WWE to relaunch cruiserweights with 205 Live

The WWE will relaunch its Cruiserweight division in November with 205 Live, a new one-hour show on their internet streaming service the WWE Network.

205 Live is scheduled to premiere on November 29 at 10 p.m., right after SmackDown Live (SD Live), with SD Live announcer Mauro Ranallo and Monday Night Raw and NXT color commentator Corey Graves calling the in-ring action.

WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque stated on WWE.com that 205 Live is a “natural progression to showcase the depth” of the Cruiserweight division.

A show of their own, #205Live will highlight the athleticism and depth of the #Cruiserweight roster...starting Nov. 29th ONLY on @WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/yszWM1r2ae

— Triple H (@TripleH) November 2, 2016

“With world-class talent such as Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and Rich Swann, 205 Live will be a must-see program on WWE Network,” he said.

Cruiserweights, a division with the weight limit of 205lbs, were first introduced to Raw on September 19.

The pool of talents was drawn from the Cruiserweight Classic (CWC), a four-week tournament that featured 32 competitors from 17 countries.

Among the wrestlers who will headline 205 Live is CWC winner and the first champion of the rebooted division, the Fil-Am Flash TJ Perkins.

Perkins won the tournament after beating fan favorites such as Johnny Gargano, Kota Ibushi, and Gran Metalik.

He will be joined by rival and current Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick and fan favorite Cedric Alexander, among others.

The Cruiserweight Division was disbanded in March 2008, six months after its last champion Hornswoggle defended the title.

Before the WWE acquired the promotion, cruiserweights were popularized by the now-defunct WCW.

Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Chris Jericho were stars of the much-lauded division, inspired by lucha libre in Mexico and by the junior heavyweight division of Japanese promotions such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News