It’s been three years since the WWE aired its Cruiserweight Classic tournament on the WWE Network. It was meant to give fans some nostalgia of the great Cruiserweight matches on WCW. All-time greats like Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Ultimo Dragon and others helped WCW feel different than WWF, which then almost exclusively featured large, hulking wrestlers.

The Cruiserweight Classic was critically-loved as the action was high-flying and some stuff was never seen on a WWE-branded product before this tournament. The actual streaming numbers aren’t known, but it helped launch the new cruiserweight division. 

Many of the wrestlers in this tournament have went on to have careers in WWE and a few have gained stardom elsewhere.

Where are the Cruiserweight Classic wrestlers now? 

Akira Tozawa – Tozawa made it to the third round in the Cruiserweight Classic. He then went on to be one of the original wrestlers when WWE launched ‘205 Live.’ He’s still on the roster and even had one short reign with the Cruiserweight Championship in 2017. He is one of the most charismatic guys in the cruiserweight division.

Alejandro Saez – Seaz is a wrestler from Chile who lost in the first round to Gran Metalik. He was not signed after the tournament and returned to Chile to wrestle for 5 Luchas Clandestino, which he owns. He is still wrestling and is training a new generation of wrestlers in Chile.

Anthony Bennett – Bennett lost to Tony Nese in the first round of the CWC. He was not signed after and has since wrestled all over the United States. He has spent the most time with CZW in recent years.

Ariya Daivari – The younger Daivari lost to Ho Ho Lun in the first round, which was seen as a huge upset at the time. He went on to be one of the original members of ‘205 Live’. He hasn’t had any title reigns, but he is still on the show. He most memorable moment on the roster was when him and his brother appeared on one of the WWE shows in Saudi Arabia to gain heat.

Brian Kendrick – The Brian Kendrick made it to the third round and lost to Kota Ibushi. Kendrick was signed after the tournament, which was his second-stint with the company. Kendrick defeated the first Cruiserweight Champion (T.J. Perkins) and had a significant reign. He is still with the WWE, but it’s more of a player/trainer role.

Cedric Alexander – Alexander lost in the second round to Kota Ibushi, but that loss helped him get a contract with WWE. It was one of the best matches in the tournament and the crowd changed ‘Sign Cedric’ after the match was over. Alexander made his way on ‘205 Live’ soon after its start. He was a mainstay on the show and even won the Cruiserweight title once. He was recently ‘promoted’ to RAW, but hasn’t been used much.

Clemont Petiot – Petiot lost to Cedric Alexander in the first round. Petiot was not signed after the tournament and is better known by the ring name Tristan Archer. He has mostly stayed in Europe and wrestles in France. He is a mainstay in ICWA (International Catch Wrestling Alliance) promotion.

Da Mack – This German wrestler lost to T.J. Perkins in the first round. He was not signed by the WWE and went back to Europe to continue his career. He is often seen wrestling for WXW (Westside Xtreme Wrestling) in Germany. It’s the promotion known for creating current NXT UK champion WALTER.

Damian Slater – Slater lost to Tajiri in the first round of the CWC. Slater was not signed after his appearance. He went back to his native country of Australia and can be seen wrestling for EPW (Explosive Pro Wrestling), WR (Wrestle Rampage) and HVW (Hunter Valley Wrestling).

Drew Gulak – Gulak made it to the second round and lost to Zack Sabre Jr in a fun match. He was one of the original wrestlers in ‘205 Live’ and had a gimmick of hating aerial moves (aka No Fly Zone). He is currently the WWE Cruiserweight champion and is doing pretty well in that role. He has charisma and is great in the ring.

Fabian Aichner – Aichner lost in the first round to Jack Gallagher. He signed a contract with WWE after participating in the CWC. Unlike many of the other guys, he started down in NXT. He also made some appearance for EVOLVE. Aichner is currently in NXT UK and joined a stable called Imperium. The other guys in the stable include the leader WALTER, Alexander Wolfe and Marcel Barthel).

Gran Metalik – Metalik made it to the finals of the CWC, but lost to T.J. Perkins. He was signed to the WWE after the tournament. He was a decorated wrestler before the tournament when he went by Mascara Dorada in CMLL and New Japan. He joined ‘205 Live’ soon after it started, but is now stuck in a group with Kalisto and Lince Dorado called ‘Lucha House Party.’ The guy is super talented and I hope he will be pushed accordingly in the WWE.

Gurv & Harv Sihra – Both of the Bollywood Boys lost in the first round of the Cruiserweight Classic. They were signed to the WWE, but didn’t really do much until they were paired with Jinder Mahal and given the names of Sunil and Samir Singh. They had a nice run as Mahal’s buddies, but they are now back on 205 Live.

Ho Ho Lun – Lun made it to the second round of the CWC and lost to Noam Dar. Lun was signed to a contract after the tournament and made a few appearances on NXT television. He spent about eight months under contract in NXT, but he asked for his release to go back to South Korea to care for his sick mother. He is still wrestling matches in China, Hong Kong and all over Asia and Europe.

Jack Gallagher – Gallagher made it to the second round in the CWC, but lost to Akira Tozawa. He was arguably the most colorful character that wrestled in the tournament. I wouldn’t say he was 100% comedic wrestler as he did a lot of impressive moves. The British wrestler signed a contract with WWE after the CWC and was one of the early superstars on 205 Live. He is still on the show and is currently portraying a heel character.

Jason Lee – Lee lost to Rich Swann in the first round of the tournament. He did not sign a contract with WWE after the CWC. He is currently wrestling in Japan for Dragon Gate. He is a member of the MaxiMuM stable along with Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, Dragon Kid, Kaito Ishida, Kotoka, Big R Shimizu and Ben-K.

