WWE announces the Global Cruiserweight Series

[Omega 354]

I hope Dar gets a decent crowd reaction tonight, surely some people out there must know to sing his last name to seven nation army or the star wars stuff by now?

[DC 536]

I hope Dar gets a decent crowd reaction tonight, surely some people out there must know to sing his last name to seven nation army or the star wars stuff by now?

He got the Star Wars chant last night and the match itself was an improvement on his first-round bout, but not by much.

 

It's a shame, because Dar can be awesome, so I don't know if the (relatively) lacklustre outings so far are down to the opponents, the step-up in production, nerves or possibly a combination of the three.

 

Last night, while not having a match the quality of Kota v Cedric, had some great action. The opener was fantastic (both men deserve credit for that), Dar v Lun was decent) and the main-event was a great showcase for Tony Nese and a wonderful battle-from-behind-while-being-a-subtle-heel performance from Kendrick.

 

As for Seven Nation Army, I can't hear that now without thinking "Lionheart is a fanny" thanks to Joe Hendry.

[dsrchris 190]

Apparently rumour has it they took a good look at Will Ospreay, but he signed for NJPW instead.

 

Pete Dunne needs to get a tryout as soon as possible. His current bruiserweight gimmick would make him a great heel foil for a whole bunch of guys in the Cruiserweight division.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Also Will Ospray was busy over in NJPW becoming the first ever Brit to win the Best of the Super Juniors and then challenging KUSIHDA for the IWGP Jr. Title...

[Guest Barbarian1072]

They could have jumped ship if they wanted to as far as I know, unless LU contracts specify that they have to work a certain number of days before being released. Ricochet could go so far in WWE, if he joined NXT he'd be a guaranteed future champion.

Vince has apparently expressed interest in bringing Morrison back, so I could see that happening if John wants it.

[Guest]

Apparently rumour has it they took a good look at Will Ospreay, but he signed for NJPW instead.

 

Pete Dunne needs to get a tryout as soon as possible. His current bruiserweight gimmick would make him a great heel foil for a whole bunch of guys in the Cruiserweight division.

 

I'm on the Pete Dunne boat, finally going to see him in September/October.

[Zack T 171]

I'm sad that Johnny Gargano got eliminated, I was so sure we were gonna see Gargano vs Kota Ibushi in the semi finals :(

 

But I do really like TJ Perkins and they told a great story in their match and made him look credible enough to get the win, albeit it over a damaged Gargano.

 

Zack Sabre JR and Drew Gulak had a hell of a technical match. Reminded me a bit of Angle/Benoit - it wasn't quite that level of intensity and excellence, but daaaamn it was really good.

 

I am happy we do get Kota vs Kendrick though, that should be neat. I've been wondering though, why isn't Kendrick doing the Sliced Bread #2? I don't see independents stuff, so did he stop using it completely or has he just deliberately been holding out on it during the tournament?

[Zack T 171]

No thoughts on this weeks edition?

 

Brian Kendrick and Kota Ibushi was excellent. Every match Kota's had has been great.

 

Gran Metalik and Akira Tozawa was good too, first match Akira had in the tournament that made me think he was good. But Gran has had great matches each step of the way too. I've been thinking it'll come down to Gran Metalik vs Kota Ibushi.

 

Pretty sure we'll get TJ Perkins vs Kota in the semi finals and that'll be real nice too, I like TJ Perkins a lot.

[Guest Barbarian1072]

I don't know though because Kota doesn't plan on signing a full time deal with WWE, which may lead them to keep him out of the finals just to make their future talent look strong. I'm pretty sure they've got Metalik, Perkins, Swann and Dar so I could see one of them winning it, Sabre Jr isn't signing either so I don't even know if he'll beat Dar or not. It's a shame neither Kota or Sabre signed, they're probably the two best in the tournament, only people who I could put up against them are Gargano and Kendrick, and they're out.

[DC 536]

I have a feeling it's going to be Ibush v Sabre, Jr in the final.

 

Interesting note, the semi-finals and the final are on the same 2hr supershow. You have to imagine there will be a (six-man?) tag match on there too, plus a few other match-ups we missed out on.

[Guest Barbarian1072]

I would have thought we'd see Ibushi vs Sabre Jr in the final, but since neither of them are signing I don't see WWE doing it on a business standpoint, after all it looks a bit dump if the two guys being seen as the best cruiserweight in the world aren't with the WWE or their Raw cruiserweight division.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Thing is though, they haven't stated that the winner of the CWC will become the Cruiserweight Champion - if they said that then it would probably mean we wouldn't see a Sabre v Ibushi final.

 

As it stands, because this is a stand alone tournament, on the network alone, no highlights being shown on Raw or Smackdown and quite clearly booked by HHH, then I think we can still see an Ibushi v Sabre final and seen as those two guys are the most talented out of who is left in the tournament (well at least in my opinion), then I'd be damn happy with that.

 

Likewise we could see Metalik v Ibushi in the final with Metalik getting the win and the rub from beating the most hyped guy in the whole damn thing and then as a result be then crowned, in a surprise, as the new WWE Cruiserweight Champ on the following RAW.

[dsrchris 190]

After watching the whole tournament so far, I'm really wanting TJP or Rich Swann to win this. As entertaining as other guys have been, Perkins and Swann are more of a complete package than the other guys left in the tournament.

 

ZSJ is a phenomenal wrestler, but he hasn't set the world alight in the tournament, and to be honest there's been a couple of times where he just looks like he's phoning it in.

