Best Of Ultimo Dragon
I wanted to keep reviewing after finally finishing my mammoth IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational 2004 review, so I plumped for this in the end. It’s something a little different from the stuff I’ve been doing recently (mostly US indy) so I’m mildly excited about it. In the last week I’ve watched the Best of Marufuji and KENTA tape (review to come shortly) and a few really decent Jushin Liger bouts on some tapes, so I felt a hankering for some more Japanese junior action. Ultimo Dragon is pretty freakin’ decent at the Japanese junior style, and is one of the top lucha workers in the world as well. Hell, in his tenure in WCW he proved he could work a US cruiser match as well. This compilation tape features a number of his top matches. Opponents include Jushin Liger (multiple times), Great Sasuke and Shinjiro Ohtani…it’s a tasty line-up. I’ve owned this tape for some time and never actually watched it so here’s hoping it’s decent…and not too clipped apart like a lot of NJPW jr. compilations. Big thanks to Arnold Furious (www.furiousrage.com) and his review of this tape for helping me out with the background.
El Samurai vs Ultimo Dragon
Yes, here we have Dragon challenging Samurai for NJPW’s top Jr. Heavyweight prize. I’m not the biggest Samurai fan out there for the record. I always find him overrated, and miles behind other top cruiserweights, both in his heyday, and the newer guys coming through these days. Then again, I’m not an enormous Ultimo Dragon fan and I’m reviewing his best of so, what can you do? Jushin Liger is in the corner of El Samurai I notice.
Samurai hammers on Dragon to start but he gets trampled and walks into a crossbody from Ultimo. Clothesline from Dragon, then a leg drop, and he tries to slow it down with a headscissors. Surfboard applied by Samurai in response. Ultimo hits a double underhook superplex for 2. Fujiwara armbar on Ultimo, and Samurai really looks like he’s cranking on that. Dragon makes the ropes, but Samurai drags him into a crossface chickenwing. Ultimo escapes and applies a sleeper hold, as they continue to trade submission holds. Dragon hits an absolutely beautiful spinning heel kick for 2, before breaking out a figure 4 leglock. Dragon with a back suplex but Samurai immediately comes back with a piledriver, then a neckbreaker. More neck offence as Samurai traps Dragon’s head between his legs than stretches the leg to pile on the pressure. Top rope senton bomb from Samurai gets a 2. Dragon comes back with a northern lights and a fishermans suplex. Samurai gets sent to the floor…ASAI MOONSAULT FROM DRAGON! Back in the ring he gets 2 with a German suplex. He takes it to the top rope for a superplex, which he hits. Samurai dropkicks Ultimo to the floor AND DIVES OUT WITH A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! German suplex from Samurai, then a Tombstone piledriver. DIVING HEADBUTT for 2. He applies an octopus stretch on the mat but Dragon finds the ropes. Samurai with a powerbomb for 2. He goes for a second and that gets countered into a hurricanrana. Samurai fires back with a rana of his own, but it’s still not enough for a win. Quebrada press from Ultimo, then a German suplex, and he gets the win with a Mexican roll-up at 12:28. He’s your new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Rating - *** - Not brilliant or anything, but a nice way to get the ball rolling on this compilation. The submission exchanges between the two were pretty sweet, and later they threw in some really fun spot stuff too. The finish was absolutely wank, and that really hurt my enjoyment. There might have been some clipping in the match, but it was fairly smoothly done.
Ultimo Dragon/Masao Orihara vs Jushin Liger/Koji Kanemoto
An extension of the Ultimo/Liger feud, here both bring a partner to take each other on in the tag environment. Orihara, like Ultimo, is invading New Japan from the WAR promotion, whilst Koji is Liger’s long-time partner.
Ultimo and Liger start at a fast pace, each missing trademark kicks. Dropkick from Ultimo, but Liger pops right back up, and both look for spinning heel kicks at the exact same time. Kanemoto and Orihara in to throw kicks at each other. Koji with a slap to the face which pleases the NJPW faithful. He kicks Orihara square in the ribs and follows that up with a series of kicks to the back. Dragon comes in and takes control with a snap suplex for 2. He works a half crab but it’s escaped before Orihara comes back in. Standing senton from him for 2. Liger in with a capo kick, then a toehold. Orihara tries to fight free so gets an absolute B*TCHSLAPPING! Kanemoto kicks away at him then attempts a Lion Tamer. Top rope elbow drop from Liger, and he follows that with a JUMPING Tombstone. Running powerslam from Kanemoto for 2. Incredibly Orihara comes back with a leg grapevine. That allows him to tag Dragon who goes straight to the top to deliver a superplex. Abdominal stretch on Koji, then a reverse suplex. Ultimo breaks out a Mexican surfboard. Orihara comes in once more and he leapfrogs Ultimo into a dropkick. Orihara comes off the top rope and gets dropkicked in the stomach. Liger enters and starts Mexican stretching him. Baseball slide on Masao as he languishes on the floor.
RELEASE SUPLEX OFF THE APRON FROM LIGER! Kanemoto has no mercy either, dumping Orihara on his head with a German suplex. Liger locks in a crossface chickenwing as the murderising of Masao Orihara continues. Finally he escapes and tags Ultimo who drills Koji with a jumping Tombstone of his own. Orihara kicks Liger into a back suplex from Dragon…WHO THEN FOLLOWS LIGER OUT OF THE RING WITH A TOPE! Kanemoto almost breaks Orihara’s jaw with a reverse heel kick. Kanemoto back drops Liger to the floor then hits a pescado. MOONSAULT OFF THE TOP FROM ORIHARA! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY LIGER! He powerbombs Orihara on the floor as Koji tries to put away Ultimo Dragon. He hits a Tiger suplex and Orihara has to save. DOOMSDAY CROSSBODY on Dragon. Liger follows that with a powerbomb for 2. LIGERBOMB SCORES…TWO COUNT ONLY! Kanemoto misses a splash off the top but Liger blasts Dragon with a capo kick. HEAD DROP German from Ultimo…LIGERBOMB ON KANEMOTO! Ultimo steals Liger’s finisher and gets the victory at 18:04.
Rating - **** - Once it got going, that totally rocked. There was so much to enjoy. The isolation and general mass assault on poor Orihara was a lot of fun as Liger and Koji just destroyed him. The one-upmanship between Liger and Dragon was also clever, as they kept using the same moves and winding each other up at every turn, plus their actual exchanges in the ring were electric. Great finish too, in keeping with the rest of the match, as Ultimo stole Liger’s finisher to continue their issue.
Next up is five minutes of clips with Ultimo Dragon defending the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt against Liger (in a fetching purple ensemble). It’s a shame this is clipped to hell because it looks good. Anyway, Liger gets the win and a measure of vengeance with a Ligerbomb and a super hurricanrana.
Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Ohtani
Quarter-finals of WAR’s 1995 Super-J Cup. Obviously there’s a lot of NJPW talent on show as they attempt to go to the rival promotion and keep hold of the cup that Liger pioneered. I think I’m right in saying Ohtani was a NJPW guy, so he’s the first obstacle put between Ultimo and winning the Super J.
Both guys miss heel kicks at the outset, before Dragon eventually connects with one and sends Ohtani to the floor. Ultimo misses a pescado and gets rocked with a missile dropkick off the apron. SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA from Shinjiro. He takes it back inside with a springboard spinning heel kick. Springboard dropkick from Dragon…ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Finally Ultimo decides to slow the pace after 2 minutes with a chinlock. Ohtani counters with a camel clutch complete with facial stretching. Done with the mat stuff, Shinjiro scores with a brutal-looking dropkick. Crossface chickenwing on Ultimo, then a cross armbreaker but Dragon escapes the hold. Dragon with a couple of stiff kicks but he gets caught in a leg grapevine. Camel clutch by Ultimo but he doesn’t utilise the hold for long. Jumping Tombstone from Ohtani…NO SOLD! Jumping Tombstone by Dragon…NO SOLD! They keep no-selling the Tombstones until Ohtani goes for a springboard crossbody, which Dragon blocks with a dropkick. Super rana by Ultimo for 2. He goes for a powerbomb but Ohtani counters with a roll-up. Shinjiro with a top rope rana of his own but Dragon reverses the pin at the 10 minute mark for 2. Ultimo avoids a springboard dropkick and almost wins it with La Magistral. Heel kick from Ohtani, then the springboard dropkick. He gets 2 with a bridging dragon suplex. Ultimo blocks a second…LIGERBOMB FOR 2. A fisherman buster follows that, but Shinjiro kicks out again. Dragon completely misses Ohtani on a corkscrew body press, but wins anyway with another Magistral cradle. 13:31 is your time.
Rating - *** - Decent but nothing more. The first two minutes were sensational, but it all kinda went downhill from there. The extended mat-wrestling section went utterly nowhere and that really annoyed me. The Tombstone no-selling was funny, but silly in context. They followed it with spots where we were supposed to by top rope hurricanrana’s as near-falls. After no-selling jumping Tombstone’s, it just seemed a little silly. Plus Ultimo screwing up the finish sucked…
Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger
The Semi-Final of the tournament sees archrivals Ultimo and Liger cross paths again. Since Ohtani couldn’t get it done it seems the job of eliminating Dragon falls on Liger himself. Unlike the previous Liger/Dragon match, this isn’t clipped.
