Pro Wrestling Love vol. 44: Best of Japanese Junior Wrestling 1989-1999 (Jushin Liger, Ultimo Dragon, Great Sasuke)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 44:

The Best of Japanese Juniors 1989-1999

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at http://gweproject.freeforums.net/) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This forty-fourth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the beginning of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to feature the Japanese Junior Heavyweights (New Japan, WAR, Michinoku Pro and BattlArts) from 1989-1999. The rise of Japanese Junior Heavyweights coincided when Keiichi Yamada took on the mantle of his famous alter-ego, Jushin “Thunder” Liger in 1989. New Japan Pro Wrestling had the most prestigious and active junior heavyweight scene with Jushin Liger as the centerpiece. Throughout the 90s, Liger would be on an endless quest for his rival, the Lex Luthor to his Superman. In the early 90s, he would face Naoki Sano and Pegasus Kid. In parallel, Gran Hamada was developing the lucharesu (portmanteau of Puroresu & Lucha Libre) which would develop into the Michinoku Pro wrestling promotion. Also, Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR promotion would build his Junior Heavyweight division around Ultimo Dragon. During the New Japan vs WAR feud allowed Liger to look outside New Japan for his archrival and he would find a superstar equal in Ultimo Dragon (not an equal in workrate). In the mid-90s, Liger would take on New Japan’s attitude of collaboration working on Super J Cup and J-Crown tournament which afforded Great Sasuke the opportunity to rise to the level of Liger and Dragon. As the 90s kept progressing, the New Japan talent started to catch up with Liger in the form of Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto. No one ever reached the heights of Liger as a superstar or in-ring talent, but the gap was closed. I need to do more research but I believe due to a change to the TV programming of New Japan in the late 90s, the Japanese Juniors time was cut and the status dropped and by the year 2000 they became a non-factor in the Japanese Match of the Year picture. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

BEAST GOD~!

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Honorable Mentions

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano - NJPW 7/13/89

Great lead-in match to the Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano feud before the classic August 1989 match and is a must watch before that match.

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Norio Honaga - NJPW 3/14/91 Non-Title

Jushin Liger vs Norio Honaga - NJPW 4/30/91 Vacant IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Norio Honaga vs Jushin Liger - NJPW 5/31/91

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Norio Honaga vs Jushin Liger - NJPW 6/12/91

I LOVE this underrated feud! What makes this feud work is Honaga knows he is not on Liger’s level, Liger know he is not and most importantly the fans don’t. So Honaga does all he can to lie, cheat and steal a victory which he does as a total scuzzball heel. Of course, when it comes time Liger can dish out that ass whuppin’ that Honaga so richly deserves.

Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke (NJPW Super J Cup Finals 04/16/94)

Great Sasuke vs Jinsei Shinzaki - M-PRO 4/29/94

Great Sasuke & Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 10/18/94

Ultimo Dragon vs Great Sasuke - J-Crown Tournament Finals 8/6/96

The Great Sasuke had an amazing 1994 as he made the Finals of the Super J Cup against Pegasus, but on the way he defeated Jushin Liger. He was transformed from indy darling to main event junior star overnight. The Super J Cup is one of the most influential events on current American pro wrestling and American wrestling fandom because how prevalent that show was among tape traders. Sasuke had great big time matches against Shinzaki and an amazing tag team spotfest with Eddie Guerrero against Pegasus and Otani. In 1996, Sasuke found himself in the Finals of a major tournament but this time tragedy struck when Sasuke went for his trademark swandive from the top rope to floor, but he ended up cracking his skull literally on the cement floor. He amazingly continued the match, but the match is more famous than it is great.

Koji Kanemoto vs El Samurai - NJPW 6/5/97 Best of the Super Juniors Finals

Koji Kanemoto vs Dr. Wagner Jr - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Finals 6/3/98

Jushin Liger & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 03/06/99)

Shinjiro Ohtani vs El Samurai - NJPW 6/3/99

As I said, in the late 90s Juniors wrestling became de-emphasized. These are the best matches from that era. Kanemoto had a pair of great BOSJ finals and I think he is an underrated wrestler because he is overshadowed by the greatness of Liger and Otani. I really loved the team of Otani & Kanemoto, great prick heels and Ohtani and Sammy reprised their classic from ’96 and almost reached that level.

Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs Super Delphin, Taka Michinoku, Gran Naniwa - M-Pro 3/16/96

Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku vs Super Delphin - NJPW 6/17/96

Kaientai (Dick Togo, MENS Teioh, Shiryu) vs Great Sasuke & Super Delphin - Michinoku Pro 6/23/96

Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Tiger Mask IV, Masato Yakushiji vs Kaientai DX (Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki, MENS Teioh & Shiryu) - Michinoku Pro 10/10/96

Independent Junior Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku vs Minoru Tanaka - BattlArts 10/30/96

Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs Kaientai DX - Inoki Festival 12/1/96

Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs Kaientai DX - Michinoku Pro 12/9/96 Elimination Rules

Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 11/09/97)

Do yourself a favor and watch as much Michinoku Pro from 1996 as you can. Kaientai was such an amazing heel team. They were like the Shield if the Shield also did amazing dives and comedy spots. Another way to put it is Kaientai is like a modernized Midnight Express for the 90s. They were going up against top flight talent all the time. I put off watching Michinoku Pro for years don’t make my mistake, watch it now!

Jushin Liger vs Norio Honaga (NJPW 02/08/92)

Jushin Liger vs El Samurai (NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Final 04/30/92)

Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Wild Pegasus - NJPW 8/12/92

This Liger vs Honaga match is a lot different than the previous Honaga/Liger matches. It is not built around Honaga’s heel cheating tactics. Instead, it s built around body part psychology with Honaga working over Liger’s midsection and Liger gives a ***** selling performance. The Liger vs Samurai match is highly polarizing and has a very interesting discussion around it. Great beginning with Samurai getting nasty and violent, but I thought it cooled off and falls short of being the classic that may call it. This is second best Liger/Pegasus match and a great offensive match.

Top 12 Japanese Junior Heavyweight Matches 1989-1999

#12. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Naoki Sano vs Jushin Liger – NJPW 1/31/90

How much a difference a couple years makes! I thought this would be a mortal lock for my top 100, but watching it back I dont think it has a chance. Their 1989 match trumps this one for me and will most likely make it. That is NOT an indictment on this match, but rather how many other AMAZING matches there are in the history of pro wrestling. 

Lets talk about the greatness of this match first and that this is a heroic match. Sano beats the holy hell out of Liger. A beating that is reserved only for the dude who bangs your girlfriend. There is a part in the match where Liger's mask is ripped and he is just a bloody pulp on the mat it is just so moving. The hero is totally down for the count. Sano is the exact man you want to deliver this beating. He has a wide, wide arsenal of moves. I thought Liger's first hope spot was really well done. The hurricanana into an insane somersault dive was crazy. He went all out in that dive. Sano hit that railing hard. I LOVED Sano raking Liger's eyes in the Surfboard to break. Then Liger cant really hit his hope spots anymore. He misses the Kappo Kick. That is ol reliable. Like Misawa's elbow that always gets Liger out of trouble. He gets a rana again, but this time he is sent sailing over the top rope high into the air on the floor. Then he gets smarter. He starts shifting his weight on suplexes. Sano has tuckered himself out. He hit a lot of moves, but couldnt put Liger away and now his energy is sapped. He is prone to Liger being able to make these reverses the superplex one was great.  Sano's last big nearfall is the Tiger Suplex and for this one is not a kickout, but Liger sticking his foot out. Sano calls for the ending and Liger looks destroyed thats when he reverses on the back suplex and hits his own German Suplex! Somehow someway Liger through his resilience has evened the playing field, but when looked dead in the water many times. Sano goes for a rana, but Liger plants him with a powerbomb. TOMBSTONE->SHOOTING STAR PRESS! AWESOME FINISH!

So what's my complaint, the heat segments(s) were way too long and had very little struggle. They went to it way too early in my opinion. Liger smacks the taste out of Sano's mouth and starts the match red hot. Sano BULLIES him to the outside. Nails a piledriver on the floor and whips him hard into the railing. I am totally fine with Sano kicking ass that early. But to do the mask ripping and bust him open within 5 minutes thats tough to recover from. It is going to require Liger to die a lot. I dont know how many resurrections I can believe in. Liger did the right thing in selling it like death. Sano brutalized him. I think there is time and place for that, they just did way too early. Pretty much every suplex, piledriver, and kick you can think of Sano hit on Liger. The moves were cool, but when you are doing Boston Crabs and just giving up on it thats no fun. It didnt feel like Sano was trying to finish the match nor do you believe he will because this is a fairy tale match and you know the hero has to make his comeback. I think if you put the mask ripping and blood at lets say 7 minutes to the finish this match really becomes a classic.  

