Heavyweight v Jr Heavyweight

Hi guys,

I've been watching wrestling for around 3 and a half years but it wasn't until the Cruiserweight Classic where I started to become more aware about different divisions in different companies. For wrestlers under a specific weight limit, Cruiserweights is the term used by most companies for wrestlers but in Japan they're known as Junior heavyweights. Each company also has a different weight classification but that doesn't mean you're restricted to being a Jr/ Cruiserweight if you're under this limit as seen by Kota Ibushi, Young Bucks, Finn Balor etc - you just can't be part of the division if you're over. So, if that's the basics then why am I writing this post? It all links to something Marty Scurll said in the Best of Super Junior Conference in May (cast your little minds back):

"I'm dedicated to making this junior division the best in the world. I hate the idea that this Jr division is less than and the fact that people talk about moving 'up' to the Heavyweights like it's some promotion...'

I don't think I've ever heard a statement from a press conference and felt as passionate as the wrestler about something said. All over the world, the Jr divisions (I'm going to just use Jr from now on instead of interchanging) aren't getting the recognition they deserves like 205 Live, Best of Super Jr Tournament or the Super Jr Tag League Tournament (which wasn't even its own event). These divisions have some of the best talent in the world but are always treated as 'less important' compared to the Heavyweights even though they've got some of the biggest stars.

I know that moving to the heavyweight division is a natural progression and maybe they want to win those bigger titles or have more opponents. But that doesn't tell me why overall, the divisions are treated with less respect and wrestlers are so eager to become heavyweights so quickly. For me, the Jr's are always some of my favourite athletes to watch and put on some of the best matches of the year. A lot of people think that Jr's are just flippy guys with no substance in a match but they couldn't be more wrong. Yes, we've got guys who love all that high flying stuff like Mustafa Ali and Flip Gordon. But then we've got technical wizards like Drew Gulak and Marty Scurll as well as hybrids like Buddy Murphy and Will Ospreay - there's something for everyone to love!

I mean as much as I love these divisions, Marty's right. How are we meant to make these divisions count when some of the best Jr's in the world want to put on a few pounds and move 'up' to the Heavyweight division? It's different when the move is a natural progression but it annoys me when wrestlers make it a target to hit a certain weight or get the muscle to get to the different division especially in NJPW where the division boundaries are stricter. We've already had the Young Bucks move 'up' to the Heavyweight division and now we're seeing people like Will Ospreay (one of the best Jr's in the world) wanting to bulk up to move 'up'. How are we meant to get the fans or the heads of the companies to give the Jr's a chance and give them the respect they deserve when some of the Jr wrestlers themselves want to move 'up'? I mean they're just proving people right - they're helping these divisions seem less important or prestigious and it's not something to strive for.

I guess I want wrestling to get to the point where being in the Jr Heavyweight division is something to strive to be at the top of or something to be proud of! I'm not saying I want wrestlers to want to stay in the division, I just want to see that if they do move on, that they don't see it as a kind of promotion but just wanting to try something new. I loved seeing that on 205 Live, we saw wrestlers like Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy cut weight just to be part of the jr division. We've got wrestlers like David Starr in Revolution Pro making the Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion prestigious and legends in NJPW like Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Taguchi, Rocky Romero and Kushida all wanting to stay in the Jr division to make it the best it can possibly be by emphasising their pride of being a Jr and making their matches must-see.

Before any of you have a go at me and say 'Oh but people have to move on' and  'Of course people want to be in the top divisions of heavyweights to fight for those titles', well I'm not saying it shouldn't happen. Of course wrestlers should move on to different challenges, but what I think is that by saying moving 'up' to the heavyweight divisions means that it's all done at the expense of the hard work put into these Jr divisions by making them seem less important. I want them to be like Mustafa Ali who, even though he's on SD Live, has stated that he hates people saying he's had a a promotion because the 205 Live guys are some of the hardest workers in the company.

Maybe I also want more inter-division matches where it's not obvious that a heavyweight is going to beat the only Jr in the match because obviously that's the only realistic way to end it. Let's have more matches like Marty Scurll v Okada where it might look like the Jr's can beat their heavier opponents! NJPW have already started doing this with Ospreay beating Ibushi and Roppongi 3k pinning Iizka twice, but let's do more and more! Let's get the 205 Live matches on the main card of PPVs! Let's give these guys the recognition they deserve!

So, that's one of my few rants over and who knows, if not too many people hate me after this then maybe I'll do more posts like this. I've really enjoyed writing it because it's something I've been passionate about for a while and maybe some of you feel the same because you have the same love for these smaller divisions that sometimes get overlooked. Let me know in the comments what you think about this topic and if you agree or disagree with me or you can comment below, tweet/ follow me @Full_Time_Nerd and @Wrestling_Chat or even talk to me on the Facebook page Wrestling Chatter.

So, until Next Time

Bye!