Tony Nese runs into a roadblock in the Cruiserweight Classic, in the form of the ruthless veteran Brian Kendrick. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

The final Second Round Match of the night featured two men determined to win the Cruiserweight Classic, but for very different reasons. Tony Nese is out to prove that he should have been in WWE a long time ago, while Brian Kendrick sees the CWC as his last chance to prove that he still belongs among the elite.

Kendrick tried to get inside the head of Nese at the outset of the match, but instead caught a hard kick to the head from “The Premier Athlete.” The staggering kick forced Kendrick to retreat at ringside, but Nese stayed on top of him, connecting with a superkick on the arena floor that nearly ended the bout. With Nese firmly in control, “The Post-Apocalyptic Scavenger” had to reach into his bag of tricks slow his powerful rival down, trapping Nese’s arm in the turnbuckle pads and kicking it.

Nese fought back and gained the upper hand, only for Kendrick to grab his beard to draw him in for a big strike. Kendrick smelled blood and went in for the kill, going for several submissions, including a brutal cross armbreaker. “The Premier Athlete” escaped and began throwing everything he had at the crafty Kendrick, taking flight with an Olympic high jump worthy dive over the ropes to the arena floor.

The Long Island native brought the fight to Kendrick, muscling out of another armbar and powerbombing the former WWE Tag Team Champion into the turnbuckle and escaping the Bully Choke on two separate occasions. “The Premier Athlete” looked to have the match won after kicking Kendrick off the top rope into perfect position for the 450 Splash. However, the veteran Kendrick still had enough wits about him to move out of the way. Nese crashed and burned, and “The Post-Apocalyptic Scavenger” pounced on his prey, locking on the Bully Choke to get the victory by tap out.

Kendrick has dug deep into his bag of tricks to make sure his road to redemption does not come to a premature end. But, will his trickery be enough to get him a win in the Quarterfinals, where he will meet tournament favorite Kota Ibushi?