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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Were you surprised at the outcome of the CWC finale? What was your overall opinion of the CWC? On July 13th, I sat down to watch the first week of the Cruiserweight Classic not really knowing what to expect with the exception of outstanding action that I couldn't otherwise see on WWE TV. 10 weeks later, I sit here having just watched the finale of the CWC, blown away yet again, and I all I can really say before we get to the review is that I've absolutely loved the experience, I thank WWE for putting it together, and I look forward to not just the next edition hopefully a year from now, but also the Cruiserweight division on Raw led by the winner of the inaugural tournament, the incomparable TJ Perkins. A round of applause is in order for the Cruiserweight Classic. Match 1: Gran Metalik defeated Zack Sabre, Jr. in 13:14 (Doc's Rating - *** ½) (Doc's Notes – This was a true clash of styles, with the high flying luchador wrestling with the submission specialist, and it has in past editions of cruiserweight divisions in the United States been a recipe for some truly special encounters. I would not go so far as to say that the first Semifinal was special, but it was definitely compelling. I did my best throughout this tournament to ignore all the outside noise regarding contracts with WWE, so I genuinely felt as though this result was up in the air; that unpredictability carried my opinion of this match. It may not hold up as well for me on replay in the future, but numerous times throughout the run time, I was jolted from my seat by a false finish or near tap out. What was so great about this Final Four was that any of them could have conceivably won. Even those who were adamant of the last two being previously signed to WWE could not deny that it was not beyond WWE to make a last minute signing before the live finale. That said, Metalik – already heading to Raw's CW division – got the win to head to the finals and why on earth would anyone have batted an eyelash about it? ZSJ lived up to the pre-tournament hype as far as I'm concerned and, though he never had a great match, he proved himself highly innovative in the style that he favors) Match 2: TJ Perkins defeated Kota Ibushi in around 14-minutes (Doc's Rating - **** ½) (Doc's Notes – Forgive my lack of a specific bell-to-bell time, as I was so immersed in the action that I actually forgot to stop my timer when it was over. What a match! Just an absolutely incredible performance by the men who I would personally consider far and away the tournament MVPs. As much as ZSJ lived up to the hype in my opinion, it was Ibushi who had the weight of the world's expectations on his shoulders and who was consistently amazing, more than meeting the standard that fans around the world had come to expect of his efforts. This match tonight was his shining moment even in defeat and a crowning achievement of not just tournaments in general for their dedication to bringing elements from previous rounds into the latter stages, but also THE crowning achievement in this particular tournament. I could easily call this a five-star match and the year's best to date because, frankly, I cannot imagine how it could have been any better. There are only two matches I have ever given 5-star ratings to immediately, though, so only time will tell if TJP vs. Ibushi can earn that mark. Massive amounts of respect to Ibushi for what he accomplished in the CWC and, if his sole purpose for participation was to spread the Japanese wrestling style across the world, then consider his mission accomplished at least for yours truly. I much prefer him to Shinsuke Nakamura in the ring and I am quite motivated to go watch some of the matches that made him famous in New Japan. On the point about round-to-round history, the greatest false finish of this tournament and of perhaps the entire year was TJP kicking out of the Golden Star Bomb. It had to have been over at that moment because of the way that the move had been treated throughout the CWC...until it wasn't! By the way, I hope to read nothing in reply to this column about Perkins not deserving to be in the final over Ibushi because, as good as Kota was, I honestly do not believe that Perkins was any less consistent in the quality of his performances. Just a wonderful, all-time classic match) Match 3: DIY defeated Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar in 9:48 (Doc's Rating - *** ½) (Doc's Notes – Was that supposed to be the cool down match? Ha! Surely not! So many flattering things could be said about Ciampa, Gargano, and Alexander from their already stellar CWC resumes and beyond, but I want to spend the brief moments that I discuss this would-be filler by commending Noam Dar. I was very critical of him throughout the tournament – or perhaps better put his lackluster first two opponents and the odd chemistry he displayed with Sabre, Jr. - but he had a very good showing tonight. The guy has a lot of potential that largely went unshown in the CWC itself, but he acquitted himself well in the bonus match – a rapid fire exhibit for just how much fun cruiserweight wrestling can be) (Doc's Note on the Cruiserweight Championship belt – what a beauty, with a color palate that sets it apart from everything else in WWE right now) Match 4: TJ Perkins defeated Gran Metalik in 17:49 (Doc's Rating - ****) (Doc's Notes – When the CWC Bracketology special aired, the wrestler who stood out most to me was TJ Perkins, mainly for the charisma he showed in his video package. He came across to me as the guy who would become the biggest star of the tournament if not actually in the tournament itself then surely by way of his performances in it, leading to future opportunities with WWE. He was my guy from the start. I wanted to see Metalik, ZSJ, Ibushi and others for their reputations, but Perkins was the talent in whom I invested my winning interests. I heard so many people call his victories over Gargano and Swann “upsets,” but they never came across that way to me. TJP was clearly the most talented guy in the ring in every single match that he wrestled, arguably the most physically gifted and unquestionably the most charismatic. Had it been Perkins being hyped on NXT specials in the months prior to the CWC, it would have been TJP who in my view would have been the odds on favorite. He just seems like a star...and now he definitively is one. And, if I may be a mark for just a moment, he is my new favorite wrestler. His story, his skill set, his ability to convey his emotions on a microphone – TJP has it all. I am thrilled that he won this tournament. As for the match that crowned him both Cruiserweight Classic Champion and WWE Cruiserweight titleholder, it was a little mis-timed at certain points on first viewing but I may well go back and see it differently upon rewatch considering that a lot of what they did was intricate and highly risky. For the most part, they seemed to executionally gel rather well and the storytelling on display was marvelous. I loved the climax featuring Metalik's Driver being unable to translate to an immediate pin cover due to his injured knee and the closing sequence that saw the counter of the top rope version into a TJP knee bar. A subtle thing that I loved throughout the match was that Perkins was cognizant to struggle to fully execute the trap of Metalik's other leg while applying the knee bar for the first and second times; the downside to the mask is the inability to see the facial expressions, so TJP did well to emote that he was unable to synch in his submission all the way because Metalik wouldn't allow it. In the end, Metalik did tap, making that five for five on the tap chart for TJP in the CWC) All in all...I'm not sure what else can be said. The Cruiserweight Classic was incredible. The wrestling progressed from a few standout matches in the first round to several superlative efforts in the next two phases to the awesome finale tonight. The commentary and the presentation of throughout the tournament was marvelous. I honestly loved everything about this. I'm going to miss it now that it's gone. Raw is now the caretaker of this gloriously underrated part of pro wrestling that WWE has notoriously mishandled over the years. I hope they can continue what the CWC has restarted. Cheers everyone and thanks for joining me on this journey!
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