Sano beats Liger to a bloody pulp but cant put away the Beast God. Liger looks like he has dead at times and has trouble hitting his trusty Kappo Kick, but through a couple timely suplex reversals and a lucky positioning on a Tiger Suplex, he is able to outlast Sano, who is exhausted from the punishment he dished out. Powerbomb->Tombstone->Shooting Star Press is up there for one of the best finish stretches of all time. Classic heroic comeback match, but falls short of being considered one of the greatest matches ever.

#11. Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs Great Sasuke – Super J Cup 4/16/94

I believe this is the first ever Jushin Liger and Japanese Junior match I ever watched. So it holds quite a bit of nostalgia value in addition to the offensive clinic and great story they tell. It is Jushin Liger, the Ace Junior against the hottest commodity on the "minor league" circuit. I think the best way to describe this match is a sports analogy. I went to the University of Michigan and my first year was the fall of 2007. That year we were ranked #5 in the preseason polls and a contender for the National Championship. As with most college football teams, the first game is schedule against a cupcake opponent as a way to work out any kinks before the bigger games later on the season. The "cupcake" team that year was multiple time Division I-AA champion Appalachian State Mountaineers. I remember the first week of school everyone was excited for their first game in the Big House and the actual outcome of the game was a distant second. Michigan much like Jushin Liger great overly estimated their talented "minor league" opponent and ended up in their humiliating loss. Now unlike Michigan, Liger was not humiliated and disgraced. Instead, Great Sasuke became a made man and insta-star. I have always loved that story this match tells.

This also reminds me of Rey Rey/Malenko from GAB '96. There is no babyface shine for Great Sasuke and Liger just opens up a can of whoop ass. Sasuke is able to actually get a Liger move on Liger with the inverted Indian Deathlock into a headlock then double wristlock. He rolls through this double wristlock and tries to go for cross armbreaker. Liger is able to scissor the leg from this position as a counter. Liger chains beautifully into an upside down surfboard. From there Liger gives an absolute shit-kicking: Kappo Kick, Palm Strike and some of the best arm work ever (Brock should watch Liger to see how you work an effective double wristlock, CROSSFACE CHICKENWING!). The ref is trying to hold Liger back because Sasuke is knocked the fuck out. Liger is in fucking GO MODE and is just in total asskicker mode and is looking to make a statement. It is almost too easy for Liger and he gets cocky. He takes his time going to top and Sasuke nails a dropkick as Liger comes off the top. He powders and as Taka Michinoku is cheering on, Sasuke hits an Asai Moonsault. Sasuke was down, but not out. He needs to play some catch up ball so here come the dives. They struggle over a suplex on the apron and Sasuke rams Liger's head into the post. He then hits one of his beautiful swandives from the top rope to the floor. Sasuke now puts on his own offensive clinic: piledriver, Crucifix Powerbomb, Tombstone Piledriver. Sasuke goes for swandive, but Liger moves and he rolls through and Liger nails him with the PALM STRIKE~! WICKED LIGER BOMB!!! TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER! SUPLEX OUT OF THE RING! I still remember marking out for that shit way back when. Big dive by Liger from top rope to the floor! Liger is totally overconfident now and it only grows when Sasuke botches his springboard hurricanarana. Liger points and laughs and signals that he is going to finish him off. Sasuke nabs a quick hurricanarana to get the flash pin on the arrogant Liger.

I agree with everyone that the infamous finish plays really well into the story of the match. It feeds into Liger's overconfidence that Sasuke is a just a flashy, indy wrestler with no business in the ring with him. Sasuke is able to prove he has a never say die attitude. Sasuke did enough in the mid-match to ensure his place in the sun was cemented with his HUGE dives and kickass offense. I think this may be the best spotfest in history because it tells a clear overarching story, but there is no real struggle or transition. I was bit disappointed by that on rewatch. Sasuke and Liger just ragdolled for each other. They were just rattling off their spots until the transition and the next guy would rattle off his. It was an incredible, breath-taking offensive clinic. Plus on the macro they do tell a great story. It is just the match is missing the micro details. I cant go higher than ****1/2.

#10. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Jushin Liger vs Pegasus Kid – NJPW 2/10/92

Is Benoit wearing lipstick or is his lip busted? 

