The Cruiserweight Classic (CWC) was a WWE wrestling show that aired on the WWE Network between June 23 and September 14, 2016 . The television broadcast was a replay of the tournament that was taped on four different days at Full Sail University in Winter Park , Florida . A total of 32 wrestlers competed to determine the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . As is usual in wrestling, it was not a tournament in the sporting sense, but the outcome of the fights was determined in advance. The winner was TJ Perkins , who was able to prevail in the final against the Mexican wrestler Gran Metalik.
At the Cruiserweight Classic, the newly introduced WWE Cruiserweight Championship was to be determined in a 32-man tournament. The weight class refers to the cruiser weight , which was not allowed to exceed 205 pounds (approx. 90.72 kilograms). The weight information in wrestling is more of a guideline and does not reflect the actual weight. These are mostly very dynamic show fights with lots of jumps and spectacular stunts. The 32 participants came from various independent promotions , including Revolution Pro Wrestling , Progress Wrestling and Evolve . Some more come from the WWE brand WWE NXT . Before the actual tournament, so-called qualifying matches took place, which were organized by the individual promotions.
Qualifying matches
The qualifying matches were only shown in part on the television broadcast. The organization was responsible for the respective doctorates.
In the event that a wrestler could not hold his weight or had to leave the tournament due to an injury, the following wrestlers were available as substitutes:
The venue for the tournament was Full Sail University in Winter Park , Florida . The individual fights were recorded there on June 23, July 14, August 26 and September 14, 2016 and divided into 10 episodes of a weekly series on the WWE Network. The season was also preceded by an episode 0. This opened the show on July 6, 2016. The season then officially began on July 13, 2016 with episode 1. The semi-finals and finals were broadcast live on September 14. A tag team match took place between the two finals. Only before the semifinals was it announced to the participants and spectators that the winner of the tournament would receive the first carrier of the newly introduced WWE Cruiserweight Championship and would now have to defend his title at WWE Raw .