WWE Cruiserweight Classic – August 17th, 2016

Howdy!

Welcome to week 6 of the Cruiserweight Classic! Tonight, Round 2 continues! Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

Tonight, we’ve got 3 matches on tap, as we have Akira Tozawa/Jack Gallagher, Noam Dar/HoHo Lun, & Brian Kendrick/Tony Nese! Last week, the show hit a new high with the best episode to date; can we top it this week? Let’s find out!

We start with highlights from last week, as Graves voiceover tells us that six more will collide tonight for their shot to continue in the Classic, as he goes over the matches for this evening.

32 Competitors from around the world! 1 Purple Ninja, seeking vengeance against the White Ninja that killed his father! It’s a pathos play in the credits!

Mauro and Bryan welcome us to the show, with Ranallo talking about the Ibushi/Alexander match from last week, with Bryan saying that his heart was racing and he wanted to jump in the ring with them! Man, a Bryan/Ibushi/Alexander 3-way? The entire IWC would be cleaning themselves up for weeks after that.

Video package time! Jack Gallagher is up first, and he does his spiel while highlights of him defeating Fabian Aichner in the first round are shown. Tozawa is up next, and we see him taking out Kenneth Johnson in the first round.

So, I’ve thought a bit about Gallagher and why I enjoyed his work so much in the first round, and I think it’s this; he’s balanced between the entertainment factor, AKA he’s funny; but he throws in enough to balance that as a serious wrestler as well. He’s like the anti-Santino, where he knows when to switch from the goofy to the serious to even out the character. It could go way too far in the one direction, but he seems to have a pretty good handle on it in the ring. I hope he pulls this off, but he’s clearly the underdog here.

Jack Gallagher vs Akira Tozawa – Round 2

Crowd chants for Jack to start, and Gallagher looks delighted. Handshake is accepted. They circle and lockup, Tozawa with a go-behind, takedown into a front facelock. Gallagher gets back to his feet and escapes into a wristlock, Tozawa counters into a single-leg takedown and an anklelock. Gallagher grapevines the leg and turns it into an Indian Deathlock, going to the side to wave at Akira while he leans on an elbow. I seriously love this man. Tozawa escapes it and Gallagher poses for the crowd, who chant “Jacky-boy!” as Jack preens. Outstanding. Knucklelock and Gallagher tries a wristlock, but Akira turns that into a side headlock. Jack escapes that with a HANDSTAND, frustrating Tozawa further and delighting the crowd. Greco-Roman knucklelock now, and Gallagher shoulders him down and ties Akira up hand over leg and turns him over, and Tozawa can’t figure out how to escape it, even after Gallagher releases the hold. Oh, come on now; yes, it’s funny, but that’s a bit too far in the other direction here. Gallagher lines up for a kick as Akira STILL can’t get out, and kicks him in the leg, freeing Tozawa magically! Sorry, that was just a bit silly for me. Tozawa is fed up at this point and just starts FIRING stiff forearms at Jack, who responds in kind with a European uppercut. Good save, guys. Irish whip is reversed by Akira, Jack goes over the top with a sunset flip that got a touch too much air, and Tozawa rolls through it and hits a Shining Wizard for two. Akira with a kick and a snapmare, and the announcers are busy plugging Summerslam and…..oh, wait. As this is the GOOD announce team, they’re actually calling the moves and selling the story of the match, that Akira is PISSED at Gallagher for making fool out of him, hence why he’s being more aggressive. It’s SO fucking hard to watch this show every week with such great commentary, and then have to go back to listening to Cole and Saxton’s idiocy. Tozawa releases the hold to lay in the stomps and shush the crowd, which is solidly pro-Gallagher at this point. Akira slams Jack and gets a standing senton for two. Gallagher fights back with forearms, trading them with Tozawa chops, until Akira fakes him out and just drops him with a shot to the head. Gallagher falls face-first to the mat after that one. Cross-corner whip by Tozawa, Gallagher goes over the top, Akira turns around and double-legs him, but Jack twists the legs and takes Akira over! Neato. And now, Jack Gallagher is PERTURBED! He takes Akira down and starts going to work on the leg, kicking and pulling, then wrapping it up and falling back to the mat to snap it. Again! Another yank of the leg, then Gallagher wraps it up and falls backwards, this time with a bridge, and he crosses his arms while in the bridge! Akira makes the ropes. Gallagher pulls him back to the center of the ring and applies a toehold on the bad leg, Tozawa kicks him in the face to break, Jack back to the hold, Akira with another kick. Tozawa takes too long to recover, and Gallagher just grabs the leg and takes him down, slamming the leg into the mat. Gallagher looks to be setting up for a surfboard, but he just jumps up and drives the knees of Akira into the mat! Ouch! Gallagher puts on a half crab, not turning Akira all the way over, and Tozawa makes the ropes. Gallagher comes at him, but Akira fires a shot to the gut, then a stiff shot to the face of Jack that had me wincing. Like, he CLOCKED him there. Gallagher doesn’t care and goes with another shot to the injured leg, Irish whip attempt is reversed by Tozawa into a suplex attempt, Gallagher lands on his feet. Standing switch with Tozawa hopping a bit on the leg, then a back elbow by Jack. Gallagher sends Akira to the corner, but Tozawa roars out with a running bicycle kick! The leg is hurting him too badly, and he takes too long to cover as Jack kicks out at two. Tozawa whips Jack cross-corner, following that with a running forearm. He tries for a suplex next, but Gallagher escapes into a heel hook! TAP! TAP! Sorry, got a bit involved there. It’s for naught, as Tozawa makes the ropes. Gallagher tries an Irish whip, but Tozawa can’t even run across the ring, as the leg is just gone. The ref goes to check on him, but he says he’s okay to continue; and now it looks like he was goldbricking a bit there, as he catches Jack with a reverse thrust kick to the gut, they trade holds, Gallagher with a big headbutt! 1,2, NO! Gallagher ties the legs up in a figure-four position, Tozawa rolls him over in a small package! 1,2, NO! Back up, Akira ducks a Gallagher clothesline and hits him with a vicious snap German! He goes for the deadlift to finish, Gallagher tries to grab the leg to break and it looks like it might work for a second, but Akira muscles through the pain and hits the deadlift German! 1,2,3. Damnit. (Akira Tozawa over Jack Gallagher, pinfall, 11:37)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, Gentleman Jack is no more in this tournament, so YES, you should check out his last match of the Classic. But in all seriousness, this was really, really fun to watch, as they progressed through Gallagher frustrating Akira to the point where Jack was able to gain control of the match, to Tozawa surviving the legwork of Gallagher and powering through to gut out the victory. I can get behind that, although I’m not a huge fan of him holding the leg on that bridge after Gallagher all but sawed that leg off and mounted it on his wall as a trophy. I can live with it, because the story of the match was Tozawa gutting through it and picking up the win in the face of a surprisingly plucky Gallagher. If Gallagher doesn’t get a contract at this point, they’re out of their minds.