 

Ibushi is awesome, and again a great wrestler, but I don't feel like he's got as good a connection with the crowd as someone like Swann.

 

Noam Dar has been...well, a bit of a disappointment to be honest. But then again, Dar strikes me as the kind of guy who believes his own hype and is cruising on name value rather than showing what he's capable of. Similar to ZSJ really.

 

I don't see the fuss with Gran Metalik. I don't really understand what everyone else sees in him, because so far for me he's just been a pretty standard luchador.

 

Swann has the entire audience in his pocket from the moment he makes his entrance until he leaves the arena. He could be over like gangbusters if he went on to win the tournament.

 

TJP strikes me as the kind of guy who could be an exceptional cocky heel in the Cruiserweight division. He's just got an air of smugness about him as he goes about his business in the ring that you just can't teach. Hell, I'd be totally down to see Swann pip TJP to trophy, which then turns into a feud that transposes over to Raw.

 

Oh, and props to Rich Swann's entrance music. It's no Lionel Richie, but it's still pretty damn smooth!

[Guest Barbarian1072]

I would much rather see a future cruiserweight star win the title, otherwise the potential rub from winning the tournament is wasted. I agree with the Zack Sabre Jr and Noam Dar comments, they're incredible on the indies but it doesn't seem like they've been going out of their way to have amazing matches so far.

 

Gran Metalik is pretty cool but I never saw him as a top cruiserweight, even when he was wresting Kenny Omega in New Japan last year. The fact that you can't see through his mask is a big issue to me that Sin Cara also suffers from, there's no emotion to be gained from him. I was pretty upset when Tozawa got pinned by him, I think Tozawa might be my personal favourite in the tournament and connects with the crowd much better than Metallic could ever hope to. I also prefer Tozawa's hard hitting ring style to the soft lute style Metalik uses.

 

As it stands, I think TJ Perkins is the man to go with to win the tournament. Can be a great heel or face, his cockiness is liable as a face but I can see him turning into a real Jericho-like cocky arsehole and giving the cruiserweight division a lot of personal flair. I love Swann too, but I think TJ is a better wrestler who's style is totally different to anything I've ever seen.

[Guest Barbarian1072]

Only watched the finals there, and what did I say guys haha. Happy as hell for Perkins, the man really deserves to be in this position, even if the signing of Zack Sabre Jr or Kota Ibushi would have changed it entirely. I am excited for the cruiserweight division, they have some amazing talent going to Raw and they better use them right in WWE this time.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Cue being feed to Braun Strowman within the next two months...

 

I kid, it was a damn good tournament, some MOTY candidates in Ibushi v Alexander and Gargano v Ciampa, a WWE signed guy winning to establish him as the head of the division and some stars made in the process.

 

Think about this, Perkins has defeated Gran Metalik who was Máscara Dorada in CMLL and at one stage held four title belts at once, Ibushi who is a former three time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion as well as the winner of the New Japan Cup as well last year as well as the decorated Gargano and Swann during the earlier portions of the tournament. Not a bad way to start your reign!

 

I know there was some mixed reactions from the crowd when he won, mainly I feel because they had hoped for a Sabre Jr. v Ibushi final but the fact is those guys where offered WWE contracts and they turned them down so it wasn't to be, it is possible one might have made it to the final to put someone over but in the end the WWE used them both to put two WWE-Signed talents over which is smart business really.

 

Speaking of which... these guys are confirmed as signed and will be part of the division going forward when it hits Raw this week...

 

Akira Tozawa

Brian Kendrick

Cedric Alexander

Lince Dorado

Jack Gallagher

Gran Metalik

Noam Dar

Rich Swann

Johnny Gargano

Tommaso Ciampa

 

Not a bad roster to start with is it really?

[Mr.Windham29 35]

Cue being feed to Braun Strowman within the next two months... knowing how out of touch Vince is this has a high probability of happening.

[Guest Barbarian1072]

It actually annoyed me when the crowd booed Perkins after beating Ibushi. I understand that we all wanted a Sabre Jr vs Ibushi final, but it should have been obvious WWE weren't going to do it, because as Gringo said, they were offered contracts and turned them down (I'm hoping they change their minds about that in the future). It showed an absoloute lack of respect to TJ Perkins who had put on clinic after clinic in the tournament and put on another in the final.

 

There's a reason that I called him out as the winner, because apart from NXT signed talents Gargano and Ciampa and the ageing Brian Kendrick, I believe he's the best WWE signed cruiserweight in the tournament. A strong support to build the future of the division on, a true innovator who will bring cruiserweight wrestling to the next generation.

[DC 536]

Cue being feed to Braun Strowman within the next two months... knowing how out of touch Vince is this has a high probability of happening.

I get being pessimistic, but Vince obviously OK'd the whole tournament and every guy in it (even if he most likely didn't have a clue who most of them were).

 

WWE genuinely seem to have turned the corner in how they treat smaller and / or indy guys coming in. Whether that is Vince taking a slightly less hands-on approach coupled with the influence of Triple H or some other combination of factors, there should be some benefit of the doubt given that they'll get it right this time.

 

At present, only one of the main singles titles (WWE, Universal, RAW Women's, Smackdown Women's, NXT) are on an American and the top three male champions of each respective show are indy darlings in Kevin Owens, AJ Styles (seriously, in 2016, AJ Styles is WWE Champion within his first year) and Shinsuke Nakamura.

 

A shift has happened and I'm hopeful that it will continue in the long term.