Long before fans ever saw the cruiserweight division as it exists today, there was a completely different plan sitting on the table that never made it to television.
During a recent appearance on the “Certified Mark Show,” Drew Gulak revealed that Triple H originally wanted the Cruiserweight Classic to become something far more distinct from the rest of WWE programming.
According to Gulak, Triple H saw the tournament as a testing ground for fresh content on the WWE Network, eventually hoping to spin it into its own weekly show, something like a modern take on 205 Live.
The WWE CEO’s vision reportedly included turning arena lighting purple during cruiserweight matches, having wrestlers shake hands beforehand, and running a points-based ranking system inspired partly by old British wrestling rules.
The goal was never to replace Vince McMahon’s style but to give fans something noticeably different.
Unfortunately, that vision changed almost immediately once McMahon took direct control of the project on its very first day.