The crowd is not thrilled that Gallagher lost as Tozawa immediately pulls down his kneepad to relieve the pressure. Daniel Bryan opines that he doesn’t care what you say about Brock Lesnar, Akira Tozawa has the best German Suplex in wrestling! Brock Lesnar immediately appears and eats Bryan for his insolence. No, he doesn’t. Goodbye, Jack; I shall miss your rainbow trunks with the black socks. Tozawa will meet Gran Metalik in the next round, which should be awesome.

Later tonight, Brian Kendrick/Tony Nese! But up next, it’s Noam Dar against HoHo Lun!

Summerslam ad.

Video package for Lun/Dar. Lun defeated Ariya Daivari in the first round to advance, while Noam picked up the duke over Gurv Sihra; who’s going home? Let’s find out!

HoHo Lun vs Noam Dar – Round 2

Both guys had lackluster performances in the first round, although I’ve been assured that Dar is actually pretty decent. Here’s hoping that they pick it up here.

Handshake is accepted. Side headlock by Dar to start, Lun shoots him off, Dar runs through him with a shoulder. Off the ropes, Dar hooks the top to avoid a shot but runs right into a spinning heel kick by Lun immediately afterwards. Lun covers for one and goes for a chinlock, but Dar slips out and grabs a wristlock. He wrings it and Lun escapes, Lun goes for the chinlock again and Dar again slips out into the wristlock. Lun with a shot to the gut, following that with a snapmare and a dropkick to the back of the head, and Lun covers for one. Lun picks him up, but Dar immediately grabs the leg and gets a dragon-screw legwhip, sending Lun to the apron. Lun fends him off with a shot, but Dar dropkicks the knee of Lun to send him to the floor. Lun favors the knee as he gets back in, and Dar attacks it immediately. Dar is looking much crisper than he did in his previous appearance, but there’s still not much here. Dar gets a belly-to-back suplex for one. Dar ties up the leg of Lun, HoHo tries to kick him away, but Dar catches the other leg and turns him over into a cloverleaf. He drops back a few times in that position to snap the knee, then goes to reapply the hold and gets small packaged for two. Dar goes after him again, but Lun gets a high kick to stun Noam, and that gets two. Dar reverses a front facelock and kicks Lun’s leg out from his leg. Dropkick in the corner by Dar. We’re three minutes into this thing, and Lun is selling his leg like Flair has been working it for a half hour. Dar keeps working it with kicks and an attempted half-crab. He drops an elbow on Lun’s head and steps on the knee, grinding away at it. He fights off a Lun counterattack and goes back to the half-crab, this time putting a knee on Lun’s back, then stepping on his HEAD when Lun stretches for the ropes. Lun manages to make said ropes with a surge, and catches Dar coming in with a boot. Lun goes up, fights off a charging Dar, and hits a missile dropkick. Running knee in the corner by Lun, which…I mean, he was selling the knee like he couldn’t walk less than a minute ago. He did pause to shake it out though, so I guess that counts? He nails Dar with a few shots and then a NASTY looking Michinoku Driver; the camera angle made me think that he dropped Dar on his head there. Lun nails a Perfectplex next, and I’ll give credit where it’s due as he waves the leg in the air because he can’t bridge. Knee to the face by Lun, then a knee to the back of the head of a kneeling Dar. Superkick by Lun! 1,2, NO! German suplex attempt by Lun, but Dar counters that with a back elbow. Lun goes for another hold, but Dar rolls through it into the kneebar, adding a nice touch by kicking Lun in the back until Lun taps out. (Noam Dar over HoHo Lun, submission, 7:02)

