This was the best episode of the Cruiserweight Classic because it was more than great wrestling, there was a story. Anyone who has watched NXT knows how close Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are and to see them wrestle their hearts out was pure magic.
In the end, it was sad that both of them couldn’t win, but with Ciampa eliminated, things will only get tougher for Gargano.
Matches:
Rich Swann vs. Jason Lee: This was a strike-heavy and counter-heavy marvel as Swanna nd Lee beat the holy hell out of each other. While Lee isn’t that charismatic, his fists and feet did the talking. Swann however, has a ton of potential. His facial mannerisms were awesome and his standing 450 finisher that he used to get the win is something that just isn’t done anywhere else.
Noam Dar vs. Gurv Sihra: Dar got the win with the Knee Bar after a nasty Fisherman’s Brainbuster, but Sihra was no slouch, running a brisk pace and hitting plenty of strikes of his own.
Jack Gallagher vs. Fabian Aichner: Gallager is an escape artist, an old-school mat wrestler who takes advantage of his opponents weaknesses and miscues. Aichner is the flashier guy and the stronger and he should have won, but the quirky Gallager was resilient enough to kick out of all of his opponents high-impact offense before winning with a corner Drop Kick.
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa: This was a war and easily the best match of the entire tournament thus far as Ciampa hit Gargano with everything he had, but like a cockroach, Gargano avoided being pinned every time. From the Powerbomb/Backcracker variation to an Air Raid Siren on the ring apron, Ciampa hit Gargano with everything. It was one of those matches you simply didn’t want to see end. After Gargano connected with the Super Kick, Ciampa went for the Discus Lariat, but Gargano countered with a Rolling Crucifix for the win.
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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