CruiserWeight Classic Bracket Analysis Bonanza!: Part 1

By Alex Pawlowski -Ā Part one of 365betvisa-slots.com's HUGE Cruiserwš“€eight Classic preview!

Did you ever see the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, The Quest?

Khleo Thomas Says He's Watched Sasha Banks vs. Bayley From NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn At Least 100 Times

It was actually directed by Van Damme as well, and is a kind of a weird knock off of Bloodsport crossed with an adaptation of every mid-šŸ—¹90ā€™s arcade fighting game ever created.

Craziest fun fact: It was co-written by THE GUY VAN DAMME PLAYED IN BLOODSPORT.

Here is a summary of the film:

ā€œIn the slums of New York City during the 1920s, petty thief Chris Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds himself on the run from the police. At the docks, he hides on an outbound freight ship leaving for Asia. Taken in by the mysterious Lord Dobbs (Roger Moore. Yes, that Roger Moore) as the boat docks in Thailand, Dubois isĀ introduced to the underground world of martial arts fighting. His training culminates in aā™” secret battle between the world's greatest fighters that takes placeź¦Æ before a select audience in Tibet.ā€

Did you watch Bloodsport or play Mike Tysonā€™s Punch Out and think to yourself, ā€œI like this, but I just wish the fighters from various lands all over the world could be even bigger stereotypesā€?

Then, brother, this movie is for YOU.

Seriously. The Japanese fighter is a Sumo Wrestler. The Chinese fighter is a tiny Bruce Lee type who is a master of Snake, Monkey and Tiger Kung Fu. The fighter from Thailand is an expert in Muay Thai. The Brazilian fighter is a Capoeira master. The Scottish fighter is a bare-knuckle boxer who wears a kilt. The African fighter is a Zulu warrior (yes, he is from the entire continent of Africa, not any one country, because Geography is hard, you guys). The Russian fighter is a big olā€™ bruiser who looks like he came straight out of the gulag. The fighter from Spain is a Flamenco dancing lothario who wrestles in an open-throated silk dress shirt and even makes eyes at Van Dammeā€™s lovešŸ¼ interest because hot-blooded Latin guys, amirite? And the Turkish fighter was dreamt up by someone who has nšŸŒ„ever been to Turkey, and I think is just cosplaying as Atilla the Hun or something. The final boss is from Mongolia, a giant Genghis Khan-looking motherf*cker.

that is set to Michael Jacksonā€™s Beat It, because the internet is a wš’ƒonderful place that never runs out of surprises.

Anyway, this was a super long set-up to sayļ·½ that this is what I thought the CruiserWeight Claź§Ÿssic was going to be. Which would have been cool, I guess, but just not what I wanted. I was afraid it was going to be a bunch of great wrestlers with wacky stereotypical gimmicks forced upon them. But thatā€™s not what it is, at all. I mean, with the exception of Jack Gallagherā€™s mustache:

And Anthony Bennett's hair:

Everyone else appears to be relatively gimmick free. ThatšŸ’ is, until theyā€™re formally signed by WWE and Vince McMahon gets his hands on them. And depending on how these matches are booked, I suppose anything can happen. It is The ā€˜E, after all.ą¦“ Raul Mendoza could come out wearing a Mariachi outfit and Akira Tozawa might be booked as an actual ninja. Or, yā€™know, like .

Butā™š for now, this justšŸŒœ appears to be a straightforward single-elimination tournament of 32 world class fighters. And I canā€™t wait.

Oh, by the way, spoliers arešŸ’– out there and readily available on the internet, but for the purposes of this column (and all other CWC coverage on Fightful), weā€™re all going to assume that nobody has seen them.

Cool? Cool.

Letā€™s get to the brackets.