WORTH WATCHING? Okay, Dar has something after all; he was smooth in this match, nice work and the little touches, like stepping on Lun’s head, were appreciated. Lun, I just don’t see it. He wasn’t able to walk on the leg after 3 minutes, but then was touch and go on the selling afterwards; sometimes, it was agonizing, sometimes it wasn’t. There didn’t seem to be a ton of consistency present here, and the match was just two guys doing moves to each other. It wasn’t terrible or anything, I’ll give it a VERY mild YES, if you’ve got the time, check it out, but don’t go out of the way for it. I did appreciate that the legwork paid off, though.

Post-match, Dar does a little shimmy to celebrate. He’ll get the winner of Sabre Jr/Gulak in the next round.

Bryan and Mauro are in the booth, as Mauro points out that Daniel’s pick to win the tournament, Brian Kendrick, is up next. Daniel affirms that Kendrick is his pick, but he’s up against a guy in Tony Nese who has a chip on his shoulder, as he feels like he should have been in the WWE a long time ago.

To the video! Nese obliterated Anthony Bennett in the first round to get here, while Kendrick had a great match with Raul Mendoza to punch his ticket to Round 2.

Brian Kendrick vs Tony Nese – Round 2

Handshake is accepted. Crowd has dueling chants going to start. Kendrick fakes a run at Nese, then does it for real, and Nese just knees him in the face! Nese charges Kendrick in the corner and hits a back elbow, then a jumping knee to a slumped Kendrick, sending him to the floor. Nese rolls him back in and goes for the jumping moonsault, but Kendrick rolls out and Tony lands on his feet. Nese goes out after him with chops, Kendrick shoves him away. Nese charges and Brian alley-oops him to the apron, Kendrick tries to sweep the legs, but Neese cartwheels from the apron to the floor to avoid it, then levels Kendrick with a superkick! Nese rolls Brian back in and gets two. The first few minutes have been ALL Nese. Tony slugs Kendrick down and covers for one. Fireman’s Carry by Tony, but Kendrick fish hooks the nose to escape and pounds on the arm. Kendrick runs Tony into the corner and rubs Nese’s face into the turnbuckle, then traps the arm in it. He sweeps the leg out and chokes away with his boot until the ref pulls him off. Kendrick is just tremendous. Running forearm in the corner by Kendrick, he whips Nese cross-corner, but Tony manages to catch a charging Kendrick with a back elbow. Nese springs to the top and goes for a moonsault, but Kendrick moves and Tony again lands on his feet. He leapfrogs a charging Kendrick, then does a GREAT Matrix dodge of the clothesline, following that with a kick to the gut, then a knee to the face. Kick, legsweep, Nese covers for two. Nese with a legdrop, then another one, then a cover for two. Nese pulls Brian to his feet, but Kendrick grabs Nese’s beard, firing forearms. Kendrick off the ropes, Tony catches him with an elbow. Nese charges Kendrick against the ropes, but Brian moves and Tony gets tied up, and you KNOW that Kendrick is going to take advantage of that. He kicks Nese in the hamstring, then wraps his elbow around the bottom rope until the ref pulls him off. Kendrick goes for the Fujiwara armbar, pulling on the fingers while doing it to just be a dick. Tony rolls over and fires forearms to get a break and tosses Kendrick, but Brian hangs on and stays on the apron. Shoulder to the gut by Kendrick and he comes in with a sunset flip, but Nese hangs onto the ropes to balance himself, then slaps Kendrick’s hands away and just kicks him in the head. Nese goes for the moonsault again, but this time when Brian moves, he doesn’t land on his feet and hits the mat, chest first. Kendrick’s eyes bug out of his head as he sees Tony down, and Kendrick applies the cross-armbreaker. Nese tries to fight out, but Kendrick is ready and uses his boots to keep Nese in the hold by rubbing them across Tony’s face, then reapplying the grapevine. Nese manages to get back to his feet, but Brian rolls him over for two and tries for the arm again. Tony can’t fight him off and