J-Crown Tournament Semifinal: Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Otani 8/4/96
This was as flawless a match as I have ever seen a New Japan juniors match. Both men had one of their best singles matches here. In particular, Dragon might have had the best singles match of his career. The two started out with smooth matwork. Dragon attempted la magistral for a pop. Otani's selling of that move was really cool. More fluid matwork followed and Dragon stiffed Otani with his kicks. Most of the first ten minutes saw mostly wear-down and submission moves and a few high spots interspersed in a smart fashion. Dragon dropkicked Otani off the apron to the floor to pick up the action level. Dragon missed a tope and Otani suplexed him on the floor. Otani hit a flip dive off the apron and crowd heat picked up as he gave Dragon a springboard spin kick for a near fall. Otani gave Dragon a tiger suplex for a near fall. Dragon then gave Otani la magistral for a super near fall. Dragon tombstoned Otani and gave him a moonsault for another near fall. Otani reversed a Dragon huracanrana attempt for a great near fall as crowd heat was at a fever pitch. Dragon gave Otani his dragon suplex for a near fall and gave Otani an in-ring quebrada for another near fall. Otani countered a Dragon huracanrana with a powerbomb and hit a perfect springboard missile dropkick. Otani then gained a super near fall with the dragon suplex. Otani kept going for a move off the top rope but Dragon cut him off each time. Finally, Dragon sort of gave Otani a face front suplex off the top rope, but both men fell hard onto the mat. Dragon then gave Otani a Liger bomb and pinned him at 16:04. For execution of moves, this was as flawless a match as you will ever see. Very good psychology for a juniors match and only a few minutes shy of the five star plateau. ****3/4