I just realized in a bit behind. But did the ref botch a count? Can't recall him ever hitting f the mat 3 times but calling a 2 count.
I want metalik to win here. The knee-bar is just a really unimpressive signature move to me, and I like Metalik's style more. Still, should be a good match. Oh shit, The Game!
Not Neville and Kalisto TJP Cedric Swann Gallagher Gargano Ciampa Metalik Kendrick Noam Dar I think Akira Tozawa is the tenth man
Spoiler So Perkins is definitely going over since he can speak English, right? I hate that, but it seems classic WWE.
I just read some scuttlebutt that said to expect AJ to have a lengthy title run and Cena winning back the title would make no sense with a planned break coming after No Mercy. I'm guessing they're just using the 16x champ thing to heat up AJ by pissing off the smarks who assume Cena's just back to bury AJ.
Props to the E for the CWC. That was awesome. Ya know, most everything but Raw is pretty good these days. I loved how they presented the CWC as sports. Not stupid shit, just guys putting it all on the line every night. Like, my boy Kenneth Johnson. He lost to Tozawa in the first round in a perfectly good 10-minute match that made the winner look good. But they presented Johnson as: - from the hard part of Detroit (true) - chose to become a pro wrestler (true) - has a significant speech impediment (true) I mean, that's some shit right there. But, he busted his ass (practiced his promos for hours and hours), got on the big stage and did very well. I just dig stories of people saying fuck you to barriers and succeeding anyway. I don't know why Raw can't do something as simple as that.
Big Dave on the CWC Spoiler Ted Perkins had bounced around wrestling since the age of 14. While he was the answer to a trivia question at one time, as the youngest foreigner (18) ever to be brought on tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling, his career never took off like many expected. Hoping to be the American equivalent to his childhood hero, the original Tiger Mask, as Puma, he had bounced around independent wrestling and TNA for years. While always respected as a good wrestler, he never broke through. In recent years, he had worked as Manik in TNA, until being released in January. Nine months later, he became the first-ever new school WWE cruiserweight champion (there was a WWE cruiserweight division champion after they bought WCW, keeping that belt alive through 2007, although it was mostly a prelim title and hopefully this won’t end up with the same fate), after beating two of the best wrestlers in the world, Kota Ibushi and Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) before a sellout of 400 fans on 9/14 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. While never officially announced until right before the final match, the 32-man tournament that was a ten-week WWE Network series was to crown the first cruiserweight champion and top star of the division when it debuts on 9/19 on Raw. Perkins in some way became the winner by default, when the top two stars in the tournament, Zack Sabre Jr., and Ibushi, would not sign full-time deals and WWE made it clear that they didn’t want its wrestlers on Raw working or other promotions. After his performance on the final night, as well as in his other tournament matches, it showed that his TNA time was yet another example of not allowing guys to do what they are best at. Perkins proved to be a tremendous all-around wrestler and it will be interesting to see the reaction to him this coming week on Raw. Perkins at one point was able to work all over the world because his mother worked for an airline so he could fly himself everywhere at little or no cost. At another time, he was homeless and brought up in his promo that he always kept a key to the place he was kicked out of as a reminder of where he was never able to go back to. After winning, in his interview, he said the key instead now represents where he never has to worry about going back to. The show was one of WWE’s best major shows in recent years. The semifinal where Perkins beat Kota Ibushi was among WWE’s best matches of the year. And even though every match was “cold,” no WWE show had such a high bottom, in the sense that the four match show had four great matches. It was a level of depth and constant quality that even the NXT Takeover shows couldn’t match, and only PWG has been able to top in the U.S. Added was the commentary being the best U.S. wrestling has to offer as Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan were able to improve throughout the series and really peaked at the last two tapings. With the exception of Sabre and Ibushi, everyone on the final episode has been signed by WWE, along with people like Rich Swann, Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa (finishing up in Dragon Gate) and possibly Ho Ho Lun, because of the company wanting to create stars for China. Several will be starting this coming week. Metalik is still working Mexico until he moves his family in, so Perkins was the only one of the four who could have won. 1. In the dark match, Harv & Gurv Sihra, the Bollywood Boys, beat Martin Stone & Sean Maluta. 