Cruiserweight Classic Episode 3 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, July 27th, 2016
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tyson Dux
Sabre Jr. was one of the bigger draws of the tournament and is of course in New Japan and a lot of the major indies. Tyson Dux is currently working the indies as well. Dux is working on the ankle and Sabre Jr. escapes beautifully. Now a head scissors by Dux and again Sabre Jr. is out. Sabre Jr. is definitely one of the most unique competitors in the tournament. Dux is getting fed up with Sabre and is able to get some offense. Sabre then hits the European uppercut off the second rope. Now he attacks him with some kicks. Sabre slaps him, but that sets Dux off and he hits him with a fisherman buster. Dux is working on the arm again. Sabre gets him in the octopus and then a kick to the face. Leg sweep and then a running kick, but Dux kicks out. Inverted atomic drop and a DDT by Dux. He then goes for a Texas cloverleaf, but Sabre Jr. blocks it for a pin. Sabre Jr. is putting him in multiple submission moves and then starts pulling back on the hand and Dux finally submits. Sabre Jr. is about as smooth of a submission wrestler as I have ever seen. Not a great match, but one that showcased what both guys could do.

Match Rating: ** (out of 5)

Drew Gulak vs. Harv Sihra
Gulak is of course on 205 Live and Sihra is with Jinder Mahal on Raw. I am kind of surprised they put Gulak and Sabre Jr.'s matches back to back since they both use the submission style. Nice monkey flip by Sihra, who Gulak counters into a body scissors and then Sihra counters into a a submission of his own. After a bunch of counters by both wrestlers, Gulak goes off the second rope with a clothesline. Gulak with some slaps and then slams Sihra onto the ropes. Back body drop by Sihra, sends Gulak outside. He then hits a springboard crossbody. The crowd is not really into this one at all. Gulak goes up top, but Sihra hits a superplex. Gulak gets the dragon sleeper, Sihra tries to counter, but is unsuccessful and has to tap out. This was definitely the weakest match so far of the tournament.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Anthony Bennett vs. Tony Nese
Bennett is working the indies and Nese is on 205 Live. Nese does a Matrix-esque duck to miss a clothesline. Nice segment overall. Bennett only weighs 145 lbs. Nese drills Bennett with a superkick on the outside. Nese goes for a powerbomb, but Bennett is able to get on the apron and then hits him with a cannonball. Nese hotshots him and then dives and takes out his feet, setting up a moonsault. Nese goes for a suplex, but Bennett knees him to the head. Nese is still able to hold him up and hit the suplex. Dropkick by Bennett. Bennett to the second rope going for the tornado DDT, but Nese blocks. Bennett then blocks the kick and then Bennett hits the tornado DDT, although it didn't look great. Powerslam by Nese. 450 splash to Bennett after the ref checked on Bennett and that's it. Nese looked pretty good, but the match was nothing special.

Match Rating: *

Brian Kendrick vs. Raul Mendoza
Kendrick is on 205 Live and Mendoza is with NXT. Nice back and forth wrestling to start. Kendrick still has it and Mendoza is a good athlete. Mendoza does a great submission move where he crossed Kendrick's ankles and did an airplane spin. Kendrick with a big boot. Kendrick forces Mendoza to bite the rope and then kicks the ropes. Mendoza's mouth is now bleeding. Kendrick plays the heel role very naturally. Big clothesline into the corner by Kendrick. Kendrick then sends Mendoza into the corner and Mendoza slides through the ropes and then hits a dropkick. Then Mendoza does a leaping corkscrew over the ropes to the outside. Mendoza misses a 450, but lands it and then kicks Kendrick to the back. Coast to coast dropkick by Mendoza, but Kendrick gets his foot on the rope. Kendrick hits Mendoza into the ropes and then gets him into the Captain's Hook for the submission win. The ending was kind of out of nowhere, but this was a really fun match and a show saver.

Match Rating: ***1/2

This was the weakest episode overall, but the main event was a great showcase for both Kendrick and Mendoza. The other three matches were essentially squash matches. Let's hope episode 4 kicks back into gear.

Overall Rating: 59%