CWC: The Cruiserweight Classic Review – Episode 7, 8 & 9
Hello everyone, my name is Claritza. I recently started watching the CWC tournament from the beginning again, so I asked Justin if I could review the event for the website before the live “Final Four” event where the winner will be crowned. I thought it would be cool to watch and review the tournament since I’ll be attending the live show for final matches of the tournament. I hope this allows anyone who hasn’t watched any of the tournament a reason to watch it before the final show.
A little background on myself: Yes, I am a girl and no I didn’t just pick up on wrestling because of Total Divas or because of shirtless hot guys, the hot shirtless guys are just a major plus. My parents are avid WWE fans, so I’ve been watching wrestling my whole life Any-who, for me this is the very first time I am watching a lot of these wrestlers in action so this is my very first impression on every single one of these competitors, which I feel a lot of other people can relate to.
Episode 7
Rich Swann
vs
Lince Dorado
These two men have faced one another before, so they know each other well. Hence why this match was very good. They were going tit for tat, going back and forth executing beautiful moves. Lince performed a nice reverse hurricanrana. The match was pretty much even throughout, but Swann picked up the win with a Phoenix splash right onto the face of Dorado.
Match Rating: 4.5/5
Zack Sabre Jr.
vs
Drew Gulak
Zack does moves in the ring that doesn’t make you jump out your seat, but makes you sit there and appreciate the technical side of wrestling. Gulak did a Gory Guerrero special and it’s just a hard move to watch. You could feel the pain as if your arms were the one being pulled back. Gulak was giving Zack his all during the whole match. Every time Sabre would hit one move, Gulak would come back twice as hard. Gulak and Sabre has a little slap fest in the middle of the ring and when Gulak tried to get the upper hand Sabre countered with a pinning combination.
Match Rating: 4/5
Johnny Gargano
vs
TJ Perkins
Johnny is smart when it comes to being in the ring, guess that’s why they call him Johnny Wrestling. TJ being TJ of course has to throw some flair in the match, but before letting TJ gain any momentum to continue on in the match Johnny did a spear through the ropes. TJ was focusing on Gargano’s knee throughout the match (Gargano was nursing a knee injury from a tag match against The Revival) and when Gargano delivered a cannonball-esqe move to TJ out the ring he smacked his knee onto the bell table. Johnny and TJ fought tooth and nail for the rest of the match going back and forth, counter after counter. But with that knee injury, Gargano was put into the knee bar by Perkins gaining him the victory. Match Rating: 5/5
Episode 8
Akira Tozawa
vs
Gran Metalik
Going into this match, writing the reviews, and studying the matches I’ve become a fan of Akira Tozawa, along with other wrestlers but there’s just something about Tozawa. They both had good chemistry in their second round matches so mixing them together created magic. Tozawa’s fake out punches are a thing of beauty. Both men knew each other pretty well, delivering nice counters. There were many times where they thought they had the other ones number. Metalik is exactly what they call him, the king of the ropes. He uses the ropes to his advantage and excutes amazing moves. As the match continued it just got even better. Both men pulled out all the stops, but at the end of this outstanding match Gran Metalik delivered the Metalik driver and got the win.
Match rating: 5/5
Brian Kendrick
vs
Kota Ibushi
During this match, Kendrick did not hold back. Kota just recently had surgery on his neck, and with Brian being a crafty veteran, he targeted the neck of Kota. Kota struggled to get the upper hand, but he pulled off an incredible German suplex from the outside of the ring into the ring. Ibushi tried to pick up some offense, but Kendrick answered him with the bully choke. Kota was able to get out of the hold, but Brian one upped him with a devastating burning hammer. Both men went a little back and forth while Kendrick still targeting the neck. Ibushi pulled off the win when he delivered a beautiful golden star powerbomb. After the match Daniel Bryan came in to congratulate Kendrick on his amazing work, and that just speaks volumes on their friendship and in-ring respect for each other.
Match rating: 5/5
Episode 9
Zack Sabre Jr
vs
Noam Dar
You all know who I was pulling for in this match.. Early on in the match Sabre tried to wear Dar down. Dar played a little mind game with Sabre to eventually be able to get to Zack’s knee to set up for the knee bar. While Dar was trying to soften up the knee, Sabre was softening up Dar’s arm. The things Sabre can do to an arm is sick. Dar did a nice sequence of a bicycle kick and then a suicide dive to Sabre. Noam got to put Sabre into the knee bar, but Sabre reversed it into an arm bar for a split second. Both men went back and forth for a bit, until Dar got Sabre into the knee bar. While in the knee bar, Sabre rolled them out the ring, but when they landed on the floor Sabre hit his elbow hard. Dar noticed and took advantage, but at the end Sabre knowing so much got the win using his legs in a nasty double armbar.
Match rating: 5/5
Rich Swann
vs
TJ Perkins
At first this match was just fun and games, until it got a little serious. Perkins was taking it to Swann for a bit. Swann went to do a moonsault from the apron to the floor, but Perkins moved leading to Swann landing on his feet tweaking his knee a bit. Thus, after this TJ targeted the knee. Swann wasn’t moving as he usually does so his moves didn’t have the same effect. TJ puts Swann into the knee bar, even though Swann got to the ropes, TJ didn’t release until the 4 1/2 count. Both men gave it their all with some hard hitting moves. TJ got Swann into the knee bar once more and picked up the win. I was actually shocked whe TJ won, not that I doubted he could, but I thought they would go with Rich for the win.
Match rating: 5/5
Thats my quick review of these two episodes of the CWC tournament. Expect reviews for the rest of the tournament before next weeks final show. Leave your opinions on these matches below and let me know which match was your favourite.