Kendrick rolls him back into the center, Fujiwara armbar back in place. As usual, Bryan is just awesome on commentary rooting for Kendrick. Tony finally manages to break and shoves Kendrick away, Brian charges Tony against the ropes, Tony backdrops him to the apron. Kendrick blocks a shot from Nese’s injured arm, but Nese gets a reverse legsweep to send Kendrick to the floor. Nese with a head of steam, somersault plancha to Kendrick on the floor! Nese tosses him back in and they slug it out in the center of the ring, with Nese getting the better of him and driving Kendrick’s face into Tony’s knee. He follows that with a running kick and a spinning heel kick, then gets him up. Kendrick tries to fight Nese off with knees, but Tony guts it out and hits a Falcon Arrow! 1,2, NO! Nese goes up, but Kendrick gets out of the way, then catches a charging Tony with a big boot! Nese then comes flying out of the corner with a clothesline on a charging Kendrick! 1,2, NO! Nese goes up again, Kendrick catches him and pulls him off the top, snapping Tony’s head on the top buckle, then covering for two. Leg lariat by Kendrick gets two. Brian goes for the arm of Nese again, but Tony rolls him up for two. Kendrick hangs on and gets the armbreaker anyway, but Tony jackknifes him for one, then picks him up and gets a CRAZY running buckle bomb on Brian, snapping his head on the second buckle! Yikes. Daniel: “COME ON BRIAN! KICK OUT!” And he does, at two. Kendrick manages to catch a charging Nese with the Bully Choke, Nese gets to his feet immediately, but Kendrick carries his momentum over and gets the choke again. Tony rolls Brian over for two to break. Brian tries an Irish whip, but Nese slides through the legs and pumphandles him into a combination of a Powerslam and a Michinoku Driver! 1,2, NO! They both get to their feet, exchanging shots, and Kendrick again yanks on the beard of Nese and delivers headbutts to the side of Tony’s head! Big kick by Kendrick, superkick by Kendrick, leg lariat by Kendrick! Brian goes up, but Nese catches him with a jumping uppercut on the top rope, then a kick to the head! Another! Kendrick falls to the mat and Nese goes up, 450 MISSES! Kendrick hops on to Nese and immediately applies the Bully Choke (more of a crossface in this instance), getting a quick tapout! (Brian Kendrick over Tony Nese, submission, 13:47)

WORTH WATCHING? Brian Kendrick is on the roll of a LIFETIME right now. You want to talk about putting a guy over in a loss? Watch this match. Kendrick took every shortcut he could find to win, Nese got all the big spots and looked like a killer out there. YES, watch this match; it was tremendous. Kendrick continues to get over his ‘anything to win’ character, while the WWE would be out of their minds not to sign Nese; he’s the whole package in the ring. Great stuff here, as Kendrick moves on and Tony looks awesome at the end.

Up next for Kendrick…..Kota Ibushi. Uh-oh. I think the Cinderella story might be coming to an end, Daniel. Mauro and Bryan bid us good night, and Corey Graves Voiceover tells us that next week is the last week of the quarterfinals, we’ll see Lince Dorado/Rich Swann, Zack Sabre Jr/Drew Gulak, & Johnny Gargano/TJ Perkins, as we will determine the elite 8!

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: This one’s a winner, with two good matches at the front and the back, and Dar/Lun wasn’t terrible either, certainly better than their first rounds. I’d give Tozawa/Gallagher MOTN honors in a very, VERY close contest with Kendrick/Nese. This is an hour of wrestling worth watching, with more than a half hour of the show being spent in the ring. Keep it coming, WWE.

BOD BRACKET CHALLENGE:

Ioan Morris: 2 for 3 this week, for 6 more points.
Ripner Cabbit: 2 for 3 this week, for 6 more points.
Cultstatus: 2 for 3 this week, for 6 more points.

Weirdly, you all missed different matches: Ioan picked Lun, Ripner picked Gallagher, and Cult picked Nese. So we’re still all tied up at 12 heading into the last week of the quarterfinals! Good luck, guys.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter