Cruiserweight Classic

The Cruiserweight Classic, formerly the Global Cruiserweight Series, was a professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion^[a] for WWE's revived cruiserweight division. The tournament consisted of various matches that had predetermined results. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit, including well-known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man tournament, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14, 2016. The winner was T. J. Perkins.

Cruiserweight Classic
Promotional poster for the live finale featuring the Cruiserweight Classic trophy
Promotion	WWE
Date	June 23, 2016 July 14, 2016 August 26, 2016 September 14, 2016
City	Winter Park, Florida
Venue	NXT Arena at Full Sail University
WWE event chronology
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Background

In 2016, WWE announced that they would be holding a 32-man professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event wherein all participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less, referred to as cruiserweights. The event was originally titled the Global Cruiserweight Series before being renamed as the Cruiserweight Classic. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the independent circuit, including well known promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man single-elimination tournament, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14.^[1][2] During the finale, it was announced that the winner of the tournament would become the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Champion for WWE's revived cruiserweight division, which would compete on the Raw brand.^[3] The tournament consisted of various matches that had predetermined results.^[4][5]

Announced competitors

NXT competitors Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano along with international standouts Zack Sabre Jr., Noam Dar, Ho Ho Lun, and Akira Tozawa were announced for the Cruiserweight Classic. At an independent show in Orlando, Florida on April 2, Lince Dorado joined the series. On April 24 at Progress Wrestling Chapter 29, Sabre Jr., Jack Gallagher also won a qualifying match, while on May 7 at Evolve 61, T. J. Perkins and Drew Gulak also joined the series. On June 11 at Evolve 63, Tony Nese defeated Johnny Gargano, Drew Gulak, T. J. Perkins and Lince Dorado and qualified for the tournament. Two days later, WWE officially revealed all 32 wrestlers taking part in the tournament.^[6] Originally, Brazilian wrestler Zumbi was scheduled to compete in the Cruiserweight Classic. However, he had issues with his visa that WWE could not clear in time, and was replaced by Mustafa Ali.^[7]

Qualifying matches

Progress Wrestling Chapter 29 - April 24 (Electric Ballroom - Camden Town, London)^[8]

No.	Results	Stipulations
1	Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Flash Morgan Webster	Cruiserweight Classic British Qualifying Match
2	Jack Gallagher defeated Pete Dunne	Cruiserweight Classic British Qualifying Match

Revolution Pro Wrestling Live at the Cockpit 8 - May 1 (Cockpit Theatre - Marylebone, London) ^[9]

No.	Results	Stipulations
1	Noam Dar defeated Josh Bodom	Cruiserweight Classic British Qualifying Match

Evolve 61 - May 7 (La Boom - Woodside, Queens, New York)^[10]

No.	Results	Stipulations
1	T. J. Perkins (with Stokely Hathaway) defeated Fred Yehi	Cruiserweight Classic US Qualifying Match
2	Drew Gulak defeated Tracy Williams[11]	Cruiserweight Classic US Qualifying Match

American Combat Wrestling The Tradition Continues! - May 28 (All Sports Arena - New Port Richey, Florida)^[12]

No.	Results	Stipulations
1	Lince Dorado defeated Romeo Quevedo	Cruiserweight Classic US Qualifying Match

Evolve 63 - June 11 (Downtown Recreation Complex - Orlando, Florida)^[13]

No.	Results	Stipulations
1	Tony Nese defeated Drew Gulak, Johnny Gargano, Lince Dorado and T. J. Perkins (with Stokely Hathaway)	WWE Cruiserweight Classic Flashpoint Elimination Match Since Nese won, he qualified for the Cruiserweight Classic

Participants

Wrestler	Weight (in pounds)
Akira Tozawa	156
Alejandro Saez	205
Anthony Bennett	147
Ariya Daivari	180
The Brian Kendrick	157
Cedric Alexander	200
Clément Petiot	199
Da Mack	160
Damian Slater	193
Drew Gulak	193
Fabian Aichner	203
Gran Metalik	175
Gurv Sihra	159
Harv Sihra	144
Ho Ho Lun	155
Jack Gallagher	167
Jason Lee	154
Johnny Gargano	170
Kenneth Johnson	156
Kota Ibushi	189
Lince Dorado	168
Mustafa Ali[Note 1]	182
Noam Dar	178
Raul Mendoza	178
Rich Swann	165
Sean Maluta	191
T. J. Perkins	167
Yoshihiro Tajiri	189
Tommaso Ciampa	195
Tony Nese	196
Tyson Dux	193
Zack Sabre Jr.	181

1. This competitor is a replacement for another participant who was taken out of the tournament

Alternates

In the event an official participant had suffered an injury or did not make the 205 lbs weight limit, they would have been replaced by one of the following participants:

Wrestler	Weight (in pounds)
Aaron Solow	182
Jesse Sorensen	184
Jesus Yurnet	182
Kai Katana	197
Vandal Ortagun	155

Replaced

These participants were taken out of the tournament for a specific reason and therefore were replaced by another competitor.

