Nitro Diaries: Match # 38
Posted on June 04, 2009 by John Philapavage
Match # 38: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko (Nitro 7/8/96)
This is the earliest of the classic Rey Jr. and Dean Malenko matches that I know of on Nitro. This is from one of the outdoors tapings at Disney World. You know the ones where Rey was made more famous for being a “lawn dart” thanks to Kevin Nash. Yep. Let us begin.
They go technical Makenko spots to Lucha Rey spots and powder out all in the first minute. To say this is a poor man’s Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid is a great compliment to the feel of this match. They hit probably 14 of 15 spots before Malenko starts getting the heat. Even when they miss they cover it well. This is for the cruiserweight title, and for a second that actually seems important. Malenko really is the definition of a ring general when it comes to the cruiserweight style of the 90s.
The crowd, maybe because it’s Disney, is really into this particular match. They’re really behind Rey Jr. He gets the prettiest hope spot pin about 4:30 in. Look it up.
It’s just dawned on me this is the night after the famed Hogan heel turn and they had the show at this rinky-dink part. Typical WCW move.
Malenko mastyerfully controls the match and the emotions of the fans. Rey is so prone to sympathy it’s perfect. Big suplex on the outside by Malenkp. Mysterio comes back with some big moves. Malenko misses catching the guy on an Asai Moonsault. That had to hurt. Back and forth they go. Killer stuff. Malenko pulls him up from a few pins to punish him more. Rey reverses a power bomb into a roll up for the title win at 9:30. The closest you can come to a four star match in under ten minutes. The match accomplished all of it’s goals. 3 ¾ and 7.5/10.
Tags: Dean Malenko, Nitro Diaries, Rey Mysterio
June 4th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
This was one of the earliest Mysterio matches I’ve seen, maybe the first, and it blew me away in how cool it was. Really fun stuff here, plus I wasn’t used to an outside show, so that provided a cool aesthetic. Didn’t really stick around for the rest of this Nitro after they aired Hogan’s NWO speech.
This match is also available on the first single-disc Rey Mysterio DVD put out by WWE (Rey Mysterio 619 from 2003), and may or may not be on the 3-disc Mysterio release from 2007 or so.