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

1. Passionate Announcing

In addition to the items mentioned previously, one thing that really helped sell the Cruiserweight Classic as a serious event Wednesday night was the announcing of Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan. The duo, paired together for the first time in WWE, did an almost effortless job of getting viewers excited and invested in the hour-long program.

Ranallo has already done a tremendous job differentiating himself from the typical WWE play-by-play guy with a deep knowledge of the industry, a very clear passion for it, and a voice and style that doesn’t mirror recent announcers. Bryan, making his debut as a color analyst, did everything right as he talked about wrestling some of the competitors, the impact of their moves, the strategy they employed, and just generally interacting with Ranallo.

There was a fun moment when Sean Maluta hit a Savate Kick on Kota Ibushi, which was his finishing move. Bryan and Ranallo reacted like a major upset was possible and were shocked at that, then equally shocked that Kota kicked out. Even though Ibushi is a favorite to win the tournament, you couldn’t help but think for half a heartbeat that that could have been the end due to their reaction.

Here’s hoping that Ranallo gets more opportunities to shine, and that Bryan realizes that he might have a second career in the booth.