WWE is about to save Wrestling… Again.

The year was 1996 and I was a Junior in High School.  Between playing in three sports, trying to keep up good grades, and chasing girls I had all but forgotten about professional wrestling.  Sure this was right around the time of Monday Night Wars.  Week after week Hogan was chasing off members of the Dungeon of Doom and on the other channel, Bret Hart was excellently executing.  Wrestling had become dull to me.  I had become numb to all the familiar faces.  I wasn’t excited by wrestling anymore.  And with more on my plate than a 17 year old could handle, I just stopped caring.  That is until WCW introduced the cruiserweight division.  It was until I saw the likes of Rey Misterio, Juventud Guerrera, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Chris Jericho did I get reinvigorated by wrestling.  I actually started to care.  Some people will claim the nWo gimmick is what got them back into wrestling.  For me it was the introduction of the Cruiserweights.

And look at the accolades of those Cruiserweights; Rey, Eddie, and Jericho all became not just stars for both WCW and the WWE, but they became World Heavyweight Champions.  The WWE is known for it’s big larger than life characters, but then you’d see guys who were 5’7 180 pounds becoming World Champions.  There was a shift in the way we look at wrestling.  It opened doors for the CM Punks, Daniel Bryan’s of the world.  And now as this Cruiserweight World Classic is coming to the WWE Network and I suspect that it’ll change the way we look at professional wrestling again.

Announced for the Tournament;

• Akira Tozawa
• Alejandro Saez
• Anthony Bennett
• Ariya Daivari
• Brian Kendrick
• Cedric Alexander
• Clement Petiot (Tristan Archer)
• Da Mack
• Damian Slater
• Drew Gulak
• Fabian Aichner
• Gran Metalik
• Gurv Sihra
• Harv Sihra
• Ho Ho Lun
• Jack Gallagher
• Jason Lee
• Johnny Gargano
• Kenneth Johnson
• Kota Ibushi
• Lince Dorado
• Noam Dar
• Raul Mendoza
• Rich Swann
• Sean Maluta
• T.J. Perkins
• Tajiri
• Tommaso Ciampa
• Tony Nese
• Tyson Dux
• Zack Sabre Jr.
• Zumbi

If some of the names are familiar to you, that’s great you’ve been paying attention to this website.  Damian Slater was a top contender to the NWA Australia Championship while EPW was a member of the NWA.  TJ Perkins is a former Championship Wrestling from Hollywood Heritage Champion.  Drew Gulak is a former United Wrestling Network World Tag Team Champion.  The Sihra Brothers spent a lot of time in former NWA Canada members ECCW.  The Tournament kicks off tonight and I can’t wait for it.