Preview of Wrestle-1's Cruiser weight title tournament

In today's world of wrestling it's very hard to get excited about anything, which is why when Kaz Hayashi announced his desire to form a Cruiser division in Wrestle-1 it was such a pleasant surprise. Adding some sort of mid-card belt is something I've wanted Wrestle-1 to do for awhile now and I'm happy that they've decided to come through on that, for a variety of reasons. The main one being that they've got more young faces then they know what to do with. To this division will prove to be a valuable and important asset to the company for years to come and it'll be exciting to see where they take it long term. With that Said lets get into it.

Minoru Tanaka vs Seiki Yoshioka

These two are tag partners and Seiki is one of the guys who I hope that will elevate the division as well as himself in the process. But he will more than likely lose to Minoru here due to him being the bigger name.

Anticipation Rating: B

Andy Wu vs El Hijo Del Pantera

Former tag partners turned rivals Wu & Pantera both seek to take a huge leap in their careers in Wrestle-1. Seeing as both these guys are fairly young and just as green, I said it's a toss up between who wins here. One thing that may tip the scales in favor of Pantera is association with Desperado, as wherever Desperado goes shenanigans are bound to follow.

Anticipation Rating: C+

Kaz Hayashi vs Yusuke Kodama

Kodama has impressed me as of late but I don't expect an upset, Hayashi all the way.

Anticipation Rating: C-

Hiroshi Yamoto vs Rionne Fujiwara

Throw a dart or flip a coin, neither man has a shot in hell of winning the tournament, but if you had to make me choose I'd pick Fujiwara cause he seems like a nice guy.

Anticipation Rating: Nonexistent

Finals Prediction: Kaz Hayashi def. Pantera to become the cruiser weight champion. As much as I would like to see Tanaka win (he'd be a quadruple crown champion), if history is any indication Desperado will find a way to make it into the finals. Though I fully anticipate that it's Hayashi's tournament to lose. I would of also liked for Wrestle-1 to structure the tournament a bit better to add some drama, but that's just a minor nitpick.

Overall Excitement: Yuji Nagata with a piece of cake