Former WWE Champion and analyst for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic Daniel Bryan spoke to Fan Garage and discussed the tournament becoming an annual event and the return of the Cruiserweight Championship.
An annual CWC?
Regarding the expansion of the CWC, Bryan took a wait and see approach: “I can’t say I know. But when Triple H had talked about it… he had mentioned that he wanted to make this an annual thing. He thinks that it’s a great show for the Network to have, and I say why not? I mean it’s a great concept. As for the tournaments, I don’t know what the WWE wants to do going forward, but I have been a fan of tournaments for a long time, so we will wait and see. if this thing takes off, who knows… we may see another one on RAW (laughs).”
Bringing back the Cruiserweight Title?
Bryan also thinks the company will eventually revive the Cruiserweight Championship, which was retired in 2007: “You know, that’s a fascinating question because so many of the top guys now would be considered cruiserweights back when WCW had the first cruiserweight matches those many years ago. The cruiserweight championship I remember was 225 lbs. and under (102 kgs) and the Cruiserweight Classic is 205 lbs. and under. But if you look at the WWE roster today, everybody is a bit smaller because now, fans want more action which requires more mobility, which requires you to be a bit lighter. One of the things that I think we will see is that some of these guys who say only 160 lbs., which might be 75 kgs, they are amazing and people want to see them. So, I wouldn’t be surprised, especially with the brand extension set to come, that the WWE does restart the Cruiserweight championship.”
The Cruiserweight Championship's roots begin in WCW, where the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and the Ultimo Dragon put together some of the best matches in the company. Once WWE purchased WCW, the title became exclusive to SmackDown, held by Mysterio, Gregory Helms, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, and Jamie Noble before Hornswoggle's reign shattered the remaining credibility of the belt.
The best 32
Bryan also discussed his thoughts on the tournament field and whether he feels the company picked the best 32 men for the CWC: "Oh my gosh. There were so many, but they did such a great job of representing all the different areas that I can say like 'Oh so and so should have been in' but then Italy wouldn't have been represented, you know what I mean? So I think, they got 32 of the best guys to represent wrestling from all over the world. I love wrestling right, and when I sat down to know as to who all are participating in the tournament, some of the guys I had never heard of. But when I watched them perform, like Alejandro Saez from Chile, he is good, he is doing all these crazy stuff and I thought if I would have said 'Oh it should have been this guy or that guy, maybe we would have missed out on him. So I think it will be a great opportunity for the fans to be introduced to wrestlers that they have never seen before. For e.g. Kota Ibushi, you can go on YouTube and get to see tons of stuff on him, but not on some of the other guys. So it's hard for me to say that this guy or that guy should have been there instead of him."
Bryan, who retired in February due to concussions and other lingering injuries, calls the action in the 32 man, single elimination tournament with SmackDown announcer Mauro Ranallo. The tournament covers ten weeks and features indie and international favorites like Kota Ibushi, TJ Perkins, Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa, Cedric Alexander, and Zack Sabre Jr. along with past WWE alumni, Tajiri and Brian Kendrick.