6 Ups And 2 Downs From WWE's Cruiserweight Classic (July 13)

1. No Familiar Faces

By design, the Cruiserweight Classic is bringing new faces to a WWE audience by having 32 men from 16 different countries compete in the tournament on the WWE Network. It’s a remarkable change in company policy when it comes to acknowledging other wrestlers around the world.

So of course, mainstream fans who don’t watch a ton of pro wrestling outside of WWE and other major promotions might not have any idea who some – if not most – of the competitors are, outside of recognizing a couple names. It’s a great move in many ways, as this writer is grateful for being able to watch international stars like Kota Ibushi instead of just hearing about him.

You have to assume that some fans who tuned in Wednesday to the Network to watch the event might not have had any clue who any of the eight men on that first episode were. That could have given fans fewer reasons to stay tuned in. Having a match with a former WWE wrestler might have helped. For example, Tajiri will fight next week. Brian Kendrick was another fans would likely recognize and get invested in.

You also have three NXT wrestlers in the tournament: Rich Swann, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. Even tossing one of them out on the first episode will have helped fans connect easier and quicker. It’s not a huge problem, but it certainly would not have hurt to have the Japanese Buzzsaw make his WWE return on the first episode to hook tentative viewers.