Surprisingly Ultimo starts off without flipping around like a nutter. Instead it’s a test of strength which Liger gets the better of. Liger goes for a surfboard but Ultimo dropkicks him away. He doesn’t stay free for long though, as Liger picks away at the neck and arms. Beautiful surfboard from Liger, before Dragon gets his first offence in with a tilta-whirl backbreaker. Tilta-whirl backbreaker by Liger in response, then he goes back to a headscissors. Ultimo goes for an abdominal stretch as right now he is getting dominated. Finally the pace quickens and the near-miss stuff is like lightning. Still Ultimo can’t get an advantage though, because Liger is just as quick it seems. Dropkick to the knee from Liger as he begins to work that over instead. He takes Dragon down with a German suplex and locks in a Figure 4. Kneeling deathlock with a hammerlock now, and that goes back to all the arm-work earlier. Dragon with a half crab, then attempts a MutaLock, which Liger blocks by cranking the neck. Handspring elbow from Ultimo, then a fisherman suplex. He goes with a figure 4 of his own and Liger is screaming in pain. Another handspring elbow sends Liger to the floor. Ultimo fakes a dive using an Asai moonsault, then eventually does fly out with a tope. He goes back inside for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Dragon uses a tiger suplex and gets 2. Liger avoids a dropkick and slingshots Ultimo outside. CANNONBALL SENTON OFF THE APRON! He scores a 2 with a big powerbomb. BRAINBUSTER for another 2. He hits a Tombstone, and there’s no no-selling this time. Liger drops a diving headbutt from the top rope, but quickly has to counter a victory roll from Dragon. Capo kick in the corner re-establishes Liger’s control. He takes it upstairs, but Dragon counters a super fisherman buster attempt and almost wins it with La Magistral. Quebrada press scores…BUT LIGER AVOIDS A MOONSAULT! LIGERBOMB…AND ULTIMO KICKS OUT AT 2! Dragon goes for La Magistral again but this time Liger counters into a pin of his own. That’s enough to win it at 17:18. Dragon is eliminated from the Super J Cup.
Rating - **** - It’s got it’s faults, but by and large that was great, if more of a Liger masterclass than a good Ultimo Dragon match. The first five minutes or so were awesome as Liger absolutely controlled the match with some awesome wrestling, targeting the arm and neck. What always frustrates me about a lot of Junior matches is the way they no-sell the elaborate body work and submission wrestling to hit the high spots, and this was no exception. Still if you’re not a sucker for good psychology, and want two guys wrestling at their absolute best and not missing a step for 20 minutes, this is your match.
Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger
Flash to 1996 and the same tournament again. It’s the first round and again Ultimo finds himself faced with the mighty Liger. But what he doesn’t know is that Liger has just been diagnosed with a brain tumour and is obviously planning time off to get that sorted.
They’re no strangers now and lock up with some intensity. Dragon scores with a dropkick and when Liger hits the floor he follows him out with a tope. To the top rope for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Liger blocks a handspring elbow and counters with a HEAD DROP German suplex. Dragon can’t even get up before Liger blasts him with a capo kick for 2. Ultimo goes for La Magistral and Liger kicks out. He blocks a palm strike from Liger…La Magistral again! Liger blocks it, but Dragon rolls through into a pin and gets the shock win at 02:39.
Rating - ** - Considering it was less than three minutes, that rocked. Lots of cool familiarity spots from their previous encounters, and it’s an explosive way to get the tournament underway. Liger now goes to deal with his health issues, whilst Ultimo Dragon journeys to the semi-finals.
Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Ohtani
Dragon was too good for Ohtani last year, but as we’ve already seen in his bout with Liger – anything can happen.
