The Wednesday night wrestling block will get a bit more crowded this summer as WWE announced that the much-anticipated WWE Cruiserweight Classic will debut on the Network starting Wednesday, July 13th at 9 PM EST, airing for 10 weeks through a live two-hour finale on Wednesday, September 15th.
Current Smackdown lead man Mauro Ranallo and former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan were announced as “hosts” for the Classic, but we confirmed they are indeed calling the action.
Also announced was a preview special — CWC Bracketology — for Wednesday, July 6th at 9 PM EST where we should get the actual tournament brackets and all 16 first round match matchups.
The Classic will feature 32 talents (some under WWE contract & some not) from around the world in a single-elimination tournament including Zack Sabre Jr., Gran Metalik, Noam Dar, Kota Ibushi, Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa, Johnny Gargano, Cedric Alexander, Tommaso Ciampa, and more. Here’s the full list of participants.
Sold out show tonight. Stacked card, hot crowd, and hot building.
Marty Scurll def. Noam Dar via submission (chicken wing) at 17:22
They started with some good ol’ World of Sport style catch as catch can wrestling. Dar got the upper hand early. Scurl played the ‘villain’ really well while Dar was the babyface. Yet, the crowd is 50/50 for both guys. This was a very good match. I’m a big fan of the ‘villain’ gimmick. Scurll has lots of nice little spots that work the gimmick perfectly. Example: setting up the superkick, then just as he calls for it, he faints and stiff kicks his opponent’s shin. Great stuff.
Pete Dunne def. Martin Stone after hitting a pump handle fallaway slam at 12:28
Dunne is the British Cruiserweight Champion but the belt is not on the line this evening. This was very much a tough guy, punch/kick match. A good match. After, Stone cut a promo to say thank you to the fans for supporting him. Despite him not living in the UK, he will always be a British wrestler. He puts over Dunne as well.
– Big Damo submitted Big Daddy Walter at 13:30
This a battle of the big guys with both wrestlers trying to…well, I guess out ‘big’ the other guy. This match was ok for a big guy brawl.
– Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr announced for the Rev Pro Summer Sizzler in July.
– Will Ospreay def. “Speedball” Mike Bailey after hitting the Springboard stunner at 17:25
Incredible reaction for Ospreay with chants of “You deserve it”. He’s truly given a ‘heros return’ ovation. They worked a karate vs wrestling/lucha story for the match. “They are artists” chants along with “F*ck you Vader” chants. Ospreay hits a Vader bomb at one point. Looks like that’s a new part of his arsenal.
Ospreay gets on the mic and thanks the UK fans and Rev Pro for being his home. He puts over Rev Pro booker Andy Quildan for always believing in him. Osprey states even though he’s only been wrestling for 4 years, this style will take a toll on his body and he most likely won’t work as many dates next year. However, he’ll always find time to come back home to Rev Pro. Nice touch.
Josh Bodom def. Chris Hero at 17:33
Bodom wins after the ref takes a bump from a hero stumble. Bodom hits a low blow while the ref is down and then a spinning back fist for the win.
Redman & Garrett def. British Tag Team Champions The Revolutionists at 8:46 to win the titles
This match started out pretty good with a nice top rope dive from Garret onto James Castle by the entrance, but the match went a bit crazy when all 4 guys were having a free for all in the ring including double pins. Not sure if the match was a NO DQ or tornado rules but it ended in a bit of a mess with Redman & Garrett picking up the victory and becoming NEW Undisputed British Tag Champions
Kurt Angle def. Zack Sabre Jr via submission at 9:03
Big reaction for Sabre, huge reaction for Kurt. They played Kurt’s WWE theme and the fans chanted, “You suck”. They begin by trading holds and reversals with Zabre getting the better of Angle and subsequently Angle taking charge. Dueling chants throughout the match. The match started at a slow pace with the expectation that they were building to something special. However, they quickly went to near falls/submissions. After a trio of rolling German suplexes, Angle clamped on the ankle lock and it was over.
Mutual respect at the end. Angle cuts a promo to say he was amazed at the level of talent at Rev Pro this evening and thanked the fans. He put over Sabre as one of the best guys on the indie scene. He than apologised for not being able to go at 100% , but he has a knee injury. He said he would be back and we will see him again, “Oh it’s true”, etc.
This show is available on RevPro’s OnDemand service on Tuesday for those wanting to check it out.
– Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams b Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano to win the Evolve tag titles. After the match, Galloway cut a promo and turned on Gargano. He got some good heat for that.
– Chris Hero b Fred Yehi
Note: We are almost an hour in and there’s only been two matches.
– Sami Callihan b Anthony Nese in less than 5 minutes
– Ethan Page b Darby Allin in another very short match.
– Tommy End b TJ Perkins in the USA vs Europe series.
– Matt Riddle b Zack Sabre Jr to even up the series.
The finish surprised the fans as Riddle won by submission and they were not expecting Riddle to win. Riddle will make it to WWE for sure. He has the look, the shape, the uniqueness, he shows a lot of charisma and he’s already good in the ring. I can see why they are interested. Very good match against Sabre Jr. The only reason why it was not a great match is that they kept it a tad too short, especially compared to the length of the first two matches. I would have took 5 if not 10 more minutes of this match. Liked it a lot.
– Marty Scurll b Evolve champion Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match with the chicken wing.
Good match but again too short compare to the first two matches. After the match, Callihan’s music hit and we only heard an audio of him pretty much challenging Thatcher.
– Ricochet b Will Ospreay with the Benadryller.
Freaking awesome match. Tough to say if it was better than Zayn and Nakamura because it was a different match. Crowd was ecstatic for it. And it’s an understatement. Arguably the best match of the weekend so far, probably with Zayn and Nakamura and with Sabre Jr and Ospreay from Evolve 58.
After the match, all the Europeans and Americans involved in the series came to the ring, since the series ended up 2-2, until Kora Ibushi showed up to a huge reaction to build the main-event of the Mercury Rising show presented later tonight.
During the match, Page would offer to shake Yehi’s hand, yet would end up being chopped. Ethan Page wins with the Package Piledriver, Page and Yehi do end up shaking hands post match before Anthony Nese comes out and attacks Page from behind with a chair.Nese says fat guys like Page don’t belong in a wrestling ring. Caleb Konley joins Nese in the ring while Page is carried out by the refs. Konley says he’s wrestling Thatcher tonight finally after a year.
TJ Perkins beat Tommaso Ciampa
“F TNA” chants to start the match as Perkins laughs. Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa, but TJP kicks out at two, Ciampa goes for a second one yet TJP escapes to put Ciampa in his Figure Four Deathlock to get the win.
Matt Riddle beat Chris Hero
Hero hit a spike piledriver, pulls off his elbow pad and strikes Riddle right in the temple yet Riddle kicks out. Hero goes for another piledriver yet Riddle counters with a triangle submission forcing Hero to tap.
– EVOLVE tag title match is supposed to be up next but Gargano comes out and tells the crowd that Galloway’s flight from Orlando has been delayed and ask for more time. Caleb Konley attacks Gargano from behind and demands for Thatcher to come out so they can have their match right now. Thatcher is on his way out but Sami Callihan cheap shots him from behind.
EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher beat Caleb Konley for The Evolve Championship
A lot of interference from Andrea during this match before Thatcher got her out of the way. The finish saw Thatcher putting Konley in a armbar to retain the title.
– Matt Riddle is out to tell Thatcher at least he didn’t have to cheat tonight. He calls Thatcher trash and wants a rematch for the title April 1st in Dallas. Thatcher agrees and Riddle says he’s not gonna cheap shot Thatcher, instead he hits him with a jumping knee and knocks Thatcher out.
Sami Callihan beat Tracy Williams
Callihan wins with the Cinderblock Forearm to the back of the neck.
Zack Sabre Jr. beat Drew Gulak
Sabre’s boot came undone so he just took it off, Gulak capitalized by body slamming Sabres ankle into the ropes 5 times. Sabre and Gulak exchange roll-ups, Sabre counters the wins with a unique submission.
– Chris Hero is out to say when he hears Best In The World he doesn’t think about Zack Sabre Jr. He thinks about Bryan Danielson, who he’s beat. He thinks about CM Punk, who he’s beat. Hero says Sabre can’t claim to be the best unless he has beaten him, which he hasn’t. Sabre says he’ll see him in Dallas. Gulak wants the mic and tells Hero that he shouldn’t be worried about Sabre he should be worried about Catchpoint.
Evolve Tag Team Champions Drew Galloway and Johnny Gargano beat Team Tremendous
Some great action here as expected, and the finish saw Galloway hitting the Future Shock DDT on Dan Berry to retain the titles in their first defense.
