The Cruiserweight Classic, formerly the Global Cruiserweight Series, was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tournament and

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural

WWE Cruiserweight Champion The NXT Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. Before its retirement, it was defended across the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brand divisions, which were ...

for WWE's revived cruiserweight division. The tournament consisted of various matches that had predetermined results. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

, including well known promotions such as

Revolution Pro Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro/RPW) is a British professional wrestling promotion founded on 26 August 2012 by Andy Quildan after separating from International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. Revolution Pro Wrestling currently has partnershi ...

Progress Wrestling Progress Wrestling (stylized as PROGRESS) is a British professional wrestling promotion that was established in 2011 by comedian Jim Smallman, events and comedy promoter Jon Briley, and later, actor Glen Robinson (professionally known as Glen ...

, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man tournament, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14, 2016. The winner was

T. J. Perkins Theodore James Perkins (born September 3, 1984) is an American professional wrestler of Filipino descent, better known by the ring name T. J. Perkins (or simply TJP) currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a member of the Unite ...

Background

In 2016,

announced that they would be holding a 32-man

tournament and

wherein all participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less, referred to as cruiserweights. The event was originally titled the Global Cruiserweight Series before being renamed as the Cruiserweight Classic. Tournament qualifying matches took place in various promotions of the

, including well known promotions such as

, and Evolve. Many cruiserweight wrestlers from around the world were given the chance to qualify for the 32-man

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, which took place over four dates: June 23, July 13, August 26, and September 14. During the finale, it was announced that the winner of the tournament would become the inaugural

for WWE's revived cruiserweight division, which would compete on the

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

. The tournament consisted of various matches that had predetermined results.

Announced competitors

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

competitors

Rich Swann Richard Allen Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Cham ...

Tommaso Ciampa Tommaso Whitney (born May 8, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tommaso Ciampa. Whitney began his career in 2005, working on several independent pro ...

, and

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name Johnny Gargano. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is best known for his time in NXT, wh ...

along with international standouts

Zack Sabre Jr. Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outsid ...

Noam Dar Noam Dar (; born 28 July 1993) is an Israeli-Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, and is a record setting two-time NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. He also wrestles for Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW ...

Ho Ho Lun Wong Yuk Lun (born July 19, 1987), better known by his ring name Ho Ho Lun (Hoholun, 何顥麟), is a Hong Kong professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE, where he competed in their Cruiserweight Classic tournament and in their ...

, and

Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa (戸澤陽, ''Tozawa Akira'', born July 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and WWE 24/7 Champion, winning the ...

were announced for the Cruiserweight Classic. At an independent show in Orlando, Florida on April 2,

Lince Dorado José Cordero (born May 11, 1987) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent currently signed to Major League Wrestling, where he competes under the ring name Lince Dorado (Spanish for Golden Lynx), and is the current MLW Midd ...

joined the series. On April 24 at Progress Wrestling Chapter 29, Sabre Jr., Jack Gallagher also won a qualifying match, while on May 7 at Evolve 61,

and

Drew Gulak Drew Gulak (born April 28, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and an eight-time ...

also joined the series. On June 11 at Evolve 63,

Tony Nese Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Indep ...

defeated Johnny Gargano, Drew Gulak, T. J. Perkins and Lince Dorado and qualified for the tournament. Two days later, WWE officially revealed all 32 wrestlers taking part in the tournament. Originally, Brazilian wrestler Zumbi was scheduled to compete in the Cruiserweight Classic. However, he had issues with his visa that WWE could not clear in time, and was replaced by

Mustafa Ali Adeel Alam (born March 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Mustafa Ali. Prior to signing with WWE, Alam worked on the independent circuit after ...

Qualifying matches

; ''Progress Wrestling Chapter 29'' - April 24 (

Electric Ballroom The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London, England. History The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballroom in the 1930 ...

Camden Town, London Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

) ; ''Revolution Pro Wrestling Live at the Cockpit 8'' - May 1 (

Cockpit Theatre The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was named The Phoenix. History The original building was an actual cockpit; that is, a st ...

Marylebone, London Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it merge ...

) ; ''Evolve 61'' - May 7 (La Boom - Woodside, Queens, New York) ; ''American Combat Wrestling The Tradition Continues!'' - May 28 (All Sports Arena -

New Port Richey, Florida New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census. History By ...

) ; ''Evolve 63'' - June 11 (Downtown Recreation Complex -

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

)

Participants

Alternates

In the event an official participant had suffered an injury or did not make the 205 lbs weight limit, they would have been replaced by one of the following participants:

Replaced

These participants were taken out of the tournament for a specific reason and therefore were replaced by another competitor.

Broadcast team

Results

Tournament bracket

The following time limits were in place: * Round one: 20 minutes * Round two: 20 minutes * Quarterfinals: 30 minutes * Semifinals: 30 minutes * Final: Unlimited

Finale

Aftermath

Before the final match between

and

Gran Metalik Máscara Dorada (born August 24, 1988) is the ring name of a Mexican '' luchador'' '' enmascarado'' (masked professional wrestler) currently working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He is best known for his time in WWE where he perfo ...

started,

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

revealed that the winner of the tournament would be crowned the first

. Also, T. J. Perkins, Gran Metalik,

, Jack Gallagher,

Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE. Kendrick is also known for his appearances with Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestli ...

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Alexander worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 until 2016. He started as part of C&C Factory, a ...

, Tajiri,

Ariya Daivari Ariya Daivari ( fa, آریا داوری; born April 11, 1989) is an Iranian-American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Ari Daivari. He is best known for his time in WWE, Ring of Honor (ROH) ...

and

The Bollywood Boyz The Bollywood Boyz are a Canadian professional wrestling tag team composed of brothers Gurvinder "Gurv" Sihra (born November 13, 1984) and Harvinder "Harv" Sihra (born November 2, 1987). They are best known for their time in WWE, where Gurvinder ...

signed contracts with WWE. On July 15, ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' reported that

Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but is currently inactive due to suffering a shoulder injury. In March 2021, he became the company's inaugural IWGP World Heavyweight Champion by ...

had signed an NXT contract with WWE. In an interview published July 25, Ibushi admitted he had been offered a contract, but denied having signed it. After the tournament, ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' went back on their earlier report and stated that Ibushi had not agreed to a WWE contract beyond the tournament, which was a factor in him losing the semifinal match.

Note

References

External links

* * * * {{WWE Tournaments 2016 WWE Network events 2016 in professional wrestling in Florida WWE tournaments Events in Florida Professional wrestling in Winter Park, Florida WWE 205 Live