Tonight is the first night of tapings for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic (CWC) and I’m fired up. The WWE has done something I didn’t think I’d ever see – amass a group of talent from around the world to exhibit their talents. Similar to the J-Cup or the Best of the Super Juniors, you’re getting wrestlers at 205 and under that can go – either with their high-flying or their mat game. And for those that thought the WWE would cut corners here and there – they not only have weighed in the talent to make sure they hit the 205 lb mark, but they had backups on hand in case folks didn’t.
My personal ice cream on top of the ice cream we already got with this series is the outstanding announce team of newly-retired Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo. My word that’s a good team – if only to hear Daniel regale us all with bear tales again.
If you get a chance, check out this playlist to prep yourself for the classic. Erin did a phenomenal job setting this up. Here’s my quick sketch rundown of the 32 participants, grouped in my own arbitrary view of the wrestlers:
Star Power – These are the wrestlers I think that are going to shine brightest in the tournament, and if signed by WWE after would do well with the audience.
Kota Ibushi, Gran Metalik (f/k/a Mascara Dorada), Zack Sabre Jr., Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa.
This is the group folks are gonna lose their minds over. If this were Zoolander, I’d just say over and over “x is so hot right now” with regard to any of these wrestlers. Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr are my two top picks from the group, but Cedric Alexander is on his pursuit of happiness tip – dropping 20+ pounds and coming into the Classic in the best shape of his career. Metalik and Tozawa are going to hit hard and do well – but my concern will be how much they’re going to be overshadowed by some of the aforementioned competitors, particularly if their english isn’t on point.
Welcome Back – Former WWE wrestlers that are coming back for the fun.
Tajiri, The Brian Kendrick, Tyson Dux.
I know, Tyson Dux should probably be in the Welcome to the Show section, but since he was a jobber to the stars for a cup of coffee in the WWE I figured I’d let it go.
Tajiri and Kendrick are going to be some bad dudes in the tournament. Showing folks who haven’t seen Tajiri (or don’t remember his greatness) is gonna be fun. I hope they do at least one skit with him and Regal on air, as their chemistry was one of my favorite parts of that era of WWE.
The Brian Kendrick was also an entertaining guy in his first run, and his return via NXT a year and change ago was a welcome addition to the roster. With the anticipated roster raid for the draft coming up, having Kendrick on NXT tv would be a good get.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCSm2MCMz94
#TeamNXT / EVOLVE – Wrestlers that are already under contract to the WWE or its new buddy Evolve.
Rich Swann, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, TJP, Drew Gulak, Tony Nese.
Swann, Gargano and Ciampa are NXT talent, so I expect them to do well in the tournament. TJP, Gulak and Nese are great “outsiders” via Evolve that should give fans a taste of just what TNA was missing when they let the TJ Perkins go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO8tWk_oqY0
TJ and Gulak in particular are my favorite in the non-NXT group because of Catch Point, their philosophy of focusing on grappling and taking your opponent out as quickly as possible as opposed to showing off (also known as grapple[bleep]).
TJ will delve a little more into the flashy, but Gulak is just a wrestling machine. Tony Nese is a younger guy I think would do well with a WWE / NXT environment just on physique alone.
Welcome to the Show – Wrestlers that haven’t gotten a lot of play yet, but can explode with the new audience.
Noam Dar, Da Mack, Bollywood Boyz, Jack Gallagher, Lince Dorado, Ariya Daivari.
The Bollywood Boyz (Harv and Gurv Shira) are the current GFW tag champs and my pick for team that needs to make WWE’s roster after this outside of the stars above. I cannot understate how these dudes would bring an entertaining presence to any show they’re at. Take a look at this feature on them.
Noam Dar is a brit-wres scene par excellence and I look forward to see how they’re going to present him. Don’t believe me? Take a look at Noam vs AJ Styles:
Da Mack is a guy I’ve seen a few times online and he reminds me in look of Tetsuya Naito having a love-child with Flava Flav, which is a weird, but good thing. Jack Gallagher is another of the brit-wres grapple[bleep] guys, so again you’re gonna get a good-great match outta the dude. Lince and Ariya are going to be given a bigger platform for their acts and I look forward to seeing how Full Sail receives them.
I Got….Nada – Folks I’d never heard of and am hoping to see for the first time.
Ho Ho Lun, Zumbi, Clement Petiot, Anthony Bennett, Sean Maluta, Kenneth “Weezy Woo” Johnson, Alejandro Saez, Damien Slater, Jason Lee, Fabian Aichner, Raul “Jinzo” Mendoza.
Ho Ho Lun is a karoake pro-wrestler from China. That’s all I got y’all.
So there you have it. The Cruiser Weight Classic will of course be aired on the WWE Network, so if you don’t have it, 9.99 ain’t bad for this level of awesome. Definitely take a look at the playlist and hit me up @RDotDeuce if you have any thoughts, or if you can tell me something other than “google facts” on my Nada crew.
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