Four matches and four winners this week in the debut episode of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, but there were no slouches in the ring. Even in defeat, several guys showed the world what they were capable of in the ring. Check out our WWE Cruiserweight Classic Power Rankings to see who starred in the series’ premiere episode.
Honorable Mention: Clement Petiot: He’s like a mini version of Wade Barrett and Lance Storm and in spite of his loss against Cedric Alexander in the first round, he showed plenty of strength and a variety of Suplex variations.
5: Sean Maluta: Not only did he almost beat Kota Ibushi, he showed the world what he was made of. Pushing Ibushi to the limit, Maluta is a guy that deserves more opportunities on the independent circuit. With a slew of awesome kicks and creativity, he’s a blast to watch.
4: Hoho Lun: His win over Daivari in the opening round of the Cruiserweight Classic wasn’t overly impressive, but he’s got a nice assortment of moves and will get an opportunity to show more in the second round of the tournament.
3: Gran Metalik: Aside from having an awesome mask, Metalik is an awesome athlete, blending vicious strikes and an awesome Pinning Fireman’s Carry Michinoku Driver finisher. Defeating Alejandro Saez in the first round, he’s definitely someone to watch.
2: Cedric Alexander: Anyone who watches Ring of Honor knows what Alexander is all about. His win over Clement Petiot was an impressive one. He might be the frontrunner in this tournament.
1: Kota Ibushi: A cruiserweight with a Sit-Out Last Ride Powerbomb finisher? Hell yeah. Add in a ton of nasty kicks and Ibushi is a star.
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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