Wrestler of the Day – November 9: Ultimo Dragon
Today we’re looking at one of WCW’s less heralded luchadors: Ultimo Dragon.
Dragon’s initial gimmick was as the last protege of Bruce Lee. This kind of fell apart when some research told you Dragon was five years old when Lee died. Anyway, Dragon got started in 1987 but we’ll start things off at a show co-promoted by SWS and the WWF in 1991.
Jerry Estrada vs. Ultimo Dragon
Dragon flips around to start and scores with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Estrada avoids a spinwheel kick and gets caught in an ankle scissors and armbar from the Dragon. There’s a cross armbreaker on Estrada for a few seconds before another ankle scissors sends him flying. Dragon is sent outside to slow things down though and we reset. Back in and Ultimo monkey flips Jerry out to the floor to get another breaker.
Jerry comes back in for what looks like MVP’s Play of the Day but he cranks on Dragon’s arm for a submission attempt instead. I’m not sure that would actually hurt but at least it doesn’t last long. Dragon sends him outside again and hits a spinning springboard dive to take Jerry down. They head back inside for a dropkick to Dragon’s back, knocking him outside yet again.
Dragon heads back to the apron and suplexes Dragon over the top and out to the floor, setting up a perfect looking Asai Moonsault to send both guys into the crowd. Back in yet again for some rollups before Dragon misses a moonsault press. Dragon fights out of a surfboard attempt and avoids a dropkick. Estrada powerbombs him down for two but Dragon comes back with a quick German suplex into a bridge for the pin.
Rating: C-. Not bad here but Estrada was only doing so much. The part in the middle where they kept going outside could have been cut down by two or three minutes to really tighten things up a lot but the match wasn’t terrible. Dragon’s high flying made the match work though with that Asai Moonsault looking great.
Here’s Dragon’s opening match from the 1995 Super J Cup.
Super J Cup First Round: Sho Funaki vs. Ultimo Dragon
Dragon seems to be the heel here. He steps on Funaki’s back to start but has to escape a Fujiwara Armbar attempt. Instead Funaki puts on a leg bar to send Dragon rolling out to the apron. A plancha takes Dragon out again and Funaki goes back to the leg. Back up and they slug it out with Funaki taking over again with a headlock. Funaki grabs another leg lock so Dragon slaps him in the face and puts on one of his own.
They keep fighting over the leg locks with Funaki getting the better of it and keeping Dragon on the mat. Dragon grabs his own leg lock at the same time before they both get back up. A botched hurricanrana takes Funaki down and a Lionsault press gets two. No selling of the leg to be found in case you were expecting any for some reason. A fisherman’s buster gets two for Funaki but Dragon pops back to his feet and hits a hurricanrana followed by a DDT for the pin.
Rating: D+. When half of the match is spent with both guys working a leg and then both guys popping up for speed and high flying stuff, it’s really hard to care about the first half of the match. They looked like they were setting up something good but it wound up being all for naught because selling didn’t seem to exist here.
Off to WCW now with Hog Wild 1996.
Cruiserweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Mysterio
They of course mess up and call him Ultimate Dragon. Tenay comes in to save the biker boys for this one. Tony and Dusty are in leather jackets, dew rags and bad sunglasses with leather pants. You figure out why I said what I said earlier. After both guys come out, Tony says good night. They had aired everything up until that point on WCW Saturday Night.
That’s a brilliant idea actually to hook in a few extra viewers if it worked. Rey is champion here, having won it like a month or so ago. Dragon is 29 here and Rey is 21. I never would have guessed Dragon was that old. We hear about the lawn dart moment which scared the heck out of me back in the day as I was a big Rey fan. The fans chant USA for a guy based out of Mexico against a guy based out of Japan. Brillaint.
These two are freaking fast. Dusty gets the name of a kick right and FREAKS over it. That was kind of amusing. Even Sonny Onoo is dressed as a biker. This is creepy. Great dropkick to the chest by Dragon. Oh and Dragon is heel. Dragon busts out a Liger Bomb but doesn’t cover or anything stupid like that. We hear about Dragon’s run in the J Crown tournament where he beat Liger in 2 and a half minutes.
