Tonight starts the second round of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, and if Round One is any indication, the Sweet Sixteen will live up to the past four weeks. We kick off Round Two with two highly anticipated matches: WWE veteran Tajiri will face CMLL (the oldest wrestling promotion in Mexico) veteran Gran Metalik, and The Golden Star Kota Ibushi takes on North Carolina’s Cedric Alexander.
Gran Metalik (Mexico) vs. Tajiri (Japan)
In Round One, Gran Metalik defeated Alejandro Saez in the first-ever Cruiserweight Classic match, showing a very impressive array of lucha libre moves to advance to the second round. If Metalik keeps it up, he will have a good chance at defeating Tajiri.
Tajiri entered the Cruiserweight Classic coming back to a WWE ring for the first time in over a decade, defeating the Australian Damian Slater. Even though Tajiri cannot wrestle as fast paced as his opponents due to his age, he uses his wrestling wisdom to change his style and make smart decisions during his matches.
Gran Metalik dodges Tajiri’s second attempt at a Buzzsaw Kick, and hits the Metalik Driver on the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion for the win, and Metalik advances to the Top 8. Metalik will either face Japan’s Akira Tozawa or England’s Jack Gallagher. Winner: Gran Metalik | Eliminated: Tajiri
This was a sleeper classic match, with great submission based wrestling from an aging, but very wise wrestling legend. Chain wrestling was in the forefront here, which is rare in cruiserweight focused wrestling.
Cedric Alexander (United States) vs. Kota Ibushi (Japan)
Cedric Alexander is perhaps the most impressive American competitor in the Cruiserweight Classic, and in Round One he had a great victory over France’s Clement Petiot. Alexander has to go all out with his high flying in-ring style to put Kota Ibushi away.
Ibushi defeated Sean Maluta in his first round match, showing a mix of high flying moves with hard hitting strong style. Between the first and second rounds of the Cruiserweight Classic, Ibushi made a special trip to NXT, where he defeated Buddy Murphy in what was his first, and could be his last, NXT match of his career. Hopefully Ibushi (and everyone else in the Cruiserweight Classic) signs with WWE soon as great additions to the roster.
Alexander and Ibushi had high expectations put on them going into this match, and they blew those expectations out of the water. There were dozens of insane spots (This is not a hyperbole. Maybe it is, but oh man were there a lot of great moments in this match.), insane kickouts that rival Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25, and brutal hits that would make you think that this match took place in the Tokyo Dome. This match quite possibly could have pushed Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura out of the “Match of the Year” spot for 2016. If both of these competitors have a future in WWE, I personally cannot wait to see the instant classics that they will put on.
Because the match had to end at some point, Kota Ibushi manages to hit a sit-out Last Ride-style powerbomb on Cedric Alexander to pick up the victory and be the second competitor to pencil in his name in the quarterfinals. Winner: Kota Ibushi | Eliminated: Cedric Alexander
After the match, Cedric Alexander is very emotional on his way to the back and the crowd chants “Please sign Cedric.” The show seems like it’s about to end, and Triple H (the man in charge of NXT, the Cruiserweight Classic, and why they are both so great) walks out from the back to approach Cedric Alexander, shake his hand, and give the crowd a thumbs up. It is pretty safe to assume that we will be seeing Cedric Alexander in WWE full time very soon.
Next week, Akira Tozawa take on Jack Gallagher, and Noam Dar takes on China’s Hoho Lun. To main event the evening, former WWE Superstar and Tag Team Champion Brian Kendrick will take on Tony Nese.
