By Zack Zimmerman
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WWE Cruiserweight Classic Taping
Live Updates from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Before the taping, there were several incidents with either Full Sail or WWE staff. The arena was less than half-filled, so the staff squeezed everyone into the area opposite the hard cam and the first few rows. We had a large party of about 20 people and WWE’s head of security didn’t like us trying to sit together, and so we were informed that “we’re in his house” (which is odd considering that we were standing in the lobby of a university).
They also removed at least one fan, though I didn’t see the incident that led to it. Needless to say the WWE and Full Sail staffs were in full power-trip mode and it made for a very unpleasant experience.
They announced that there was an accident on I4 which caused a delay in fans arriving. About 15 minutes after the scheduled start time they kicked things off by bringing out Mauro Ranallo and then Daniel Bryan, who was warmly welcomed. Bryan cut a promo about the CWC and then they began the parade which streamed on WWE’s Facebook.
All of the matches taped tonight are first-round matches.
1. Gran Metalik over Alejando Saez. Metalik won with his Fireman’s Carry Driver.
2. Ho Ho Lun pinned Arya Daivari with a bridging German suplex.
3. Cedric Alexander beat Clement Petiot. Cedric hit the Lumbar Check for the pin.
4. Brian Kendrick defeated Raul Menzoda. Over the course of the match, Mendoza won the crowd over in a big way with a very impressive showing, but Kendrick submitted him with a Saka Otoshi.
5. Tajiri pinned Damian Slater. Tajiri hit the Buzzsaw Kick for the W.
6. TJP forced Da Mack to submit to a grapevine leglock.
7. Lince Dorado over Mustafa Ali. This match had some very fun stuff in it. Dorado won with a Shooting Star.
8. Akira Tozawa beat Kenneth Johnson. It really says something when you can’t have a good match with Tozawa and Johnson certainly did not. Tozawa won with a stalling German.
9. Zack Sabre Jr. tapped out Tyson Dux with Ode to Breaks.
10. Drew Gulak beat Harv Sihra by submission. Sihra tapped to Gulak’s Dragon Sleeper with bodyscissors.
11. Tony Nese over Anthony Bennett. Worst match of the show to this point by far. Nese won with a 450.
12. Kota Ibushi pinned Sean Malura. Ibushi won with the sit-out Last Ride.
13. Rich Swann defeated Jason Lee. Swann was very over with the crowd. He got the pin after his standing 450.
14. Noam Dar submitted Gurv Sihra to a kneebar.
15. Jack Gallagher beat Fabian Aichner. This was the most pleasant surprise of the night as both guys came in virtually unknown and put on a strong performance. Gallagher won with his high impact dropkick in the corner.
16. Johnny Gargano pinned Tommaso Ciampa. After a good back-and-forth match, Gargano surprised Ciampa with a crucifix pin.
That concluded the tapings, which will air over four weeks with four matches per show beginning July 13.
And for your reference, Full Sail is accredited nationally. Instead of sounding like a douche, please do adequate research.