The Beast God takes this match on short rest as he has just won back the IWGP Jr Championship from Honaga two days prior, but it is also important to remember that he re-aggravated a rib/abdominal injury. I had visions of Benoit hanging Liger out to dry with his front suplex on the top rope before the match even started and I was not disappointed. This is basically the Honaga match but Benoit can actually carry his end of the work. Liger gives two of the best selling performances of all time in these two matches. It would be easy to say he did better in the Honaga match, but it just stood out more because Honaga is so bland. Here the subtly was the key. The way he comes up favoring the ribs after an innocuous bow and arrow.  Blink and you miss it. Hell, I am not even sure Benoit knew he had injured ribs for like five minutes. Another good one was on the first round of shoulder tackles. Liger wins, but at what cost. I was really enjoying this nuanced performance. Benoit hits a missile dropkick from the top rope to the outside and then whips him into the railing, gotta hurt those ribs. Benoit figure-4s the head and this is my one complaint. I dont mind a hold being used, but why not an abdominal stretch. Liger transition into a upside down surfboard, but his ribs give out. Now he is in a full sell! Benoit smells blood. He buries the knee deep into the midsection and then hangs him out to dry. Yes! Liger hits a desperation Kappo Kick, which is go to bail out move. Then he suplexes him from the ring to floor, which is a crazy spot, but he collapses in the ring and cant follow up. Liger needed that to catch his breath and inflict some damage to Benoit. That was his first real offense. Rapid fire Shotei to the face, Liger figure-4s the head, which I am a proponent of. Liger needs to sap Benoit's energy and regain his breath. This is excellent strategy by Liger to land big blows and then try to control Benoit. Benoit uses the Electric Chair Drop to finish and Liger is agony. Stuff like Benoit forearming Liger when he could kick in the midsection is kind of bumming me out. He gets a German and Belly-to-Belly to get a couple nearfalls. Then he goes back to figure-4 the head, which only seems to exist so that Liger can Man Up and get the surfboard to show he can fight through the pain, but ultimately Liger succumbs to the pain and releases the hold. Great selling by Benoit. Liger hits a shoulder tackle and again that sell after the tackle is so friggin' good. For all the shit I was giving Benoit he makes up for it with a gutwrench gutbuster that is just beautiful and then instead of a diving headbutt hits a BEAUTIFUL SPLASH on the ribs. I wish he kept doing the splash instead of the headbutt. He only gets two so he does the reasonable thing and tries it again, but wrestling is not reasonable and eats knees. He gets dumped on the outside and Liger hits his wicked baseball slide and Asai Moonsault. Ultimo Dragon would be jealous. That was a great sequence. Benoit looked like he had it won with the splash and it is Liger that ends up wowing with the Asai Moonsault. Benoit is committed to the aerial assault as he hits a beautiful top rope leg drop. He is getting very frustrated. Benoit makes the cardinal mistake of putting his head down and Liger hits a powerbomb for two. They do the tombstone reversal, Benoit nails it and Diving Headbutt...1-2-NO! Another great nearfall for Benoit. Liger gets that cool rollup for the win...the one Marc Mero would do. 

If Benoit had Honaga's commitment this would be an all-timer, still as is, this is their best match together and one of the best matches of each man's storied career. Liger's selling was ***** again, just exquisite. Benoit is a machine on offense. I loved Liger's hope spots and how they were timed. The finish run was perfect with Benoit pouring it on and Liger escaping with the victory. 

#9. Wild Pegasus vs Black Tiger – Best of the Super Juniors 6/11/96

Once upon a time, I had this match as the best match either man has had. At this point, I would say it is in the Top 5 for each man. Such an interesting piece of pro wrestling storytelling. There is nothing I enjoy more than breaking down kayfabe strategies. I thought this match was exemplary in showcasing contrasting styles. On the mat the tough and gritty Benoit can gain the advantage, but there are times when he loses it like Tiger's nifty trip at one point or the headscissors takeover. The real straw that breaks the camel's back is Eddie's back splashes over the top rope. Benoit takes exception to those and starts applying the chinlock. This is what this match is famous for. Black Tiger would escape the chinlock snap off one explosive move and Pegasus would promptly smother him with a chinlock. By the fourth or fifth time, the crowd was pissed and chanting for Tiger. It was really the perfect use of the chinlock to wrap up Black Tiger prevent him from hitting his high flying offense, but also set up his own moves. Notice Benoit would hit a chop and then go for something and Black Tiger would counter so back to the chinlock until that would not happen.

