Mr Shh
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|  #1 Posted on 14.9.16 2314.02
Reposted on: 14.9.23 2318.32 | Semifinals, The Final Four:
Gran Metalik d. Zack Sabre Jr
TJ Perkins d. Kota Ibushi
Non-tournament:
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa d. Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar
The Cruiserweight Classic Final:
TJ Perkins d. Gran Metalik
The first thing I notice? For the first time in ten episodes, the chyron does not identify Daniel Bryan’s or Mauro Ranallo’s country.
Oh SHIT, we’re starting off HOT, as Gran Metalik goes Super Crazy right at the bell, hitting Sabre with a dropkick, tope con hilo and springboard senton for a near fall within the first minute! This knocked Sabre off his game immediately, and frankly, he never recovered. What’s more, Metalik employed a lot more grounded, submission-based offense than he has during any of his previous matches. Sabre, normally the master of smooth escapology, now had to resort to diving for the ropes to break Metalik’s holds. Sabre stayed in it with some neck work and frequent striking, but he was never able to recover. He managed to trap Metalik in a triangle choke and armbar following an attempted springboard splash, but Metalik reverses it into a pinning combo. Metalik then catches a charging Sabre with the Metalik Driver for the win.
The finalists are being awarded sweet big-ass medals.
TJ Perkins shows that he scouted Ibushi’s offense, blocking some early kicks and Golden Triangle moonsault. TJP goes for the kneebar early, unsuccessfully. But a vicious dragon screw leg whip weakens Ibushi’s knee enough so that TJP can go back to it in between surviving Ibushi’s feet attacks and aerial assaults. And sure enough, Ibushi connects with several sweet dropkicks and the Golden Triangle moonsault. And then, it begins. Ibushi repeatedly kicks holes in TJP’s chest. Did you scout those, TJ? Try blocking them. These kicks just might leave a mark. What does TJP have left? Let’s find out. Perkins reverses a power bomb into a DDT, and hits an inverted lung blower for 2! TJP COUNTERS A PELE KICK INTO THE KNEEBAR AND THE CROWD IS GOING CRAZY! Ibushi reverses, then he and TJP strike and kick the shit out of each other. Ibushi hits the Golden Star Power Bomb and TJP KICKS OUT!! Another Golden Star Power Bomb is REVERSED INTO THE KNEEBAR! The crowd is SCREAMING and you could hear the SADNESS and DESPAIR because they know this is it. Ibushi’s fighting though, can he possibly survive this, OMG PERKINS PULLS ON THE SURGICALLY REPAIRED NECK AND IBUSHI TAPS OUT!!!
Holy shit. I’m done.
Gargano and Ciampa battle Dar and Alexander. Have fun, guys. Bryan’s saving his voice for the finals and I’m saving this for another time. But I did catch Dar getting hit in the back in the middle of his stupid hand-to-the-mouth pose, and that made me happy.
The thirty-two have become two. Here it is, the finals: Gran Metalik versus TJ Perkins. Conventional wisdom might have said Sabre and Ibushi, or at the very least, one of the two. But neither is in, and I’m not disappointed at all, given how strong Metalik and Perkins have been all tournament. Pre-match handshake is left-handed! Never shake with the left hand! This causes TRIPLE H to come out to chastise them. No, wait, he’s here to announce that the CWC winner will also be the NEW WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION, and here’s a brand new BLUE AND SILVER BELT! FUCK YOU, MONDAY NIGHT RAW!
Anyway. First real advantage goes to Metalik with a dropkick to the knees after TJP misses a wrecking ball dropkick. It’s during this time that Metalik hits the first of MANY, REALLY HARD CHOPS TO THE CHEST. They exchange the advantage with two sick hurricanranas: TJP hits his on Metalik from the top rope that sends Metalik over the top to the floor; then, later, with TJP on the apron, Metalik HURDLES THE TOP ROPE and takes TJP to the floor with his! Lots of back and forth follows, including the sweet rope work we’ve come to expect from El Rey de las Cuerdas during this tournament. And don’t forget the chops to TJP’s chest. TJP manages to grab the kneebar twice. Metalik escapes, but some damage has already been done. Metalik is unable to capitalize after hitting the Metalik Driver. More chops to TJP chest, which after the kicks from Ibushi is now as red as Metalik’s outfit. Metalik goes for a Super Metalik Driver (!), but TJP counters to the kneebar again, and it’s locked in good. That’s it. Ladies and gentlemen, TJ Perkins is your first CWC champion and new Cruiserweight Champion. And he rightfully will get to shine on the big stage starting next week.
Next week: No CWC. Sadness.
| Promote this thread! |             | texasranger9
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| #2 Posted on 14.9.16 2343.16
Reposted on: 14.9.23 2346.48 | That blue leather belt is a smoking gun that the RAW brand was afraid for its future if Smackdown got the cruisers. They didn't even have time to switch it to a red leather strap.