Drop toehold from Ultimo, but Ohtani is quick to block La Magistral. Dropkick from Ohtani, but he quickly has to come up with another counter for La Magistral as Dragon attempts it again. Shinjiro blocks a cross armbreaker and applies a leg grapevine. Half crab by Dragon, which is then switched into a deathlock. Ohtani with another dropkick and a somsersault senton for 2. He locks on a version of the armbreaker which has Ultimo squirming in pain. More work on the arm follows, first with a hammerlock in the ropes then with an armbar. Ohtani rolls to the apron but gets hit with a springboard dropkick from Dragon. Ohtani brushes him aside on the pescado attempt though and scores with a snap suplex on the floor. CANNON BALL SENTON off the apron! Back in the ring he hits a springboard spinning heel kick for 2. Ultimo fights to avoid a dragon suplex, so Ohtani just tiger suplexes him instead. He misses a springboard dropkick…LA MAGISTRAL FOR 2! Tombstone by Ultimo, then a moonsault. Ohtani almost wins it by rolling through a hurricanrana attempt. Dragon suplex from Ultimo for 2. He goes close again with an Asai moonsault press. Powerbomb from Ohtani, and a springboard dropkick to the back of the head. DRAGON SUPLEX…but Ultimo kicks out. It’s a fight on the top rope which ends in a FRONT SUPERPLEX FROM DRAGON! RUNNING LIGERBOMB and it’s on to the finals at 16:04.
Rating - *** - This probably would’ve scored higher earlier on the tape, but I’m getting fed up of seeing basically the same match over and over again. Matwork that goes nowhere, highspots, the match ends. They’re good matches but nothing special, and this is no different.
Ultimo Dragon vs Great Sasuke
The final of the tournament, for the J-Crown, and all the shiny gold belts. That’s all you can really say. All I’ve got left to add is that Ultimo enters this decked out in the colours of the Mexican flag, and I’ve noticed that his entrance music is the most irritating thing in the world.
Sasuke goes for early kicks but Dragon blocks them all. They jostle on the mat with neither man able to grab a body part and work it. Both look for leglocks and eventually roll to the ropes since neither can get an advantage. Rather than work the mat they increase the tempo, and it’s all even again as they exchange armdrags and whatnot. Half crab by Dragon, then a deathlock as he looks to do more damage. Sasuke blocks a kick and they trade abdominal stretches. Sunset flip from Sasuke for 2 before rolling it into a stretch on the groins and hamstrings. A spinning heel kick duel accomplishes nothing, so Dragon hits a quebrada. Sasuke blocks a tilta-whirl backbreaker and goes for a quebrada of his own, but Ultimo counters with a dropkick. Sasuke bails and eats a tope from Dragon on the floor. ASAI MOONSAULT SCORES! Dragon ends up in the front row after that, but he regathers himself and hits a brainbuster. Ultimo scores 2 with a running Ligerbomb. Sasuke traps him on the top rope and dropkicks him to the floor. ASAI MOONSAULT FROM SASUKE! It’s his turn to lie looking like death in the front row. Back in the ring Sasuke goes for another moonsault but there’s no-one home. Dragon suplex from Ultimo for 2. Sasuke tries to block something on the top so Dragon sits on his shoulders and hits a swinging super hurricanrana. He goes for a powerbomb on the apron, but Sasuke blocks. TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT SENTON ON DRAGON! He goes his moonsault again but one more time he misses. La Magistral from Dragon for 2. Sasuke hurricanranas out of a Ligerbomb attempt and wins at 13:57. Sasuke wins the J-Crown and about 37 bazillion title belts.
Rating - *** - Again just like every other match really. Some matwork, some spots…only a mildly annoying finish. Man these matches are getting tediously similar every time.
Great Sasuke vs Ultimo Dragon
So after the last match, here we have Sasuke defending the crown he win in the final of the tournament against the man he beat to win it. Can Ultimo come out on top this time round? Can he put on a match which isn’t remarkably similar to every other match on this tape? Unlike last time round, which was in NJPW, this match is taking place in WAR, meaning he’s on home soil.
Dragon flips into an armdrag to start proceedings, but Sasuke is more than able to hold his own. They trade leg submissions and it’s Sasuke that has to use the ropes to escape first. Ultimo headstands in the corner and dropkicks Sasuke when he gets too close. Corkscrew enzi by Sasuke blocked, spinning heel kick by Dragon blocked. Ultimo with a leg grapevine, a half crab, then finally an STF but there’s no submission. He works a cross armbreaker next but Sasuke has too much fight in him to apply it right. Sasuke chills on the floor for a few seconds to recover. Back in, and he dropkicks Dragon’s knee and applies a half crab of his own. Brainbuster from Dragon for 2 and Sasuke sells that like death afterwards. Ultimo goes right back to the head with a DDT. Fujiwara armbar from Sasuke but Dragon is able to roll free. He sends Sasuke out with a handspring elbow then dropkicks him through the ropes. Sasuke avoids a pescado but charges into a TILTA-WHIRL BACKBREAKER ON THE FLOOR! Ultimo looks for a Ligerbomb, but nothing doing. SASUKE FLIES FROM THE TOP ROPE WITH A MISSILE DROPKICK! In the ring he hits a quebrada for 2. Dragon looks for a Ligerbomb but just like with the J-Cup, Sasuke counters with a rana. Dragon dropkicks to counter something off the top but can’t hit the brainbuster he was looking for. Sasuke goes to the top but Ultimo takes him down with a swinging hurricanrana. RUNNING LIGERBOMB and Dragon finally reaches the top of the Junior Heavyweight mountain at 13:41.
