First, it was Rich Swann getting busted for domestic abuse involving his wife, newly signed Impact wrestler Su Yung. Now, 2-time WWE Cruiserweight champion Enzo Amore joined Swann on the suspended list after allegations of rape became public on Monday. Today, he was released, which doesn't bode well for Swann going forward.
That means there isn't going to be a Cruiserweight title match at the Royal Rumble. Or is there?
The simplest thing for WWE to do, and they couldn't very well dampen the festivities at Raw 25 by doing this, is formally strip Amore of the title, and put it up for grabs in a tournament, either starting tonight on 205 Live, or next Monday on Raw. In terms of storyline, there'd be reason to do so since Amore's storyline girlfriend, Nia Jax, was a biased ref in matches over the weekend vs. Cedric Alexander. The longer Amore is out, the more likely it is that Nia will suddenly become unattached. That's just the way it works.
Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon had said in a recent interview that if Swann were to be convicted on domestic abuse charges, he'd be released. I'd imagine the same holds true for Amore, a rising star who suddenly has let his fame go to his head, and it's costing him everything, one piece at a time. As noted, Amore is gone, less than 2 years after being called up to the main roster.
Couple this with the lukewarm reception of 205 Live, and, well, maybe reviving the cruiser title, while it was a good idea, shouldn't have merited devoting an extra hour of programming to the division. Raw needs to fill its 3 hours and change on Mondays with action moreso than backstage jibba-jabba, so why not put more eyes on the cruisers on Monday, the way WCW used to? Because that is exactly what Vince McMahon wants to avoid doing. Period.
The reigning cruiserweight champ is gone. A former champ is under suspension on probably will be out the door in due course. Another is in limbo. There are injuries, which are inevitable. The only way to break the curse is to move 205 Live to Mondays and cut Raw back to 2 hours, which they're talking about doing if WWE moves to Fox next year (doubtful). It makes the most sense. Then again, common sense isn't welcome at Titan Towers on Mondays.