Benoit hits a MASSIVE POWERBOMB! HE THREW HIM DOWN! But he misses the diving headbutt! Tiger gets whipped into the guardrail and Pegasus comes flying out with a dive taking Guerrero over the top rope. He goes for the powerbomb again, but Tiger reverses into Brainbuster, weak transition. Black Tiger is a little foggy before he hits Frogsplash for two. Guerrero goes for the brainbuster, but Benoit drops down into sleeper! Excellent! I liked Benoit catching Eddie with the Dragon Suplex right after the break. Great struggle over the tombstone piledriver feels like the most important thing in the world. Benoit wins and sets him up top. Super Back Suplex! Great selling as always from Benoit on moves like that. He is one of the best as putting over the punishment his own body takes from his violent offense. SPLASH MOUNTAIN! Nice tease of Tombstone from top before Eddie reverses into Top Rope Frakensteiner and then SUPER BRAINBUSTER WINS THE MATCH!

I would say the biggest complaint I have with this match is they don't do a great job establishing why Pegasus needs to use the chinlock. A really hot shin would have made this a five star match. Because it would have added a lot of excitement and established the narrative for the rest of the match. The use of the chinlock was perfect as a means of getting Eddie over as explosive and Benoit needing to sap his energy. The weakest part of the match was Black Tiger hitting a brainbuster out of nowhere when he had been taking offense. I even thought Splash Mountain was set up better because Benoit was selling the after effects of landing on his head by his own move. I will admit that transitions to Eddie's offense could have been better. I thought it was nice three move finish Splash Mountain->Top Rope Frankensteiner->Super Brainbuster for the win.

#8. Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Shoichi Funaki & Mens Teioh – M-Pro 11/02/97

Is Super Delphin supposed to be a mosquito? Maybe he is a bird? I have always wondered. 

Apparently, the classic is the following week, but I heard that match is predicated on what happens here so I wanted to watch this first. Damn if I didnt love this in its own right. If the next match is even better, I am in for a treat. Kaientai were always also in their double teaming and how they swarm their opponents. This is no different. Delphin looks like the hero of the M-Pro All-Star team right from jump. Whipping Teioh around to the point where he needs a low blow to tag out to Funaki. Delphin shakes it off and just keeps trucking. He has a very good lariat. I didnt love the no sell of the ball shot. Sasuke is in. People need to snapmare more. Kaientai gets some double teaming on Sasuke and trap him in a Octopus Stretch. They are doing these weird Lucha Rules where Delphin can interfere then become the legal man. I saw this once in BattlArts. Delphin is a house of fire and Teioh says fuck this noise and powders. Funaki and Sasuke in and this is where the match gets good. Funaki dropkicks Sasuke's knee and it is ON! Kaientai work over Sasuke's knee for the rest of the match. There are some selling issues here and there, but overall Sasuke does a much better job than Ultimo Dragon would have done. Delphin eventually gets tired of this and replaces Sasuke. Delphin looked great on offense, but he tags Sasuke back in, dumb move, bro. Funaki & Teioh put on a clinic working on Sasuke's leg. Figure-4 around the post ala Bret and a ton of cool holds (plenty of normal figure-4s too!). They pair off with Sasuke/Funaki and Teioh/Delphin. Delphin with DDTs gets the nearfalls for his team until Funaki interferes and becomes the legal man. Sasuke gets some hope spots. I actually liked the spinning heel kick with the exposed knee brace because it should cause extra damage. I liked that he went for a middle rope knee drop with the exposed knee brace, but missed. The risk:reward ratio was high miss and destroys his knee, hit it that could have been the end. I love that every Funaki move is looking for a submission finish and Delphin just keeps interfering so Teioh is left to run interference on that. There is a great Shotei by Delphin but Teioh wisely rolls out and eats the plancha because that means Funaki is the legal man again. So he sacrifices himself for the good of the team. Genius! I loved that he couldnt do the German because his knee gives out (he does this collapse in the best possible way). The issues with selling were mostly his running but also going for a powerbomb after he just couldnt do the German. That was dumb. Teioh gets the chop block. Funaki gets a heel hook and I thought that was the finish but Delphin saves for the umpteenth time. Teioh applies a hold on Delphin to restrain as Funaki applies a straight legbar to get the immediate tap out. 

