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Follow @TheDocLOP Welcome back, cruiserweight wrestling fans, to continued coverage of WWE's Cruiserweight Classic. After a stellar first two episodes, Week 3 brought us back down to earth. The action was still engaging, particularly in the opener and in the main-event, but what has become the standard was not quite lived up to this evening. Let's move onto the reviews, utilizing the old CMV1 format... Match 1: Zack Sabre, Jr. defeated Tyson Dux in 8:38 (Doc's Rating - ** ¾) (Doc's Notes – Sabre, Jr. was one of the wrestlers I most looked forward to seeing for the first time, ranking right up there with Ibushi. The style in which he wrestles, what Daniel Bryan partly referred to as “escapology,” is of the William Regal-variety that is so uniquely mat-based and technical that it defies traditional definitions. Twenty years ago, Regal was doing things that mainstream North American fans hadn't seen before, helping fans like myself acquire a taste in that sort of approach. Tonight, ZSJ followed in his footsteps. There were some truly incredible counters involved in this match, quite possibly the most stylistically different match we had seen in the entire tournament thus far. Tyson Dux, who we learned was a former WWE developmental talent in his twenties, looked on-form in his return to the company, often going counter for counter with the Counter Master, Sabre, Jr. At no point did it feel as though ZSJ was in danger of losing, however, which has been a hallmark trait of the best of the best performances from previous weeks. For those curious, that was the reason for the lack of that definitive third star) Match 2: Drew Gulak defeated Harv Sihra in 5:18 (Doc's Rating - ** ¼) (Doc's Notes – Gulak was very impressive, employing a more smash-mouth type of technical wrestling on a night that featured quite a few of the technical wrestling-orientations. Sihra was solid in his own right, but falls into a category below Gulak and well below the upper echelon talents in the CWC in terms of in-ring ability, but he does seem to have a lot of personality. Back to Gulak, who pretty well owned this contest, that added viciousness was a subtle sight to see and I'm looking forward to viewing him again Round 2 against Sabre, Jr. Corey Graves added a bit of hype to Gulak from the control room, adding another element to the CWC presentation and giving the Graves segments more of a purpose beyond lip-service for the presumed favorites; I was completely unfamiliar with Gulak prior to tonight, so I liked that wrinkle) Match 3: Tony Nese defeated Anthony Bennett in 6:34 (Doc's Notes – Anthony Bennett reminded me of Ho Ho Lun from Week 1, just with a little bit more potential. Lun looked out of place on that first show, whereas Bennett showed flashes of becoming a really good talent some day. The future is brighter than the present for him, though, as he appeared to be at that stage of his career when he is still very much learning how to put everything together. It was like watching a clearly skilled youth soccer player get dominated by an adult; and that is a comparison drawn not because Bennett is so small and more a comparison drawn because he looked like he lacked experience. Nese, on the other hand, showcased himself as a tremendous athlete – perhaps one of the best athletes in the entire tournament. His match in Round 2 could be interesting; while you could easily see WWE wanting to move Kendrick onward to the Elite 8, Nese is an intriguing prospect) Match 4: The Brian Kendrick defeated Raul Mendoza 7:30 (Doc's Rating - ** ¾) (Doc's Notes – Welcome to the show, Raul Mendoza! What a performance from the luchador! If this tournament has taught us anything, it is that the losing wrestlers can make a considerable impression and Mendoza was no exception. Perhaps of all the defeated so far, he would be the one I would most like to see again. His movements, the vast majority of which were fast-paced and intricate, were executed with seemingly incredible ease. Like TJ Perkins last week, he just made things that have to be far from easy look so simple. A catch sequence at speed is like throwing a punch for him. Mendoza's Coast to Coast > Shane McMahon's. #SignRaulMendoza. Daniel Bryan's rooting interest in Brian Kendrick's ultimate victory could be a narrative to follow, by the way, as Kendrick may well become one of the stories of the tournament. The former Tag Team Champion did not disappoint in victory and the Bully Choke was a hellacious submission with which to end the match. He has reached the stage of his career when some of his athleticism has been replaced by wisdom; some of a wrestler's best work can come from that stage. I cannot help but look ahead to a probable Kendrick vs. Ibushi quarterfinal) All in all, though it was not as impressive a night as Weeks 1 and 2, the CWC continued to deliver action that we could not otherwise see from WWE this week and I certainly still walked away impressed from many of the competitors. Much like the last few games of the NCAA Tournament, I have about reached the point where I'm ready for what should prove to be a higher quality Round 2, but the last thing I would like to see next week before we move onto the Sweet 16 is a major upset and the beginning of a potential Cinderella run, as such stories always make tournaments more interesting
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