#239: Black Tiger vs. Wild Pegasus, NJPW Best of the Super Juniors III, Day 17 (6/11/1996).
This is a Semi Final Match in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, with the winner advancing to face Jushin Thunder Liger in the finals.
Black Tiger is Eddie Guerrero, and Wild Pegasus is Chris Benoit.
Pegasus offers a handshake, and Tiger turns it down. The bell sounds, and Tiger takes Pegasus down quickly. Pegasus stretches the arms behind Tiger’s back, and then hammerlocks one of them. We get a clean break, and Pegasus takes Tiger’s arm and twists it around. Tiger with a drop toe hold, into a leg lock. Tiger lifts Pegasus up and applies the Gory Special submission. Pegasus reverses it into a pin, and they exchange quick nearfalls. They’re back to their feet, and the crowd approves.
Pegasus takes the arm once again, and forces Tiger to the mat. Tiger is back up and hits a nice hurricanrana to stun Pegasus. They separate once again. Pegasus gets Tiger on the mat, and locks in the Muta Lock submission, but changing it up to instead stretch the arms. Tiger gets to the ropes, and they’re back to their feet again. Dragon Screw Legwhip by Tiger, and now he traps Pegasus’ leg on the mat. Pegasus twists at the ankle, and then locks in a nasty looking Liontamer, Jericho style.
Tiger with a thumb to the eye, followed by a powerslam, and a senton from the apron. Pegasus goes to the ramp, and Tiger hits another senton to him from the ring. He rushes Pegasus, who back body drops Tiger back into the ring. Pegasus connects with a very high back suplex for a 2 count. Pegasus locks in a sleeper hold, bringing Tiger to the mat once again. Tiger gets to the ropes to break the hold. Nice hurricanrana by Tiger, but Pegasus goes right back to the sleeper.
Tiger escapes, and tries to mount some offense, but Pegasus stays aggressive and shoulder tackles him. Guess what? He’s back to the sleeper once again. Good head scissors by Tiger, but Pegasus once again goes back to the sleeper. This time, he grapevines Tiger with his legs to make escape even more difficult. Pegasus with a stiff series of chops to the chest, and Tiger blocks a knee into a roll up for 2. Guess what? Pegasus goes right back to the sleeper hold, and the fans start to boo!
Tiger gets to the ropes to break the hold. Pegasus with a nasty powerbomb, and now he goes to the top rope. Diving headbutt misses, as Tiger avoids it at the last second. Tiger sends Pegasus to the floor with an awkward looking back body drop. He dives to the floor, but Pegasus catches him and irish whips him into the barricade. Pegasus with a Tope to the outside, sending Tiger over into the front row. Back in the ring, Tiger blocks a powerbomb, and hits a nice brainbuster.
Tiger goes to the top rope, and hits a Frog Splash. He covers, and Pegasus kicks out at 2. Pegasus blocks a suplex and locks in the Sleeper Hold! It’s actually funny at this point. Tiger gets to the ropes once again. Pegasus connects with the Tiger Suplex, but it only gets him a 2 count. They fight for control of a Tombstone, with Pegasus winning out and hitting it for a nearfall. On the top rope, Pegasus connects with a back suplex to Tiger.
Pegasus rushes Tiger in the corner, and Tiger looks for a DDT, but Pegasus counters it. Tiger with the Niagara Driver, and Pegasus kicks out. On the top rope, Tiger blocks a Tombstone attempt, and turns it into a top rope Frankensteiner! He covers, and Pegasus kicks out. Tiger puts him back on the top rope, and connects with a nice brainbuster! Tiger covers, and he gets the win! He’d use this momentum to go to the finals, and beat Jushin Liger to win Best of the Super Juniors.
I’m probably in the minority, but I wasn’t a fan of that one. It had good parts sprinkled throughout, including a pretty good closing stretch, but it was very repetitive. The sleeper spot worked at first, but the more it went on, the less interesting it became. I actually laughed to myself the more that Pegasus applied it. I have definitely seen better from these two, which is surprising, as this is their most praised singles match.
It wasn’t awful, though. Again, there were spurts throughout where their chemistry really shined through. Each man brought their trademark intensity, and despite my personal feelings of the match, this kind of wrestling was still ahead of its time in the 1990s, so it has a certain charm to it that most people can enjoy. Overall, not my cup of tea.