That Kenneth Johnson guy might have a great story but he was by far the worst wrestler in the tournament so far. He messed up half of the stuff he tried and stumbled around the ring as if this was his first match. Apart from Johnson I liked the second week much more than the first week. The crowd was also much more into the show.

Was I the only one hoping Kenneth Johnson was the son of Slick? (Slick's name is also Kenneth Johnson.)

 

I liked the first week a lot more, but Lince vs. Mustafa was probably the best of the bunch this time.

 

TJ Perkins didn't wow me, to be honest, but I ended up liking him anyway.

I thought Slater looked pretty good in defeat (generic appearance aside), which is probably how you want to keep things with a tournament like this. Probably hurt that the crowd only wanted to pop for Tajiri's signature spots.

 

Full marks to Ranallo for sneaking a Slick reference in during Johnson's entrance.

TJ Perkins v Da Mack was a lot of fun, TJP with his smooth lucha-y stuff and Mack kinda goofy and fun. Mack is a strange looking dude - his legs are super long compared to the rest of him and it was kinda freaking me out. OTOH, hearing Mauro and Bryan say "Da Mack" was pretty funny.

 

I hope Da Mack gets signed to either NXT or to fill the Cruiserweight roster on Raw. His unique look with his spider limbs with his charisma seems tailor made for WWE. I just hope they resist the urge to make him "black Alex Wright" just because he's German.

 

Also seeing "Hot & Spicy" on his tights made me wish Christopher Daniels was available to have Curry Man be his tag partner.

Also seeing "Hot & Spicy" on his tights made me wish Christopher Daniels was available to have Curry Man be his tag partner.

 

Actually, Hot & Spicy is the name of his current team in WxW alongside Axel Dieter Jr, whose father was, surprisingly to me, mentioned during the match.

I loved Ranallo joking about Michael Hayes getting namedropped on a cruiserweight show.

Kenneth Johnson fucking ruled. He should have gone over. And Da Mack stunk. And how could anyone tell if there was a slick reference? Bryan was using the word "slick" constantly. Again, Bryan sounds like an ROH 2006 announcer.

I don't get the people pooping all over Kenneth Johnson. I thought his performance was perfectly passable, and he comes across as naturally likeable, as well.

I think it's because he wasn't as "polished" as much as some of the more experienced guys, and maybe a little subconsciously that no matter how much we complain about it WWE has trained us to think of someone with a speech impediment as bad.

I liked Da Mack, though it struck me as very much a JTTS type of act.

Is it just me, or does Kenneth Johnson just scream awkward?

He struck me as different, which is refreshing in WWE these days.

I think it's because he wasn't as "polished" as much as some of the more experienced guys, and maybe a little subconsciously that no matter how much we complain about it WWE has trained us to think of someone with a speech impediment as bad.

Not being polished is putting it very lightly. He looked like a guy on a 2002 ROH Boston undercard.

He sorta reminded me of a wrestling David Liebe Hart, though in fairness, I did watch a episode of Check It Out! before watching the latest CWC episode.

I think it's because he wasn't as "polished" as much as some of the more experienced guys, and maybe a little subconsciously that no matter how much we complain about it WWE has trained us to think of someone with a speech impediment as bad.

 

That's entirely possible. It's also quite likely that I am just predisposed to being sympathetic towards people with speech impediments. My younger brother stutters terribly (as did my grandfather). With my brother it is so bad that for years he couldn't even answer a phone, because he would freeze up and couldn't say hello in time, before the person calling would hang up. Getting through something like a job interview was impossible. He writes, and I am so sick of seeing people read something he wrote and remark about how intelligent and well spoken he is in writing, basically implying that they thought he was an idiot just because he had a speech impediment. It has been really tough watching him struggle with it, since he is highly intelligent but it has hampered his life so badly.

 

So he compensated by marrying a woman who never shuts up, which has eliminated his need to speak at all...but that's neither here nor there, I suppose.

 

The point is, I can't help but root for Kenneth Johnson. I hope he makes it, at least to NXT.

Johnson seems to be getting a wee bit much flak. I liked things he did, and he's nowhere near as bad as Shane Strickland/Killshot who is in a featured spot in Lucha Underground. The Kenneth Johnson piling on is weird.

Odd choice to put Zack Sabre Jr. and Drew Gulak matches back-to-back this week. They really needed to break it up with something more traditionally "cruiserweight", as all that grappling doesn't really fly at Full Sail. Sihra and Gulak had no chemistry to boot, so that didn't help.

 

Meanwhile I'm starting to hear what Johnny's been saying about Daniel Bryan on commentary. A little too much "oh wow!" cheerleading, plus he and Mauro keep stepping all over each other.

Curious to see what the Kid-N-Play guy has to offer.

So Bennett vs Nese was nothing special, but Mendoza-Kendrick brought that crowd to life. I enjoyed Kendrick going heel, as it gave the match some weight as opposed to the exhibitionary feel of the rest of the night. Sort of a weird show this week as the opener and closer were really good but those middle two were dogs. I wonder how it'll come across on a re-watch.

Mendoza to me clearly was the "No Name to Pretty Big Deal" of the tournament. They basically got that match to be a double turn just on how good Mendoza looked and how wily Kendrick was. If any of the first round losers earned themselves a contract in round 1, I think it would have had to be Mendoza.

So happy seeing Tyson Dux on WWE TV.

So happy seeing Tyson Dux on WWE TV.

 

I have this weird desire to see Dux, Nese and The Drifter as a unit in NXT now. Hell, Nese could pass as Drifter's brother with his current look. Either way Dux looks like he could have a real solid couple year run in the NXT midcard if they gave him the chance.

So with all the hype on ZSJ he ends up being about the 5th best guy on the show. Kendrick was great in that main event, and Mendoza earned a second look for sure.

So with all the hype on ZSJ he ends up being about the 5th best guy on the show. Kendrick was great in that main event, and Mendoza earned a second look for sure.

ZSJ is great and looked to be the best on the show to me. Either way, one match does not make a worker.

Really surprised to hear that about Sabre Jr. I could see maybe having Mendoza or Kendrick ahead of him but I can't see anyone else.

I think that was a case of Sabre's match itself being a little low key whereas the main event had more sizzle to it. Sabre-Dux never really hit next gear for me, which is a problem I sometimes have with Sabre's style when he's working shorter matches (granted, not that often). Both guys looked fine and if you didn't know Sabre beforehand that was a nice primer, but it wasn't quite the "wow" match that Ibushi had in the first week. Meanwhile Kendrick and Mendoza told a more interesting story, so I can see how someone would come away thinking they were a bit better.

 

I'm with you though, Soup, I can't see what 2 other guys would have pushed Sabre to 5th. Nobody in the middle matches did anything of note to me.