August 31st, 2016 | Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida
Tonight, the quarterfinals begin! Gran Metalik takes on Akira Tozawa and Kota Ibushi faces The Brian Kendrick.
Corey Graves does voiceover work for the opening video, which talks about the eight remaining guys.
Gran Metalik def. Akira Tozawa in 15:48
Time limits are now up to thirty minutes. Very fast paced stuff right off the bat. Tozawa got hyped before the match by Graves for his strikes, but the dude is quick. They both tried dropkicks at the same time and whiffed. Metalik, the last remaining luchador, dove outside onto Tozawa in an impressive moment. The crowd was pretty split. Tozawa took to the sky next with a tope suicida followed by another. Metalik made the mistake of getting into a striking battle with Tozawa, which he lost. Metalik got two on a nice running shooting star press at the ten minute mark. Tozawa came close with a saito suplex but couldn't keep Metalik down. He fired up but Metalik sent him outside and nailed a great springboard dive. They battled some more strikes until Metalik snapped off a gorgeous springboard rana from the top, only for Tozawa to kick out. Tozawa busted out the snap German and used a dead lift for a near fall. He tried a package German but Metalik countered with the Metalik Driver to advance. Easily the best Tozawa performance so far. An insane pace, great mix of strikes and high flying with some well placed false finishes. ***3/4
Kota Ibushi def. The Brian Kendrick in 13:57
Daniel Bryan was 100% in Kendrick's corner. Kendrick started to play mind games with Kota, challenging him to fight outside. That failed so he went inside and ate a vicious kick. Ibushi followed with the golden triangle moonsault to get this off to a great start. Channeling his inner Toru Yano, Kendrick attempted to get Ibushi tied up in the guardrail to steal a countout win. He also delivered a neckbreaker over the ring post, which I've never seen before. It made great sense since Kota has had neck surgery recently. They traded blows and Kendrick nailed Sliced Bread for a close near fall that nearly killed Daniel Bryan. Ibushi struggled but hit his dead lift German from the apron for two. Kendrick's bully choke failed so he did a goddamn BURNING HAMMER for a near fall. Kota missed the Phoenix Splash and it's BULLY CHOKE TIME! Ibushi countered into a pin for two and hit a kick when they got up, followed by a Last Ride powerbomb for the win. Another great match. The crowd was hot and Kendrick played his role brilliantly. You could feel that he was desperate and tried everything to win. The reactions for his signature moves and the emotion of everything was just top notch. ****1/4
Daniel Bryan seemed to be in tears as he spoke while watching Ibushi and Kendrick shake hands, bow to one another and hug. The crowd chanted for Kendrick throughout.
Next week, Zack Sabre Jr. goes one on one with Noam Dar, while Rich Swann takes on TJ Perkins.
Before the show ends, we see an emotional Kendrick in the ring in tears as he gets a standing ovation and loud "thank you Brian" chants. Daniel Bryan leaves the booth to join his friend in the ring and they embrace. Kendrick should be a part of the Raw cruiserweight division for sure.
Overall: 9/10. Another awesome episode. Both matches delivered in spades. Not just that, but they were very different from one another, which really is the calling card of the CWC so far. A very easy hour of wrestling to watch.
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