Wrestler	Weight (in pounds) (max. 205)	Progression in the tournament	Reason	Replacing wrestler
Zumbi	167	Replaced before the official start of the tournament	Visa issues[7]	Mustafa Ali

Broadcast team

Ring name	Real name	Notes
Mike Rome	Austin Romero	Ring announcer
Mauro Ranallo	Mauro Ranallo	Lead commentator[14]
Daniel Bryan	Bryan Danielson	Color commentator[14]

Results

Tournament bracket

The following time limits were in place:

• Round one: 20 minutes
• Round two: 20 minutes
• Quarterfinals: 30 minutes
• Semifinals: 30 minutes
• Final: Unlimited

Round of 32 Taped June 23

Round of 16 Taped July 14

Quarterfinals Taped August 26

Semifinals Live on September 14

Final Live on September 14

July 20 –

Kenneth Johnson

09:46[15]

August 17 –

Akira Tozawa

Pin

Akira Tozawa

Pin

August 3 –

Jack Gallagher

11:38[16]

Jack Gallagher

Pin

August 31 -

Fabian Aichner

06:45[17]

Akira Tozawa

Pin

July 20 –

Gran Metalik

15:49[18]

Yoshihiro Tajiri

Pin

August 10 –

Damian Slater

05:28[15]

Yoshihiro Tajiri

Pin

July 13 –

Gran Metalik

10:53[19]

Alejandro Saez

Pin

September 14 –

Gran Metalik

04:04[20]

Gran Metalik

Pin

July 27 –

Zack Sabre Jr.

13:13[3]

Harv Sihra

Sub

August 24 –

Drew Gulak

05:18[21]

Drew Gulak

Pin

July 27 –

Zack Sabre Jr.

08:27[22]

Zack Sabre Jr.

Sub

September 7 -

Tyson Dux

08:28[21]

Zack Sabre Jr.

Sub

August 3 –

Noam Dar

15:46[23]

Noam Dar

Sub

August 17 –

Gurv Sihra

05:26[17]

Noam Dar

Sub

July 13 –

Ho Ho Lun

07:02[16]

Ariya Daivari

Pin

September 14 –

Ho Ho Lun

05:03[20]

Gran Metalik

Sub

July 27 –

T. J. Perkins

17:47[3]

Raul Mendoza

Sub

August 17 –

Brian Kendrick

07:35[21]

Brian Kendrick

Sub

July 27 –

Tony Nese

13:42[16]

Anthony Bennett

Pin

August 31 -

Tony Nese

06:34[21]

Brian Kendrick

Pin

July 13 –

Kota Ibushi

13:58[18]

Kota Ibushi

Pin

August 10 –

Sean Maluta

09:40[20]

Kota Ibushi

Pin

July 13 –

Cedric Alexander

15:00[19]

Cedric Alexander

Pin

September 14 –

Clément Petiot

05:58[20]

Kota Ibushi

Sub

July 20 –

T. J. Perkins

14:52[3]

T. J. Perkins

Sub

August 24 –

Da Mack

06:32[15]

T. J. Perkins

Sub

August 3 -

Johnny Gargano

12:18[22]

Johnny Gargano

Pin

September 7 -

Tommaso Ciampa

10:47[17]

T. J. Perkins

Sub

- July 20

Rich Swann

17:03[23]

Mustafa Ali

Pin

August 24 –

Lince Dorado

05:55[15]

Lince Dorado

Pin

August 3 –

Rich Swann

08:14[22]

Rich Swann

Pin

Jason Lee

03:47[17]

Finale

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times[3]
1D	The Bollywood Boyz (Gurv and Harv Sihra) defeated Ariya Daivari and Sean Maluta	Tag team match	05:15
2	Gran Metalik defeated Zack Sabre Jr.	Cruiserweight Classic tournament semi-final match	13:13
3	T. J. Perkins defeated Kota Ibushi by submission	Cruiserweight Classic tournament semi-final match	14:52
4	#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) defeated Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar	Tag team match	09:49
5	T. J. Perkins defeated Gran Metalik by submission	Cruiserweight Classic tournament final match for the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Championship	17:47
D  – this was a dark match

Aftermath

Before the final match between T. J. Perkins and Gran Metalik started, Triple H revealed that the winner of the tournament would be crowned the first WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Also, T. J. Perkins, Gran Metalik, Akira Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, Brian Kendrick, Cedric Alexander, Noam Dar, Lince Dorado, Tony Nese, Mustafa Ali, Drew Gulak, Tajiri, Ariya Daivari, Rich Swann and The Bollywood Boyz signed contracts with WWE. On July 15, Pro Wrestling Torch reported that Kota Ibushi had signed an NXT contract with WWE.^[24] In an interview published July 25, Ibushi admitted he had been offered a contract, but denied having signed it.^[25] After the tournament, Pro Wrestling Torch went back on their earlier report and stated that Ibushi had not agreed to a WWE contract beyond the tournament, which was a factor in him losing the semifinal match.^[26]

See also

• WWE 205 Live
• Mae Young Classic
• WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament
• D-Generation X: In Your House (A similar WWE tournament for lighter wrestlers culminated at this event)

Note

1. Despite having the same name, this is a new championship with its own separate lineage from the previous WWE Cruiserweight Championship that was originally established in World Championship Wrestling and acquired by the WWE (at the time WWF) in 2001 and retired in 2007.