Overlooked Feuds - Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon
When one speaks of the dominance of World Championship Wrestling in 1996 and 1997, the conversation usually goes to one of two topics: the dominance of the New World Order and the groundbreaking work of the cruiserweight division. And it is within the latter that an oft-overlooked feud that helped set the style moving forward that we revisit today, between Dean Malenko and Ultimo Dragon.
At the tail end of 1996, World Championship Wrestling had taken a clear lead in the fabled Monday Night War, with most of that success credited to the New World Order. But it was also the influx of talent from around the world filling out much of the mid-card that was helping carry the company, especially those in the Cruiserweight Division. Dean Malenko was one of the stand-out stars, plucked from ECW along with Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. As a second-generation wrestler, Malenko became known as the Man of 1,000 Holds’ due to his technical mastery in the ring. And he had been rewarded with the Cruiserweight Championship, having exchanged the title back and forth with Rey Mysterio Jr. in one of the most well-remembered feuds of the era.
Cue the entrance to WCW of Ultimo (or, as WCW would call him for quite some time, Ultimate) Dragon. Brought in by manager Sonny Onoo, Dragon was a master of technical wrestling and an innovator of the high-flying game. While frequently used today, Dragon was the creator of the Asai Moonsault, named as such for his real-life last name.
The two standout talents would begin their feud quite innocuously, being paired together for a random match on the November 18th, 1996, edition of Monday Nitro. The two exchanged holds and reversals, including a brief moment where Dragon and Malenko essentially traded the exact reversal in an ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ moment. The match would end after only a few minutes when Onoo got involved, causing the disqualification.
A few weeks later, Sonny Onoo would appear at ringside as Malenko defended the Cruiserweight Championship against a pre-Flock Billy Kidman. Towards the end of the match, Onoo got right in Malenko’s face as he was on the top rope and flashed his camera in his eyes, nearly costing Malenko the match. As Malenko locked in the Texas Cloverleaf and Kidman tapped, Onoo got right out of dodge before The Iceman could retaliate. It made sense as Dragon was still primarily competing in Japan for Onoo to help continue and build the feud in his stead.
The following week would see no interference from Onoo as Malenko faced off against a ripped David Sammartino (yes, THAT David Sammartino) in a match where Malenko gave way too much to David, likely out of respect to his father and both being second generation wrestlers. The final Nitro before Starrcade would see a strange booking decision with Lord Steven Regal defending his WCW Television Championship against Dean Malenko in an underrated match that I urge you to watch because it’s Regal and Malenko going to a 10-minute time-limit draw. It has nothing to do with the overarching feud, but a great match nonetheless.
Finally, the two would be able to ply their trade on Pay Per View, competing at Starrcade 1996 with both Malenko’s WCW Cruiserweight Championship and Ultimo Dragon’s J-Crown Title (an amalgamation of 8 different championships from different companies, amusingly including the old WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, until they relaunched the title in late 1997) on the line. With Starrcade being the biggest show of the year, both men had something to prove and were looking to steal the show and would be tasked with opening the show.
Amusingly, ring announcer David Penzer would announce him as Ultimo Dragon while the chyron graphics would show Ultimate Dragon.
Whilst I will not deliver a blow-by-blow, you need to know that the match kicks the show off perfectly and earns every second of its nearly 20-minute runtime. To be the night match on a card featuring Jushin Liger vs. Rey Mysterio is quite an accomplishment. The match would go to Onoo’s man, with Dragon pinning Malenko using a bridged tiger suplex to pick up the pinfall, essentially unifying the WCW Cruiserweight Championship into the J-Crown, albeit not officially.
Looking back at the match over 20 years later on his “83 Weeks” podcast with Conrad Thompson, Eric Bischoff would put Malenko over especially.
He made me believe. I forgot that I’m watching a scripted sports entertainment product, even this morning. He’s so, he was so believable and intense and if there was ever anybody that personifies the phrase ‘less is more’ it’s Dean Malenko. Dean Malenko was more believable walking out to the ring than most talents is in a 20-minute match. He just, I love watching Dean wrestle and I think he is one of the most underrated performers of the last 20 years.
A few weeks later, Ultimo Dragon would drop the J-Crown Title to Jushin Thunder Liger himself in Japan at the big January 4th Tokyo Dome show but would keep possession of the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
Upon returning from Japan to the United States, Dragon would lock up with Malenko on the January 20th edition of Monday Nitro (famously the same episode where Macho Man returned and attempted to take the show hostage before linking up with Sting). As expected, with two men the caliber of Malenko and Dragon, the two once again put on as good a match as possible, given that they were allotted under 5 minutes. Dragon would pick up the pinfall victory once again, with a 3rd match not far off into the future. Only 24 hours later, in fact, at Clash Of The Champions.
Once again tasked with kicking off the show on a hot note, the trilogy would close at Clash Of The Champions 34. With Malenko now down 2-0 there was nothing Malenko wanted more than to pick up the win and put the Championship back around his waist. Both men put on a different match to their previous ones, bouncing back and forth between technical submissions and full-on brawling with forearms to the face and striking kicks to the body. Malenko would target Dragon’s legs to keep him grounded and set him up for the Cloverleaf. As the match began to reach its crescendo, the back and forth picked up as they made their way to the outside for Dragon to connect with the Asai Moonsault (which always led to fun interactions on commentary between Dusty Rhodes, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay). After an attempt at interference, Malenko knocked Sonny Onoo off the apron and locked in the Texas Cloverleaf for his 3rd Cruiserweight Championship.
Ultimo Dragon locked in the Cloverleaf at Clash of the Champions.
Looking back years later while being interviewed by Slam! Sports, when he was competing in SMASH Wrestling’s Northern Tournament, Ultimo Dragon revealed some of his favorite opponents but singled out one man and one match as his favorite.
I liked wrestling Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho, and I also had great matches with Liger and Hayabusa, my favorite opponent was Dean Malenko. We had many great matches together. Our best match was at Starrcade 1996
While the two only had three matches in a relatively brief period, the chemistry and work put together by Malenko and Dragon speaks volumes. They were stealing the show from names like the New World Order, Sting, Lex Luger and others, all while being constrained with the “Cruiserweight” label. And the fact that we are talking about this rivalry well over 25 years later is a testament to their work.
