10 Thoughts on CWC Episode 4 – Gargano vs Ciampa, Jack Gallagher, Rich Swann

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

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1. We kick off this weeks episode of the CWC with a recap of the matches from last week, then a preview of tonight’s matches, including the much anticipated Ciampa vs Gargano bout.

2. When Daniel Bryan gets excited it looks like he’s had a couple of vertebrae removed from his neck, which in retrospect may have been a good idea.

3. The first match of the night is Rich Swann from the US taking on Jason Lee from Hong Kong. I like how they run a short interview before each match, although it sorta disadvantages the wresters who don’t speak English.

4. Jason Lee has mad nunchuck skills, which probably won’t be a lot of use in this match. Swann is over as hell with the crowd, but Lee keeps pace with some stiff strikes and kicks. Lee is fast, but not fast enough to avoid a kick to the head and standing 450 splash. Fun match.

5. Next up we have Noam Dar from Scotland vs Gurv Sihra from India. The youngest competitor in the tournament, Dar was born in Israel but sounds like a true Scot, while Gurv’s brother Harv was knocked out of the CWC last week.

6. Slightly messy match at times, and the commentators essentially bury Dar for getting too excited. Gurv sells like a pro before eventually tapping out to a knee bar from Dar, and I really hope WWE are going to do more with the Sihra brothers than this.

7. Now it’s time for England’s Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs Italy’s Fabian Aichner, who looks like a mini version of Nathan Jones. Let’s hope he’s a little better in the ring…

8. And he is. Fabian plays the power game while Jack works an impeccable technical match and is very entertaining as he goes about it. Really strong performance from both men, and Fabian has a sweet double springboard moonsault. Gallagher eventually picks up the win with a running corner dropkick, and I would love to see either of these guys in NXT soon.

9. Our main event tonight is Johnny Gargano taking on his NXT tag partner Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano takes control early with his superior chain wrestling, but Ciampa takes things up a notch with some super-stiff strikes. Amazing match with both guys working their asses off, countering each other’s signature moves, kicking out of finishers and taking time to really tell a story. Gargano finally picks up the win with a rollup off a multiple pin reversal sequence.

10. Probably the best night of the CWC so far as we come to the close of the first round. This tournament has revealed at least a dozen new stars to a worldwide audience, which is probably exactly what we need in these days of brand splits and frequent injuries. If you have the WWE network and aren’t watching the Cruiserweight Classic you are a crazy person.

JT is a hot air balloonist, writer and tattoo aficionado. He writes about movies, science, music, video games, action figures and professional wrestling.