Cruiserweight Classic Tapings & Discussion Thread

[Prince Bálor]

Round 1 of CWC tapings from Full Sail University:

​

Spoiler

* Mike Rome is the ring announcer. Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan are on commentary. Tonight will feature the entire first round.

* The talent parade introduces all 32 participants to the crowd, in the ring with their own entrances

July 13th Episode:

* Gran Metalik defeated Alejandro Saez. Charles Robinson was the referee. The match was announced with a 20 minute time limit but ended quick with a few high spots from each guy. Metalik won with the Dorada Screwdriver

* Ho Ho Lun defeated Ariya Daivari. Daivari was over as a heel big time and refused a handshake to start. There was a goofy "Ho Ho" chant in the style of Sami Zayn's "ole!" chants. This was a more grounded match as Daivari worked headlocks and holds. Lun played the underdog role and got the win out of nowhere with a German suplex into a bridge

* Cedric Alexander defeated Clement Petiot. They started with a handshake but pulled each other in to talk smack. Cedric won a really good match with the Lumbar Check

* After each match, the winner has their hand raised and name announced in the center of the ring like UFC or boxing

* The Brian Kendrick defeated Raul Mendoza. Raul looked very impressive early and had the crowd behind him. Kendrick worked as a heel. Raul hit a twisting corkscrew plancha to the outside at one point. He also did a coast-to-coast with Kendrick in the Tree of Woe, then a Lumbar Check but Kendrick got his foot on the ropes. Kendrick got the win with a choke submission. Fans chanted for Mendoza after the match. Someone was busted open in this match as the ring canvas had to be changed after

July 20th Episode:

* Tajiri defeated Damian Slater in a decent match. Tajiri can still go. He got the win with the kick to the head

* TJ Perkins defeated Da Mack. This was another really good match, highly entertaining performances from both men. Perkins won with his Figure 4 Deathlock. They shook hands after the match and fans chanted for Mack

* Lince Dorado defeated Mustafa Ali. Dorado was over huge as he's a Florida indie guy and he got the biggest pop of the night so far. This was another good match with lots of high spots, getting the first "this is awesome" chant of the night. Dorado won with a Shooting Star Press after Ali missed an inverted 450. After the match, trainers tended to Ali and he was helped to the back while holding his neck

* Akira Tozawa defeated Kenneth Johnson in a good, stiff, mat-based technical match. The crowd didn't really know how to respond with Tozawa making noises for the majority of the match. He won with a deadlift German suplex

July 27th Episode:

* Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tyson Dux in an awesome technical match. Sabre won with an armbar

* Drew Gulak defeated Harv Shira. This was another solid match. Shira brought the flash and Gulak brought the technical side. Gulak won with the body scissors guillotine choke

* Tony Nese defeated Anthony Bennett. Bennett's comedy character against the seriousness of Nese was a nice dynamic. Nese won with a 450 but there was an awkward finish as the referee stopped him from hitting the move to check on Bennett's knee, then gave him the go-ahead to do the move. Trainers came out to check on Bennett. They both shook hands and Bennett was helped to the back

* Kota Ibushi defeated Sean Maluta in an awesome match. Ibushi got a big pop and won with a huge sit-out powerbomb

August 3rd Episode:

* Rich Swann defeated Jason Lee. Huge pop for Swann. "All Night Long" chants, and "Can You Handle This" chants as that's in his new theme. Very entertaining match. Swann wins with a standing 450.

* Noam Dar defeated Gurv Shira in an OK match. Dar won with a leg lock but the crowd didn't care for this one

* Jack Gallagher defeated Fabian Aichner. This was a fun little match. Gallagher won with a huge corner dropkick

* Johnny Gargano defeated Tomasso Ciampa in an amazing stiff match. These guys went all out. At one point, Ciampa hesitated hitting a bare knee strike to the head, not wanting to hurt his partner, then Johnny super kicked him, but Ciampa countered with a powerbomb on his knees. Gargano wins when he reverses an armbar into a crucifix pin. Ciampa was upset at the loss and walked away from a handshake, but came back in, sat down by Johnny and hugged him to end the tapings

Source: WrestlingInc

 

[Prince Bálor]

 

[Prince Bálor]

Looking forward to watching these episodes!

