What a fun tournament… any wrestling vet that snickers at this thing needs to be taken out back and shot. This 10-week run had and did so much great stuff: it had a World Cup flavor, everything was treated like a shoot, it re-invigorated a division, showcased so many new styles, moves, and wrestlers never before seen on a WWE product, was a brilliant introduction to so many guys (Gallagher, Swann, TJP and Cedric especially), got a lot of new finishers over (Metalik Driver and kneebar especially), and, of course – sooooooooo many great matches. What a blast.
Plus, everything was purple. Purple is a color that should be used more in professional wrestling.
1. Cruiserweight Classic – Semi Final: Gren Metalik vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Gran Metalik vs. Zack Sabre Jr. was such a fun battle of styles – Metalik brought the flying and armdragging, while Sabre brought the tying you up into a pretzel and slapping the shit out of you. Metalik going right after ZSJ at the start with the tope gave me J Cup flashbacks – it doesn’t just look cool as shit, it enables you to buy into the match more because he’s going right after him. The flippy shit doesn’t seem contrieved; it seems REAL. The body of this had ZSJ working over Metalik with just non-stop neat stuff, and then Metalik almost kicks ZSJ’s head off by catching him in the corner. Metalik is SO good, a beautiful acid trip of a professional wrestler. The frankensteiner towards the end looked brutal. And the springboard splash countered into the triangle + fuck-up-your-arm-sub… Jesus. I don’t know if I felt love for this like some of my favorite CWC matches. But it was still great. ***3/4
A MEDAL! and a TRANSLATOR! for Gran Metalik.
No no… #DIY can’t be the name. No. Please don’t.
2. Cruiserweight Classic – Semi Final: TJ Perkins vs. Kota Ibushi
The shot of the guy with a half-mohawk straightening his tie before the TJ Perkins vs. Kota Ibushi match was so pro wrestling. Perkins as a heel is the right way to go on the big show… he’s got a sympathetic story, but between the attitude, look, and pants – he’s a natural little shit. This was another great match that showcased everything great that these two have been doing the whole tourney. TJP is just such a composed professional athlete… everything he does seems calculated but not in a bad way; each move rolls right into the next. And Kota Ibushi is Kota Ibushi; I honestly don’t know if he works in the grander WWE but as an outsider coming in for a tournament he really was perfect – he showed off what he’s known for, kicking and moonsaulting his way through a few rounds, and god damn was it good. So many pretty holds and moves by TJP along with some nasty kicks and dives from Kota. The finish was so intense – TJP reversing the powerbomb into the DDT, the pele kick into the kneebar. TJP kicking out of the Last Ride felt like HBK kicking out of the Tombstone at Mania 25. TJP’s modified kneebar to wrap this up was phenomenal too. ****
Noam Dar is dead in the water on the main roster if they don’t either work around his weaknesses or give him some serious Performance Center sessions in between it all.
3. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Noam Dar & Cedric Alexander
The Gargano/Ciampa (thankfully NOT announced as #DIY) vs. Dar/Cedric Alexander match was a lot of fun. It was like a crazy WCW cruiserweight spotfest with more kicks than flips. Everything Cedric does is so crisp and impactful; he really reminds me a lot of AJ Styles. That’s a shoot. ***1/4
LOL @ Triple H coming out. Why the fuck not. You did it, pop.
4. Cruiserweight Classic – Final: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins
The finals – TJ Perkins vs. Gran Metalik – was not as wild and crazy as everything that preceded it, but more a traditional match – two guys who made it to the end, and were going to be a bit cautious early on. And so the early work was good, and built up the match well. And then, as these matches do … it got batshit insane. I love all the different ways TJP gets a guy into a headscissors. His rana over the top to the outside was possibly the coolest thing in the whole damn tourney… only to be topped by the fucking leap over the top rana to the outside by Metalik. There was a moment here where Metalik just straight tope con hilo’d onto his back with no catch, which was concerning… but I guess that’s their’s to worry about, not mine. Metalik’s rope-to-rope in the corner is such a magical professional wrestling move, and the first kneebar by TJP was such an incredible capper to the hold being put over the whole tourney. They basically worked the finish around it… the rollup out of the kneebar was such a beautiful near fall. Finish was poetry… Metalik hit the Metalik Driver, which has won him everything – but the knee is hurt!! And then TJP traps him in the kneebar AGAIN. Limb selling got overplayed for a while, but the cruiserweights are bringing it back really well. This match fucking rocked. ****1/4
Great show, 4/4 awesome matches with the tourney semis and finals being just as epic as they needed to be. Just about the perfect capper to an awesome tournament. 9/10
