I can definitely understand your desire to avoid any crying. We are at BW are strong advocates against CIO or CC in any form. However, it's also important (for both you and baby), to remember that crying is the only form babies have of communicating with you. While doing sleep training, your baby may cry because you're changing his routine, and very few people enjoy that experience. The key with BW is that your baby is never left to cry alone. You are there to comfort them, support them and reassure them that they are ok. It's also important that you can distinguish between his mantra cry and his 'I need you!' cry, because responding too quickly can undo his hard work to fall back to sleep on his own. The gentle removal plan has worked well for many parents so if you like what you see, go for it!
I just noticed that you're LO is going to bed at 8pm. That may be too late, thus resulting in poor sleep. If you want to post your EASY, there may be some trouble shooting we can do during the day time that would also help eliminate the NW's.