Also, to see the photos of the CWC set, click here. It's a pretty sweet set.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Injury reports:

- We noted before that Mustafa Ali may have suffered a neck injury in his match against Lince Dorado at last night's WWE Cruiserweight Classic tapings. Another injury may have happened during the Tony Nese vs. Anthony Bennett match, set to air on July 27th. The finish saw the referee stop Nese from doing a move, only to check on Bennett's knee, then give the OK to Nese to finish the sequence. Trainers checked on Bennett after the match and he was helped to the back.

Source

Hopefully these are all not true.

 

[Prince Bálor]

On the WWE Cruiserweight Classic Bracketology special that aired last night on the WWE Network, full brackets for the tournament were revealed.

Based on the brackets and on reports from the tapings of the first round matches, these are the second round matches:

Akira Tozawa vs. Jack Gallagher

Gran Metalik (Masacra Dorada) vs. Tajiri

Ho Ho Lun vs. Noam Dar

Drew Gulak vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Brian Kendrick vs. Tony Nese

Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander

TJ Perkins vs. Johnny Gargano

Lince Dorado vs. Rich Swann

The next tapings for the tournament are July 14, where all eight of these matches could take place. Tapings for the tournament continue on August 26. The series finale will be a two-hour live special on the WWE Network, on September 14.

The first round matches begin airing on the WWE Network on July 13, right after NXT.

Source

 

[Aids Johnson]

Go Perkins Go. TJ for NXT please.

 

[Rogue]

Go Perkins Go. TJ for NXT please.

Don't see him making it past Gargano tbh. Upset Dux got eliminated so early, but looking forward to him v ZSJ.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Episode #1 airs tonight right after NXT, baybay! Freakin' hyped!

 

[Prince Bálor]

Episode #1 was very good. I loved it.

- First off, I loved the presentation here! HHH's narrated intro was good, the lighting at Full Sail is cool, as well as the color scheme for the ring and logo, overall I loved the CWC set.
I also loved the Code of Honor and the MMA vibe to it.

- Gran Metalik vs Alejandro Saez was a good show opener. ***
I love Metalik (aka Mascara Dorada), he's always a treat to watch and he was tearing it up here. The Chilean kid was good, too, that SSP off the apron was cool. Metalik won with a Dorada Screwdriver and Saez came off well here, even though he lost.

- Ho Ho Lun vs Ariya Daivari was decent. **
Never heard of these guys before, but the video packages along with commentators put 'em over in a good way and I immediately liked Daivari. Daivari refused to shake hands, thus positioning himself as a heel. He was the star here, and the more polished performer. Ho Ho did nothing for me here, outside of that sweet Bridging German Suplex that got him the win. Yeah, Daivari should've won.

- Cedric Alexander vs Clement Petiot was good. ***¼
Unlike Cedric, who I like, I have never watched Petiot before, but he impressed me here. The dude's crisp, but Alexander looked fantastic. After rallying a bit, CA won via Lumbar Check.
God, I love that move.

- Kota Ibushi vs Sean Maluta was pretty good. ***½
Outside of that horrific botch by Maluta, this was a killer match, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I'm a big fan of Ibushi, and I liked what Maluta brought to the table. Ibushi was obviously the superior here, but he helps Maluta look good. That Superkick to Ibushi was sick, as well as that Codebreaker. Ibushi did cool stuff, too, like that Pele Kick while Maluta was on the top rope, the Triangle Moonsault, as well as that vicious Last Ride Powerbomb that got him the win. Fun stuff.

- And last, but certainly not least, I loved Mauro and Bryan on commentary.

