Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Ultimate Dragon

[5.0] "Ultimo Dragon makes his WCW debut and loses in a mediocre match against Rey Mysterio. Nothing to write home about here, just a standard match. Hate the outdoor shows, lighting looks bad and the vibe is off."

[7.0] "Ultimo Dragon's WCW debut. It's a bit unfortunate that it is in the bizarre Sturgis setting, especially since the biker crowd just chants "USA" over and over despite Dragon being from Japan and Misterio being from Mexico. It's a fun match though, and they did make good use of the outdoor setting with an insane spot where Rey dove from the ring down to the dirt level on the outside. ***1/2"

[8.0] "I really enjoyed this one, the highlight being Mysterio's top rope jump to the dirt pile at ringside. I didn't really sense any chemistry or communication issues in this one, I thought it was pretty well wrestled and had many exciting moments."

[7.0] "very good match on paper and in concept - wow, that dive onto the dirt was crazy - but is let down a bit by slightly awkward chemistry (this is the first time these guys had worked together in a singles match and it does kind of show), how genuinely awful the crowd is for this entire show (they chant USA a lot and are so nonreceptive to cool things that Mysterio has to repeatedly clap and psyche them up to let them know that things are cool, which does get them into it a bit more, funnily enough), and a botched finish where Mysterio seems to slip while trying a Frankensteiner and then climbs back up and tries it again. decent opener overall though!"

[8.0] "Ultimo Dragon had a solid US PPV debut here. The most memorable thing about this match was the way they used the elevated ring set up where Rey Mysterio takes a massive Springboard dive onto the dirt on the outside and Dragon also does on later on to the floor part and you can hear a bit of a thud when they land. Ultimo plays his part as an arrogant heel well enough to get the crowd to boo him, but he feels a lot more natural to watch as a face and Onoo at ringside has aged poorly for me as he is just a bad stereotype. Rey Mysterio's matches was always a spectacle to watch and this was no different and I loved the Spiderman gear as well."

[7.0] "A very fun high-flying spectacle. They didn't do any stupid, silly spots, instead made everything believable and got huge pops for some of the more impressive moves. Rey was of course over as hell as a babyface, but also Dragon did fine making the crowd boo him. Additionally the Springboard Plancha to the outside looked phenomenal at first glance - just a shame that the camera didn't catch the whole image."

[9.0] "One of the best cruiserweight matches from this year was wasted on such a terrible crowd. Sonny Onoo was right about these fans being stupid. Babyface Rey hasn't missed in his cruiserweight boutsalso an excellent debut from Ultimo Dragon. I wished they showed a replay of that Rey backflip."

[8.0] "The debut of Ultimo Dragon in WCW is a fantastic display of what was to come from the man with Rey Mysterio, Jr. along for the ride. I loved the look of Sturgis, but the crowd sucks, chanting USA in a match between a guy from Japan and a guy from Mexico. Later, they would actually boo a match between Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko like the idiots they are. This match was fantastic. Great debut from Ultimo Dragon, even in a losing effort."

[9.0] "A great match that's wasted on this crowd. This is Ultimo's WCW debut, and he and Rey work well together to put on a show. Just a lot of fun cruiserweight action."

[6.0] "From reading some other comments here, this seems to be Ultimo Dragon's WCW debut, and it does show. He has a decent match with Rey, but also looks a little lost at times too. This match itself is a little toned down on usual Cruiserweight stuff, and maybe that's a good thing to do for this crowd, as they only really react to strikes & kicks. That said though, there are some impressive dives, including one out of the elevated ring to the hard floor, bet that sucked. Mostly fun sprint, but these two would have better matches against eachother in the future."

[6.0] "Ultimo is nowhere near as great as a dance partner for Rey as Psychosis was during the last PPV. Ultimo looks like he has to take a second to prepare himself for the next sequence or spot and it causes the action to not flow as well as it did during the Rey/Psychosis match. After they go through some matwork, Rey and Ultimo show off by both hitting backflips off the ropes in an attempt to psych out the other man. The Sturgis crowd wears their stupidity on their sleeves as they chant USA at two non-American talents. Sonny Oono mugs off for the crowd and calls the fans stupid for the aforementioned reason. I only noticed that the ringside area was on an elevated platform when Dragon gets kicked off the platform and sent down to the floor! Misterio follows this up by diving from the ring, over the ringside area, and landing on Dragon on the dirt floor below! We got some cool spots here and this made for a solid PPV opener, but I expected a little more from a prime Misterio."

[5.0] "Dragon making his WCW ppv debut today. Good little cruiser weight match to get the ball rolling. Mysterio knocks Dragon outside the ring then baseball slides him off the walkway down to the gravel ground that is another 3 feet down from the ringside. The whole ring setup is elevated for the crowd. Mysterio with a head scissor from the top rope. Mysterio tries a springboard like he's going for his finisher but eats a dropkick from Dragon. Mysterio outside Dragon slingshots on top of him. Mysterio backdrops Dragon but he lands on his feet! German suplex for 2! Dragon hits a moonsault for another 2 count. Dragon tries a power bomb but gets frankensteinered. Mysterio sets Dragon on the second rope and tries a super frankensteiner but slips off. He pops right back up and immediately hits the move and gets the pin to retain. Not a bad opener, but expected a little better."

[7.0] "Ultimo Dragon made his WCW debut in this match, and it's a pretty good match, although not the best either would have. It was slower than a lot of cruiserweight matches, especially the ones involving luchadors, and the crowd and setting wasn't really ideal for this - it would be an issue all event but it was worse here. It's still definitely worth a watch, with some crazy spots with the elevated ring."

[7.0] "This was a really good match, although it suffered, as did other matches this night, from a crowd that were more into boozing it up than enjoying the wrestling."

[7.0] "All action in this match. Crowd was ok. I'd go out of my way to see this. Very very enjoyable. ***3/4."

[7.0] "Frankensteiner, Tiger Feint Kick, some spots, this is good cruiserweight action without any real achivements. Still enjoyable as an opener for a pay per view, but it's not their best. This is a match that works fine for Rey Mysterio and shows his skills. ***1/2"

[9.0] "A great match, very competitive and super fun. Crazy moment with Mysterio diving all the way out of the elevated ring down to the dirt floor below. Ultimo brings some really great stuff to the table as well, very slick sequences and those nice kicks and bombs. All in all, an awesome way to kick off the show, and an underrated match I would say."