Previously on Fightful's GIGANTIC CWC PREVIEW EXTRAVAGANZA, we got to know Kota Ibushi and his penchant for fighting inanimate objects in 5 Star Matches, as well as Brian Kendrick, who believes that Obama is a lizard-man.
š³First of all, God Bleš°ss you for sticking around this long.
And if you somehow missed Parts 1 through 3, you can find them here (Part 1), here (Part 2) and here (Part 3).
Once again,
Now let's take it home.
Bottom Right Quadrant: The Swannee River Region
TJ Perkins vs Da Mack
TJ Perkins has an than Brian Kendrick, and not just because it contains less references to 9/11 holograms and illuminati eyeball collectors. He started out as a teenage luchador, was homeless for a while, portrayed Manik on TNA, and after some fits and starts back in 2009, is finally stź¦«arring in a WWE ring at the age of 31.
And dude, what the hell took them so long?
, and if that name sounds familiar, he playšs this guy on Lucha Underground:
And here is .
These matches donāt even do him justice so Iām linking to one of those āTop __ Moves ofā videos which I know āare kind of obnoxious, especially since TJ Perkins has a āTop 75 Movesā video. But Iāve cued it to just show you the , which are all pretty darn awesome.
Heās pretty darn awesome, and heās got a story the āE can sell the crap out of. He deserves an NXT contract wš hen this is all over.
Da Mack is a black dude from Germany who trained under Cesaro and who is going to lose thiās match to TJ Perkins.
Pick: TJ Perkins
Skipping Gargano vs Ciampa and saving it for last, but youāll see why in a sec.
Mustafa Ali vs Lince Dorado
Rich Swann vs Jason Lee
Okay, so Iām just fantasy booking here.
Iām disregarding Mustafa and šJason right off the bat, because in my research for this piece, I came across , ź§in front of 17 people in a high school gym, and I want to see this happen in a WWE Ring. However this goes down, just make it happen.
Lince Dš orado means "Golden Lynx." He is a masked Luchador who has "Meow" written across his butt. He enters āto the Meow Mix commercial theme song. He is very good in the ring.
Rich Swann enters to Lionel Richie's "All Night Long," dancing his way into the ring and into your hearts. He does not have "Meow" written across his butt, but he does have litź§tle wings on his hips. So, y'know, to eachā his own.
Swann has an equally to TJ Perkins. He lost his dad when he was 12 and his mom when he was 1ź§6. He says wrestling saved his life. I love this guy, and I think the rest of you will too.
Picks: Lince Dorado and Rich Swann
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
Here we go, people.
Why? Because these two have history. They already have an IRLš and an WWE-canon friendship.
I honestly donāt knoāw who wišll win, but I donāt think it matters and Iāll tell you why:
Theyāre turning one of these two guys heel, thšeyāre using this tournament matchup to do it, and theyāre going to solidify the NXT midcard with this rivalry for the rest of 2016. Look for the blow off match to happen at Takeover: London in December.
Why do I think theyāre going to do this? Well, remember, thereās no committee choosing this field based on strength of schedule or RPI like with March Madness. The competitors š¦arenāt seeded or anything; Kota Ibushi isnāt a 1 seed and Anthony Bennettās Hi Top Fadeās Hi Top Shutter Shades arenāt a 16 seed. These guys were seeded according to how the brass wanted to see the tournament shake out. They made sure that Brian Kendrick wouldnāt face anyone too tough until Round 3. They made sure that Zack Sabre and Noam Dar would match up at some point along the way. If they wanted Ciampa and Gargano to wrestle each other, they could have had them meet in the final four.
But they didnāt.
Theyāre wrestling in the FIRST. ROUND. So one of them moves on, and the other doesnāt, right off the bat. That might sow the seeds of dissension, might it not? Especially if they start out kind of taking it easy on each other, and then one of them snaps and starts working a little stiff. So the other one ups his game, and ends up winning. The loser, though, doesnāt take the loss well, and attacks the winner in the back, costing him his 2nd Round matchup.
(Maybe we even see one of these š step in tāo replace him.)
And at that point, the heel turn is complete, and thereās a grudge thaš§øt can sustainā for a very long while.
So whoās the heel and whoās the face? Well, if only because that damn āJohnny Wrestlingā chant is so ridiculously over with the Full Sail crowd, šIām going to say you have Ciampa turn heel.š§ø Maybe he even ābreaks Garganoās armā with that back bridging Fujiwara Armbar of his.
I mean, it is still wrestling, yāknow? Thereās always an angle.
Pick: Gargano wins, but when he goes for the āgood matchā handshake, Ciampa cements the heel turn, and kayfabe injures Gargano, putting him on the shelf through the rest of the tournament.
2nd Round:
TJ Perkins over Injury Replacement X
I hopešŖ itās either the , or the guy who looks like a .
Either way, TJ Perkins in a romp.
Rich Swann over Lince Dorado
These two actually used to be Tag Team partners, so you know they work great together. I think Swann gets the ršub from his old buddy Dorado.
REGIONAL FINAL:
I think a lot of people were picking Johnny Gargano all the way to ź¦æthe finals because they figured that HHH would wantā to push one of his guys; someone already signed to NXT.
But everyone forgets that Rich Swann is an NXT guy. Heās had two matches, one against Baron Corbin, when he turned a backbody drop sell into a damnš 450 splash.
LIKE A BOSS.
And another, against Finn Balorā, where he acquitted himself veryš§ø well.
This dude is crazy athletic.
But the NXT audience hasnāt ā±had a chance to bond withź¦¬ him yet, to really get to know Rich Swann.
What a perfect opportunity.
I thinkš· this is a fantastic match, and Rich Swann pulls something insane out of his back pocket to take the win. Then hopefully HHH signs Perkins, and he and Swann begin a one-upsmanship program, competing against each other to see who is the best and the baddest in NXT. Iād pop so hard for that.
Rich Swann over TJ Perkins
FINAL FOUR MATCHUPS:
Zack Sabre Jr. over Akira Tozawa
These two facį©į©į©į©į©į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©š±į©į©į©ed each other at a PWG event back in January.
Now tell meš you donāt want to see thatź¦° in a WWE Ring.
Pick: Sabre goes over, but Tozawa nearlyš kills šhim.
I CANāT WAIT.
Kota Ibushi over Rich Swann
Kota Ibushi is just too good for Rich Swann. Oh, he'll get some licks in, get the crowd on his side, and force Ibushi to work heel, but Ibushi is one of the Top Five Pound for Poš und Wrestlers in the World, and Rich just ain't that.
THE CRUISERWEIGHT CLASSIC FINALS
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Kota Ibushi
Here is a gif of me watching this match:
Actually, it'll probably be more like this:
I don't even care who wins, y'all. This match išÆs going to be sź¦o good.
PICK: WE ALL GET TO WATCH THIS AWESOMENESS
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Peace.