On June 13, 2016, WWE announced Dorada, under the ring name Gran Metalik, as a participant in the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic tournament.[84] In a subsequent interview, he revealed that he was only working the Cruiserweight Classic matches with WWE and was still full-time with CMLL beyond that and he credited Finn Bálor, who worked as Prince Devitt in NJPW, as being the reason he was invited to the tournament.[85] The tournament began on June 23 with Metalik defeating Alejandro Saez in the first round match.[86] He later defeated Tajiri in the second-round match.[87] The following day, it was reported that he had signed a full-time contract with WWE.[88] On August 26, Metalik defeated Akira Tozawa to advance at the semifinals.[89] On the last day of the tournament, Metalik defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to advance to the finals, before losing to T.J. Perkins in the finals.[90]