By John Moore
WWE Cruiserweight Classic Hits
CWC presentation: Just as Lucha Underground decided to take a risk by breaking pro wrestling norms in season one, the WWE Cruiserweight Classic is showing Cero Miedo in doing the same from a different angle. Everything from the super heroes in the bumper cards, the Mortal Kombat esque vs screens, Mauro Ranallo looking like he’s about to call a Lashley or Overeem fight from Strikeforce, Corey Graves in a green screen room, the code of honor, the refs being mic’d during introductions, the World Cup feel, and many other things that beneficial to this product. All of these things tangential to traditional pro wrestling can only help in the evolution of said pro wrestling. I’m really not just saying this because the CWC is the new hotness, nor am I just clamoring for a new show to wipe the bad taste of LU’s season two from my mind (more hype for a certain audio show Will Pruett and I are recording next week). This is simply fresh so far and I like how Triple H and the NXT guys are showing no fear in in doing what the fans want, which includes breaking away from the simplistic NXT formula.
Kota Ibushi vs. Sean Maluta: A really good introductory match to introduce the United States viewers to the wonder that is Kota Ibushi. The production and broadcast team are laying it on a bit thick in singling Ibushi as the hands on favorite, but that kinda makes sense since he is a world class talent who might just be a level above everyone in the field only rivaled by Zack Zabre. Ibushi has the edge by competing in front of huge Tokyo crowds for a major company. This match especially picked up after Ibushi went into next gear by laying in the quick kick-punch combination leading to his awesome lucha libre high risk maneuvers. The announcers didn’t sell Sean Maluta short by any means as they did two things right. They pointed out how he’s the cousin of all of the wrestling Samoans not named Samoa Joe (though is cousins with “The” Samoan “Guy” named Joe). They also put over his signature kick which Mauro built up to perfection once the kick was finally executed. These first round showcase matches are really fun which has me excited as to what will happen once we get the dream matchups in the following rounds.
Cedric Alexander vs. Clement Petiot: If this match was replicated several times in this show it might have been lost in the shuffle, but since every single match sold a different dynamic, this match stood out as pretty solid. This was more of a spotlight for Alexander, so nothing new here from Cedric if you’ve seen him from Ring of Honor. It’s cool to see him get a chance here even after ROH didn’t really know what to do with him (even though it should have been easy to push him after feeding him Moose’s winning streak!). Clement Petiot got to show a little something here in a similar fashion as Saez earlier in the night, not as far as technique, but in a sense that he got to shine a bit and not be an afterthought after the match. Petiot worked a methodical style that wasn’t at all “Ascension mundane” to which Daniel Bryan exposited very well within the context of an athletic competition. Cedric Alexander also sold very well for Petiot’s offence so Cedric should get some credit here. Plus, Petiot played a solid heel, but it has me wondering why Muslims and the French are default heels in pro wrestling.
Gran Metalik vs. Alejandro Saez: This was a splendid first round matchup in the CWC and included everything we would have hoped for in this tournament. You got to see some cool Lucha Libre. Gran Metalik got to show off a few of his Lucha in-ring tools. The ultimate hit from this match comes from Alejandro Saez getting a chance to shine because this tournament isn’t just a stage for the stars of the independents, but also a place for some of the hidden gems worldwide to get a once in a lifetime opportunity to steal the show on (inter)national television. I know some people would complain that it’s just a few indy flips, but Saez looked good in selling and picking the right moments to flip. The Shooting Star from the apron was his highlight. A personal highlight for that I would pick is anytime someone can pull out the AJ Styles Spiral Tap, even if it’s missed (I gave Willie Mack that credit last week). Metalik has a name that is metal as hell in my opinion which is awesome. That Michinoku driver also looked sick in a cool way. Sadly, it was at the expense of him getting unmasked, but editing and camera angles fixed that problem, so thumbs up on CWC production!
WWE Cruiserweight Classic Misses
Ho Ho Lun vs. Ariya Daivari: I joked on Dot Net Weekly last week about wanting Ho Ho Lun to win since I tend to buy into the World Cup type tournaments based on nationality, but after seeing Ho Ho the guy just didn’t look ready for the big stage. Ho Ho reminded me of a local enhancement wrestler who’s happy to be there doing enhancement things. My thought after Ho Ho won was “The local job guy won?” By Contrast Ariya Daivari looked like a future star, even better than his older brother. Daivari also played into being a heel in a pro wrestling tournament that could have used. I’m a bit tired of the Muslim guys being heels, but at least Daivari played into it and drew good heat in a tournament lacking heels. Daivari also had a presence about him and solid wrestling. The wrong guy won here and I feel that Ho Ho only won because of the WWE China deal. The one thing Ho Ho has going for him so far at least is people love saying “Ho” a lot.
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