[1994-05-30-NJPW-Best of the Super Juniors] Jushin Liger vs Super Delphin

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I've always seen Delphin as the Poor Man's Liger, but wow, that outfit takes the idea to an entirely new level. It's even the exact same shade of red, which seems virtually impossible without a pantone code. He looks like a kid dressed like Liger for Halloween. Grade A trolling right there.

 

This is pretty clever. When Delphin is working from the top and doing the Boston crab and camel clutch, you really just think time isn't on his side. He's trying to out-Liger Liger, and that's going to catch up to him. Obviously, Liger is so much better than him at those things that at first I wanted them to strike more of a contrast, then I realized what they were doing -- a guy wrestling his biggest influence by trying to use all of his own stuff against him - and saw the genius of this match. Delphin can't - and shouldn't - execute borrowed moves as well as Liger, but he's here to make a statement and he is going to try anyway. It's interesting that any staying power Delphin has is when he focuses on the stuff he does that isn't so derivative. He's as good a flyer as Liger, and he garners the most momentum when he takes to the air.

 

When they start working to the finish, Liger gives Delphin A LOT of offense, to the point where Liger is the one scrambling to kick out of things in the nick of time. It looked like another bullying Liger match in the opening minutes and turned out to be anything but that. Liger realizes that he's going to have to up the ante and put out a little more than he may have thought to compete here and rolls out his own series of highspots. Delphin looks like the hero for kicking out of the top rope huracanrana the first time around, before Liger finally finishes him off.

 

People are a little tired of sportsmanship in post matches these days, and for good reason, but Liger checking on him fit the match really well, and the "Delphin" chants told me that they should have found a way to make Delphin his tag team partner to try to capitalize on the match.

 

This isn't Liger's best match of the year by any means, but it is his most charming.

[Kevin Ridge]

My first thought was Liger got some new ring gear before realizing that it was Super Delphin. Just feel like he is asking for it taunting Liger on the fake dive attempt. Delphin gets a lot of offense and controls the match a bit too much for my liking but he does get the crowd behind him. Cameramen are blocking the view on some of the outside dives. Some nice kick outs at the end before Liger puts him away. Crowd were very appreciate of Delphin.

[Exposer]

This was outstanding. Liger gives his clone a lot of offense and then lashes out his on on Delphin. I really liked the build in this match and the fun little story of Delphin trying to defeat the man he wrestles after. The near falls were really well done and the crowd gave Delphin a nice ovation afterwards. Great match.

[soup23]

This was really great and told a great story with Delphin. I am impressed with how polished Delphin is able to look in some of these matches. Here he hung with Liger on the mat and in the air and the result was a great match that I had never heard about.

[PeteF3]

Way cool look from Delfin--that half-Liger/half-Delfin mask looks like it would set you back quite a bit considering the one-shot nature of the look. This has taken on almost a dream-match quality now that I've seen Delfin's '93 and early '94 stuff, and in the end it lives up to it. Some heartstopping kickouts and reversals here, and Delfin gets a lot to the point where you're really biting on the near-falls. Credit that to Sasuke's J-Cup upset and NJPW booking in general, too. Fantastic bout, one of the best Liger singles bouts since...well, the Sasuke match. But not far behind his best overall.

[Zenjo]

Dolphin had cheekily nabbed Liger's colours for his ring attire. I liked how they didn't spend much time on the deck. It would've just been killing time. Impressive Junior action with plenty of high flying. Liger was still in his athletic prime pre-injury. The MPro man wasn't a top tier guy and was realistically never going to win. For me that gave it a ceiling. The Super J cup result had made an upset possible in the fans eyes however. There were a couple of instances later on when forays to the floor stifled momentum temporarily. All good fun overall and a satisfying tournament final.