WILW: Akira Tozawa
With the recent WWE draft, what a snooze-fest amiright?, it was revealed that Monday night RAW will be the exclusive home of the WWE Cruiserweight division which makes some amount of sense. (RAW is three hours after all…) And, depending on when this article graces your peepers, the Cruiserweight Classic is is currently delivering solid matches showcasing diverse talent week in and week out on the WWE Network. One of the stars of the tournament is our featured performer this week, the Dragon Gate alum, Akira Tozawa.
Tozawa has spent most of his career as a member of the Dragon Gate promotion. He was the third overall graduate from the Dragon Gate dojo and, even with a poor showing and immediate demotion, has been a mainstay on their roster. He was given leave in 2010 to tour the United States independent scene having matches for Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and PWG. His time in Japan showed promise but perhaps some laziness. His matches stateside though, made him a bigger name on the indy scene and a popular name among the smarks populating various wrestling related interweb things. In particular his matches in PWG put his name on the shortlist of guys ready to breakout. During his stateside tour he had matches with Kevin Owens, Chris Hero, Sami Zayn (see where this is going), Austin Ares, and Dean Ambrose. He returned to Japan and Dragon Gate while still making sporadic appearances for various US promotions. His time in the CWC for WWE has introduced him to an entirely new audience and may very well position him for a WWE contract.
In the ring Tozawa is fast as hell and may throw the prettiest German Suplex there has ever been. He uses a variety of styles combining the Strong Style with a bit of “Cruiserweight” traditional stuff thrown in. Check out the matches below and hit me up on twitter, @geekadedan, to let me know what you think. Does he deserve a WWE shot? I think so but really, I’m just a blogger. (a damn good one but still…) Join me next week when we cover another budding superstar. Who’s it going to be? Spoilers sweeties…
WWE Cruiserweight Classic 2016 First Round… by Esterbadaz2014
Akira Tozawa Vs. Eita 11/05/2016 by frank-the-villain
PWG – Chris Hero vs Akira Tozawa – Battle Of Los Angeles 2010