When we gave you a brief rundown of the international competitors in WWE’s upcoming Cruiserweight Classic, it kind of sounded like we were building our own King of Iron Fist tournament. There were Mexican luchadores, Canadian Bollywood stars, German Michael Jackson impersonators, you name it. But among this rogues’ gallery, the one wrestler I noticed people gravitating toward was the enigmatic Zumbi. I mean, he’s a Brazilian wrestler who does capoeira in the ring and wears an awesome mask. Of course he’s going to get attention, he sounds like all of humanity got together and collaborated on one awesome Create-A-Wrestler in the latest WWE 2K game.
Sadly, this hype train is getting derailed very soon after leaving the station. Zumbi appears to officially be out of the tournament, as a quick look at the official CWC website will confirm. It appears that he was previously scheduled for a different tournament altogether: The Torneo Internacional Elite, put on by Mexican promotion Lucha Libre Elite. Much like the Cruiserweight Classic, it’s an international affair, boasting participants from Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and TNA Impact. So, instead of spending this upcoming weekend taping the first round of the CWC with Kota Ibushi and Drew Gulak, he’ll be in Mexico with Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA, PJ Black, and Sabu. Not a bad roster by any means, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him on the WWE Network instead.
Zumbi will be replaced by Pakistani-American wrestler Mustafa Ali. No stranger to the independent scene, he does most of his work in the Midwest. Take a look for yourself:
