Although there were just two matches this week on the Cruiserweight Classic, the matches in the Quarterfinals were insane. Following the submission-heavy encounter of Noam Dar and Zack Sabre Jr. the spot fest between TJ Perkins and Rich Swann was nothing to laugh about either.
Matches:
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Noam Dar: After two weak wins, this was Dar’s best match of the tournament. Lots of counters and submissions early as the two competitors felt each other out. After a Half-Nelson Suplex, Sabre Jr. began to work on Dar’s arm and head with a Penalty Kick. Dar fought back hard with strikes of his own with kicks to Sabre’s Knee and a Suicide Dive. The two then began to counter each other’s submission maneuvers as Dar locked in his Knee Bar, but Sabre Jr. nearly won with his signature bridge. After more counters and escapes from Dar, the crowd began to get excited as they felt the match could end at any moment. Dar continued to work on Sabre’s leg with a Stomp from the top rope and then back to his Knee Bar, before Sabre escaped to the outside with Dar. Although Dar continued to work on Sabre’s knee, Sabre won with a monster Double-Arm Bar, with his legs.
TJ Perkins vs. Rich Swann: This was a war that played to both performers strengths as it was heavy on spots and strikes. Swann nearly won on several occasions, most notably with a Spinning Fire Thunder Driver, but he couldn’t put Perkins away. Working with an injured leg that Perkins beat on, Swan nearly lost with a Knee Bar until the referee nearly DQed him. Continuing to work Swann’s knee, Perkins was in control, but Swann continually fought back, nearly winning again with a Bridging Powerbomb. After the two traded monster Hook Kicks, Swann’s legs appeared done. Perkins then nailed Swann with his Pele GTS variation and won via Submission with the Knee Bar.
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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