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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who do you think is going to win the Cruiserweight Classic? Welcome back to continued coverage of the Cruiserweight Classic here on LOP. We begin with last week’s episode featuring Kota Ibushi vs. Brian Kendrick in the main-event and Gran Metalik and Akira Tozawa in the opener. Surely, despite all the other great episodes throughout this tournament, August 31st provided the superlative edition. Let’s get to the action! Match 1: Gran Metalik defeated Akira Tozawa in 15:51 (Doc’s Rating - ****) (Doc’s Notes – Perhaps no match in the tournament to date featured the variety that one might expect when they read or hear of the term “Cruiserweight wrestling.” From grappling to submissions to high-flying, Metalik vs. Tozawa had it all. And not only that, but perhaps no better example exists in the CWC to date of how to psychologically build off of past matches to create drama in the present. The climactic moment that saw Tozawa connect with his bridging German Suplex only for Metalik to kick out was the quintessential near fall and it was constructed through a reputation built for Tozawa’s finisher in Rounds 1 and 2. Any fans that have tired of the finisher kick out being so commonly used will likely adore the climax of this match, as though a finisher was indeed kicked out of, the manner in which they built to that sequence was tremendous and Metalik’s victory came on the back of his own well-hyped match-ending maneuver. Not to overly hyperbolize here, but this was also a prime example of why the face-heel dynamic really doesn’t matter anymore; so long as character is established and there are stakes involved, people will react to the two combatants in a fight and often do so quite passionately. Do not mistake such a comment on investment from the audience as a Full Sail phenomenon either, as I sat on the edge of my seat wanting Metalik to win at first, and then later found myself really wanting Tozawa to pull out the win. My appreciation for Metalik’s fluidity and high flying grace was pushed aside in favor of my admiration for Tozawa’s grit and intensity. In the end, I felt like we had just seen a match pull neck-and-neck with Ibushi vs. Alexander as the best of the tournament through 7 weeks) Match 2: Kota Ibushi defeated The Brian Kendrick in 13:59 (Doc’s Rating - ****) (Doc’s Notes – The driving force behind my stance of Day 1 of the Quarters being the best episode of the CWC was that we saw two great matches that were completely different. Metalik vs. Tozawa, like Alexander vs. Ibushi a few weeks ago, offered us Cruiserweight wrestling as its athletic best reminiscent of WCW’s offerings of Dean Malenko against Rey Misterio Jr. and Ultimo Dragon respectively. Kendrick vs. Ibushi, conversely, was just an awesome pro wrestling match that just happened to feature cruiserweights. Let’s face it, Kendrick looks as old as Tajiri, so his total years betray just how much of a difference there appeared to be between he and his younger opponents despite the actual age gap being fairly small, as was the case with the 34 year old Ibushi. The story of the aging veteran, therefore, played out very well in the last round against Tony Nese and then beautifully in the Elite 8 against the Golden Star. Kendrick’s character work in this tournament has been fantastic, as it has bordered on heelish, but is rooted in his self-awareness that he’s not as good as his opponents; the commentary was again excellent for adding an audio soundtrack to that physical tale. Ibushi, even when injured, dominated as one would expect a top wrestler to dominate, but Kendrick’s resourcefulness and game plan kept him in it. Going back to the statement made about the previous match’s use of past rounds to build present drama, when Kendrick pounced after Ibushi missed the Phoenix Splash and reapplied the Bully Choke – reminiscent of Tony Nese missing the 450 Splash and immediately tapping once the Choke was applied – it created one of the finest false finishes in a tournament full of great near falls. The whole story was just tremendous) Match 1: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Noam Dar in 15:40 (Doc's Rating - *** ½) (Doc's Notes – To be honest, I found it difficult to fully process after a single viewing just to what extent that these two were able to deliver. It was vastly different than any other match in the tournament, really, given its length and its style. Those of you more accustomed to seeing this brand of wrestling feel free to drop me a line and give me your opinion as to whether or not I should go back and dissect it further, perhaps allowing me to better appreciate what I witnessed. The last time I can recall seeing a match of this length wrestled so heavily on the mat was Chris Benoit vs. William Regal a decade ago and I am quite fond of that match, so I lean toward committing a great deal of affection toward ZSJ vs. Dar, but where I am hesitant to award a higher rating is some of the sequences that seemed a little off and some of the strikes that seemed pretty weak given that the selling point for this match was working in a less aesthetically pleasing and more rugged fashion. I really enjoyed the change of pace, as it was clear that we weren't going to see someone win by pinfall here from the outset; either Dar was going to make Sabre Jr. tap via leg submission or ZSJ was going to earn the submission via some sort of arm or shoulder lock. Fluidity is I suppose the proper term to base a critique around, for what we saw did not flow as well as the other matches; and that's not something that, at an elite level, should suffer no matter the style. So, I disagreed with the live crowd who suggested it was awesome and would rather settle on it being a mixed bag thats composite rating is really good) Match 2: TJ Perkins defeated Rich Swann in 17:02 (Doc's Rating - *** ¾) (Doc's Notes – Perhaps experience, or rather a slight lack thereof, was the thing that prevented the previous match from reaching the level that we witnessed last week and, perhaps, the same inexperience that troubled the 23 year old Dar in his match also hurt the 25 year old Swann in the main-event of QF Day 2. Because of a vacation last week, I actually did not watch the first half of the quarterfinals until this morning, so one might call it a detriment to my full admiration for the matches tonight that I saw the brilliance of the two matches a week ago just about twelve hours prior to tonight's show. Had I watched them a week apart, maybe I'd have not been as inclined to so closely compare a match like Swann vs. TJP to the first two QF matches. All that having been said, though, I did organically end up comparing all four matches and felt that, while TJP vs. Swann was closer to the quality of the matches last week, something small was missing that prevented it from reaching that level, and inexperience is the narrative that I've settled on. Perkins and Swann delivered; make no mistake about that. There were parts of the match that were fantastic, particularly their early exchanges that led into some of the best character work of the entire tournament. The manner in which they developed their story from one-upmanship to being annoyed at each other to then switching gears to Perkins focusing on Swann's injured knee was somewhat reminiscent of what made the Gargano vs. Ciampa match work so well in Round 1. Maybe it's the NXT training, but Swann sold his leg injury better than anyone has sold a leg injury in the entire CWC to date and it made his struggle that much more compelling. Admittedly, the guy who I've gravitated toward rooting for as my favorite to win the whole thing has been Perkins, so I found myself moving toward wanting TJP to attack the leg than get behind the story of Swann overcoming the injury to it. Overall, another very good match in the Elite 8 for sure). All in all, the CWC continued through the Quarterfinals to be the best thing in wrestling today. Three of the best matches in the tournament and results that set-up an absolutely glorious Final Four. I've so very much enjoyed this experience on multiple levels – not the least important of which has been how much fun it has been to doing these old CMV1-style reviews – and I'll be sad to have to fill my Wednesday nights with something other than this brilliant tournament. I hope the live special next week, a mini-tournament in and of itself, can exceed the standard set through the last two months and continue on course with raising the bar with each passing round. I will be rooting for TJP; who will you be rooting for?  Third Edition Now On Sale (Updated All-Time Rankings, New Entries, Plus the "Wine Cellar" Section); Click to Order
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