WWE Cruiserweight Classic Coverage: Tozawa’s German Suplexes Get Him to Round Two

Four more enjoyable matches this week and after just two episodes, the WWE Cruiserweight Classic has reached the sweet sixteen. With eight weeks to go and the WWE’s announcement that the Cruiserweight Division would be a staple on RAW, this is just the beginning of something special.

Matches:

Tajiri vs. Damian Slater: This was a match as expected as Slater was solid technically and Tajiri brought the strike-heavy offense. Slater, however, was no slouch in the striking department either, but Tajiri was often a step ahead in terms of counters thanks to his Handspring Back Elbow and Tarantula. After the Buzzsaw Kick, Tajiri got the win.

TJ Perkins vs. Da Mack: Plenty of counters in an exciting match between two showmen. While both were flying all over the place, Da Mack was solid in terms of strikes, while Perkins showcased a variety of different submissions. After Da Mack nearly won with a nasty Springboard Kick to the face, Perkins countered the Suplex with a Wrecking Ball Drop Kick but missed the 450. Recovering, Perkins hit a Spinning Facebuster variation, before following it up with a GTS/Pele variation and won with a Knee Bar.

Mustafa Ali vs. Lince Dorado: Ali is a smooth technician, but Dorado is like a mini Tiger Mask meets Ultimo Dragon. Flying all over the ring, Dorado got the crowd going with a wild Jumping Reverse Frankensteiner, but Ali nearly won with a beautiful Springboard Spanish Fly. Ali unfortunately then missed the 450, allowing Dorado to get the win with the Shooting Star Press.

Akira Tozawa vs. Kenneth Johnson: This was more an old-school, slower-paced match as Tozawa used strikes and submissions while Johnson continued to get up and counter himself. While Tozawa was dominant, Johnson was solid, selling and countering and keeping the pace brisk. Johnson almost won with a Codebreaker variation and followed it up with a Reverse Unprettier, but couldn’t get the win with that either. After a quick German Suplex, Tozawa hit the dead-lift German for the win.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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