WWE's Cruiserweight Division is awesome

[Guest tank_abbott]

Who did WCW claim lost to Ohtani in the Cruiserweight tournament?

 

Ohtani won the WCW Cruiserweight championship from Chris Benoit. This bout did indeed take place as Ohtani defeated Benoit, wrestling as Wild Pegasus on a card promoted by new Japan Pro Wrestling. The match took place on 03/20/96 in Nagoya, Japan. While this match legitimately occurred, the remainder of the tournament was fictional. This was one of the most confusing debacles in the annals of pro wrestling history.

In this "tournament," the first match of the tournament took place after the tournament final. This was not unprecedented in WCW. In 1991, the Fabulous Freebirds (Jim Garvin/Michael Hayes) won the WCW world tag team championship from Doom (Butch Reed/Ron Simmons) at Wrestle War '91 in Phoenix, Arizona on 02/24/91. Yet, they actually lost the championship on 02/18/91 at a television taping to the Steiner Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama. So, they lost the belts six days before winning them! This went unnoticed by the majority of WCW's core audience as the match where the Freebirds lost aired on 03/09/91.

This instance was more noteworthy because it involved WCW's co-promotional partner New Japan Pro Wrestling. The Japanese media covers pro wrestling as a legitimate sport and cases such as this present more problems in Japan than they do in the United States. WCW had already irritated the Japanese by their handling of a situation involving the United States heavyweight championship less than three months earlier. At Starrcade 1995 from Nashville, Tennessee, Kensuke Sasaki, then the United States champion, refused to defend the title on U.S. soil against Sting. He subsequently submitted to Sting's Scorpion Deathlock. After the pay-per-view broadcast, One Man Gang illegally defeated the Japanese champion for the United State title which completed violated the policy he had invoked earlier in the card (12/27/95). To make matters worse, the match was restarted and Sasaki avenged the loss. However, when the match aired in the United States, the finish of the bout was not shown. The footage was stopped at the point where One Man Gang had won. This was WCW's compromise to have Sasaki lose face in japan by losing two matches in one night, one to a virtual unknown. There attempts were nullified as Sasaki returned home without the belt.

 

While the majority of the United States audience was oblivious to WCW's cruiserweight facade, it was not lost on all. Wade Keller, editor of the Pro Wrestling Torch echoes the sentiments of many in his 03/26/96 RSPW post:

To so it doesn't matter what order the matches are taped in is roughly similar to saying, who cares if the pinfall ending of a 20 minute match comes in the first minutes after which the next 19 minutes build up to it. When the 20 minute mark is reached, the wrestlers simply stop fighting and say, Hey, the ending already took place 19 minutes ago. Sure it's a work, but the storylines within a match and within the context of a tournament should make sense. For WCW to book the finals first would be like the author of a fictional novel (fictional novels are a "work" too) putting the last chapter first in his book. Doesn't exactly lend to suspense or credibility.

 

This error was just one of many en route to determining WCW's inaugural cruiserweight champion. Eric Bischoff first mentioned the long anticipated cruiserweight tournament on the air during the 02/19/96 edition of WCW Monday Nitro from Salisbury, Maryland, during the third match of the program (Belfast Bruiser d. Brad Armstrong). In mentioning the tournament, he gave the event an international flavor by mentioning it would take place on two separate continents. He furthered this perception by mentioning that WCW contingent would be touring Japan in April. This immediately conjured visions of grandeur to many fans. They would be disappointed.

 

The tournament began to take shape in the United States on 03/23/96 edition of WCW Saturday Night. This was about the same time 's Ohtani's victory aired on Japanese television. On the WCW program they announced the following contestants in the tournament, proving miniature biographies: Dean Malenko, Disco Inferno, J.L., Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Alex Wright, Psychosis, Rey Misterio Jr., Shinjiro Ohtani, Koji Kanemoto, Devon Storm, Akira Nogami and Jushin "Thunder" Liger. No brackets were displayed and no matches were announced. In fact, brackets were never released. They did announce that the first bout in the tournament would be the following night on the WCW Main Event.

