5 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE Stomping Grounds

2. Cruiserweights Unload

Stomping Grounds Cruiserweights
WWE.com

Whether it was because they were frustrated at always being on the kickoff show, or because they were told to draw in casual viewers with the pre-show match, the cruiserweights delivered what was their best showing on PPV in memory.

Tony Nese (who won the Cruiserweight Championship in a highly disappointing match at WrestleMania 35), Akira Tozawa and Drew Gulak flew at each other at 100 kph, not allowing a moment of rest during the 10+ minute match. And unlike so many triple threat matches, this wasn’t one person taking a nap on the outside while the other two battled before trading out.

Gulak suplexed Tozawa onto Nese, so later Nese slammed Akira into Gulak. Tozawa broke up a Gulock by hitting a diving senton onto both. And so on it went, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd. But it was Gulak with a torture rack neckbreaker capturing the pinfall and the Cruiserweight title.

When the division was restarted in 2016, this was the kind of match fans likely hoped for. And for one night, we got it.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.