Also we hear of Liger having a brain tumor. He would recover which is always good to hear. The ring here is up on a platform that’s probably two and a half feet high and then it’s just the ground. Rey dives over the top and lands on Dragon on the ground. Looked AMAZING to put it mildly.
Rey was just fun to watch. That’s the only way to put it. They both just start busting out the high spots which the crowd love of course because you don’t need backstory for stuff like this. Rey goes for a rana from the top but it’s blocked so he does it again and gets the pin. I kind of like that.
Rating: B. For an opener, this was about as good as you were going to get it. The crowd is wide awake now as that’s the kind of match that you don’t need to have much stuff explained to you to have it work. High spots are the best choice for opening a show and this was no exception.
A rematch at World War 3 1996.
J-Crown: Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Mysterio
The J-Crown was a collection of 8 cruiserweight titles from around the world, one of which being the WWF Light Heavyweight Title which was active since the 80s and only defended in Japan and Mexico. Therefore, a WWF Title is being defended here on a WCW PPV. There’s just a pile of championships in the corner. How awesome is that? He has so many belts he just piles them up. Ah apparently Bischoff has already joined the NWO. Good to know. We start off in a mat based match which is kind of odd but it can work. How weird is it to think that Rey would become a two time world champion?
Now they crank it up and get a nice ovation for it. WCW fans could always appreciate good wrestling and this was no exception. Dragon is dominating here which makes sense as he was pushed as a really different kind of cruiserweight that could mix it up incredibly well. Heenan sounds like he’s on speed here as he’s talking so fast. Dragon hits a powerbomb but picks Rey up again and throws him backwards into a hot shot. NICE.
We go WAY old school with a giant swing. Someone really needs to look at Bobby’s monitors. They’re always on the blink. The crowd loves Rey here. Pay no attention to that though. He’s a small guy of Mexican descent. He can’t ever mean anything. This is basically Dragon does a big move and Rey gets up every time. Rey could sell like few others so this is certainly good.
I’ve never gotten the order of the rings at these shows. It seems like they have this obsession with how many rings there are here and there and it never works. There’s no Mike Tenay for this either, which makes the commentary more annoying than helpful. Rey kind of botches some stuff but nothing too bad. A springboard sunset flip gets two for Rey. Good freaking night that man could move back in the day. After they crank it up again, Rey goes for the West Coast Pop but Dragon counters into a slingshot powerbomb to retain the pile of belts. They say Malenko is next.
Rating: B. This was solid again and one more time the cruiserweights set the table for what could be a promising show. Dragon was definitely a different kind of cruiserweight back then as he used more power and leverage stuff rather than high flying and it worked very well. He and Malenko had some very good stuff coming up that we’ll get to soon enough. Quite good match.
Off to a new opponent at Starrcade 1996.
J-Crown/Cruiserweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Sonny Onoo
The J-Crown is a collection of 8 junior heavyweight titles from around the world collected into one title. Dragon currently holds the J-Crown but wants the Cruiserweight Title, held by Dean. Sonny Onoo, the evil Japanese representative from last year, is now a regular evil manager, representing Dragon. The Dragon is a very solid wrestler from Japan while Malenko is a smaller guy but known as the Man of 1000 Holds. Mike Tenay, international wrestling expert, joins commentary for this one.
Dean takes it to the mat to start but Dragon sits out. Now Dean sits out as both guys fight for control. Ultimo finally gets control with a leg lock but Dean rolls away to the ropes. Dragon takes him right back down to the mat and puts on a quickly broken chinlock. They’re moving very quickly so far. Dragon nips out of a headscissors and we have a standoff. Dean is taken down again and Dragon fires off some HARD kicks to the back.
Dean takes him down with a backbreaker and puts on a headscissors as this is a chess match so far with both guys trying to get an extended advantage. Dragon hooks another chinlock but Dean is out of it almost immediately. The fans all chant USA as Dragon hits a jumping kick to take Dean down and it’s off to a modified STF. Malenko fights up again and we head outside where the Dragon slams him down. A suicide dive takes Malenko down but there’s no Asai Moonsault (it’s named after Dragon, its inventor).