The match that aired the next night was aired live from Tupelo, Mississippi, where WCW was holding their Uncensored pay-per-view later in the night. During this time period, they would use their time slot on WTBS in an attempt to drum up last minute buys for the pay-per-view. The match that aired was Dean Malenko vs. Mr. J.L. (Jerry Lynn). J.L. won in approximately five minutes with an unusual roll-up. The crowd was quiet for this bout as neither man was over. They did pop for some of the high spots though. In typical WCW logic, announcers Dusty Rhodes and Tony Schiavone focused on the loser of the bout, Malenko. Malenko did dominate the majority of the match.

 

This was not the match many wished to showcase the debuting cruiserweight division. While the match was not exceptional, both were solid workers. Even so, the booking was suspect as the lesser man won and the bout was too short for the men to display their talent. Speculation was Malenko agreed to job to Lynn because Malenko broke Lynn's arm in a bout on the 12/25/95 edition of Nitro, that was taped on 12/18/95 from Augusta, Georgia. Despite this sub-par match, hopes remained high as WCW announced during the match that Benoit, Liger and Psychosis had won their opening bouts in Japan. The tournament was also beginning to show some stability as it definitely had the feel of a sixteen-man single elimination tournament.

 

The cruiserweight tournament was downplayed on the pay-per-view itself as it did not factor into the equation. Also, Chris Benoit, the eventual finalist, was not mentioned on the card. The other three members of the Four Horsemen were involved in the Doomsday match main event, but Benoit was absent. Lee Marshall account for his absence claiming Benoit did not approve of the Horsemen's alliance with the Dungeon of Doom. It was probably just as well as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Taskmaster, Lex Luger, Meng, Barbarian, Ze Gangsta and The Ultimate Solution it what is considered one of the most ridiculous pay-per-view bouts in history. Also, the winner of the tournament bout on the show, J.L. was squashed in his bout with United States champion Konnan the following night in Huntsville, Alabama, on Nitro (03/25/96). The poor showings of key tournament participants did not bode well for the tournament.

 

The tournament's importance was again negated as it was abandoned until the 04/13/96 edition of WCW Saturday Night. On this program, the tournament was inexplicably changed to a double elimination event. On this program, in tournament bouts, Eddie Guerrero defeated Mr. J.L. via a swinging DDT into a small package and Brad Armstrong pinned Malenko following a double pin situation. Malenko's poor showing in this bout was inexplicable as not only was he pinned in both of his bouts, but the first man who pinned him was dismantled and de-pushed after defeting Malenko. Also on this program, the finals of the tournament were being promoted for Slamboree, when they had already occurred weeks earlier in Japan.

 

To continue WCW's poor promotion of this event, the tournament was not mentioned the next week on WCW Saturday Night. It was next mentioned during the second match(Chris Benoit-Eddie Guerrero) on the 04/22/96 Nitro. Despite both men being two of the greatest cruiserweights in the world, this bout was not a tournament match. During this match, the announcers stated that Chris Benoit was the American representative in the cruiserweight title tournament in Japan....but lost to Ohtani. They stipulated that this means that Ohtani would have to come to the states to face either Eddy Guerrero...Bobby Eaton...or Brad Armstrong in the finals.

This added further chaos to an already confusing situation. First, Benoit being the American representative is unusual considering he is Canadian. In the grand sense that he is from North America, perhaps this is true, but it is highly doubtful the WCW commentators intended this. Secondly, Benoit was obviously eliminated in Japan, but in the finals as WCW had claimed prior to the Uncesnored pay-per-view that Benoit had advanced in Japan. Furthermore, why Bobby Eaton and Brad Armstrong would be considered for finalists considering the list of participants WCW displayed is beyond logic. Also, how could Ohtani be penciled in as a finalist when there were three people vying to challenge him. This situation was only made worse five nights later on WCW Saturday night.

