[1992-01-31-CMLL] Blue Panther vs Ultimo Dragon

[PeteF3]

Doragon was almost as comfortable in Mexico as in his native Japan. Little matwork as the emphasis was on high flying. Consistantly good quality and worth checking out.

 

[PeteF3]

I wouldn't call this a truly great match but Panther gives one of the most selflessly great performances I've ever seen. Dragon is still wet behind the ears, but his highspots are pretty spectacular for the time. This is designed as a Dragon showcase so Panther gives him the vast majority of the match, to its detriment as Dragon on the mat instead of throwing bombs and dives isn't all that interesting here. They do build well to some terrific near-falls and both guys hit some big moves, before Dragon pulls off a major upset. It's easy to give your opponent lots of offense when you're going over, but to put over a relative youngster as well was a very bold move by CMLL and Panther.

[garretta]

YouTube this, please!

[andrew79]

[garretta]

Thanks, Andrew. That's the copy I thought I'd found, but somehow I lost it!

[garretta]

This was a great technical and high flying showcase, particularly for Panther, who when I've seen him has always been a cheating rudo. Here he ditches the rulebreaking and attempts to go move for move with Ultimo, but still comes up just short at the end.

 

I liked the quick thinking by Ultimo that won him the third fall. The German suplex has been used so often by both guys that he knows Panther will be ready for it, so he turns the bridge into a cradle that Panther can't possibly escape.

 

Judging by the length of the intros here, this was either the opener or possibly the second match. If either of these are true, the rest of the card had a hell of a lot to live up to.

 

I wasn't exactly a huge Nitro-era WCW fan, so I honestly don't know this: Did Ultimo use mist as part of his ring entrance there like he did here? It seems odd that a Japanese babyface would use mist, but given the company's backward attitude toward the Japanese, I wouldn't say it's impossible. (To be honest, I was kind of surprised to see it in this match as well.)