Cruiserweight-A-Mania Runnin’ Wild

We begin Rant-A-Mania with some unfortunate news. Terry Funk and Tammy Stych both are suffering from some medical issues. Sadly Sytch comes as little surprise given her history of previous issues as well as past abuse of drugs and alcohol. Funk is up there in years and his recent appearance at a House of Hardcore show in the ECW Arena, despite being ill, still was able to deliver a heartfelt speech to the live crowd.

Randy Orton has finally been cleared to wrestle again, so I expect at the next SmackDown branded PPV, we will finally see the promoted Orton/Wyatt clash, which will be a good match, but still wondering what the point of it will be. Bray Wyatt faced Kane at Backlash, and LOST. If Wyatt is suppose to be standing strong for Randy Orton, why in the hell would you have Kane defeat him? It was a good match, I will give it that, but Kane is not going for belts, doesn’t have a feud, so why knock Wyatt down the ladder is a confusing decision. Even if he does go over Orton, he still looks weak in my book. Orton again, no gain no loss for him.

More Miz drama unfolding. Miz wants off SmackDown, and it looks like the storyline will make it happen. My guess is, Cesaro wins the series against Sheamus, Miz gets sent to RAW, loses the title, and Cesaro brings it back to SmackDown. Miz was doing great following the Talking Smack verbal explosion a few weeks ago, but it looks like he is gradually subsiding back into his “everything is about me” gimmick. Oh well.

I watched the Delete or Decay match. Then watched the hilarious Resurrection River segment. TNA/Impact should just be renamed the Matt Hardy show. Then I would start watching more often rather than just watch online. Also, just saw Verizon FiOs recently added the El Rey network to my plan, so I may be able to watch Lucha Underground, you know, when I have time between RAW, SmackDown, NXT, going to work, going to my other work, eating, sleeping, taking care of my kids, arguing with my wife over who is making dinner, making repairs to my home, selling more crap on eBay, and tutoring for cash at night.

There is way too much wrestling on television.

I’m talking about the Cruiserweight Classic from here on out. This was the best program WWE has produced in a long, long, time. I have said before I felt just as excited to watch, sending me to a nostalgic feel from the mid-90’s when I watched Cruiserweights in WCW and 5-star matches in ECW. Although at points it was obvious Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. would make it to the Semi-Finals, the other participants put on a hell of a show. Jack Gallagher and Akira Tozawa were two favorites, Cedric Alexander… Holy Primus I really, really hope this guy gets a contract. Main roster or NXT, don’t care, just don’t let him slip away. Rich Swann, this guy can move as a wrestler and entertainer. He and No Way Jose could make an entertaining team to watch. Drew Gulak and Adrian Eichner, the latter only got one round to show up, while the other was damn good. Put Gulak with the main roster, along with Tony Nese. These are two guys who, like Seth Rollins and Adrian Neville, might be smaller, but hell, are big enough to tangle and mingle on RAW or SmackDown. Noam Dar. What bothered me most, neither announcer nor commentators could pronounce his name correctly. It is not Noh-Am… It’s No-ahm. Sheesh. Lince Dorado, Ho Ho Lun, and Mustafa Ali all need to be working Cruiserweights on RAW.

In the end, the match between T.J. Perkins and Gran Metalik was amazing. They hit all the right notes which made a perfect match. The right moves, the offensive versus the defensive. The drama, the storytelling, the facial expressive acting. Dead-on. It would have been too obvious if it wound up as Sabre Jr. vs. Ibushi in the final, they were too hyped during the tournament. The reveal of the tournament winning being granted the first of the reinstated Cruiserweight Champion was such a nice touch.

Another gripe, this was being touted as the first WWE Cruiserweight Championship. False.

I hope enough Cruiserweights have been signed and will have a healthy rotation and time on RAW. Seeing the same five or six could get repetitive, and we know how picky fans can be.

I really hope what we saw will be a new standard of wrestling for Cruiserweights, but I wonder how much WWE will let them get away with on national television.