Before introducing the WrestleMania match mentioned above, I would first like to introduce Ultimo Dragon to anyone who may not now of him.
This is Ultimo Dragon:
Yep, that's him, and yes, that's ten titles. Do I need to say more?
So, when WWE picked up Ultimo Dragon in 2003, it seemed like a no-brainer that Dragon would make a huge impact on the Smackdown! brand and have great success in their cruiserweight division, a division that Ultimo Dragon revolutionized in the 90's (those ten titles above are all middleweight/lightweight/cruiserweight championships). It also makes sense that Ultimo Dragon would get his chance to shine at pro-wrestling's version of the Super Bowl, WrestleMania!
So, WWE booked Ultimo Dragon in a match for the Cruiserweight title at Wrestlemania XX, right? Ehh, sort of. Rather than just having Ultimo Dragon take on the Cruiserweight champion of that time - which wasn't Rey Mysterio for some reason - we were given a ten man elimination-type match featuring the who's-who of the undercard.
Unfortunately for Ultimo Dragon, it just gets worse from there.
Take a look:
Yep, that's the same guy from above holding ten titles, eight from winning the prodigious J-Crown tournament, the NWA Middlewight title and the WCW World Cruiserwight title, Sin Cara-botching his WrestleMania debut.
Ultimo Dragon trips on his way out to the ring and then slips on the ropes as he poses to the crowd at Madison Square Garden, all before the match starts.
The Match:
As it seems that Ultimo Dragon's (who has to start the open) luck is turned around after defeating Shannon Moore with the Asai DDT, Ultimo Dragon takes on Jamie Noble (a former dragon himself) only to get choked out and sent to the back, ending Dragon's chances at becoming champion at 'Mania, just like that.
Other "highlights": Rey Mysterio dressed as Flash, Funaki gets pinned in record time if this was a real match, Nunzio gets counted out, Billy Kidman's cringe-worthy springboard shooting star press, *Akio gets Tajiri mist sprayed in his face so he never actually wrestled in this match, Chavo Classic catches Rey Rey before splatting on the floor via senton over the top rope, and, after eleven minutes of plugging all the cruiserweights Smackdown! had for this match, Chavo Guerrero retains his title.
All in all, if it wasn't for Ultimo Dragon's failed WrestleMania debut, this match would be forgotten forever. Thank you based dragon!
Theme Results:
Wrestlemania: WMXX
No comments:
Post a Comment