Post by Sephiroth on Aug 16, 2010 19:10:09 GMT -5
I have a lot of respect and admiration for Ultimo Dragon. He is a legend unto himself in wrestling. But I think we can all agree that his WWE run was not his best moment. I would be amazed that WWE could screw this one up, but then again, they have made the same mistakes before, Heaven knows how many times.
It started out well enough. WWE announced they were bringing back UIltimo Dragon. A lot of fans, myself included, sat up and took notice. In addition to being a truly global star who had already worked for just about every major promotion on earth, and a staple act of WCW in the early days of the Monday Night Wars, Ultimo Dragon had a real life miracle story. After he had suffered nerve damage, it had seemed impossible he would ever perform again. And here he was, strapping on the boots again. It seemed like a can't miss. And it was pretty clear even before he debuted that WWE had in mind: they wanted an Ultimo Dragon/Rey Mysterio feud over the cruiserweight title. Again, this seemed like a can't miss because the two had never really had a chance to perform together in WCW or Mexico, and hence it had been something of a dream match for a lot of fans of high flying Japanese and Lucha Libre wrestling.
For weeks WWE played vignettes announcing Dragon's debut. Fans were stoked to see the man they loved and respected again. He debuted with a flashy new ring entrance...and immediately got jobbed out. Despite all the previous hints and set ups, the feud with Mysterio never happened, and he rarely appeared on television. His last match in WWE was at Wrestlemania in a 6 man cruiserweight match for the title, which was panned as one of the worst matches on that card. I had a friend who was in attendance that night, and he said that Dragon even tripped on his cape on the way to the ring. He was released shortly thereafter. It seems like such a sad way to cap the career of such a great performer who gave so much and even overcame seemingly impossible odds to entertain fans. At least he got the one thing he had been wanting out of it-to officially say he had performed for every major fed on the planet, including the single biggest wrestling show of all. But nonetheless, I was severely let down, and I still have a feeling the whole reason his push got nixed was because...well, he's a small guy. At least compared to the usual hosses Vince always gets hard for. Truly sad, IMO. I hope some fellow crappers agree.
It started out well enough. WWE announced they were bringing back UIltimo Dragon. A lot of fans, myself included, sat up and took notice. In addition to being a truly global star who had already worked for just about every major promotion on earth, and a staple act of WCW in the early days of the Monday Night Wars, Ultimo Dragon had a real life miracle story. After he had suffered nerve damage, it had seemed impossible he would ever perform again. And here he was, strapping on the boots again. It seemed like a can't miss. And it was pretty clear even before he debuted that WWE had in mind: they wanted an Ultimo Dragon/Rey Mysterio feud over the cruiserweight title. Again, this seemed like a can't miss because the two had never really had a chance to perform together in WCW or Mexico, and hence it had been something of a dream match for a lot of fans of high flying Japanese and Lucha Libre wrestling.
For weeks WWE played vignettes announcing Dragon's debut. Fans were stoked to see the man they loved and respected again. He debuted with a flashy new ring entrance...and immediately got jobbed out. Despite all the previous hints and set ups, the feud with Mysterio never happened, and he rarely appeared on television. His last match in WWE was at Wrestlemania in a 6 man cruiserweight match for the title, which was panned as one of the worst matches on that card. I had a friend who was in attendance that night, and he said that Dragon even tripped on his cape on the way to the ring. He was released shortly thereafter. It seems like such a sad way to cap the career of such a great performer who gave so much and even overcame seemingly impossible odds to entertain fans. At least he got the one thing he had been wanting out of it-to officially say he had performed for every major fed on the planet, including the single biggest wrestling show of all. But nonetheless, I was severely let down, and I still have a feeling the whole reason his push got nixed was because...well, he's a small guy. At least compared to the usual hosses Vince always gets hard for. Truly sad, IMO. I hope some fellow crappers agree.
