WWE Announces Full List of Competitors for the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament

Earlier this week WWE announced that, due to NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin being unable [...]

By Connor Casey

Earlier this week WWE announced that, due to NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin being unable to leave Ireland and compete in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic, an interim champion will be crowned in the coming weeks of NXT. But instead of a simple bracket, WWE is adopting a round-robin style of tournament with two pools of four wrestlers (similar to New Japan's G1 Climax and Best of the Super Juniors annual tournaments).

"Due to current events, obviously, Jordan Devlin is in Ireland and he cannot defend his NXT Cruiserweight Championship," NXT general manager William Regal explained on The Bump earlier this week. "So I've decided that, in the meantime, we will hold a tournament for the NXT Cruiserweight interim Champion."

On Sunday the field for the tournament was confirmed. Group A will consist of Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese and Jake Atlas, while Isaiah Scott, El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa and Gentleman Jack Gallagher make up Group B.

Even though he hasn't held the Crusierweight title like Tozawa or Nese, Kushida is the odds-on favorite to win the tournament given he won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice (2015, 2017) before making his way to WWE. The tournament could also be a great way to introduce WWE fans to Jake Atlas (who just debuted on brand) and El Hijo del Fantasma, better known as King Cuerno from his time in Lucha Underground.

Ever since Regal's initial announcement was made, Devlin has been fuming on social media.

"The Irish Ace" has held the title since beating Angel Garza in a four-way at the World Collide event in late January.

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