Back inside and Dragon suplexes him down for two and Malenko gets the same off a sunset flip. Dragon hooks on a bow and arrow hold before shifting over to an abdominal stretch. The match has slowed WAY down and not in a good way. Tenay talks about Dragon’s name meaning that he’s the final student of Bruce Lee. Dragon would have been about seven years old when Lee died, so I’m thinking that’s not true.
Malenko fights up and hooks a quick release German suplex for two and it’s off to a leg bar by Dean.
In a smart move, Dean lets go of the hold for a second so he can pull Ultimo back to the middle of the ring. Dragon finally makes it to the rope so Dean dropkicks him in the side of the knee to keep the pressure on. A kind of spinebuster puts Dragon back down and we hit another leg lock to keep Dean in control. Dean catches a charging Dragon in a WICKED powerslam to pop the crowd but for some reason there’s no cover. Dragon comes back with a spinwheel kick and a powerbomb for two.
Dean picks him up for a tombstone and the fans go nuts again. The Texas Cloverleaf (Malenko’s leg lock finisher) is escaped but a tiger bomb gets two instead. Dean is kicked to the floor and there’s the Asai Moonsault to put both guys down again. Back in and Ultimo misses a moonsault, allowing Dean to put on the Cloverleaf, only to break it to go after Onoo. A brainbuster gets two on Dragon but Ultimo escapes a suplex, leading to a pretty awesome pinfall reversal sequence, culminating with Dragon hitting a tiger suplex for the pin and the title.
Rating: B-. Cut five minutes out of this and it’s a classic. The main flaw other than that is the leg work not going anywhere as Dean worked that thing over for a good five minutes and then it’s perfectly fine for all of Dragon’s high flying stuff. It’s a good match but there are a lot of things holding it back. That and Dean losing hurt the crowd a lot.
And a rematch at Clash of the Champions XXXIV.
Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon
Dean is now a good guy here and is challenging after losing the title to the Dragon at Starrcade 1996. They trade wristlocks to start before heading down to the mat with Dragon grabbing a leg lock. We take an early break and come back with the two of them circling each other and heading into the ropes. Dean slams him into the buckle a few times and gets two off a suplex. A headscissors keeps Dragon on the mat but he fights up and tosses Malenko out to the floor.
Back in and Dean hits a quick tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to set up a legbar. That goes nowhere so it’s off to a half crab instead but Dean shifts back to the legbar for a second time. Off to a stump puller (Dean stands over Dragon’s neck and pulls up on the leg) before Dean covers for two. Malenko throws the champion to the floor and Dragon is holding his leg. Back in and Dean tries a Figure Four but Dragon blocks the hold from going on full. With that not working, Dean throws him into the corner for a running clothesline, only to get kicked in the face.
Malenko is up fast enough to pull Dragon off the top with a superplex but can’t follow up. A rollup gets two on the champion but he counters a powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two of his own. Dragon comes back with a springboard dropkick to send Dean to the floor, setting up the Asai Moonsault (springboard moonsault to the floor) from its inventor.
They get back inside and Dragon hits his moonsault for a very close near fall. A top rope hurricanrana drops Dean but he counters the tiger suplex (double arm hook suplex which won Dragon the title in the first place) into a rollup for two. Malenko comes back with a double underhook powerbomb, knocks Sonny Onoo to the floor, and puts on the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission and the title.
Rating: A-. Another great Cruiserweight Title match here to open up a Clash. There was a very solid story here with Dean using his technical and mat wrestling skills to counter the Dragon’s high flying. Both guys looked great out there and the match was somehow better than Malenko’s match at the previous Clash.
Dragon would switch to heavyweight titles starting on Nitro, April 7, 1997.
TV Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Prince Iaukea
Iaukea is injured from the attack by Regal earlier in the night. He tries to speed things up to start but a slam fails. Iaukea rolls him up for two and a backslide gets the same. Dragon uses his first opening and kicks the Prince in the ribs to take over. Iaukea gets the feet up to take out a diving Dragon but Dragon kicks him in the ribs a few times and pins him quickly for the title. This was basically a squash.
Here’s a defense from Slamboree 1997.
TV Title: Steven Regal vs. Ultimo Dragon
Regal is challenging. Dragon goes to a wristlock and manages to stop Regal’s usual counter to it and hooks an armbar. Test of strength goes on with Regal taking him down but Dragon pops right back up. They go to the corner and Dragon does his stand on his head in the corner deal. Why does no one ever hit him while he does that? I get the real life reason that he might die, but in kayfabe why not hit him?
