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CWC EPISODE FIVE - 2nd Round (8/9/16)


RIPPA

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I thought I'd be the only one who liked Tajiri/Metalik more but it seems like quite a few people here did as well. They went above and beyond what I was expecting in terms of grittiness. I gotta imagine that Metalik will go straight to the Cruiserweight Division on RAW.

Ibushi/Cedric was great for both of those guys to show off in front of a bunch of new fans. Cedric would be a better fit for NXT as a regular than for the Cruiserweight Division, IMO.

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Tajiri is goddamned amazing. Like a lot of guys are not the same wrestler they were going in ten years. Tajiri is better than he was 20 years in. Dude did better chain wrestling than ZSJ and made it look legit. I am so fucking glad he came back eventhough I think the wrong guy won, but Metallik is meh, I guess.

As for Cedric Alexander...hold on...I got to take a minute.

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That is what the fuck I am talking about. And I've been following him since he came in with Caprice Coleman as a tag team. I've been high on Cedric since his Rodrick Strong feud and I always wanted him to get the appreciation he fucking deserved.  Then I saw his match against AJ Styles at PWX and then his Triple Threat match with Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee. I was fucking hooked and kept wondering, "How isn't this guy not bigger in the indy scene?" Then ROH decided that they like Adam Page more and put that generic motherfucker over Cedric. They buried Cedric for two years. Yeah, he was an awesome heel, but they treated him like TNA did AJ Styles everytime he was in a faction. Fans kept mistaking him with ACH and I am like how? I get the lighting at ROH shows makes black people look like Mr. Po Po getting a tan, but how? Cedric is just as good as AJ Styles and got none of the attention. He was the Daniel Bryan of the Indies and it was bullshit. The indies prided themselves on giving guys that never fit the WWE mold opportunities, but they sure as shit let Cedric down. Especially ROH who keeps putting over old veterans who no one wants to see anymore for newer fresher talent. Like how the fuck is the convoluted stupid spring board and handspring finisher guy with the Cumberland Gap in his mouth still champion? Fuck Delirous and whoever else has been booking ROH or these bullshit Indy promotions for the past few years. You missed out!

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Okay, I am done being petty.

This match was amazing. Typical Ibushi, but Cedric sold like a champ. There is one thing Cedric learned after years of shit indy booking is how to make losing look fucking good. The master of the moral victory. That facial expressions after the brainbuster, and headkick combo was A1. You can see the desperation in his face after every kick out. He looked absolutely fucking broken. I honestly wanted him to hit the Lumbar Check only for Ibushi to recoil out the ring somehow(giving the logical excuse on how he would kick out) just to see the despair on Cedric's face. He isn't goofy with his selling. He isn't over the top. It was great story telling in a 15 minute match and that is all anyone can ever ask for. At the beginning of the match, they were marginally into Cedric, but Cedric came off as the fiery underdog babyface that you cannot not get behind. You could have went into this match not knowing a goddamn thing about Cedric, but you were pulling for him. Cutting 22 pounds was the best thing he has ever done in his career. I seriously hope to see him in WWE TV again or at least on promotions that will treat him like the star he always deserved to be treated like. I am so fucking proud of this dude.

Great match from both. This is my MoTY candidate only behind Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn because as much as I stan for Cedric, I am not fucking crazy. That was some good shit right there.

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I'm not sure either match captivated me as much as Kendrick/Mendoza, but those were definitely some quality wrestling matches.

Tajiri/Metalik had kind of that ECW-workrate vibe with the inspired mat-wrestling to go along with the high spots, and Alexander/Ibushi was nice strong-style match. I was amazed how much they pulled the crowd in by the end. This definitely felt like a high-stakes tournament throughout, and I can't imagine what we're in for if each round ramps up the intensity by the same amount.

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Tajiri - you are in your mid 40's, man - slow. the. fuck. down.

You have no right doing half the shit you did with Metallik just now...goddamn that was a great storytelling match, ably abetted by Bryan and Mauro who were on fire tonight. Tajiri going all Gran Torino on Metallik.

Fuck me sideways, that brainbuster looked BRUTAL. Almost as bad as that release german...

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Not trying to take away from how great Alexander/Ibushi was, because it was one of the best matches all year (that's anywhere, not just CWC), but...