What was everyone's top 3 matches of the tourney? Ill add mine later. | kellogs
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|  #3 Posted on 15.9.16 0458.01
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0458.04 | | That was fantastic. | Ecks
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|  #4 Posted on 15.9.16 0530.43
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0531.03 | Great finale. I was slightly disappointed when Gran Metalik advanced as I thought his match against Zack Sabre Jr. wasn't as good as his others. When TJ Perkins beat Kota Ibushi I was disappointed again, as I didn't get behind TJ during the tournament, probably due to his dabbing during matches.
The final? I was rooting for TJ during that match, but kept thinking that Gran Metalik would win, since he got a new name for WWE. They surprised me.
Also, the belt strap looks purple to me, to match the CWC "brand" color.
Other things I noticed for some crazy reason:
The first twitter scroll used the CWC block font they'd been using, but it was missing punctuation, so characters like @ and # were not showing up. They changed the font later on.
I swore Mauro said something about CMLL being the "world's oldest profession" instead of promotion.
Overall, CWC was great, I loved the entire tournament and every match. Being exposed to all these new wrestlers at once was interesting, and every match was something I couldn't be distracted from. | BigDaddyLoco
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| #5 Posted on 15.9.16 0706.58
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0707.19 | I know if this show went on with infinate episodes it would lose a lot of it's impact, but I am going to miss having this as my wrestling show I just enjoy watching every week.
Can you imagine if TNA or any other want to be didn't try to be like Raw their whole life, the one WWE show that is really flailing right now, and just did their own thing with exciting new talent and maybe a couple of veterans and just stuck with that formula.
I feel like the Cruisers have about as good a shot as the Women did on the main roster. Half hearted attempts, panic resets, thrown together factions and six man bouts, but this was fun. This was better than I thought it would be going in.
Lol, at Triple H doing the opening voice over and the interruption entrance right before the bell. At least some things never change.
| Tenken347
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| #6 Posted on 15.9.16 0751.01
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0751.13 | The belt was definitely CWC purple, and it's one of the best looking belts in the whole company (for my money, right behind the NXT tag belts). This was a great, great show all the way through. I wound up way into Perkins/Ibushi, being one of the few people rooting for Perkins to win the tourney, and I'd put that match at my number two or three match of the year. The false finish on the Golden Star bomb was tremendous. Metalik continued to be one of my breakout stars. He's one of the best luchadores I've ever seen, with an uncanny ability to make his big leaps meaningful in the context of his matches. Didn't mind the HHH interuption, as someone had to announce the fact that the winner also got the championship belt, but if I'm Neville, I wind up being pretty upset at not being invited to the tournament. I hope that winds up being a plot point on RAW.
Overall, super happy with how this whole thing worked out, and while I'm disappointed that a lot of these guys are going straight to RAW instead of NXT (I'll miss you, Rich Swann), if they can just give these guys some match time, I'll get by. Can't wait to see if they do a second one next year. | El Nastio
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| | ICQ: |  |
| |
| #7 Posted on 15.9.16 0752.25
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0752.31 | Metalik literally did a Olympic-syle high jump over the top rope to do a rana and I was all "WHAT". And those chops man, I think there's a layer of Perkins' skin still on the canvas.
I think out of everyone in tourney to impress me (not that it matters), was Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher The latter due to his impeccable character work, the former because he just brought it every time.
If they actually use three-hour RAW's PROPERLY, these guys are going to have some time.
(edited by El Nastio on 15.9.16 0853) | texasranger9
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| #8 Posted on 15.9.16 0814.15
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0814.19 | | Did Miz teach TJP how to catch a diving opponent? | Toast Jr
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| #9 Posted on 15.9.16 0821.33
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0821.44 | This was so much fun. As mentioned, I don't think I'd want a tournament like this to go on forever, but as a special event, it was perfect. And the new belt is DEFINITELY purple. I hope Neville and other established cruiserweights get to get pissy they weren't in the tournament. I hope the cruiserweights get an hour on RAW. I hope I get to see lots of Rich Swann.
I had already been a fan of Swann just from his few appearances on NXT, but he just shone like the sun in the CWC. He just has so much charisma and is just such a joy to watch in the ring. The other big break-out for me was Akira Tozawa. Another fun, fun guy.
Now that we don't have to worry about spoilers, does anyone know for sure who is signed and going where? I have seen lots of conflicting information.
My top match of the tournament was last night's Ibushi vs. Perkins. I was living and dying on the near falls, and they totally got me with the kick out of the golden star powerbomb. I was so sure that was the end. Just a great, exciting match.
