Sami Zayn knows what it is like to be a performer outside of the 'spotlight' of WWE having performed on the independent circuit for nine years prior to his jump to the company.
The 32-year-old understands how great of an opportunity this tournament is for each of the competitors as he lays out his favorites and those the audience should keep a close eye on.
On the opportunity
Before making the leap to WWE's developmental company NXT, Zayn performed for nearly a decade on the independent circuit paying his dues every night for companies such as Dragon Gate USA, Evolve, Ring of Honor and Chikara.
Having wrestled for all of the major promotions, Zayn finally made the jump to NXT in 2013 but says that he would have 'killed' for the opportunity to perform in The Cruiserweight Classic if he were still on the indie scene.
He said, "This is a big deal and it is something that is really near and dear to me, this is something that seven or eight years ago I would have killed to have an opportunity like this, you get the chance to be featured as part of the WWE, as an outsider looking in on the Independent circuit or internationally just trying to break-in it is an unbelievable opportunity."
On Akira Tozawa
With so many familiar names to Zayn, he picks his favorites for the tournament and highlights the key performers that he thinks the audience are going to watch to pay attention to.
He said, "Here are some are guys that I've picked in advance, Akira Tozawa a guy I know really well and [I] wrestled with him in Japan he is absolutely incredible and just really really charismatic fans might want to keep an eye out for him."
Akira Tozawa is a performer that Zayn wrestled at the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles in which the man from Japan won after an excellent and hard fought match on how far he can go in the competition he said, "I have him going as far as the semi-finals."
On Zack Sabre Junior
One of the more recognizable and high-profile names in the tournament is Zack Sabre Junior who has twice been recognized as being the 'best technical wrestler' by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in both 2014 and 2015.
The Britton is tipped to be the breakout star of 2016 having already gained a huge following from his work on the independent scene, and Zayn is tipping the 28-year-old to win his opening match and feature in a match that he would 'love to see'.
He said, "Zack Sabre Junior versus Tyson Dux, those are two world class athletes, Tyson Dux from Canada (and) Zach Sabre Junior from England, a lot of background from all over the world in Japan, I think Tyson Dukes is the better wrestler but I think Zack Sabre is on a much hotter Streak now so I have to give the edge to Zack."
With the current PWG World Champion tipped to win his opening match up against Tyson Dux, the former NXT Champion is hoping for an all-British clash further down the line with ZSJ taking on Scotsman Noam Dar.
He said, "We could potentially see a match that I would love to see which is Noam Dar versus Zack Sabre Junior."
On Kota Ibushi
Zayn is one of the most 'in the know' performers regarding the independent scene following his years of honing his craft, and he is picking a number of performers to bask in the spotlight and Kota Ibushi is one that he has been pushing for great things for a long time.
He said, "Some of the other guys to keep an eye on (are) Kota Ibushi, who is the guy that on since the day I got hired and the second I felt I had people’s ears I said ‘Kota Ibushi is one of the guys you have to go after."
The 2014 NXT Superstar of the Year's hailed Ibushi as one of his candidates to win the entire tournament, labeling him as 'incredible'; the performer was in attendance at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and caused a huge spread of gossip suggesting he was close to becoming a WWE superstar but now he finally has his chance to show what he can do according to Zayn.
He continued, "All of these years later he is finally getting a shot to show the WWE Universe what he can do so honestly I not only have him winning his first round match was going to the finals and winning the whole thing Ibushi is incredible."
On final guys to take notice of and the bottom line
Zayn was struggled to narrow down his choices of who to watch as he glowed with excitement at the prospect of this revolutionary tournament, with so many great names on offer he labeled three more that even those in charge have been 'impressed' with.
He said, "Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, Jason Lee who Triple H said he was 'impressed with'".
Zayn nailed home to the fans that will be watching at home that they are going to witness from this tournament as he said, "The bottom line is I do not want to bore you with all these names if you do not know who these guys are you are about to find out in a big, big way.
"These guys under a WWE spotlight it does not get much crazier than that."