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

4. Presented As Serious Competition

Cwc Match2

The CWC Bracketology preview last week treated the Cruiserweight Classic like a real sporting tournament, with analysis, speculation and other commentary about the competitors and matchups. It was a welcome shift in presentation, and it definitely has carried over into the tournament itself.

Each match got an intro video package for each wrestler, introducing us to these performers briefly. While a more in-depth presentation would have been helpful, this was a nice way to humanize each man and let fans connect a little. It also was nice to see time limits (20 minutes) announced before each match, which used to be a norm even in WWE years ago, as was having the referee search each wrestler’s tights, boots and pads for foreign objects.

All of that helped make the tournament look legit, like it was something that means something to the competitors and the company itself. Contrast that with your typical Golden Truth/Breezeango match that is all “comedy.” (Not saying that that is wrong, but it’s a stark difference.)

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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.