WWE sets the field for the Cruiserweight Round Robin Tournament!

As pictured above, the WWE has its eight chosen participants for their coming Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Round Robin Tournament. And yes, it will be a round robin style tournament. This is very rare for the WWE, and is in itself an exciting opportunity for the company, the Cruiserweight Division, and the NXT and 205 Live brands. Fans familiar with New Japan Pro-Wrestling have already started relating this to a G1 Climax or Best of the Super Junior tournament, and for good reason. As all round robins go, we will see all 12 possible combinations within each block, for a total of 24 matches over the next however many weeks.

The WWE’s own article lists the superstars in Group A and Group B. In fact, it’s as the picture shows. Group A is the top row of Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese, and newly debuted Jake Atlas. Group B is the bottom row of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, the newly signed El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa, and Jack Gallagher. This already gives some exciting match-ups, as Fantasma makes his WWE debut in a big way. This tournament officially starts with NXT this Wednesday, and may presumably stay on NXT. There is no word on how many matches will be featured this week, so we could see all eight men in action in one night.

As for my personal take, there is one thing I’m sure we’re all wondering: Why Drake Maverick? Maverick is still 205 Live General Manager in kayfabe, but he hasn’t been seen on-screen there in weeks. This may be a sign that, with WWE being forced to go live again, there were superstars that could not be at the WWE Performance Center for the next few months. At the same time, I could see Maverick pull a Toru Yano and be more a spoiler than a contender. Maverick could be the reason Tony Nese or Jake Atlas fail to take the A Block. As for B Block, that feels like the stronger group. Gallagher’s new look and aggression, Akira Tozawa’s return to Cruiserweight competition and Fantasma with something to prove, those matches are going to be ones to watch.

But as I’ve been feeling during coverage of 205 Live, this is going to come down to Kushida and Swerve. They’re in separate blocks for a reason. I’m confident they will win their blocks and face off in the finals, but it could go either way after that. Jordan Devlin against either of them makes for a killer “undisputed Cruiserweight Championship” match. Follow The Chairshot to keep up with my full play-by-play coverage of this tournament and more this Wednesday.