 

[Mr. Roman Empire]

Only complaint is that Ho Ho Lun went over Davairi. I thought Davairi should of gone all the way to the bottom 4 becuz of how strong of a heel he could of been.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Spoiler: Some cool CWC gifs

If anyone's interested in using these as a sig or whatever, here ya go:

 

[Mr. Roman Empire]

That last ride sit down powerbomb was dope.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Round 2 of CWC tapings:

Spoiler

* Gran Metalik defeated Tajiri in a really good match that went about 10 minutes with some awesome highspots. Metalik wins with the Dorada Screwdriver after ducking a kick

* Kota Ibushi defeated Cedric Alexander in an amazing, amazing match. The crowd was absolutely electric for this and gave a standing ovation mid-match. Too much to recap. Ibushi kicks out of a brainbuster and wins after a brutal suplex, kick to the head and the sit-out powerbomb. After the match and off camera, Cedric comes back out for a huge standing ovation. Triple H comes out from behind the curtain to pat Cedric on the back as the crowd pops huge

* Akira Tozawa defeated Jack Gallagher in a decent match. The crowd was actually not happy with the result as Gallagher had gotten over. Tozawa wins with the deadlift delayed German

* Noam Dar defeated HoHo Lun in another decent but underwhelming match. Dar won with a leg lock

* Brian Kendrick defeated Tony Nese in another solid match. There was a nice spot where Kendrick stuffed Nese's arm into the turnbuckle pad and attacked him while he was trapped. At one point, Nese lifts Kendrick up with one arm out of an armbar and tosses him into the buckles. Nese reverses Kendrick's submission for a near fall, and Kendrick kicks out of Nese's pumphandle reverse driver. Kendrick rolls out of the way of the 450 splash and locks on his choke for the win

* Rich Swann defeated Lince Dorado in a great match with some comedy spots early on but good wrestling. The crowd was all for Swann. There was a cool spot midway in the match where both guys bicycle kicked each other at the same time. Swann hit a twisting inverted 450 for the win. They hug after the match

* Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Drew Gulak in an awesome technical match. Gulak refused the handshake at the start of the match. Great technical wrestling here, lots of different submissions and definitely a change of pace from everything else. There was a brutal slap exchange late in the match. Sabre reverses Gulak's attempt at a choke into a pinning combination for the win

* TJ Perkins defeated Johnny Gargano in the main event. This was a really great match with the crowd behind both guys. There was a scary spot where Gargano flipped onto TJ outside but his legs hit the timekeeper's table and chair. Gargano sold a leg injury but lawn darts TJ into the turnbuckle for a near fall. TJ locked on a leg lock for a huge upset win. After the match, they hug. A trainer comes out to check on Gargano and help him to the back. Not sure if it's a worked injury or not

Source: WrestlingInc

 

[Prince Bálor]

Episode #2 was good. It wasn't better than last week's ep, but still good overall. An hour just flew by and the presentation still kicks ass.

- Tajiri vs Damian Slater was a solid show opener. **½
Good to see Tajiri back in action, I was always a fan of his. Never heard of the Australian kid, but those cool video packages help (along with Mauro and Bryan) and I thought Slater had a good showing despite losing. I still mark for that Buzzsaw Kick. Gran Metalik vs Tajiri in round 2 is going to be awesome!

- TJ Perkins vs Da Mack was good. ***
I love TJP, and this 'Urban German' kid looked good, too. So, yeah, this was a fun sprint and plus, both guys brought out a lot of personality. Sign TJP, ASAP!

- Lince Dorado vs Mustafa Ali was so good and enjoyable. ***½
Judging by the crowd's reaction, they got what they were looking for - a fun spotfest. I loved it myself, honestly. This was so sick, btw, prolly my favorite spot of the match: Springboard Reverse Frankensteiner. I marked out.

- Akira Tozawa vs Kenneth Johnson was a solid ME. **½
Tozawa is obviously the superior, more experienced wrestler here, but I sure liked 'em painting Johnson as the underdog with a lot of heart. The dude held his own. Tozawa won with a beautiful Deadlift German Suplex. This was sick, too. A lightning fast German Suplex:

 

[SWAGSUKE]

First thing's first... TJ Perkins vs Da Mack was MOTY material for me right out of the gates. I have *never* seen anything like TJ Perkins. Ever. He's his own man, and it shows in his style. Love the shades of many different wrestlers in his stuff.

He does submissions as smooth as Malenko, as snug too.

Lince Dorado really impressed me. The RVD sell at the end of his SSP is a nice touch. Mustafa Ali was kick ass too.

Tozawa vs Johnson. WOW. Impressed by both. Just great babyface fire out of both men. The chop battle before the finish was super welcome in a WWE ring. That German suplex though... my god. Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em!