Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 69: Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon (Nitro 10/6/97)

Ah, the great debate. Was Ultimo over-rated or under-rated. I use to think under-rated. Recently, I’m leaning towards over-rated. I’m hoping Eddie working heel in this helps swing me back towards thinking Ultimo needs more accolades. Good news: Ultimo is out with no Sonny Ono in sight. There’s a belt on the line, but they aren’t saying what it is yet. As a side note, this match wasn’t listed on a Meltzer star rating resource site, but the main event of Benoit vs Hennig was. What gives?

Don’t get me wrong, Ultimo does a lot of flashy stuff and lands most of it, but I get the impression he has his set of 8-10 spots/moves and he’s a robot doing them. It’s like if he really had to deviate and call it one the fly, show some passion, ne might be lost. That being said he certainly does what he does well, but I’m reminded of an early WWE knock on CM Punk: “he simulates good work”. That may apply here.

No matter. Eddie is the ring general heel here and he makes sure everything looks tight and is sold accordingly. He controls the first half of the match until Ultimo goes through his rolodex and hits a dive at the end. After I write all thee above Ultimo hits a nice modified release German suplex and sells well while still trying to make a cover. Ultimo goes through some reversals to get his Dragon Sleeper, but Eddie makes the ropes and eventually hits a tornado DDT. He follows that up by going ¾ across the ring for the Frog Splash and the win in about 6:30 minutes. Good times. 2 ¾ and 6/10.