Top Left Quadrant: The SouthWest/FarEast Region

Kenneth Johnson vs Akira Tozawa

I lišŸ·terally canā€™t find anything about Kenneth Johnson, except that ā™ŠIā€™m pretty sure he looks like this:

Well, thaā›„t and Ā the fact that The Twin Towers old Manager, Slick, is also named Kenneth Johnson.

Letā€™s just skip over how problematic the WWF was in the late 80s and early 90s, with a tag team ź¦›of a Confederate-flag-emblazoned correctional officer and a giant white guy named Akeem the African Dream wearing a kufi and a dashiki. And theyā€™re managed by a black guy named Slick, who is obviously playing a pimp.

Letā€™s just skip over that.

So yeah, Iā€™m like 80% sure ā€œSlickā€ Kenneth Johnson isnā€™t the same guy as the one in the CWC, but Iā€™m also pretty sure neitheršŸ„‚ of them has a chance against Akira Tozawa.

Hereā€™s . Here he is .

This kid can work. And he has worked, with the best.

Pick: Tozawa

Jack Gallagher vs Fabian Aichner

Gallagher, he of theš’€° aforementioned mustache, was given a video package vignette on the Bracketology show, so my thought is that heā€™s not going out in the first round.Ā  Heā€™s very impressive.

However, heā€™s the size of a fourteen ź©µyear old boy, and heā€™s fighting this dude:

Smirky McChromeDome here is Fabian Aichner, who has five inches and fifty pounds on Gallagher. He hails from Italy and wrestles in Europe under the name ADRIAN SEVERE. Ā Thatā€™d be enough to sell me on him right there, but thereā€™s also .

However, WWE doesnā€™t produce those kinds of interviews like they did with Gallagher šŸ‰without knowing theyā€™re going to push a guy at least a little bit.

Pick: Gallagher

Tajiri vs Damian Slater

Man, I used to love Tajį©šį©šį©šį©šį©šį©šā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©šā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©šā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©šš’€±į©šį©šį©širi. The Japanese Buzzsaw was my jam.

A lot has changed since then, and while itā€™s good to see him again, he shouldnā€™t be taking this spot šŸŒ„from a younger talent. But now that he is in the field, I certainly hope they use him right. He should be here solely to put somebody over, but Iā€™m not sure who just yet.

It might be Gran Metalik in the second round.Ā  It might be Jack Gallagher in the tā™‰hiš’…Œrd, but one thingā€™s for sure: It wonā€™t be Damian Slater in the opener.Ā 

Sorry kid, youā€™re doing the job. Hope youā€™re not allergšŸ„‚ic to green mist.

Pick: Tajiri

Alejandro Saez vs Gran Metalik

Alejandro Saez might be really really awesome. He can certainly do .

But as was pointed out on the Bracketology Special, olā€™ ā€œXtra Largeā€ had to cut a lot of weight to get down to 20š“€5, thereby relinquishing his biggest advantage.

Now, heĀ looks more like he got out of a POW camp. Or like he just got off the most aggressive juice cleanse in history. The thing is, Iā€™m not sure what kind of chance Saez wouź¦“ld have had, even at full size, against Gran Metalik.

Thatā€™s a lot of Gold. Which is fitting for the guy they used to call ā€œGolden Mask.šŸ…·ā€

Okay so they actually called him ā€œMascara Doradaā€, but either way, .

Pick: Metalik

2nd Roundā€”

Tozawa over Gallagher

Part of me feels like they might push Gallagher all the way to the Final Four, just so they can have an all-EngšŸŒŸland left half of the bracket. This is a tough call, but Iā€™m picking Tozawa all the way to the semiā™’-finals.

Gran Metalik over Tajiri

Tajiriā€™s got to put over Metalik herā™e, so we can see Metalik vs Tozawa (or Gallagher) in the Regional Final.

Regional Final: Tozawa over Metalik

I just love Tozawaā€™s style, man. But whoever comes šŸ€…out of this region ainź¦•ā€™t beating the guy who comes out of the next.

Click Here for Part Two

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