Having already seen eight competitors battle it out to advance into the second round of The Cruiserweight Classic a further eight will put their bodies on line in search of glory.
Episode three features a truly stacked card with Zack Sabre Junior, Drew Galak, The Brian Kendrick and Tony Nese the most recognizable faces; but who are the others that you may not be so familiar with?
Zack Sabre Junior
The British performer will enter The Cruiserweight Classic as one of the most high profile performers and with a reputation for being one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. The 29-year-old has performed all around the world for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Noah, Progress Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Sabre was voted the Rising Star of 2008 by The Wrestling Observer UK and the best ‘technical wrestler’ in both 2014 and 2015. He has accomplished so much in his short career that kicked off in 2005 and has notched up a number of important victories including;
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
PWG World Championship
The Battle of Los Angeles (2015)
Pro Wrestling Noah
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag-team Championship (w/Yoshinari Ogawa)
Revolution Pro Wrestling
RPW British Heavyweight Championship
Tyson Dux
The hard hitting Canadian is yet to reach the upper echelon of wrestling and has applied his trade on the independent circuit since 1997, he has faced off against a number of high profile performers and was even defeated in a dark match by Sin Cara in 2014.
Dux who was rated number 131 out of 500 in the top singles wrestler in the PWI 500 has managed to become a hugely respected performer but at 38-years-old he may only have one last push in him to add to his already impressive collection:
Blood, Sweat and Ears
BSE Adrenaline Cup (2008)
BSE Arctic Championship
BSE Tag-team Championship (w/ El Tornado)
Maximum Pro Wrestling
MaxPro Triple Crown Championship (twice, current)
Proving Ground Pro
Ryan Buckley Memorial Tournament (2016)
Wolverine Pro Wrestling
WPW Heavyweight Champion
Drew Gulak
The performer has for a long time been on the cusp of greatness and The Cruiserweight Classic may finally be his chance to break out. Gulak has performed for his debut promotion Combat Zone Wrestling since 2004 and continues to be a regular face in the company.
The 29-year-old has featured for a number of other promotions including Dragon Gate and Evolve where he has squared off against some of the best wrestlers in the world including Chris Hero, Rich Swann and even fellow Cruiserweight Classic performer Zack Sabre Junior.
His list of accomplishments include:
Beyond Wrestling
Tournament For Tournament 3:16 (2014) (w/ Biff Busick)
Combat Zone Wrestling
CZW World Heavyweight Championship
CZW World Tag-Team Championship (w/ Andy Sumner)
CZW Wired TV Championship
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship
Evolve
Evolve Tag-Team Championship (w/ Tracy Williams)
Style Battle Tournament (2013)
United Wrestling Network
UWN Tag-Team Championship (w/ Timothy Thatcher)
Harv Sihra
The 28-year-old is one half of the tag-team known as The Bollywood Boyz alongside his brother (Gurv Sihra) but will be hoping to break away and establish himself as a singles competitor in The Cruiserweight Classic.
Both men who originate from India have traveled the world with one another, performing in the likes of Global Force Wrestling and even Total Nonstop Action’s Ring Ka King promotion where they have won a number of titles including:
Elite Canadian Wrestling Championship
ECCW Tag-Team Championship (five times)
Global Force Wrestling
GFW Tag-Team Championship
GFW Tag-Team Championship Tournament (2015)
Real Canadian Wrestling
RCW Tag-Team Championship
Ring Ka King
RKK Tag-Team Championship
Anthony Bennett
Do not be fooled by his eccentric and ‘out there’ look as Anthony Bennett means business as the youngster has already competed in a number of dangerous matches in order to propel his career including a ladder match just this year.
He is yet to make an emphatic mark on the wrestling world but The Cruiserweight Classic was created to make stars and that is exactly what Bennett is hoping to become.
The World Famous Monster Factory
Supersonic Championship
Tony Nese
The well built performer may be one of the toughest performers in the competition and in his own mind one of the best but with a track record as successful as his – who would argue?
Nese has competed a number of WWE alumni including Paul London and Matt Hardy and has also performed for some of the biggest promotions in the world including; TNA, Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate.
Dragon Gate USA
Open the United Gate Championship (w/ Caleb Konley and Trent Baretta)
Six man Tag-Team tournament (2014) (w/ Caleb Konley and Trent Baretta)
Family Wrestling Entertainment
FEW Tag-Team Championship (w/ Jigsaw)
Openweight Grand Prix
New York Wrestling Connection
NYWC Heavyweight Championship
NYWC Interstate Championship
NYWC Fusion Championship
Pro Wrestling Syndicate
PWS Tri-State Championship
Raul Mendoza
Another relative unknown performer that will be in the competition, Mendoza has however performed all around and developed his high flying style to defeat his opponent.
The 24-year-old has already represented big promotions such as AAA and Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH since his debut in his home country of Mexico in 2005, having already achieved some success – he will be hoping to add to his accomplishments in The Cruiserweight Classic which already include:
Desastre Total Ultraviolento
DTU Alton Impacto Championship (as Jinzo)
The Brian Kendrick
A truly familiar name within the WWE as Kendrick wrestled for the company from 2002- 2004 before honing his craft back on the independent circuit, however he returned in 2005 and lasted until 2008 where his most memorable and successful time with the company occurred with partner Paul London – where the two became the longest reining WWE Tag-Team champions of all time.
After splitting with London he became known as The Brian Kendrick, but went on to accumulate minimal success, he was however involved in the WWE Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, he won the belt during the match but lost it minutes later.
Although still performing at a high level, Kendrick was deemed a better performer in his youth as in 2003 as he was named number 42 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI.
The 37-year-old achieved had achieved a great deal of success throughout his career and has worked alongside some of the best performers in the world such as Daniel Bryan and Jay Lethal and has amassed a number of titles including:
Insane Championship Wrestling
ICW Tag-Team Championship (1 time) (w/ Paul London)
Memphis Championship Wrestling
MCW Southern Lightweight Championship
MCW Southern Tag-Team Championship (w/American Dragon/Daniel Bryan)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA X Division Championship
WWE Tag-Team Championship (w/ Paul London)
World Tag- Team Championship (w/ Paul London)
WWE “interim” Championship