10 Things We Learned From The WWE Cruiserweight Classic

Cruiserweight wrestling in 2016 is more Dean Malenko than Rey Mysterio for one.

by John Bills
TJ Perkins Cruiserweight Champion
WWE.com

Surrounded by confetti, TJ Perkins stood on the second turnbuckle and raised his arms in victory. Not only was wrestling's youngest veteran the winner of the very first WWE Cruiserweight Classic, he also found the brand new WWE Cruiserweight Championship placed around his waist by Triple H. The Cruiserweight Classic was over, and the man from the Philippines stood tall over 31 of his peers.

It is fair to say that the WWE Cruiserweight Classic was a roaring success. The expectations were high going into the tournament, and by and large they were met and exceeded. The international stars such as Kota Ibushi, Akira Tozawa and Gran Metalik brought their A game and Zack Sabre Jr, Noam Dar and Jack Gallagher flew the British flag with pride.

A number of veterans returned for the tournament, with The Brian Kendrick providing the most gripping story of them all. The CWC also provided a showcase for lesser known talent to thrust themselves into the spotlight, and men like Raul Mendoza and Mustafa Ali won't be forgotten too quickly.

So as the janitor sweeps up the confetti inside Full Sail University, the time has come to take stock of what we've witnessed. What did the WWE Cruiserweight Classic teach us? Here are 10 things we've learned.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.