First Annual Cruiserweight Classic Tournament Thread

[iMoreland]

Wrestling is f*cking great

[detroitKG]

This tourny was pure wrestling bliss...from start to finish! Thank you HHH and to all the competitors...God I'm going to miss these Wednesday nights with NXT and CWC!

[detroitKG]

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[iMoreland]

I need mega heel Brian Kendrick vs heartwarming babyface TJ Perkins on Raw immediately

[detroitKG]

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[LittleOzzy]

What a tournament. Just perfect from start to finish. I look forward to the WWE ruining this once they move to RAW, haha.

[Dunthreevy]

I don't want the CWC to end, but tonight is gonna be so good

Hopefully they don't completely botch the Cruiserweight division on RAW. Really think they're going to introduce the Cruiserweight title either tonight or next Monday. Cole either misspoke or slipped up, but Monday he said "a Cruiserweight Champion will be crowned".

I knew I heard him say that. I was really surprised I wasn't seeing talk of it anywhere else. Glad they decided to crown a champ. Immediately makes the division more interesting for RAW and allows them to bill TJP as a bonafide star the minute he shows up on RAW. I like that the title isn't some huge gaudy looking thing. As the picture above shows, the size of the belt is perfect for the cruiserweights. The women's title looked HUGE on Becky Lynch the other night.

Here's a more detailed look at the title, in case anyone hadn't seen it completely.

[whysoserious]

What would be awesome is to establish the CW division. Have TJ continue to be champ. Have Strowman continue his streak.

Have TJ face off against Strowman at Mania. If Strowman is able to go a long match, then you have TJ almost pull the wrestling version of a rope-a-dope on him tiring him out in a long match and beating him.

[Stanford]

Wrestling is f*cking great

It sure is.

I love that title. So glad they didn't just rip off the WWE title again.

[studcrackers]

This is probably my favorite thing the WWE has ever done. Even if they do this again, idk how it can be topped

I picked Metallik once it got to the final 4, I figured at least one of Ibushi or Sabre would make the final. Once TJP pulled off the upset, I figured he was taking it, since they'd probably want an English speaker leading their division.

But absolutely no complaints from me, TJP shined all tourney long

Hope a tourney of some sort becomes a yearly thing

[Polk377]

What would be awesome is to establish the CW division. Have TJ continue to be champ. Have Strowman continue his streak.

Have TJ face off against Strowman at Mania. If Strowman is able to go a long match, then you have TJ almost pull the wrestling version of a rope-a-dope on him tiring him out in a long match and beating him.

Absolutely not! They can get the division over simply by putting on incredible matches and building characters. The Cruiserweights don't need big wins over the heavyweights. Strowman is being built as a monster heel and it would be stupid to spoil it. If the WWE works it right he can have the same impact Kane and Big Show had in that role.

[whysoserious]

Absolutely not! They can get the division over simply by putting on incredible matches and building characters. The Cruiserweights don't need big wins over the heavyweights. Strowman is being built as a monster heel and it would be stupid to spoil it. If the WWE works it right he can have the same impact Kane and Big Show had in that role.

Of course the division can get over on it's own. And no it doesn't kill Strowman. It's the fact that you don't end up having guys live in this box of Cruiserweight and show that these guys can step out of that division too and compete.

I actually don't see long-term potential in Strowman but I do see them building him up a certain way, might as well leverage that to put over these guys as being more than just a Cruiserweight.

[Polk377]

The CWC was incredible and probably the best thing the WWE has done since introducing NXT. This should be a yearly event where these guys can get showcased and put themselves on the map to the mainstream audience. Guys like Ibushi, Perkins, Sabre Jr, Gran Metalik, Tony Neese, Cedrick Alexander, Rich Swann, Gargano and Ciampa looked like stars here. I'm hoping if they continue they make it bigger and better next year. I am hoping by that time guys like Ricochet, Osprey, Kamaitachi, Roderick Strong, Kenny Omega and even some of the WWE talent like Balor, Neville, Woods can be a part of it.

The semi finals were predictable if you knew that Sabre Jr and Ibushi were not signing with WWE but that didn't hurt anything. I was glad they crowned the CW Champion on the show instead of doing another 6 pack challenge or something on Raw. TJ Perkins is a deserving champion and looked like a bonafide star throughout the tournament. He should have no problem connecting with the audience on Raw.

[Polk377]

Absolutely not! They can get the division over simply by putting on incredible matches and building characters. The Cruiserweights don't need big wins over the heavyweights. Strowman is being built as a monster heel and it would be stupid to spoil it. If the WWE works it right he can have the same impact Kane and Big Show had in that role.

