– WWE’s cable partners, including Sky Italia, have been contacted by WWE and told to reserve more time for pay-per-views, indicating that future shows will be running beyond 11pm.
– During this week’s NXT media conference call, Triple H noted that he wasn’t sure how the upcoming WWE draft would affect the NXT roster. However, Dave Meltzer noted in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that NXT will be raided “big time” and there’s expected to be a mass migration of talent headed to the main roster.
WWE has been aggressively scouting talent from around the world to replenish the NXT roster after the draft. As noted earlier this week, Tommy End is said to be NXT bound, pending the usual round of medical testing. With WWE bringing in a ton of new faces for the Global Cruiserweight Series, you can bet many of the standout competitors getting WWE exposure for the first time will be signed.
Comment and tell us which NXT stars you think will join the main roster this summer.
In another huge boost for the British wrestling scene the WWE have released footage from Rev Pro’s Live at the Cockpit 8 event showing Noam Dar secure his place in the Global Cruiserweight Series tournament.
Dar defeated longtime British standout Josh Bodom to earn himself a place in the highly anticipated WWE Network specials.
Dar dedicated his performance to longtime friend and British wrestling great Kris Travis who passed from cancer the day that Noam was announced as a competitor in the tournament.
Top independent wrestler Ricochet took to Twitter and put the speculation to rest — he will not be competing in this summer’s WWE Global Cruiserweight Series tournament.
Ricochet has been on WWE’s radar for several years now and had been rumored to be one of the top names for the tournament, which kicks off in July on the WWE Network. The following talents have already been confirmed by WWE’s COO Triple H:
Rich Swann
Tomasso Ciampa
Johnny Gargano
Zack Sabre Jr
Noam Dar
Ho Ho Lun
Akira Tozawa
Qualifying matches for the tournament are being held at two independent companies that Ricochet/Prince Puma currently performs regularly for: EVOLVE and Revolution Pro in the UK.
Whether Ricochet would be contractually able to perform for the WWE is another matter as he most likely has deals with both Lucha Underground and New Japan Pro Wrestling that would prevent this from happening. It it clear at this point that the buzz sounding the GCS has got more than just the internet fans talking.
During Thursday’s wrestling media conference call, WWE COO Triple H announced the first 7 competitors for this summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series:
Zack Sabre Jr.
Johnny Gargano
Rich Swann
Tommaso Ciampa
Noam Dar
Hoho Lund
Akira Tozawa
The 32-man tournament will air over 10 weeks this summer on the WWE Network. It’s already been announced that EVOLVE, PROGRESS Wrestling and Revolution Pro will host qualifying matches starting next month.
– Lucha Underground star King Cuerno was reportedly offered a spot in WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series tournament. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cuerno was all about it, but AAA and Lucha Underground blocked him from accepting. Cuerno is signed to a seven-season deal, but wasn’t at the first round of Season 3 tapings and hasn’t wrestled for AAA since March 4th.
– The next WWE NXT Takeover event after “Takeover: Dallas” this Friday is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8th.
– WWE has moved the Andre Memorial Battle Royal match from the WrestleMaia 32 Kickout Pre-show to the main card for the show. The Kickoff Pre-show still remains at two hours long, with two hours on social media, Youtube and the WWE Network, and one hour programming on the USA Network.
According to PWInsider.com the current plan for the WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series tournament is to tape the entire tournament the week of 6/20 at Full Sail in Winter Park, Florida. It is currently slated to tape in over 5 days.
Competitors for the 32 Man tournament will begin to be revealed via qualifying matches held at EVOLVE, PROGRESS Wrestling and Revolution Pro next month and beyond. WWE will also reveal talents via Internet and social media platforms as a way to familiarize viewers with performers who have not previously been on the WWE stage.
The series will debut this July for a 10 episode run on the WWE Network. In an interview with PWInsider.com, Triple H noted that the hope is for the Series to become a recurring event for WWE.
London-based PROGRESS Wrestling announced on Sunday morning that the promotion will be hosting 2 qualifying matches for WWE’s upcoming Global Cruiserweight Series.
Earlier this month, NXT General Manager William Regal announced that EVOLVE will also be hosting qualifying matches for the tournament. WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series is a 32-man tournament coming to the WWE Network this summer.
The 10-week series premieres on the WWE Network on Wednesday, July 13th. The matches will be taped at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. Competitors from around the world will “vie for the right to call themselves the best cruiserweight in the world.”
This summer, WWE will present the “Global Cruiserweight Series” on the WWE Network. Starting July 13th, 32 participants from around the world will test their skills in a 10-week tournament. The finals will air on September 14th.
On Saturday night’s EVOLVE show from Brooklyn, NXT General Manager William Regal announced that that the United States portion of the qualifying matches for the Global Cruiserweight Series will take place in EVOLVE:
William Regal had just announced that qualifiers for the Global Cruiserweight Tournament will be held in Evolve.
– NXT head writer Ryan Ward has been moved to the SmackDown writing team, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on who will be replacing him. WWE has already taped NXT TV through WrestleMania weekend, so we’ll see next month if the there are any noticeable changes.