Back on the mat Dragon fires off some kicks and hooks a half crab. Regal makes the rope and fires off some kicks of his own to send the champion to the floor. Back in a suplex gets two for Regal. They trade full nelsons and Dragon gets a sunset flip for two. Regal Stretch is avoided and Dragon is all fired up now for some reason. They get into a chain wrestling match and Regal is in his element. Regal tries the Stretch again but Dragon grabs his own mask to block it.
Since the Stretch won’t go on it’s time for the bow and arrow/surfboard (Dusty and Tenay call it either or) but Dragon escapes and fires a kick to the back. Here’s the bridging Indian Deathlock and the fans chant for Regal. Dragon switches to a camel clutch and it turns into a brawl. Dragon dropkicks him to the floor and Sonny fires off some kicks. Those get him yelled at by the champ so Dragon sends Regal back in and hits a top rope rana for two.
Regal tries the Stretch again but Dragon makes the ropes. The fans are firmly behind Regal now which is strange as this is heel vs. heel and Dragon has been the good guy by default. Both guys try rollups for two but Dragon takes over with a spinwheel kick. Tiger suplex is countered but Dragon sends Regal to the floor. Asai Moonsault hits and Sonny adds in some more kicks. Dragon stops him so Sonny kicks Dragon, allowing Regal to take over. In the ring a reverse suplex sets up the Regal Stretch and we have a new champion.
Rating: B. This was getting really good at the end and was still good when Sonny got involved. Was there ever a more useless manager now named Paul Jones? Really good opener here as they were beating the tar out of each other. Dragon would get the title back in a little over two months.
Take a bunch of cruiserweights and throw them into one match. From Nitro, June 9, 1997.
Super Calo/Juventud Guerrerea/Ultimo Dragon vs. La Parka/Psychosis/Silver King
Psychosis vs. Calo to get us going but all six get in the ring before anything happens. It winds up as Psychosis vs. Dragon to start and the headstand into the headscissors by Dragon out of the corner doesn’t quite work. Going to the floor is just as good as a tag here so when those two hit the floor, it’s off to Calo vs. Parka. A headscissors out of the corner sends La Parka flying and Calo knocks him to the floor, followed by a slingshot Swanton Bomb to the floor.
It’s off to King vs. Juvy with Silver King superkicking Guerrera down. Back to Psychosis….who ignores being tagged for some reason. Guerrera hits a great hurricanrana and a HARD dropkick to the face. Tenay talks about Silver King’s famous father Dr. Wagner who Larry apparently fought. Juvy is sent to the floor and King tags out, bringing in Dragon vs. Psychosis but it’s quickly off to Juvy and La Parka again.
I can’t even keep up with how fast this match is going which is the right idea for something like this. Psychosis takes over on Calo and the fans start loudly chanting something that sounds like boring. I can’t believe that’s what they’re saying. Everything breaks down and Juvy hurricanranas King down.
We finally get down to Psychosis vs. Dragon with Dragon hitting a rana for two but Psychosis counters into a near fall of his own. Both guys get sent to the floor and it’s La Parka vs. King now. We unleash the dives with everyone hitting at least one. Dragon throws Psychosis back in for a super rana and the Dragon Sleeper for the submission.
Rating: C+. When you need something good to start a show, throw six cruiserweights out there and let them go nuts. That’s exactly what they did here and the fans (I hope) liked it quite a bit. This wasn’t a cliché yet so the idea of it was still appealing and fresh, much like the rest of WCW at this point.
Here’s another title shot on Tuesday Nitro, July 22, 1997.
TV Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Steven Regal
No entrance for either guy and Regal is defending. The champ cranks on Dragon’s arm but Dragon speeds things up to escape. Dragon has the awesome black and gold attire on tonight so you know he’s going to be on his game. Regal gets kicked hard by his challgener before doing his headstand in the corner. Steven takes him down and pounds away on the mat before putting dragon on the top, only to get taken down by a sunset bomb. A reverse suplex puts Dragon down so Dragon comes back with the kicks and a Dragon Sleeper to win the title out of nowhere.