2. Gran Metalik beat Zack Sabre Jr. in the semifinals in 13:13. Metalik came out with a dropkick and a running flip dive, as well as a springboard senton for a near fall. Sabre started doing great technical moves like a combination triangle and half crab. It was impressive how good this is given these two started out doing altogether different base styles. Both had spent a lot of time in Japan and that became the meeting style that made this work. Metalik used a shooting star. Sabre used a guillotine, which Metalik reversed into a Boston crab. Then they started with the heavy hitting. Metalik did a ropewalk into a European forearm uppercut. Sabre got a near fall with a penalty kick. It’s so weird on a WWE broadcast to have nothing but New Japan current and historical references throughout the show, as well as old time Lucha references when talking about how some of the holds and moves used in these matches became famous. Both were on their knees battling with elbows. Metalik did a super Frankensteiner and then came off the top rope with a springboard int a triangle by Sabre. Metalik got out of it with a jackknife pin and finally won with the Metalik driver (Dorada screwdriver). ***3/4 The funniest thing happened next. They were doing the UFC/boxing style in-ring interview, with the translator since Metalik knows little English. So the question was asked by one of the half dozen it appears generic pretty faced brunettes that seem to be interchangeable, to Dorada, while another one translated. So after Metalik finished his Spanish promo, instead of having the translator explain what he said, the interview woman pulled the mic and ended it. Awkward to say the least. 3. T.J. Perkins beat Kota Ibushi in 14:50. This was one of the best matches of the year in the company. There were little things, like Perkins checking Ibushi’s kicks. Perkins looked great early. Even though he wasn’t coming back and was just there to lose, Ibushi did anything but phone it in, giving a performance that he’d do on a Japanese major show. Ibushi did a springboard dropkick to the floor but Perkins cut him off before he could do the moonsault to the floor. Both were outside and Ibushi barely beat the ten count. You could see the announcers worried because they were there for the Brian Kendrick match where Ibushi, used to a 20 count, got counted out when he was supposed to win (edited off the match). Ibushi later did the moonsault off the top rope to the floor and a fantastic missile dropkick. Ibushi did a powerslam, and went for a moonsault but Perkins got his knees up and put on the kneebar. Ibushi made the ropes. Ibushi used a German suplex and all kinds of kicks. He went for his power German but Perkins broke it with elbow. Perkins was on the top rope when Ibushi hit a Pele kick. Ibushi went for the last ride power bomb but Perkins turned it into a DDT and then used a Dodon into a codebreaker for a near fall. Ibushi went for another Pele kick but Perkins caught it and went for the kneebar again. Ibushi escaped and they did spots where both slapped each other and kicked each other at the same time. Ibushi finally hit the power bomb, but Perkins kicked out. Ibushi missed the Phoenix splash. Finally Perkins won by turning another power bomb attempt into a Toyota roll and then into a kneebar. ****½ 4. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa beat Cedric Alexander & Noam Dar in 9:46. This was a big move after big move match that got over great with the crowd. It’s basically the exact match you’d see three of these guys have in PWG except they’d have a little more time there to tell the story. Alexander started at around 227 to 230 in ROH, then hit 205 for the cruiserweight classic and is now down to 190 and is faster and flies higher than ever. He did a great dropkick and a running flip dive on Ciampa. Ciampa put Dar on his shoulders for the electric chair on the floor and Gargano came off the apron with a superkick. Gargano also speared Alexander from outside in. He does that move perfectly as far as making it look impactful. There was a minor screw-up as Alexander hit the brainbuster and heel kick on Ciampa and the ref counted three. Ciampa did get his shoulder up a millisecond before and everyone looked confused. Alexander didn’t look happy even though he won because they had more moves to do. Everyone freaked but the ref waved off his three count. Alexander came off the top rope into a double superkick. Gargano lawn darted Dar into the turnbuckles and Dar was in the ring for the Ciampa knee and Gargano kick double team move and Ciampa pinned Dar. ***3/4 William Regal did an interview really putting over the cruiserweight division, talking about Canyon Ceman and HHH putting it together and scouting guys from all over the world. He said it wasn’t about getting guys from different countries but getting the best guys. Actually a lot of it was getting guys from different countries. He talked about growing up and watching Marty Jones and Rollerball Rocco in England, as well as seeing the original Tiger Mask before he was Tiger Mask, when he was Sammy Lee in England. Ranallo tried to trace the cruiserweight popularity to the Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid matches in the early 80s and his growing up and watching those matches on his VCR. Regal said that the modern cruiserweight has to be an all-around wrestler who can do every style, striking, grappling, submissions, and flying that isn’t just flying but impactful flying that means something. 