Other favorites:
Tozawa vs. Gallagher
Gulak vs. Sabre
Kenrick vs. Ibushi
You know what, I could almost list them all. Everyone is a winner. Especially the fans. But especially, especially me for winning the bracket. Never forget that I am the best at the internet.
| used2bcool
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| #10 Posted on 15.9.16 0845.02
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0845.06 | Top matches for me, in no particular order:
Ibushi v Alexander
Tozawa v Metallik
Kendrick v Ibushi
Kendrick v Nese
Ibushi v Perkins
Sabre v Gulak
I think I've become a mark for ZSJ. That's a wrestling style I've never seen before and I think I love it. If you really pressed me on it, I'll say Sabre v Gulak is my match of the tournament, and Sabre v Dar could've been if it was someone other than Dar.
(edited by used2bcool on 15.9.16 0955) | Dr Unlikely
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| #11 Posted on 15.9.16 0847.42
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0849.24 | That is definitely a purple belt, not blue. Notably, since purple is red PLUS blue, which means that TJ Perkins now exists in a quantum state and should, by the laws of physics, be able to appear on Raw and Smackdown simultaneously. Like, on a future Raw, Perkins should be backstage when someone walks by and hears Perkins say "No, I won't be your partner", causing that person to say "Hey, I didn't ask you to be my partner in the first place!" and then they start brawling and a match is made. And then on the next Smackdown, someone needs to find a partner and heads backstage, where they see the quantum ghost of TJ Perkins, who says "No, I won't be your partner."
HHH upstaging both guys in the finals by coming out to transform himself from The NXT Man to The Father of Modern Cruiserweight Wrestling was hilarious. Two dudes getting a lot of love from the crowd, so of course the HHH signal goes up and he comes out after making sure to skip Football Raw. I'll cut him some slack (no I won't), though, since it's pretty clear they decided to give the belt out as a way to basically say "Don't worry, we will never mention or show this shitty trophy ever again, folks."
Metalik > Perkins, but I knew Perkins was winning because they'd want the belt to start on an unmasked guy who could cut a promo more easily. I liked Metalik a lot more in this than I did in limited exposure to him as Mascara Dorada in NJPW, but that may also come to how (at least the US TV version of) NJPW treats the juniors as kinda second class. Jury is out on his overall costume design, as I have yet to decide where I stand on the way that part of his costume looks like he's got on that little belt that Spider-man has to keep his web cartridges. That said, I hate guys in masks who have longer hair, so he should trim that up. I have complex feelings about Gran Metalik. | Spiraling_Shape
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| #12 Posted on 15.9.16 0850.46
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0851.16 | Once they revealed the winner also becomes the new CW Champ, it probably makes more sense why it went to Perkins. I'm assuming ZSJ and Ibushi aren't signed/done deals to stick around full-time on RAW (yet?)...just an uneducated guess but of course all the matches were outstanding regardless.
Originally posted by Ecks
Also, the belt strap looks purple to me, to match the CWC "brand" color.
Other things I noticed for some crazy reason:
The first twitter scroll used the CWC block font they'd been using, but it was missing punctuation, so characters like @ and # were not showing up. They changed the font later on.
I swore Mauro said something about CMLL being the "world's oldest profession" instead of promotion.
Yes to all three of these things (so Yes! Yes! Yes!).
Also:
(image removed)
(edited by Spiraling_Shape on 15.9.16 0651)
(edited by Spiraling_Shape on 15.9.16 0652) | Mr Shh
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| #13 Posted on 15.9.16 0855.18
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0855.30 | Holy fuck, yes I can see now the damn belt is purple. I'm slightly color blind, and I had a narrative to push. Shut up. 
Top 3 (trying to do it with all different wrestlers)
Sabre/Gulak
TJP/Ibushi
Gargano/Ciampa | Mayhem
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| #14 Posted on 15.9.16 0930.23
Reposted on: 15.9.23 0930.43 |
The Revival attacked Gargano/Ciampa backstage after their tag match at the CWC, thus continuing that feud.
http://www.wwe.com/videos/an-interview-with-gargano-ciampa-descends-into-a-brawl-wwe-exclusive-sept-14-2016
| Quezzy
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| #15 Posted on 15.9.16 1041.14
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1041.24 | Originally posted by Toast Jr
Now that we don't have to worry about spoilers, does anyone know for sure who is signed and going where? I have seen lots of conflicting information.
Names that have been officially announced to be in the Raw cruiserweight division are:
-Johnny Gargano
-Tommaso Ciampa
-Brian Kendrick
-Rich Swann
-Noam Dar
-TJ Perkins
-Cedric Alexander
-Akira Tozawa
-Jack Gallagher
-Gran Metalik
Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. were both offered contracts and reportedly turned them down. I think that would have been the final if they had signed. | Tenken347
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| #16 Posted on 15.9.16 1046.06
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1047.31 | Originally posted by Quezzy
Originally posted by Toast Jr
Now that we don't have to worry about spoilers, does anyone know for sure who is signed and going where? I have seen lots of conflicting information.