Rating: C+. Dragon is one of those guys that had the skill in the ring and was better than most of the other cruiserweights, but the lack of personality always held him back. Now that being said, this was solid stuff because it was what Dragon was best at: matches where he had someone solid to work with and you got a good match out of it in the process. Solid stuff here, especially for a four minute match.
Dragon would get a Cruiserweight Title shot on Nitro, October 6, 1997.
Cruiserweight Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon
Eddie is defending. Apparently the main event of Benoit vs. Savage is canceled and it’s now Benoit vs. Hennig. After a quick armdrag by Eddie it’s off to a test of strength. Dragon goes down, only to bridge his body which won’t break even with Eddie’s full weight on it. That’s so awesome looking. Eddie elbows Dragon down but the challenger pops back up and hits a tilt-a-whirl slam to take over.
Dragon hits a hard kick to the back and puts on a chinlock to kill some time. Eddie fights up and hits a suplex to set up an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Dragon counters a release flapjack into a hurricanrana but Eddie snaps back up. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts Dragon down again. That doesn’t get sold long either and here are the rapid fire kicks to stagger the champion. Guerrero heads to the floor where Dragon fakes him out before hitting a suicide dive to take Eddie down. Now it’s picking up a bit.
Back in and Dragon gets two off the dive he hit a second ago before putting on the Dragon Sleeper. Eddie gets his feet into the ropes though and Dragon has to break. Dragon puts the champ on the top rope for the super rana, only to get shoved down off the top. A tornado DDT lays Dragon out before hitting (most of) a long Frog Splash to retain.
Rating: B-. This started slow but once it picked up, it picked up BIG. I knew these two weren’t going to have a sluggish match as there’s just way too much talent out there to not put on an entertaining match. This was also good as Eddie had lost last week and he needed a clean win to keep him looking dominant going into the showdown with Rey at the PPV.
And a rematch on Nitro, December 29, 1997.
Cruiserweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie is defending and jumps Dragon from behind in the aisle. A very quick powerbomb puts Dragon down and a suplex does the same before Eddie puts him on top. Dragon fights back but has his super rana countered. A tornado DDT puts Dragon down but he counters a suplex into the Dragon Sleeper for the tap out and the title in less than 90 seconds. So Eddie dominates the division for months before tapping out in a minute and twenty six seconds? Really?
Here’s Dragon’s last match in WCW on Nitro, July 20, 1998.
Tokyo Magnum vs. Ultimo Dragon
Tokyo, usually the dancing idiot, comes out to traditional slow Japanese style music. Dragon jumps him to start and takes Magnum into the corner for the rapid fire kicks. The announcers talk about how the teacher is beating up the student as he kicks Magnum in the back. Magnum slams him off the top but dives into a dropkick, setting up a brainbuster and the Dragon Sleeper. Basically a squash in Dragon’s last WCW match.
After training his own roster in Japan for a few years, Dragon would have a WWE run that didn’t go anywhere. We’ll wrap it up with one of his matches from Smackdown on Halloween 2003.
Rey Mysterio vs. Ultimo Dragon
Mysterio’s current rival Tajiri is on commentary. Dragon cranks on the arm to start before running Rey over with a shoulder. A springboard cross body gets two for Rey but Dragon rips off the alternating kicks for two of his own. Dragon takes him down with a spinning version of Nikki Bella’s Rack Attack to set up a half crab. Back up and Dragon charges into an elbow to the face before Rey dropkicks his knee out. The sitout bulldog gets two but Dragon kicks Rey out of the air. The referee gets bumped and Tajiri kicks Rey in the back of the head (clearly didn’t connect at all) to give Dragon the pin.
Rating: C-. Nothing to see here for the most part with Dragon doing a toned down version of the style that made him famous. He was basically a prop here while Mysterio and Tajiri did their thing. That’s a common role for wrestlers anymore, not that it makes things any better. Mysterio would get a lot hotter in the near future.
Ultimo Dragon is a guy that has had a lot of success with a different style than most other cruiserweights. He was often overshadowed by guys like Mysterio, Malenko and Guerrero, which is a shame given how good he really was. His best work came in Japan, where he stuck around for years after leaving WWE. The guy is talented though and can have a classic with the right opponent.
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