Rating - *** - More of the same I’m afraid. I liked the familiarity counter to the Ligerbomb from Sasuke, and that missile dropkick was absolutely crazy, but still, this was just another solid-but-nothing-more encounter.
Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger
Look who’s back peeps. Ultimo now takes on the role of defending champion, and he must overcome his old nemesis who is on the comeback trail after spending some time off to address his serious health problems. We’re at the Tokyo Dome so the crowd and building are absolutely huge. Liger looks like Goldust with a whacky mask in his all-gold attire.
Neither guy can hit any offence they go for in the opening sequence, but Ultimo almost steals it with La Magistral. Liger regroups on the floor after that scare. He comes back with a tilta-whirl backbreaker and the Mexican surfboard. That doesn’t get him anywhere so he levels Ultimo with a pure and simple powerbomb, then stretches him again with a horizontal bow and arrow. Liger continues to dictate the pace with a camel clutch. He certainly seems to be focusing on the midsection right now, and confirms that with an abdominal stretch. Dragon comes back by working Liger’s leg then nailing him with a dropkick. He sticks with the legs, busting out the deathlock for some serious abuse. Both men look for some quick pins but when it doesn’t work Ultimo kicks at the leg then applies a leg grapevine – sound strategy. He strays away from it to trade chops with Liger in the corner and pays with a palm strike then a capo kick. Liger blocks a monkey flip but Ultimo counters with Shotei. Asai moonsault press for 2. Liger catches the handspring elbow…GERMAN SUPLEX! Liger misses a dropkick but Ultimo runs into another capo kick and rolls to the floor. Liger to the top…PLANCHAAAAAAA!
Back in the ring Liger hits a fisherman buster for 2. Dragon doesn’t want to take a brainbuster and again tries to La Magistral his way to victory. Duelling clotheslines exchanged next, and down go both men. Shotei from Liger for 2 again. Dragon blocks a super rana attempt and dives off the ropes with a flying headscissors. He hurricanrana’s Liger to the floor…TOPE SUICIDA! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! In the ring he hits a moonsault but Liger blocks a dragon suplex. He takes a tiger suplex instead, but still finds a way to kick out. Liger counters a Tombstone with a front slam but gets cut off on the top rope. Swinging super hurricanrana from Ultimo…just for 2 again. RUNNING LIGERBOMB, BUT LIGER KICKS OUT! Lionsault missed…LA MAGISTRAL FROM LIGER FOR 2! Ultimo goes to the well once too often on the Ligerbombs and it doesn’t work. SCREWDRIVER NAILED by Liger, and it’s over. He’s the king of the juniors mountain again. My stopwatch battery died but the match is around 18 minutes.
Rating - **** - Well, it’s sad that the final match of this compilation sees Dragon losing, but at least it’s the best match of the tape. Unlike most of the other matches, this was given time to develop, was paced well and had a real sense of purpose and importance. The mat sequences to begin were made somewhat meaningful as there was a continued psychology to each man’s attack. And the extra time meant the big spots felt natural and part of the struggle to win the match, rather than forced and cliché’d, psychology-void high-spots.
Tape Rating - *** - The compilation itself has to get 3* simply for the sheer consistency of it. It’s not like anything on here is bad. I really have a hard time recommending it though, because it’s damn hard to watch. NOTHING is particularly exceptional, and it gets very tedious with a whole flurry of very similar (to the point of repetetive). I know I should be more respectful, but this is my review and these are my thoughts. This compilation, ultimately, made me more of a fan of Jushin Liger (who delivered the top three matches on here) and somewhat less of a Dragon fan. He needs somebody like Liger to take the lead and dominate a match. When he’s on an even keel or required to do the majority of the work in a contest (such as with Ohtani and Sasuke in particular) he isn’t particularly capable of doing so. It’s a solid tape, but it’s only thanks to Jushin Liger that you might consider getting hold of this.
Top 3 Matches
3) Jushin Liger vs Ultimo Dragon (****) (1995 J-Cup Semi-Final)
2) Ultimo Dragon/Masao Orihara vs Jushin Liger/Koji Kanemoto (****)
1) Jushin Liger vs Ultimo Dragon (****) (J-Crown Match)