This is part of some sort of tag league and the finals are next week. You cant believe Sasuke will be 100% next week so Delphin is going to have to even further step up! I really enjoyed this a lot. Kaientai just swarming their opponents and here working a body part is always great. Sasuke's selling is not perfect, but I give it an A- not Savage or Kawada but a shade below. 

#7. Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Ohtani – J-Crown Semifinals 8/5/96

Shinjiro Ohtani's individual masterpiece as he drags a classic out of the man bereft of psychology, Ultimo Dragon. Ultimo Dragon is one of my all-time favorite offensive wrestlers, but the reason why so many of his matches are stuck at the sub-**** mark is due to his insistence to get his shit in at the expense of logic, escalation and the narrative. Ohtani made Dragon earn every single inch of this match, which is made this a classic. So few challenge Dragon, even the great Jushin Thunder Liger allows Dragon to hit all his spots at the expense of psychology.

From the outset, Ohtani is wrestling a full court press strategy. He is just suffocating Dragon with headlocks, chinlocks and always shortening the distance between him and Dragon. Dragon needs room to generate offense so this is an excellent strategy. You see Dragon forced to create takedowns. Twice he goes for La Magistral Cradle and both times he is thwarted by Ohtani. The second time, Ohtani even gives him the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. Dragon is able to takedown Ohtani but he is having trouble holding Ohtani. Ohtani just seems to want it more. Dragon steps through on a hold and just stands on Ohtani's face. He is going to fight dirty too. I thought his leg work here complete with his hip swivel showed he was not going to be shown up by this punk. Ohtani gets an excellent knee lift when they stand up sends Dragon reeling. Ohtani is just so intense and explosive with his moves. Great dropkick and bodyslam. Basic, but in the hands of Ohtani powerful and impactful. You see Dragon is not even given a chance to think. Ohtani clamps on a chinlock and the transition into some really nasty armbreakers. Dragon's verbal selling is top notch. The way he is flailing in the hold really adds to the drama. Dragon is no slouch on the mat is able to counter into his own armbreaker. From there, Ohtani tries to avoid an attack in the corner but Dragon springboards off middle rope and nails him with dropkick. I am still not happy Dragon insists on doing his intricate outside the ring sequence which requires skinning the cat with his bad arm, but Ohtani does swat him away when he goes for the splash. Ohtani looks confident.

Springboard spinhweel kick gets two. His father looks on and gives the signal for one more. Ohtani goes for his Dragon Suplex, but Dragon breaks out and hits a tight Tiger Suplex for two. Ohtani cant believe. Ruh roh! Is it happening again! Ohtani MISSES the springboard dropkick! This is opening Dragon needed. Give him an inch and he will take the mile. LA MAGISTRAL CRADLE...1...2...NO! Great way to build to that cradle as a nearfall as a play off the earlier work. Dragon does not rest on his laurels. TOMBSTONE...SNAP MOONSAULT GETS TWO! Ohtani is hanging on by a thread. Dragon goes for a hurricanarana, but powerbomb. Ohtani, who is wrestling the match of his life, is AMPED to hit his springboard dropkick. NAILS IT! Hooks the Full Nelson...DRAGON SUPLEX...BRIDGE! 1...2...NO!!! Ohtnai flops over on his stomach in disbelief! You had a good run, kid. Dragon wins the top rope battle with a Super Front Suplex, which looks better in your head than in practice. RUNNING LIGER BOMB!!! Ultimo Dragon vanquishes the upstart.

Great Ace vs Upstart dynamic. The gulf between Dragon and Ohtani is not large at all, but this would have been the biggest win of Ohtani's career here. He wrestles like this is the biggest match of his life. He is just all over Dragon at the beginning and the way he shuts down La Magistral not once, but twice is great. The matwork was great. I loved how Dragon tried to turn into a flying contest and got bit. Nice run up by Ohtani and missing the Springboard dropkick was such a great "Oh shit not again" spot plus a great opening for Dragon and I loved that he pounced with LA MAGISTRAL! Dragon pouring it on in tight fashion only for Ohtani to have one last run, get his deadly combo and still come up short was fantastic, what a great reaction! I love that they are jockeying for position on the top rope and whoever wins this battle will win the match and Dragon is able to hit the front suplex enabling him to win with the Running Liger Bomb. I want to reward this match for being so damn tight and economical, but building such great drama and Ohtani giving one of the all-time character performances while Dragon provided his legendary status, big time offense and willingness to struggle to win.