– WWE is already booking talent for this summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series. Several top independent wrestlers have already been contacted about participating in the series.
– Former UFC fighter Matt Riddle recently spoke to the Orlando Sentinel regarding reports that he could be headed to NXT in the near future. Riddle, who has received a WWE tryout and currently wrestles for EVOLVE, said:
“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve heard the rumors, and I’d love to do it, but I don’t know. Right now, I’m too focused on EVOLVE, and ecstatic to see what comes next.”
– There is an online petition for a statue of the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage to be erected in his home city of Columbus, Ohio.
One of the top stories of this week has been the announcement of WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series, a 10-week tournament scheduled for this summer featuring 32 of the world’s top wrestlers under 205 pounds.
Triple H spoke with Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magazine about the project and shed some light on the talent scouting process, how WWE will be working with independent promotions and more. Triple H sees this as a tremendous opportunity to scout the best ‘undiscovered’ talent in the world from a weight division that has traditionally not been given proper attention by WWE.
I’m trying to find the undiscovered diamonds someplace else that will blow people’s minds; someone who maybe hasn’t gotten the opportunity yet to be seen. When we say 32, we’re looking at every corner of the world. I have [William] Regal out there in every corner of the globe trying to find not only the ones who people are aware are the best, but others who nobody is aware of quite yet. We want to put them in this and let’s see what they can do.”
A big part of this new initiative will be working with independent promotions from across the world. Triple H acknowledged that wrestlers under contract with promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling won’t be eligible, but he’s open to working with other groups out there – specifically naming “Progress, Evolve, Rev Pro and places like that.”
Bringing talent in from these smaller companies will put a spotlight on not just the talent, but also the promotions they currently work for. Triple H sees this as “beneficial to everybody” because WWE gets the use of great talent and the wrestlers and promotions get the exposure of the WWE machine.
While in-ring ability is a big part of what sets the under-205 pound wrestlers apart, personality and is also a big component of success in this business.
“The more pieces you have, the more complete you are and the better performer you are. Some guys will become huge stars based on one or two pieces of that puzzle. It’s really what people get into and gravitate towards, whether positively or negatively. Reaction is reaction …
To just say Rey Mysterio was just a little guy or Daniel Bryn was just a little guy who was really good in the ring is really taking away from them as this great performer all around they really were or are.”
WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series premieres Wednesday, July 13th on the WWE Network and will air immediately following NXT.
WWE doing a “cruiserweight show” of some kind as a WWE Network project has been rumored for years now, going back even before the network launched. Back in 2012, when WWE was first shooting pilots at Full Sail University before the launch of the current version of NXT, one of those pilots was some kind of cruiserweight show. The rumors kept going as for a while, disappeared last year, and finally returned a few months ago when it finally got close to reality. Yesterday, WWE finally announced the Global Cruiserweight Series, which is coming in July with 32 wrestlers from around the world.
There’s always been a complicated relationship between WWE and smaller wrestlers. Historically, even long before Vincent Kennedy McMahon was in charge, the WWWF/the Capitol Wrestling Corporation was a territory built around bigger wrestlers working a slower style, with a heroic champion slaying giants in main events. That a big (pun not intended) reason why the rings are bigger and were historically harder than other promotions’ rings for many years, as well. That informed McMahon’s preferences, and so on and so forth.
Even when they eventually tried, they badly missed the mark. In 1997, after the cruiserweight division became a key ingredient in WCW’s success, the WWF light heavyweight division was launched. The problem was that it was badly mismatched mix of great junior heavyweights from around the world (TAKA Michinoku, Mr. Aguila, Pantera, and so on) with whatever shorter wrestlers they had hesitated in signing before, like Scott Putski and Brian Christopher (who was a great performer, but wrong stylistically). It never clicked, and eventually disappeared from TV for long stretches of time. Eventually, it improved, and while there were hiccups, the version that inherited the WCW Cruiserweight Championship as a WWE belt featured good action in the style fans wanted.
Until it vanished after Hornswoggle won the title.
So you can see how WWE introducing the Global Cruiserweight series is a big change, In context, though, it’s not surprising at tall that it’s happening now. PWInsider’s interview with Triple H yesterday made it very clear.that this is one of his projects, and, well, look at what’s happened with NXT. If this was ever going to happen, it was going to happen now. WWE is now actively recruiting from “workrate indies,” the same people they laughed at a decade ago, and paid good money to lure Shinsuke Nakamura from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Even if the main roster shows still have issues, this is not the WWE we used to know.
Of course, the question is if any of this can make its way to the main shows. Triple H is not in charge of the main roster shows, Vince McMahon is. Based on how Raw has looked as of late, it seems like it could be a long time before any of this is reflected on “Vince’s” shows. But it’s a start.
WWE announced on Tuesday that a “Global Cruiserweight Series” is coming to the WWE Network this summer. The show premieres Wednesday, July 13th at 9pm EST after NXT.
32 participants from around the world testing their skills in a 10-week tournament from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. The finals of the tournament will air on September 14th.
According to WWE, the competitors will “vie for the right to call themselves the best cruiserweight in the world.” No mention of the WWE Cruiserweight championship being revived.