Kevin’s Top 10 Cruiserweight Classic Matches

So the WWE Cruiserweight Classic has come and gone, and it was a lot of fun. I watched and reviewed all of it and decided to compile them into a big top ten list. The only criteria is that the match had to take place during the Cruiserweight Classic. The honorable mention would be Drew Gulak vs. Zack Sabre Jr. Please note that the writeups for each match are from the night that they took each took place.

10. Second Round: The Brian Kendrick vs. Tony Nese (***¾)

Kendrick came out firing but ran right into a shot from Nese, who followed with elbows and knees. Nese basically strutted his athletic, hard hitting style for the first few minutes. In a really creative spot, Kendrick stuck Nese’s arm in the turnbuckle and beat on him while he was held in place. He continued to focus on the arm, using the ropes for help as well. He worked some submissions on it and though Nese fought, he couldn’t get free. Nese finally did and began to rally. Nese DID THE DEAL for two and went up top. Kendrick pulled him down hard for his own near fall. Kendrick survived a buckle bomb and applied the Bully Choke. Nese fought it off but Kendrick kept it locked on. Nese turned it into a pin for two and only got another near fall on a Michinoku Driver like move. Nese ended up missing the 450 and tapped out to the Bully Choke. Match of the night for me for sure. Kendrick was overmatched in size, youth and athleticism, so he resorted to using everything he could find, including the turnbuckle and ropes, to his advantage. Nese made a big mistake in the end and it cost him.

9. Quarterfinals: Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins (***¾)

Swann is the feel good story of the tournament, while Perkins is the one arrogant prick remaining. TJ’s offense is so smooth and we got his now trademark dab during a headscissors, but Swann was able to apply one of his own. When TJ got free, he dabbed, so Swann does it back to him after getting the upper hand on him. Swann missed a moonsault outside and landed on his knee, which buckled. Swann showed Sabre how to sell leg work as he held it whenever trying offense on it and Perkins kept going back to it. Perkins got a near fall on a great chicken wing knee buster. Swann continued to have leg issues. He couldn’t land on his feet to stop a super rana, which was a nice touch. He sold it during a flurry of offense as well for the most part. The final few minutes were great but Swann’s leg came into play again. Perkins nailed him with the Detonation Kick and made him tap to the kneebar. Swann brought this match to the next level with his selling and role as a sympathetic babyface. Major props to him, helping to really hammer home the point in a really good match.

8. Quarterfinals: Akira Tozawa vs. Gran Metalik (***¾)

Time limits are now up to thirty minutes. Very fast paced stuff right off the bat. Tozawa got hyped before the match by Graves for his strikes, but the dude is quick. They both tried dropkicks at the same time and whiffed. Metalik, the last remaining luchador, dove outside onto Tozawa in an impressive moment. The crowd was pretty split. Tozawa took to the sky next with a tope suicida followed by another. Metalik made the mistake of getting into a striking battle with Tozawa, which he lost. Metalik got two on a nice running shooting star press at the ten minute mark. Tozawa came close with a saito suplex but couldn’t keep Metalik down. He fired up but Metalik sent him outside and nailed a great springboard dive. They battled some more strikes until Metalik snapped off a gorgeous springboard rana from the top, only for Tozawa to kick out. Tozawa busted out the snap German and used a dead lift for a near fall. He tried a package German but Metalik countered with the Metalik Driver to advance. Easily the best Tozawa performance so far. An insane pace, great mix of strikes and high flying with some well placed false finishes.

7. Semi-Finals: Gran Metalik vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (****)

The crowd was hot for both guys. Metalik started with an instant dropkick, tope con hilo and a somersault for a quick close call. Once Sabre weathered that storm, he took things to his wheelhouse, the mat. Not to be outdone though, Metalik worked a submission of his own. He slipped up on a handspring back elbow, but recovered nicely so it was barely noticeable. I really liked that, for all of his mat stuff, Sabre brought the stiff shots here and it helped things out. Metalik scored on a standing shooting star press for two. There were some top notch counters and transitions from both men throughout this. As the match progressed, their strikes seemed to get more vicious. Sabre hit his best PK of the tourney, with another Shibata reference from Mauro, but only got a near fall. Metalik ended up nailing an insane super rana but then springboarded right into a triangle submission from Sabre. Metalik countered into a pin for two. Sabre charged but ran right into the Metalik Driver for three. Awesome way to start this off. There was worry the styles would clash, but they gelled well. This was non-stop action from bell to bell. Metalik did a good job in showing that he could play Zack’s game and an annoyed Zack started becoming more vicious as things progressed. One of the best tournament matches.

