After skipping a match, we’re back as Dragon Lee and Kamaitachi’s rivalry escalated. Mascara contra mascara!
March 20, 2015 – CMLL on Fox Sport – Mask vs. Mask: Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi
Well, that escalated quickly! We’re going to the traditional best-of-three falls match here, as this was the 19th match involving both guys (and as you can tell, a LOT were trios matches). So, my first taste of luchas apuestas in a long while brings me to this… where I could have sworn the ring announcer announced that the referee was Davey Richards. It’s actually Babe Richards… We start hot, as always, with Kamaitachi laying into Dragon Lee with a clothesline in the corner before he used his boot to try and choke him out of the ring. When that didn’t work, Kamaitachi hit a pair of rolling German suplexes… and that’s your first fall!
The second fall starts on the outside, as Dragon Lee’s hurled into the barriers at ringside before he was taken up onto the walkway for some chops. That’s followed up with a suplex on the ramp, before they end up back inside, with Kamaitaichi looking to end this in double-quick time. Of course, Kamaitachi loosens Dragon Lee’s mask, then went in for a hesitation dropkick as Lee was trying to pull himself free. Heading back up top, Kamaitachi looks for a superplex, but instead he’s pushed down into a Del Rio stomp… and that’s the equaliser. On this form, these best-of-three-falls matches sure look like the jobber Survivor Series eliminations, eh?
So it’s onto the deciding fall, which started with a ‘rana from Dragon Lee, then a tope con giro as he met Kamaitachi outside. They return as Kamaitachi is taken into the corner for a dropkick, then a diving single-leg dropkick for a two-count by the ropes. Another turnaround sees Kamaitachi take Dragon Lee outside, with a shotgun dropkick off the apron taking Dragon Lee over the railings and into the crowd. Kamaitachi plays to the crowd after throwing his foe back inside, then followed in with a falling powerbomb for a near-fall. Taking Dragon Lee onto the apron, Kamaitachi heads up top as he seemed to tease a superplex to the floor, but Dragon Lee slips out and dropkicks Kamaitachi to the apron, before a running ‘rana took Kamaitachi from the apron to the floor.
Yep, they’re still insane.
Kamaitachi sidesteps a tope, but ended up being a sitting duck as another flying ‘rana off the apron almost turned into a powerbomb as Dragon Lee avoided a worse fate. Back inside, Dragon Lee flipped up Kamaitachi into Desnucadora, but it’s still not enough as referee not-Davey Richards went for a slow count. A thunderous low dropkick gets a similar result, and while we get replays, we miss Kamaitachi trapping Dragon Lee in a STF… although that ends in the ropes. Back from a break, we see Dragon Lee and Kamaitachi trading German suplexes, before they crashed into each other with simultaneous dropkicks that almost got Dragon Lee the win. He’s back to his feet, but Kamaitachi just swats him off the top rope to the outside before flying into him with a back senton – what’d become the Hiromu bomb in later years.
Returning to the ring, Kamaitachi almost nicked the win with a roll-up, then went up top for a Meteora… but the slow count allowed Dragon Lee to kick out, only to get spun with another running dropkick as Kamaitachi was inching closer to victory. Heading back onto the apron backfires for Kamaitachi as he’s knocked to the floor as another shotgun dropkick from the ring to the floor just proved that Dragon Lee didn’t really want to be able to sit down in his old age anyway… Pushing on, Dragon Lee goes for a Phoenixplex, and lands it flush… and that’s enough for the win! Dragon Lee wins by two falls to one, following a cracking final fall that saw them gradually up the ante before the “eff it” moment saw Dragon Lee pull out what was quickly becoming Kamaitachi’s kryptonite. ****
Post-match, we had the unmasking, as the red and black hood of Kamaitachi was removed to reveal that he was Hiromu Takahashi. Big shock, eh?
The next two singles matches are missing, so we’ll skip ahead to July next week – and it’s back to the lightning matches!