neither of those titles are viewed to be anything important among casual fans. Unless the company is going to revisit the brand extension (more on that later), there is no need for the WWE to have both of those midcard titles. Eliminate one, and instead bring the Cruiserweight division and that championship back to the WWE.

8 8. Continue to Grow NXT

via dailyddt.com
via dailyddt.com

It is no secret that the latest pet project of the WWE, most notably of Triple H, is the NXT product that the company hopefully will not abandon anytime soon. Instead of attempting to recruit former football players who put on forgettable matches and who, truth be told, probably are not getting called up to the main roster anytime soon, NXT could be a developmental tool where undersized performers are given an opportunity to make a splash while with the company before they are showcased on either SmackDown or Raw. NXT is already the best thing the WWE has going for it right now. Cruiserweights would only bolster the show.

7 7. Cut Some Dead Weight

via officialfan.proboards.com
via officialfan.proboards.com

Just like with any professional sports franchise out there, the WWE should have only so many roster spots available to wrestlers. The current WWE roster is, no offense meant to anybody who is attempting to make his dream come true, filled with performers who will not be making it to main event status anytime soon. Is it really unreasonable to suggest to even the casual fan that those roster spots would not be better served being awarded to talented Cruiserweights who could battle over a belt and who could put on four- and five-star matches on TV and during pay-per-view shows?

6 6. Attract Stars to WWE

via WWE.com
via WWE.com

Imagine that you are an undersized wrestler doing alright for yourself on the independent scene and/or overseas when you are approached by the WWE. Why, if looking at how the company has pushed such performers other than the occasional one-off such as Daniel Bryan, would you even consider signing for the WWE? The WWE bringing back the Cruiserweight division could change how those wrestlers view the company, and it could result in an influx of talent linking up with NXT and then ultimately with Raw and SmackDown. That could lead to the wrestlers making more money down the road, which would make signing for the company even more enticing.

5 5. New WWE philosophy

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

Over the past 12 months or so, WWE creative has shifted how it wants to book matches that the company features on weekly shows Raw or SmackDown. Part of this change in thinking has led to the “Give Divas a Chance” movement that has involved the company putting women's wrestlers in longer matches than what have, in the past, aired on WWE television. It is this philosophy that speaks to why those in charge of the company should consider pushing a revamped Cruiserweight division. Such wrestlers could put on 15-minute matches that would be clinics and that are matches currently desired by the WWE.

4 4. Protect Undersized Guys

via rollingstone.com
via rollingstone.com

Adrian Neville – now just Neville after being called up to the main roster – is the first performer that comes to mind here. Calling Neville up to perform on Raw and SmackDown only to have him lose to the likes of Seth Rollins may not crush the career of the former NXT Champion, but that does not mean that doing so is a good idea. It would, in an ideal situation, instead benefit Neville and those like him to pick up victories in a Cruiserweight division en route to moving up to the main event of that portion of the roster. Only after a wrestler such as Neville is finished with that division should he feud with those who are in higher spots on the card.

3 3. Make SmackDown Relevant Again

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via wwe.com

Back in the days of the first WWE brand extension, Raw and SmackDown were truly two separate entities. Raw was a show that was more based on pushing a combination of prime-time entertainment and in-ring action, while SmackDown was seen as the “wrestling show.” There was even a time when SmackDown was the better overall program, and part of its success had to do with the Cruiserweight feuds that were taken seriously by the company. This could, considering the talent on the company's roster, be the perfect time to revisit the idea of the brand split, and returning the Cruiserweight division to SmackDown could revitalize that show.

2 2. Get Guys Over

via flickr.com
via flickr.com

Rey Mysterio Jr. is the best example of a wrestler who became a true international superstar because of how he was pushed as a dominant Cruiserweight. That run began in WCW, where he won the Cruiserweight Championship before he was eventually pushed into a midcard role. The same occurred in the WWE, and Mysterio grew so popular among fans that the company awarded him with main event status and the World Championship. A successful run as the top performer of a Cruiserweight division can do wonders for an undersized wrestler. The WWE has gotten this right before, and the current writers could do so again.

1 1. Great Matches

via thisisinfamous.com
via thisisinfamous.com

The most exciting part of the WWE Cruiserweight division from the early days of the original brand split was the fact that fans of the product knew that they were going to get at least one entertaining contest every episode of SmackDown and every time that performers from that division took to the ring during a pay-per-view event. A match that involves two talented Cruiserweight wrestlers who are given adequate time to get their spots in is, more often than not, fun to watch. Bring back that fun, WWE, and bring the Cruiserweight division back to a company that needs an injection of life.