 

Holy sticks that Tajiri/Metallik match was amazing. Best match of the tournament so far, and I really loved Gargano/Ciampa.

 

It's clear this tournament will continue to give us MOTYCs as it progresses.

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so prior to watching the CWC I attempted to watch the CMLL Mexico Vs. Rest of the World Cibernetico and that match drove me a little insane (WHO TOLD AZUL AND CAMACHO THEY CAN MATWRESTLE) so turning on Tajiri/Metallik was like getting healed. Pro wrestling is pretty good.

Kota/Alexander was fine. They got me with the Brainbuster/Kick near fall too. Kota is still not great, but, given that apparently Noam Dar/Hoho Lun is next week I'm not gonna drag nobody because holy shit that is a threat of a matchup.

Also if Kota just goes full Early Kurt Angle with the thumbs up smiling stuff I'll be able to make my peace with me not believing he's a real human being.

(just gonna head this one off at the pass: i understand his stuff pops the crowd, it still takes me out of the match because I can't unsee him hurracanrana-ing invisible heads and  the "oh i missed my kick SURPRISE* MOONSAULT" or clapping in front of his face on dropkicks and shit. if you enjoy him, please go enjoy him. i'm happy for you.)

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When they faded out to the next episode previews, I was worried they weren't going to show the curtain call/HHH bit with Cedric. I loved them coming back to it at the end with no commentary. Just a perfect spontaneous moment. The presentation of this really is on a whole other level - it's like watching the best indie show of the year with million dollar production values. And HHH's " *shrug* OK, yeah, we'll sign him" deserves another fruit basket.

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Kota/Cedric was definitely MOTY candidate and deserves all the phrase but damn did Tajiri/Metalik almost stole the show. If not for the fantastic selling (willingness to repeatedly injure themselves) and the great ending for Kota/Cedric, it probably would have.

They've had behind the scenes camera crew for the CWC so I dearly hope they put together something when all is said and done.

HHH is like the fairy godfather of NXT.

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I almost rank Metalik/Tajiri as high as Tajiri/Psicosis from ECW which is still one of my all-time favorite matches.  

I literally don't remember the last time I rewound a match while it was going on as many times as Cedric/Ibushi.  Fantastic stuff.  Even with the hype going in, it lived up to it and maybe even exceeded it.  It almost felt like a real match. Like Cedric knew he was going to lose but he tried to win anyway.

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Metallik/Tajiri was an amazing match that on any other night would be easy MOTN.  But what drove it home for me in Cedric/Ibushi was the emotion and sense of urgency on Cedric's face.  I sensed he would lose, but damnit I bit on a couple of those moves.  So did the crowd for that matter, that was some insane reactions.  It was the noise but more importantly grown-ass people jumping and freaking the fuck out.  That was pure magic.  The curtain call at the end was emotionally charged, and I'll admit to getting a tad misty-eyed at that and when HHH came out.  SIGN THIS GUY, PLEASE!  Jeezus, what a wonderful show.

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I have no idea about anything related to Cedric Alexander before the tournament. But that really did feel like the performance of a lifetime against a really awesome performer. I loved his teary face at the end of the match -- it really felt like a tennis match where someone ranked 95th in the world ends up in the fifth set against Novak or Federer at 6-6 and ends up losing a break after the champ hit some between-the-legs miracle shot and realizes its over. It's not any fault of Cedric's he lost -- it's that Ibushi is a little bit better, right now.

The code afterwards with HHH giving Cedric the nod was one of the coolest moments in wrestling in years. It was genuine emotion watching some guy who toiled in the indies put in a performance like that and end up getting a nod from Trips.
 

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I will agree that the atmosphere of "sport" in this, of an underdog with a receptive crowd is something WWE almost never does. If they do, it's size related or maybe a rookie vs Kurt Angle or something, and not done nearly as evenly. It was cool to see them pull off something like this in that regard. 

As a match, it still wasn't as good as the Colon vs Tully match I saw off the PR set today though.

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Great point.  WWE almost never does good underdog stories because that's not Vince's thing  He wants superheroes that are too cool to give two shits about losing.

I can't remember who said it here a while back but that was the difference between WWF booking and NWA (Crockett) booking back in the day.  WWF was all about a superhero overcoming villains while Crockett was all about more everyman type good guys striving against an evil enemy they can never truly defeat.  The latter is much more true to life.

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