Last week in the Cruiserweight Classic, we some some incredible matches from top-tier wrestlers. Brian Kendrick made his WWE return and had an impressive victory over Raul Mendoza. Tony Nese made the most of his opportunity and defeated the “hair-odynamic” Anthony Bennett. Drew Gulak defeated Harv Sihra of the Bollywood Boys, and perhaps in the most impressive match of the night, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tyson Dux.
Tonight’s round of matches finishes out the first round. Three NXT Superstars will compete tonight, with Rich Swann facing Jason Lee, as well as Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano facing each other. There is also the second half of the Bollywood Boys, Gurv Sihra who takes on Scotland’s Noam Dar, and the gentlemanly Jack Gallagher taking on Italy’s Fabian Aichner.
Rich Swann (United States) vs. Jason Lee (China)
Rich Swann is from Baltimore, Maryland and is one of the most exciting athletes in the Cruiserweight Classic. Swann has appeared on NXT occasionally throughout the last year or so, and had a great showing against Baron Corbin several weeks ago. Perhaps this tournament can give Swann the exposure he needs to move up the ranks in WWE.
Jason Lee hails from Hong Kong and mixes wrestling with Kung Fu. Being from China, Kung Fu is a very popular form of martial arts, so adding this into his wrestling style makes him a very unique competitor by default.
After knocking Lee out, Rich Swann hits a standing 450 splash on Lee to pick up an incredible victory. Winner: Rich Swann | Eliminated: Jason Lee
Gurv Sihra (India) vs. Noam Dar (Scotland & Israel)
Sihra is the other half of the Bollywood Boys, along with his brother Harv Sihra who lost in his opening round match against Drew Gulak. Gurv Sihra has the opportunity to keep the dream alive for his family,
Noam Dar has been wrestling since he was 15, so the fact that he is the youngest competitor in this tournament (he is 22 yeasrs old) is deceiving. Noam Dar grew up in Scotland and was born in Israel, so he represents both countries, and is the first-ever Israeli-born competitor to be featured on WWE television.
Gurv Sihra takes way too much time on the second turnbuckle, and misses an elbow drop. Noam Dar takes advantage and locks in a kneebar, hyperextending the knee of Gurv Sihra to force the submission. Both Bollywood Boys are already eliminated, but they impressed in what they showed. Noam Dar will advance to the second round where he will face Chinese wrestler Hoho Lun. Winner (via submission): Noam Dar | Eliminated: Gurv Sihra
Jack Gallagher (England) vs. Fabian Aichner (Italy)
Jack Gallagher has been wrestling for ten years, and the English competitor focuses on keeping his matches “gentlemanly.” Even though he is a gentleman, he is focused on winning and will try to as rapidly and effectively as possible.
Fabian Aichner is the only competitor representing Italy in the Cruiserweight Classic, which could provide an advantage for him. Aichner barely surpasses the weight limit at 203 pounds, so he is guaranteed the size advantage, and in this case, he outweighs Gallagher by 60 pounds.
Fabian Aichner tries to finish off an impressive performance with a frog splash, but Gallagher rolls out of the way. Gallagher then capitalizes by hitting a running dropkick to the skull of Aichner, and he then advances to the next round where he will face Akira Tozawa. Winner: Jack Gallagher | Eliminated: Fabian Aichner
Johnny Gargano (United States) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (United States)
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are both tag team partners and have had a successful run so far in NXT. As seen on NXT earlier tonight, Gargano and Ciampa are seemingly in line for an NXT Tag Team Championship opportunity. They have to put their friendship aside and in the spirit of competition, beat the crap out of each other. This match is also the final match of the first round of the tournament.
Johnny Gargano manages to avoid enough of Ciampa’s strikes, and counters the armbreaker attempt into a crucix pinfall for the victory. Gargano advances to the final spot in Round Two, where he will take on TJ Perkins. Winner: Johnny Gargano | Eliminated: Tommaso Ciampa