Johnny Gargano – Gargano made it to the second round of the CWC and lost to T.J. Perkins. Johnny Wrestling was already signed with WWE before he participated in the tournament. He was then in a tag team partner with CWC wrestler Tommaso Ciampa (who he defeated in the first round). Gargano went onto be the most over wrestler in NXT. He is a grand slam champion in NXT (he won all the belts during his time there). He has had a few matches on the main roster, but he is still a member of NXT and kicking ass.

Kenneth Johnson – Johnson lost to Akira Tozawa in the first round of the CWC. He did not sign with WWE after the tournament. After doing some research, it doesn’t appear that Johnson has wrestled a ton after this tournament. He mostly wrestles for BOW (Branded Outlaw Wrestling).

Kota Ibushi – Ibushi made it to the semi-finals and lost to T.J. Perkins. WWE would have loved to have signed Ibushi after the CWC, but he was all about being a free agent at the time. He is one of the best wrestlers in the world and has had success in Japan and the UK. Since the CWC, he had a lot of success in New Japan and was also in a popular tag team with Kenny Omega called The Golden Lovers. He just signed a long-term contract with New Japan and is expected to be one of the top guys for many years.

Lince Dorado – Dorado made it to the second round, but lost to Rich Swann. He signed a WWE contract after the tournament. He was one of the original wrestlers on 205 Live. He hasn’t had much singles success and is currently in a stable with Kalisto and Gran Metalik called Lucha House Party. The trio is on the main roster.

Mustafa Ali – Ali lost in the first round of the Cruiserweight Classic. He was actually a replacement for a wrestler named Zumbi, who had visa issues. Ali signed a WWE contract and made his debut on 205 Live a few months after launching. He didn’t make much noise right away, but he did work his way to Cruiserweight title matches by Wrestlemania. He then spent the next year having some pretty great matches with Buddy Murphy. He was called up in late-2018 and is a major player on Smackdown Live. They recently shortened his name to just ‘Ali’. It’s crazy to think that Ali almost wasn’t even in this tournament and now look at him.

Noam Dar – Dar made it to the third round and lost to Zack Sabre Jr. by submission. The Isreali-Scottish wrestler signed a contract with the WWE and was one of the original superstars on 205 Live. He was in a storyline early on where he was in a romance triangle with Alicia Fox and Cedric Alexander. Dar then injured his knee and missed about eight months. He made a few appearances on 205 Live after returning, but is now mostly wrestles on NXT UK.

Raul Mendoza – Mendoza lost in the first round of the CWC to The Brian Kendrick. He signed with the WWE after the tournament. He has spent the entire time down in NXT and is still wrestling the Florida loop of house shows.

Rich Swann – Swann made it to the third round of the CWC. He was already under contract with WWE before his participation in the tournament. He was one of the early superstars on 205 Live. He won the Cruiserweight championship on the debut episode of the show. He held onto it for a couple months and lost it to Neville at the Royal Rumble. Later that year, he was arrested for suspicion of domestic violence. WWE suspended him and released him two months later. The charges were later dropped. He can now be seen on Impact Wrestling. He has been X Division champion for awhile.

T.J. Perkins – Perkins won the Cruiserweight Classic by defeating Gran Metalik in the finals. He was crowned as the Cruiserweight champion that night. He held onto the title for a couple months, but lost it to The Brian Kendrick. After losing that feud, he really never saw himself back in the title picture again. Rumors of him being difficult to work with arose. There were also reports that he got a large tattoo with pre-approval. I’m not sure what’s really true, but he was soon released in early-2019. He is wrestling on the independent scene and also made some appearances back on Impact Wrestling (a place he worked for years as SUICIDE & MANIK).

Tajiri – Tajiri made it to the second round and lost to Gran Metalik. He signed a full-time contract a few months after the tournament. He was on the early episodes of 205 Live, but suffered a knee injury soon after. WWE decided not to use him due to his age and released him. Tajiri went back to Japan and had matches with All Japan. He’ll be 49 years old this Fall and it’s crazy that the ECW veteran is still out there working at a high level.

Tommaso Ciampa – Ciampa lost to Johnny Gargano in the first round of the Cruiserweight Classic. Ciampa was already under contract before he appeared in the CWC. He was in the DIY tag team with Gargano. Ciampa turned on Gargano and had the best feud in the history of NXT. He won and held onto the NXT Championship for many months. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to have a payoff match as Ciampa needed neck surgery before their match at NXT Takeover during Wrestlemania weekend. He is currently still recovering, but I expect him back in early-2020.

Tony Nese – Nese made it to the second round of the CWC and lost to The Brian Kendrick. WWE signed him after participating in the tournament. He was one of the original superstars on 205 Live. He was a member of a heel stable with Gulak and Daivari. It took him awhile to be a contender for the Cruiserweight title and finally won it on the Wrestlemania 35 Kick-off show. He then lost it to Drew Gulak a few months later. He’s still in a feud with Gulak at the moment.

Tyson Dux – Dux lost in the first round to Zack Sabre Jr. via submission. He was not signed by WWE after the tournament. He made numerous enhancement appearances for WWE over the years, but he was never signed. He is still wrestling all over his native Canada.

Zack Sabre Jr. – Sabre made it to the semi-finals and lost to Gran Metalik. Just like Ibushi, WWE would have loved to sign Sabre, but he declined the contract. He’s one of the best met technicians in the world. He is a member of the Suzuki-gun stable in New Japan. He is becoming one of the top gaijin talents in the company. He’s had some outstanding matches the last couples years. His match with Kazuchika Okada was one of his best. WWE would need to make a Godfather deal to ever sign up Mr. Sabre Jr.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.