6. Second Round: Johnny Gargano vs. TJ Perkins (****)

This is easily the match I’m most excited for in this tournament outside of Ibushi/Alexander. This ruled. The crowd was into both guys despite Gargano being more established. Commentary talked about Gargano’s knee being banged up from TakeOver even though this was recorded way earlier. Cool points for that though. Gargano had the knee taped up and banged it in a spot here to make it not only play off of the Brooklyn match but make sense with this as a stand alone match. Gargano sold the hell out of the leg, failing on the lawn dart on his first try before connecting on his second, in brutal fashion. Perkins went for his knee bar a few times and finally got it latched in. Gargano nearly reached the ropes but Perkins fully locked it in to advance. I dug the surprise result and Gargano continues to play one of the best resilient babyfaces in all of wrestling. I might rate this higher than some but I’m a big fan of both guys and really enjoyed this, so screw it.

5. First Round: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (****¼)

Both guys rep the States. Ciampa from Milwaukee and Gargano from Cleveland. Both guys got interviewed beforehand. Dueling “Psycho Killer”/”Johnny Wrestling” chants. Their early wrestling exchanges ended when Ciampa delivered a vicious elbow that sent spit flying everywhere. From there on, these guys just hit each other hard. Ciampa especially stated killing Gargano with shots. He hit an air raid crash on the apron and removed his knee pad for a big knee. Remembering it is his friend, Ciampa decided against it and walked into a superkick. Ciampa came back with a vicious powerbomb lungblower combo that somehow got a near fall. Gargano looked out of it and tried to trade shots but Ciampa won out there with sick shots. Gargano ducked one and they rolled around on the mat where Gargano finally got a crucifix for the victory. Great work from both guys. Not on was it hard hitting, but they told a great story. Ciampa was brutal, but held back just enough at times to not injure his friend and partner. They knew each other well enough to counter constantly. Gargano also came across as the most resilient of babyfaces. Gargano takes on TJ Perkins in the second round. Best match of the first round.

4. Finals: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins (****¼)

Like in the semi-finals, Perkins didn’t do any dabbing. This was a serious match on a serious night of wrestling with high stakes. Perkins did his best to ground Metalik, so the Mexican star responded with some hard chops and a tope suicida. Both guys brought the big spots, especially Metalik with his dives. He hurdled the top rope and took TJ off the apron with a rana. He followed with a spring hilo and landed on his back pretty hard. Metalik missed a running SSP and Perkins slapped on the kneebar but Metalik reached the ropes. Gran’s chops echoed throughout the arena and left welts on TJ’s chest. TJ escaped the Metalik Driver but got caught with a huge DDT. Gran went up top but TJ got his feet up on a moonsault. He transitioned a near fall from dodon into another kneebar. As Gran got near the ropes, TJ tried to pull him back but Gran pulled him into a pin for another near fall. The Metalik Driver connected but he didn’t hit it completely because his knee gave out. Great selling. They ended up fighting on the top rope and Gran went for a super Metalik Driver. TJ countered by pulling him to the mat with the kneebar and Metalik had to tap out. Excellent match that was a fitting conclusion to this tournament. Metalik looked fantastic and TJ continued to use his strategy and it paid off. Great selling from Metalik, hot crowd and things just clicked here.

