The Ruthless Aggression WWE Cruiserweight Championship On Smackdown Was Great
When wrestling fans discuss the Cruiserweight Championship, it often comes with plenty of praise for the version of the belt that was showcased heavily in the second half of the 90’s in WCW, and a general scoff at nearly every other era of the belt including the modern NXT variant. While there are also many things to be said in defense of the NXT era championship belt, the version of the title that may be most overlooked for how truly great it was would have to be the 2002-2007 Ruthless Aggression era that is capped off by Hornswoggle, but should be remembered equally for the triumphant return of Rey Mysterio to American television.
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Rey Mysterio's Debut In WWE Coincided With A Cruiserweight Renaissance
When WCW died in 2001, there would be a large amount of the contracted roster who would make their debut for WWE in the months that would come. Others would leave fans waiting a little longer and wouldn’t make their debut until a year or so later. Such is the case with Rey Mysterio. After already dazzling wrestling fans around the world for years, Mysterio would do so once again when he would make his WWE Smackdown debut in 2002, and grabbed the attention of any remaining wrestling fan that was not familiar with the awe-inspiring Mysterio.
With the Invasion angle of WCW/ECW going head to head with the WWF finishing after Survivor Series 2001, Mysterio would debut at a time following the unification of the often laughed at WWF Light Heavyweight Championship and WCW’s Cruiserweight Championship that formed the WWF, and later WWE, Cruiserweight Championship. When Rey joined the roster in 2002, he would join the ranks of many talented wrestlers such as Yoshihiro Tajiri, Jamie Noble, WCW standout Billy Kidman, The Hurricane, and eventually Matt Hardy among others.
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Over time, the division was strengthened more with additions like Ultimo Dragon during his brief WWE excursion, a young Paul London, Nunzio, Kid Kash, Chavo Guerrero Jr, and his legendary father Chavo Classic. The division over time would be responsible for a myriad of great sleeper moments, including Funaki’s greatest title reign of his WWE career.
Moving Past The Gilberg Years
Often times, any version of this belt in WWE’s hands has been looked down upon, and lumped in with the Gillberg era of WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. But not even that title deserves to be fully scoffed at as it is far more impressive when you focus in on the Taka Michinoku years to help balance out what followed. The same can be said for the Cruiserweight title — while the Hornswoggle and Chavo Classic title reigns may leave something to be desired, they are counter balanced by the red hot division that first started with Mysterio and Kidman and would eventually evolve into great matches featuring the likes of Kid Kash and Paul London.
Some moments worth looking back at during this time would be the divisive Cruiserweight Open from Wrestlemania 20 in 2004 which saw Chavo Jr. defend his title in a ten man gauntlet featuring the best of the division at the time. Speaking of Chavo, Mysterio’s Smackdown debut match against him was what set the stage for a lot of the division moving forward. While Tajiri’s feud with Rey Mysterio may be at the front of readers' memory banks when it comes to worthwhile feuds of the time period, it’s also worth mentioning the time Tajiri would blind Jamie Noble's girlfriend, Nidia, with the black poison mist and the hilarity that followed. The short-lived tag team of Paul London and Billy Kidman, the surprisingly emotional title win of Nunzio, the most serious version of Spike Dudley in WWE history, Jimmy Wayne Yang debuting as one of Tajiri’s body guards, even the Chavo Classic appearances are probably better than many of us remember.
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The Ruthless Aggression era may not be synonymous with Cruiserweight greatness, but it should be. Rey Mysterio may be the biggest star of the era that isn’t named John Cena or Brock Lesnar, and it was initially through the WWE’s version of the Cruiserweight Championship that Rey was able to be so featured. This would lead to tag title runs with world champions like Eddie Guerrero, Batista, and RVD and even would one day see Mysterio win the World Tile himself at Wrestlemania.
How critical a role did the Crusierweight Title play on the way to Mysterio being a world champion? It's impossible to fully know, but it is worth stating that perhaps the Cruiserweight Championship deserves a little more respect on it’s name.