Names that have been officially announced to be in the Raw cruiserweight division are:
-Johnny Gargano
-Tommaso Ciampa
-Brian Kendrick
-Rich Swann
-Noam Dar
-TJ Perkins
-Cedric Alexander
-Akira Tozawa
-Jack Gallagher
-Gran Metalik
Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. were both offered contracts and reportedly turned them down. I think that would have been the final if they had signed.
Ah, that's such a waste of DIY as a team. And honestly, I don't really know what anybody else sees in Dar. Otherwise, good group, even if that's a lot of guys being added to an already bloated show. | thecubsfan
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| #17 Posted on 15.9.16 1104.22
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1104.37 | DIY will probably be working both NXT and the cruiserweight matches for the time being. All the cruiserweights will at least work NXT live events.
Tozawa and Metalik are both still finishing up matches in their former promotions and may not around a lot (or at all) at first.
The Dar Defense is WWE trusted him enough to give him guys they didn't think would be much good (Ho Ho Lun, who may also be signed) and are rewarding him for his hard work. There are people better than him in this, but it's also a 10 person division and someone's got to be the tenth.
Maybe there's no amount of money that would've made it work, because Ibushi is a different guy, but they really are going to miss him. Every match with Ibushi has been the best or close to the best match of that round and his opponents really benefited. Cedric and Kendrick might have been signed anyway, but they were definitely signed after, and Maluta is getting TV work.
I'm very happy for how Metalik did. I'm sad that Andrade didn't get a chance to do the same. | Dr Unlikely
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| #18 Posted on 15.9.16 1141.51
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1142.17 | Kinda think - and maybe wonder if he's not thinking this as well - that Ibushi holding off signing now to come in later might be best in the long run. Being the "first" cruiserweight champion as part of 10 guys debuting at once won't mean much in the long run, especially because I have to think HHH, to his credit, is a long-term thinker with a good brain for how to use history as a plus and not a minus, won't wait too long to relink this cruiser division to the old cruiser/LHW lineage to make the title seem that much more important (and let people namedrop Liger or Pillman or Malenko).
Ibushi coming in later as the Big Star he should be presented as based on his work and his look would help the division down the line if it happens, and perhaps more to the point, maybe you don't limit Ibushi to the cruiser division (or, you know, to Raw) at all given that he has an immensely high ceiling if (big if) used right.
(Basically, I'm fantasy booking that Nakamura and Joe will be going to Smackdown, and meta-fantasy booking that Ibushi will go there/want to go there anyway to be the lynchpin IC guy they need who can do the long-lost, lamented IC-to-World Heavyweight contender build they've forgotten how to do.)
Semi-related thoughts: I do love how NXT and the CWC have opened up the overall roster to have a more international feel, which reminds me of earl-peak WCW in the best way when the cruisers made it feel like the best talent in the world were all coming to WCW. It's good overall to see more diversity (we can have multiple amazing wrestlers from Japan now and not just The Asian Guy), different styles, different looks (even from a ring-gear perspective) that all create the idea that wrestling is something bigger and deeper than just the WWE Main Event Style. It's a circus, use all three rings. This is a good thing that HHH (and I assume Regal?) really deserve praise for. Which makes it that much weirder to me that the Network ads on the Network this past week or so have included that shot of HHH in semi(?)-blackface as "The Crock". Would have bet money that's the last thing we'd ever see them willingly show again.
On Regal, the interview with him on the show where he talked about his own love of cruiser-style wrestling warmed my heart as someone who loved that'96/97 period in WCW when Regal was in TV Title feuds with and around Ultimo Dragon and Rey Jr. Regal's brief love/hate relationship with Rey and his overall run as put-upon TV champion is one of my favorite overlooked wrestling boom era things. | texasranger9
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| #19 Posted on 15.9.16 1425.01
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1425.06 | Originally posted by Quezzy
Originally posted by Toast Jr
Now that we don't have to worry about spoilers, does anyone know for sure who is signed and going where? I have seen lots of conflicting information.
Names that have been officially announced to be in the Raw cruiserweight division are:
-Johnny Gargano
-Tommaso Ciampa
-Brian Kendrick
-Rich Swann
-Noam Dar
-TJ Perkins
-Cedric Alexander
-Akira Tozawa
-Jack Gallagher
-Gran Metalik
Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. were both offered contracts and reportedly turned them down. I think that would have been the final if they had signed.
Too soon to fantasy book the 22 other cruiserweights for next year's tourney? Say Liger and Waltman as the 1-2-3 Kid as the two legends?
Didn't Tajari sign? | used2bcool
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| #20 Posted on 15.9.16 1459.42
Reposted on: 15.9.23 1459.45 | | Are the others going to be used on NXT as well? Gulak was on NXT last night - is that a one-time deal or is he part of that roster now? |
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