3. Quarterfinals: The Brian Kendrick vs. Kota Ibushi (****¼)

Daniel Bryan was 100% in Kendrick’s corner. Kendrick started to play mind games with Kota, challenging him to fight outside. That failed so he went inside and ate a vicious kick. Ibushi followed with the golden triangle moonsault to get this off to a great start. Channeling his inner Toru Yano, Kendrick attempted to get Ibushi tied up in the guardrail to steal a countout win. He also delivered a neckbreaker over the ring post, which I’ve never seen before. It made great sense since Kota has had neck surgery recently. They traded blows and Kendrick nailed Sliced Bread for a close near fall that nearly killed Daniel Bryan. Ibushi struggled but hit his dead lift German from the apron for two. Kendrick’s bully choke failed so he did a goddamn BURNING HAMMER for a near fall. Kota missed the Phoenix Splash and it’s BULLY CHOKE TIME! Ibushi countered into a pin for two and hit a kick when they got up, followed by a Last Ride powerbomb for the win. Another great match. The crowd was hot and Kendrick played his role brilliantly. You could feel that he was desperate and tried everything to win. The reactions for his signature moves and the emotion of everything was just top notch.

2. Second Round: Cedric Alexander vs. Kota Ibushi (****½)

The hype levels coming out of the tapings for this match are very high. Both guys tried a feeling out process early, with each showing flashes of athleticism. The pace quickened and they upped the ante with bigger moves. Ibushi blocked a dropkick and missed a big kick, leading to a pair of near falls. Alexander elbowed Ibushi hard, so Kota fired back with his first brutal kick. Cedric got sent outside with a springboard dropkick but moved out of the way of Ibushi’s triangle moonsault. Alexander pounced and nailed a gorgeous tope con hilo, following with a springboard clothesline for two. Ibushi kicked Cedric in the ribs and Cedric answered with one of the loudest slaps to the chest I’ve ever heard. The dropkicks and forearms from both men were on another level. Ibushi got a close near fall on a standing corkscrew moonsault. He then one upped himself by doing the triangle moonsault, but from the top rope! Cedric got his closest near fall on a snap Michinoku Driver. Kota tried a super rana but Cedric landed on his feet, though it didn’t come off too smoothly. Cedric escaped the Golden Star Powerbomb and again came close with a brainbuster. He instantly hit a spin kick to the head for an even closer near fall. Cedric went up but Ibushi rolled away from a double stomp. He snapped off a German, hit a roundhouse kick and won with the Golden Stat Powerbomb. What a performance by these guys. That match lived up to the hype. Both guys killed it. It was two guys fighting for their lives to advance in an important tournament. The crowd was invested from the opening bell and they just kept building to bigger and better moments to get them even louder. It was a star making performance for Alexander and Kota continued to look great. Cedric sold the loss like it broke his heart, which added to everything.

1. Semi-Finals: Kota Ibushi vs. TJ Perkins (*****)

My two favorite guys in the entire tournament. TJ Perkins is the only guy to get booed so far. Early on Perkins showed that he was ready by becoming the first person to check a Kota kick. He clearly did his homework. TJ also caught a kick and went for the kneebar, but Ibushi escaped. TJ didn’t even dab at his usual spot because this match is too important. Ibushi hit a springboard dropkick but TJ stopped the triangle moonsault with a kick to the legs that almost got him a countout win. Ibushi found an opening and hit the big golden triangle moonsault on his second attempt. That led to some Ibushi fire until TJ got his knees up on a moonsault and locked in the kneebar, but Ibushi reached the ropes. Ibushi snapped off a German and nearly kicked Perkins out of the ring. TJ blocked the apron dead lift German but took a big pele kick that knocked him off the top. TJ hit an insane tornado DDT to counter the powerbomb and inverted lung blower for one of the closest near falls. Ibushi went for another pele but TJ caught it into the kneebar! Ibushi countered that and they slapped the hell out of each other. After a kick, Ibushi hit the Golden Star Bomb but TJ became the first guy to kick out of that! The reaction from the crowd was magnificent. Ibushi crashed and burned on the Phoenix Splash. TJ went for a wheelbarrow into the kneebar but Ibushi stopped his momentum and dropped him on his hear for another near fall. He kicked the shit out of TJ and called for the pwoerbomb but TJ slipped over into the kneebar again! Kota tried getting up but he locked it in and added the wrenching of Kota’s surgically repaired neck to make him tap. Wow. I’ve seen a ton of wrestling in 2016 and that is my favorite. TJ came in with a game plan and it worked to pull off the massive upset. The crowd was into it from the start. They sold well. The near falls and close calls were perfect. Kota has been the MVP of the tournament but a star was born in TJ Perkins tonight. An incredible match. I can’t say enough.