The WWE: CWC began it’s second round (Week 5) from Fullsail Unviersity in Winter Park, FL on 8/10/2016 with two of the most remarkable matches of the tournament thus far! I for one, would literally like to get out a pen and paper and write thank you notes to each of the talents involved in English, Spanish and Japanese to respect the work ethics and native tongues of these treasured athletes.
Gran Metallik defeated Tajiri with the Metallik Driver
Gran Metallik, also known as Mascara Dorada, is an eleven year pro, and even with such a respected career, he is a mere rookie compared to the veteran Yoshihiro Tajiri, a twenty three year pro himself. I expected this to be a hard hitting and high flying affair and I wasn’t disappointed. While one would expect Tajiri to pull out all the stops and employ the heart stopping buzzsaw kicks that put gold around his waist in the WWE and wherever he hung his hat, he was able to go tit-for-tat with Metallik with lucha libre style exchanges. There were dragonscrew legwhips, deep japanese arm-drags and submission style wrestling moves that were enough to see jaws drop across the collective WWE Universe. Metallik was able to walk the top rope with the elegance and grace of the seven foot Undertaker, utilizing a top rope elbow drop and a somersault plancha that grounded the grizzly veteran on two occasions. Not to be outdone, Tajiri applied a number of submissions, including a grounded octopus hold that looked to have Metallik beaten on more than one occasion. Metallik was able to dodge a vicious buzzsaw kick attempt and hoist the veteran onto his shoulders to issue the deadly Metallik driver, finding himself in the quarter finals as a result. After the three count, a very classy showing by Tajiri as the two shook hands and you saw a passing of the torch, if you will. What a contest!
Kota Ibushi defeated Cedric Alexander with the Golden Star Tigerbomb
You know who lost this one? Folks who don’t have the network. Mercy me, I don’t even know how to put what I felt watching this match into words. I fell in love with Shinsuke Nakamura watching him compete against Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 9 at the Tokyo Dome. I have watched Cedric entertain fans throughout his entire ROH career and for these two to meet so early in the tournament in a treat and a tragedy at the same time! This was one of the most hard hitting matches I’ve seen in recent months and if you look at the chest of Ibushi at the end of this match, you’ll see what I mean. Ibushi missed a springboard moonsault early on, and Cedric countered with a somersault plancha that was executed to perfection. These two struck each other with all manner of forearms, roundhouse kicks and chops that would make any fan of the strong style stand up and applaud. The Fullsail crowd chanted “Fight Forever” halfway through the contest and there wasn’t a single butt in the seat midway through the match until the very end. To quote my good friend Pat before I watched this, this match was the four letter word used to describe excrement. Alexander took to the skies with an elbow drop at one point in the match, and he was high enough to change a dim light on the ceiling. Ibushi went for a frankensteiner that was countered with a somersault and Cedric landed on his feet. Cedric hit a brainbuster suplex that would have made Tomohiro Ishii jealous and then he followed it up with a spinning back kick to the face for a very close two count. Ibushi fought back valiantly, ultimately putting Cedric away after a lightning quick german suplex, a well planted roundhouse kick to the back of the neck, and then the Golden Star Tigerbomb for the three count. A special treat took place after the match as the North Carolina native was shown the proper respect he had earned and deserved from the fullsail crowd as they chanted “Please Sign Cedric”. That had to be very humbling for the young talent, and in a shocking display of broken kayfabe, the legendary Triple H, who we should all thank for this wonderful tournament, came out from behind the curtain and said “OK” and he raised Cedric’s hand high in the air. What class! That was truly a moment and I can only assume there is dry ink on paper for the special talent as we speak. One has to believe that Ibushi and Metallik will follow if they haven’t been signed already and if the winner is getting the WWE Cruiserweight Title, I will be watching RAW every Monday Night just as I did with WCW during the height of the Cruiserweight era. This could be a modern renaissance with new age versions of Eddie Guerrero, Alex Wright, Chris Jericho, Juventud Guerrera, Dean Malenko, Ultimo Dragon and El Dandy. El Dandy you say? Yup, I went there. Have a great night folks, and if you aren’t having one, bear witness to these two matches and you will!
