Dragon Lee’s back defending the CMLL World Lightweight Title as we go back to August 2015 for his latest singles match with the future Hiromu Takahashi.
August 30, 2015 – CMLL Titanes del Ring: CMLL World Lightweight Championship: Dragon Lee (c) vs. Kamaitachi
Another best of three-falls match now, and it’s back to Arena Mexico after the last few outings were on the road.
We join this in progress as Dragon Lee kicks Kamaitachi into the corner, then sidestepped a charge to the outside… but Kamaitachi’s back in with a clothesline. Stomps in the corner have Dragon Lee down, only for him to recover with a knee to the gut and a low diving front kick for the pin. These cheap early falls are a huge turn-off for me.
Fall two starts with Kamaitachi and Dragon Lee exchanging clotheslines in the corner, before a superkick from Kamaitachi led to him loosening Dragon Lee’s mask. A rebound superkick’s next, but Dragon Lee just takes out Kamaitachi for a tope suicida… which gets a delayed two-count when they made it back inside. Kamaitachi’s back with a kitchen sink knee and a diving front kick, but he doesn’t go for a pin… and ends up on the apron where he blocks a flying ‘rana attempt, powerbombing Dragon Lee onto the edge of the ring instead. Back inside, the flying double knees find their mark… and that’s 1-1!
So we’re back to the decider. Which is a shock to nobody. It starts with Kamaitachi throwing Dragon Lee outside for a shotgun dropkick off the apron, sending Dragon Lee into the crowd briefly. A second shotgun dropkick from Kamaitachi took him from the crowd, over the railing and back towards ringside – through the champion, of course. Then they head up towards the top of the stage, where Kamaitachi teases a powerbomb… but instead he’s ‘rana’d down the stairs, before Dragon Lee leapt off the video screen onto him.
Eventually taking Kamaitachi back to the ring, Dragon Lee gets a two-count as we get replays… we return as Kamaitachi shoulder charged Dragon Lee off the apron, sending him into the railing with the quasi-spear, following in with another dive, then another shotgun dropkick over the ropes as we almost had a title change. The Del Rio stomp came in response, then a tope con giro as Dragon Lee pushed back, eventually getting a two-count when Kamaitachi rolled back into the ring.
The pair exchange roll-ups next as they looked for a pin, but Kamaitachi came closer, only to get dropped with a rebound German suplex for a near-fall. Dragon Lee heads up top, but got caught as a superplex brought him down… and it’s back to the mask for Kamaitachi, as he ripped it apart. Another over-the-top dropkick ends badly as Kamaitachi misjudged his jump – so he crotched himself in the ropes and got caught with Dragon Lee’s dropkick to boot.
More kicks from Dragon Lee took Kamaitachi onto the apron for a flying ‘rana to the floor, as we got yet another shot of some Japanese fans in the crowd to while away their selling. Desnucadora followed back inside for a near-fall, but Kamaitachi lands a spider superplex as they inched closer to the finish, with a big splash off the top almost getting Kamaitachi the win. A quick response gets Dragon Lee back on top, only for his head kick to get caught and turned into a STF… which ended in the ropes.
Both men get back to their feet, but Dragon Lee’s knee dropped Kamaitachi for a two-count, before Kamaitachi busted out a Chaos Theory-like German suplex. Kamaitachi follows with a superplex attempt, but he’s pushed down into the Del Rio stomp which gets a mucho-delayed near-fall, before a Regalplex folded Kamaitachi in half for the win. This was fine, but unlike other feuds, you’re not seeing much in the way of progression, and a lot of the same stuff in slightly-different orders. ***¼