April 1997

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Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Ultimo Dragon - WCW Spring Stampede 1997 Ultimo Dragon is one of the more infuriating wrestlers of all time. There is no reason why he could not be at the level of a Jushin Liger or a Rey Mysterio, but he constantly gets in his own way with offense-first approach to wrestling. This match is laid out like the World War III match (I need to rewatch) with Dragon kicking ass for the majority of the match. Again, Dragon's explosive offense looks tremendous: Spinning Argentine Backbreaker, Powerbomb into a hotshot, awesome Running LigerBomb and a wicked Tombstone. There is no strategy. It is just an exhibition. Case in point, he lifts Rey up after having…

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A nostalgia match, but a very interestingly worked one. In 1997 New Japan was already bringing in Naoya Ogawa and Don Frye and moving towards the "Inokiism", and some sequences here look like they were straight out of a sparring session-Sayama takes Inoki's back, rolls him over into an Armbar, Inoki blocks it with his leg and so on. They also work some pro-style holds into it by doing stuff like Inoki turning a battle over leglocks into an Indian Deathlock. Sayama blasts Inoki with some brutal kicks and Inoki's facial expressions of dread he conveys every time Sayama knocks him down are something else. They also work in some junior moves like the Tiger Feint Kick and Saya…

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This was right before Takeshi Ono joined Masao Orihara to form the sleazy superduo of the Tonpachi Machine Guns. Ono and Usuda had a damn great match in 2010 (review to come), and this was also a damn great match and a more grandiose finishing stretch away from being on the level of the 2010 match. Basically straight shootstyle full of intense mat scrambles and Ono attacking as a dangerous striker with kicks and knees on the ground. Usuda kind of took a backseat in this match and let Ono dictate the bout, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some really brutal leglocks in this that seemed to be broken short of popping someones knee. There was an especially violent moment …

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