WWE Cruiserweight Classic Review and Reactions 13/7
So the night kick started with the official CWC commentary team (consisting of former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan, and Smackdown commentator, Mauro Ranallo) introducing the fans at home to the show. Now, I have to quickly comment on the commentary work from these two; trust me when I say these guys are a dream team. Throughout the night they worked fantastically well together commentating the show perfectly well. They gave out enough information about every single competitor competing on the night making those who may not have been aware of some of the men understand their background, style, and in ring personality. They never spoke over each other and you could feel the passion and the love for wrestling from both of them. Their different kinds of experience worked well together making them the perfect guys for the job. We then crossed over to Corey Graves who ran us through the matches taking place on the night. Another small addition to the show but one that really did put the icing on top of the cake.
The opening match up saw Mexico's very own Gran Metalik take on Alejandro Saez from Chile. The opening match of any show is always a tough one. As the first two competitors to step in the ring on the night all eyes are on you and it becomes your responsibility to set the bar and get the crowd going. In this match we had two rather different competitors with similarities here and there. Before last night I had briefly heard of and seen the work of Gran Metalik but I will admit I had no idea who Alejandro Saez was, never seeing any of his work before last night. This kinda made it difficult to know what to expect out of this opening match. Mauro and Daniel had done a great job giving us a brief background on the two men and it was clear who had each role in this match. Metalik was without a doubt the fan favourite. Working as a clear baby face the full sail crowd took an instant liking to the Lucha style star and throughout the match his crazy agility and fearless attitude meant that he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hands.Using the rope and his surroundings to his advantage to gain the upper hand Metalik had the fans on their feet cheering for him the entire way stealing the spotlight in the opening match. However, despite the fact that he hasn't had as much in ring experience as Metalik Alejandro had his own impressive move set that has all jumping out of our seat with excitement. Unafraid of taking risks also the only star representing Chile performed a dare devil move that put him right back in this match. The closing moments did see Gran Metalik win back control and in the end capture the winning pinfall to move onto the next round. This was a great opening match and really strong start to the entire tournament. We had two brilliantly talented men battling it out in a short space of time in a match that was all about speed and agility. Alejandro had a great story, coming into this after dropping thirty pounds to actually be apart and then competing in the opening match of the night. I do believe the right man got the win and the match itself did set the bar high.
Up next we had HoHo Lun representing Hong Kong China taking on Ariya Daivari. Yet, again we had two men who had a brilliant story to tell. HoHo grew up in country where wrestling wasn't as big as it is for example here in UK or in the US and while most people living in his country grow to work in far more conservative/office based job Lun built himself up to work in the world of professional wrestling travelling around the globe getting better by the day and growing in experience. We then have Daivari who had a completely different story to tell. After his brother had a his own WWE career Daivari has been the one in the shadows working his way up competing around the world to finally earn his place and make an impact. Again, I didn't know all that much about either of these men so it was refreshing seeing two talents I haven't seen compete before and that feeling of not knowing what to expect only made things even more interesting. Now, HoHo Lun was an unexpected favourite of mine this week. I wasn't sure what to expect from him at all but he came across as a very likeable character. He was someone easy to get behind and root for and the longer the match went on the more confident he grew. He did have the crowd behind him right from the very start and throughout and I personally found myself rooting for him also. There was a different feel to this match. It was far more clear from the start that this wasn't going to be as clean and as respectful as a fight as the previous with Ariya refusing to shake the hand of Lun and throughout the match retaining that heel person witch I did like. I was glad to see Lun pick up the win and I'm interested in seeing where he goes next in this tournament. I do however worry that he will be eaten alive but some of the more experienced and intense men competing in this tournament alongside him.
One of the biggest crowd reactions of the night was given to American star, Cedric Alexander who went one on one against France's very own Clement Petiot. Again, this had a different feel to the first match. Both assigning different roles it was clear Alexander was taking on the role of the baby face and throughout the match he too had the full sail crowd backing him. Unlike the two matches we have already spoken about these two men were very different in style. On the one hand we had Cedric, a high flying talent who was able to throw himself around the ring to get the advantage, while on the other hand we had Petiot who wasn't about flips and tricks and instead kept to technical wrestling and pure brutality to overshadow his opponents. I was far more familiar with the work of Cedric Alexander and so I naturally found myself backing him anyway. If I'm being honest this was my least favourite match of the night. It was much more slower paced witch is not necessarily a bad thing anyway but I just wasn't as emotionally invested in this match or excited throughout it as I was the previous. Both men had their time in control of this match but in the end it was Alexander who had all the spotlight. He stole the match in my eyes and was the rightful winner without a doubt. Again, I'm going to be very interested in seeing what Cedric has to offer next.
And finally we had the match everyone had been waiting for all night, Kota Ibushi VS Sean Maluta. I don't think there was a single person who watched the Cruiserweight classic this week who wasn't aware of Kota Ibushi. Without a doubt one of the most popular if not the most popular star in this entire tournament, Kota Ibushi is an early favourite who has the fans firmly behind him and last night the crowd went insane when his music hit and the Japanese star made his way to the ring. Now, this was without a doubt my favourite match of the entire night. It was by far the longest match of the night and had the most amount of story telling and depth. We had two very different men from different parts of the world who had a clear difference in in ring style. Before the match started and at the end we got to see mutual respect from both competitors witch always makes a match that much better. The match itself was intense, exciting and full of fantastic moves that has me and everyone
else on the edge of their seats. Both these men walked into this match with high expectations from fans and backstage officials. We had Kota Ibushi, one of the most popular wrestlers in the world outside of the WWE and Sean Maluta who after coming from a very famous bloodline that included the likes of the Rock, the Usos, and Roman Reigns had a lot to live up to. Within the first five seconds of this match Ibushi found himself in control. One kick to the leg of Maluta left the Samoan star on the ground forced to re evaluate his fame game plan. A fast thinker, Sean realised that the best thing he could do was avoid a second kick and found himself working his way back up and slowly building moment. Throughout the match he did everything he could to stay on Ibushi but the fan favourite always had a counter waiting and his fast paste offense mixed with his striking blows and kicks gave him the all round advantage and was able to spend a great deal of this match in control and in the end the perfect ending left Ibushi picking up the final victory of the night. A predicable ending but a brilliant match.
I don't know about you but I really really liked this first episode of the Cruiserweight classic. It had everything you could ask for and more. The commentary work was brilliant and really did play a huge part in the overall show, the men competing literally gave it all and delivered fantastic matches. It was a great start to the tournament and the show genuinely left me excited for next weeks episode. I will be back here next week with my second review and reactions post but for now you can let me know what you thought of this weeks show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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