5. T.J. Perkins beat Gran Metalik to become the first WWE cruiserweight champion in 17:47.Another great match. There was less of a style issue here because Perkins had worked a lot in Mexico, plus both men had worked a lot in New Japan. I really feel Austin Aries should be the cruiserweight champion down the line because of his versatility and he projects himself more like a superstar, but he wasn’t in the tournament. Given everything in play, Perkins was the only choice to win. Perkins used a reverse rocking horse. He used a Mutalock. Metalik dropkicked him to the knee and did a tope. He also did a ropewalk senton for a near fall. He did the running across the ring and hurdling the top rope into a huracanrana on the floor spot that he and Dragon Lee have been doing in Mexico. He landed badly on his knee on the floor. He then went for his brillo Dorada, which is jumping do the middle rope and doing a flip dive over the top. He actually almost completely missed Perkins and crashed on the floor. He did springboard elbow drop for a near fall. He did a ropewalk dropkick but missed a standing shooting star press and Perkins went for the kneebar. Metalik escaped and went for a moonsault, but Perkins got his feet up and hit the Dodon into a codebreaker and then put the kneebar back on. Metalik struggled to the ropes but Perkins pulled him back to the center. Metalik then reversed it into a cradle. Metalik hit a Metalik driver, but in doing so, his knee went out from all the kneebars Perkins had used. Perkins was on the top rope but Metalik used a high kick. Metalik again went for the Metalik driver, but Perkins turned it into a kneebar and then switched to a reverse figure four for the submission. ****1/4 After the match, Perkins posed with the belt and trophy and said the trophy was something he wanted to share with all 32 guys in the tournament. This was a great climax to the best tournament WWE has ever put together.
So a few things since i'm catching up on everything. KO is awesome. His promo with Seth was amazing. I hate tweener Seth. He needs to go full baby or stay a giant dick head heel. RAW was solid this week but still too fucking long. Its always going to hurt the show overall. Baltimore Crowd was awesome. Returning Cena got me to pop. His promo with dean and dean's return A+. AJ is gold and a close 2nd to KO right now for best thing in wrestling. Smackdown still needs some midcard talent. Not fucking Swagger. Love what they are doing with the women Looking forward to the triple threat. A reuniting Wyatt family... not surprised CWC was just perfection. The entire event was great match after great match. Its going to suck balls that they are putting this brand on RAW. Vince is fucking clueless. Also sucks Ibushi and Sabre Jr are not going to be a part of the division along with Ricochet and Ospreay. Can WWE make a trade and move Kalisto to RAW and say Cesaro to Smackdown?
Are we absolutely sure about Ricochet and Osprey coming to WWE? I mean, I remember seeing rumors, but nothing substantial and I know Ricochet's contract with LU was supposed to be a big sticking point/hurdle or was said to be a few months back anyway.
I foresee two possibilities: Either Cena vs Taker is happening at Mania or it isn't. If it isn't, that's the only place acceptable to give Cena #16. But if Cena v Taker is the thing, then I can see Cena winning the title at the Rumble and Taker costing him the belt at the rematch in February, giving AJ reign #2 and moving him to feud with new talent for Mania and beyond
Osprey signed a two-year deal with New Japan. Ricochet hasn't signed, but they're working to get him.
Watching the last hour of the CWC now. Gargano and Ciampa are just straight fire together. They should permanently be a tag team. Putting them and the Revival on Smackdown with the Usos, AA, Slater and Rhyno....now you are starting to get an interesting division.
Holy shit Metalik totally missed Perkins on that flip over the top rope and landed directly on his back.
So the CWC was just perfection. They built up everyone perfectly not only with the vignette/back stories but the matches were all booked perfectly. I loved the variety of moves, many of which I had never seen or hadn't seen very often. I think we probably saw 3 or 4 of the top 10 matches of the year over the last 10 weeks. Also I didn't love Bryan's commentary, but he again highlights how shitty JBL is. You can give color commentary without stepping all over Ranaulo and making everything about you. Please don't fuck this division up on RAW.
Lets be honest in all likelihood the pinnacle of the Cruiserweight Division in WWE is most likely in the rear view mirror. Raw might not completely fuck it up, but it will never be as close to as good as the CWC.
What kind of maniac do you have to be to tear your quad maxing out on the squat rack at 71 then get surgery and go back to work the next day?
With all the travel they do, i feel like that would make me quit drinking so i wouldn't feel so terrible all the time. Nothing is worse than having to function on 3-4 hours sleep after getting wasted the nighy before. And Jericho's a liar, he's a complete vodka lush
It's not NOT the steroids. Considering steroids mainly just help your muscles recover faster, I bet they are a pretty decent hangover cure.
So I just got four free tickets to the Raw house show in Huntsville on Sunday. Worth going you think?
I will probably go. I can watch football almost every day of the week until the end of the year, might as well go see WWE while they are in town.