Of course the division can get over on it's own. And no it doesn't kill Strowman. It's the fact that you don't end up having guys live in this box of Cruiserweight and show that these guys can step out of that division too and compete.

I actually don't see long-term potential in Strowman but I do see them building him up a certain way, might as well leverage that to put over these guys as being more than just a Cruiserweight.

They don't need to stay in the Cruiserweight bubble all the time especially in this day where you have smaller guys like Balor and Styles winning WWE championships. You don't need to do it at the expense of one of the only real monsters on the show though. I think Strowman actually has a lot of potential considering his age and how long he has only really been doing this. Listening to him on the Stone Cold podcast he is a good talker as well which they haven't presented yet on Raw. Give him a chance to build man.

[whysoserious]

They don't need to stay in the Cruiserweight bubble all the time especially in this day where you have smaller guys like Balor and Styles winning WWE championships. You don't need to do it at the expense of one of the only real monsters on the show though. I think Strowman actually has a lot of potential considering his age and how long he has only really been doing this. Listening to him on the Stone Cold podcast he is a good talker as well which they haven't presented yet on Raw. Give him a chance to build man.

A real monster is going to have to lose at some point, Strowman's build up and first loss should put someone really over. Nothing wrong with it being a Cruiserweight. Especially if the storyline is built around the wrestling version of a rope-a-dope tiring him out.

I'm not taking away his chance to build, i'm saying build him all the way to Mania but have a Cruiserweight pull of that first loss.

[Polk377]

They don't need to stay in the Cruiserweight bubble all the time especially in this day where you have smaller guys like Balor and Styles winning WWE championships. You don't need to do it at the expense of one of the only real monsters on the show though. I think Strowman actually has a lot of potential considering his age and how long he has only really been doing this. Listening to him on the Stone Cold podcast he is a good talker as well which they haven't presented yet on Raw. Give him a chance to build man.

A real monster is going to have to lose at some point, Strowman's build up and first loss should put someone really over. Nothing wrong with it being a Cruiserweight. Especially if the storyline is built around the wrestling version of a rope-a-dope tiring him out.

I'm not taking away his chance to build, i'm saying build him all the way to Mania but have a Cruiserweight pull of that first loss.

If they build him to Mania it is more likely he faces someone like The Undertaker or Cena and not a cruiserweight. Sure it can it lead to a underdog cruiserweight beating him at some point but it won't be anything soon unless they completely abandon hope.

[iMoreland]

Keep Strowman away from all the cruiserweights. Don't care if he's beating them or losing to them. Don't want to see it.

[Dunthreevy]

Wrestling is f*cking great

It sure is.

I love that title. So glad they didn't just rip off the WWE title again.

I really like how different it is. I like the color of the leather (or possibly rubber?), the shape of the outer silhouette, the fact that the title is appropriately sized for the competitors who will fight for it. It's all awesome.

[Dunthreevy]

The CWC was incredible and probably the best thing the WWE has done since introducing NXT. This should be a yearly event where these guys can get showcased and put themselves on the map to the mainstream audience. Guys like Ibushi, Perkins, Sabre Jr, Gran Metalik, Tony Neese, Cedrick Alexander, Rich Swann, Gargano and Ciampa looked like stars here. I'm hoping if they continue they make it bigger and better next year. I am hoping by that time guys like Ricochet, Osprey, Kamaitachi, Roderick Strong, Kenny Omega and even some of the WWE talent like Balor, Neville, Woods can be a part of it.

The semi finals were predictable if you knew that Sabre Jr and Ibushi were not signing with WWE but that didn't hurt anything. I was glad they crowned the CW Champion on the show instead of doing another 6 pack challenge or something on Raw. TJ Perkins is a deserving champion and looked like a bonafide star throughout the tournament. He should have no problem connecting with the audience on Raw.

Predictability wasn't something that bothered me at all throughout this tournament. I don't care how predictable the winner is, as long as the performance is awesome, and this tournament was like 90% awesome (hated the Ho Ho Lun performances), so the match outcomes didn't bother me at all. They all led to putting over a new star and establishing several legit contenders in a new exciting division. You're right about TJP connecting with audiences. He's going to be a fan favorite among the younger crowd immediately. For someone my age (33) I find his dancing a little corny considering he's nearly as old as I am, but for a younger fan TJP will be great.

[Stanford]

I feel like it also pays tribute to the ghc junior heavyweight championship.