 

On that broadcast, two more tournament matches aired. First, Bobby Eaton defeated Steve Doll. This could theoretically be explained in that WCW announced on Monday that Eaton was among four finalists. Perhaps, since the bout was pre-taped one could rationalize that he had previously defeated Doll to advance, but WCW had never announced the results of WCW Saturday Night previously. When did Steve Doll, a virtual jobber, enter this competition? He was not announced in the promos leading up to the event. Theoretically he would have had to defeat someone to advance this far in the tournament. For the record, Eaton won with a Tower of London. Unfortunatley, the Eaton-Doll bout was the more logical bout of the two. In the second match, "The Canadian Crippler" Chris Benoit defeated Alex Wright. Neither of these men were mentioned on Monday among the four finalists. In fact WCW had claimed Benoit had been eliminated.

 

That would be the last televised cruiserweight tournament bout. Bischoff announced on the 05/06/96 Nitro from Daytona Beach that Ohtani had won the tournament. WCW did not air the championship bout. They did announce that Ohtani would defend his belt on Worldwide. Thus ended perhaps the worst booked tournament in history. WCW did not capitalize on any of the high caliber matches they could have used to produce interest in the new division. The majority of the men they advertised never appeared on WCW television. Some would eventually come as Misterio debuted on 06/16/96 at the Great American Bash and Psychosis who arrived on the 07/08/96 Nitro. Still, this did not simish their absence from this tournament.

 

The logic behind Ohtani's victory is absent as well. He had no intention of competing in WCW. Why did WCW oush a man who was not going to benefit them? Some would say that they desired a quality championship match. Benoit and Ohtani certainly delivered with a 20-minute battle. Yet, WCW never even aired this match. If they were attempting to give the belt credibility by having an elite foreigner hold it, it defies their previosu thinking. They played the tournament up for the marks as the finals were held prior to the tournament itself. Yet, the majority of marks were unfamiliar with Ohtani. His only previous WCW appearance came at Starrcade 1995 where he defeated Eddie Guerrero.

Furthermore, when Bischoff announced on 05/06/96 that Ohtani was the champion he had already lost the belt! On 05/02/96, Ohtani lost the cruiserweight championship in Orlando, Florida. Who did he lose it to? Dean Malenko, of course. The man who had lost two of the few televised tournament matches to Brad Armstong and Mr., J.L. no less. It is not uncommon for a soon to be champion drop a bout so that when he does win the championship, he has a ready made contender. But, Malenko lost to two wrestlers who could never be considered legitimate threats in the United States. The bout aired on the 05/18/96 edition of Worldwide. The match was solid as Malenko won with the Texas Cloverleaf. Ohtani, like he was at Starrcade was managed by Sonny Onoo.

 

Further depleting the championships credibility was the fact that not one of these matches was held on Nitro, the company's premier and most watched program. The competitors involved in the tournament were not over. The winner was a relative unknown in the United States. Many of the advertised competitors never appeared on WCW television as all the better wrestlers are in the fictional Japanese portion of the tournament. Why? Perhaps because wrestlers like Hulk Hogan did not wish to be outclassed by the better working cruiserweights.

[Guest Prime Time Andrew Doyle]

Ummmmm, Whoooo Wrestling!!!!!!!!!Rey Rey Iz So GR8 n wil kik ne1's azz 619 is so kwel n madnezz but so iz Jeff Hardy SWANTON BOMB Whoooooo

 

 

*Cough, Clears Throat*

 

Sorry bout that, I tend to lose my concentration sometimes when I get a little confused

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Wrestling companies making up tournaments is nothing new. You really think Pat Patterson won the IC title in an actual tourney?

[Guest HartFan86]

Wrestling companies making up tournaments is nothing new. You really think Pat Patterson won the IC title in an actual tourney?

At least people don't write 204832 page essays on it. All the WWF said was 'Pat Patterson won the Rio De Jeniro Tourney." and WCW has to have all this shit.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

I'd rather have a company try to create an actual tournament history rather than just say "oh yeah, he won a tourney." Shows to me that the company actually cares in a certain way.

[Guest Ace309]

I'd rather have a fictional, logical tournament that doesn't harm anyone (who did Pat Patterson beat?) than a clusterfuck like this.

[The Dames 0]

All that matters to me at this point was that by the end of 1997, the WCW Cruiserweight title was their most established, "over" title in the company and remained so for the next two years.

 

Dames