The Cruiserweight Classic Kicks Off With High Flying & Brutal Brawling
For the next 10 weeks, the WWE Universe is getting the treat of a lifetime. 32 Cruiserweight wrestlers will compete in a tournament to prove who is the best in the world at what they do. The Cruiserweight Classic is unlike anything WWE has done before. WWE has embraced international independent wrestlers with open arms and given them a platform to show off their work.
History was made July 13th, 2016 when the tournament kicked off. Premiering exclusively on the WWE Network, CWC is a breath of fresh air. Breaking away from their formulaic programming like Monday Night Raw and Smackdown, we get some tweaks that really are a welcomed changed within WWE. The wrestlers range from Hong Kong to Chile and all the way back to North America. We also see handshakes before matches like Ring Of Honor would do. It finally looks like production under Triple H is determined to bring in a different market.
Matches:
- Gran Metalik vs Alejandro Saez
Winner: Gran Metalik
-Kicking off the Cruiserweight Classic is no easy feat. Thankfully this match was handled with grace by starting us off with some lucha libre. Gran Metalik is a Mexican based wrestler who has made his name in Japan while Alejandro Saez trained all over the world to bring wrestling to his country Chile. - Hoho Lun vs Ariya Daivari
Winner: Hoho Lun
–Hoho Lun is perfect. The man, like Saez, helped bring wrestling to his native land. This evening, he made Hong Kong proud by picking up the win against Daivari. Ariya Daivari is brother to Shawn Daivari, a former WWE wrestling; sadly, their gimmicks are a bit too similar. Lun picked up the win in convicing fashion. - Cedric Alexander vs Clement Petiot
Winner: Cedric Alexander
–Cedric Alexander walked into this match a fan-favorite and left with even more fans. Petiot showed great potential as a future foreign heel in WWE. The brawling based wrestling of Clement Petiot slowed down the pace but Alexander picked up the action late in the match. Can’t wait to see what else he has to offer. - Kota Ibushi vs Sean Maluta
Winner: Kota Ibushi
-Kota is a bonafide superstar. A wrestler from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ibushi has made his transition to America memorable with a win tonight. Also, it seems like he may be making his way to NXT sometime soon. Maluta has Samoan family ties so he brings some pedigree to the match. Their match was obviously great.
Cruiserweight Of The Night:
Kota Ibushi is honestly one of the best wrestlers in the entire world. That kind of hype is hard to live up to but this was a stellar introduction to what Ibushi can do. After the influx of Japanese wrestlers in NXT, Ibushi has what it takes to stand-out and become a memorable name in American wrestling.
You can find the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network.
Keep updated on the next matches via twitter @WWE.
Did you see CWC? Let me know in the comments below.
