Best Cruiserweight In The WWE

[Austin3164life 0]

Rey Mysterio. Everyone else falls somewhere behind him (not by far either).

 

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Jamie Knoble, Nunzio, Ultimo, Tajiri

[Tim Cooke 0]

Noble is the best all around guy. London is second and could be as good as Noble someday, though they both will probably never show how great they truley are.

 

Rey Jr. is 3rd.

 

And Ultimo Dragon 1996 was way better than 1996 Rey Jr. and that is from a big Rey Jr. fan who thinks Rey Jr/Juventud (3/16/96 Tijuana) is better than 8/4/96 Ultimo/Otani.

 

Tim

[Jingus 0]

Rey as 3rd? Did anyone else they've discussed here ever have as good a match as Rey vs. Eddie HH '97? A couple of Ultimo's came close, but I can't think of any that matched it.

 

Even aside from that, I'd vote for Rey because of the context issues. He's really the only guy that the WWE has let be a real cruiserweight, for whatever reason. I mean, just take a look at every other guy you mentioned to see how they usually treat a smaller guy who can outwork the hosses. Ultimo has been kept off TV, London's been stuck working jobbers on Velocity, Tajiri has been buried a thousand different ways. Noble has fared better than most, but he's still mostly working 2-4 minute matches that inevitably revolve around some really dumb angle. Rey is the only one they let go out there and actually have some time to work a match.

[Guest Douche]

Rey Misterio Jr.

 

I don't see why so many people love Ultimo Dragon over Rey. Rey has been over his whole WCW/WWE career. Ultimo gets entrance pops when his entrance involves pyro. Rey can work with the high fliers, technical cruisers, regular wrestlers, and big men. Ultimo can only work against the lightweights and even then some he doesn't mesh with well. His main moves are those shin kicks, the asai moonsault which has to be done on the outside, the dragon sleeper, and his new finisher. I remember watching some matches of his the other day from 1996 where he threw unnecessary spins and flips and overall wasted time. If Ultimo's best aerial offense to the outside is the Asai, it makes him look like crap when Styles and Kidman can do SSP's from the top and Rey and Shannon can do the Asai from the top rope. I actually remember one time in particular where he was facing Psicosis. Psicosis was groggy standing up, Ultimo ran, hopped on the second rope, jumped down, spun around, and hit Psicosis with a kick. Rey never does that shit and puts on better high flying exhibitions even when one of his knees are jelly.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Misterio and Spanky. Spanky because he's my favorite and Rey because I'm amazed he can keep doing so much and not fuck up a spot.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Jamie Noble.

[Guest ligerbomb03]

In my opinion, watching a Rey Misterio Jr. match is a lot like watching an RVD match. You see one and you've seen them all. Nothing new at all.

 

And the greatest cruiserweight of all-time is a toss up between Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) and Jushin Liger. Just my opinion, folks. Yes, I know this isn't a topic about the best of all time, I just wanted to add that little bit in for really no reason.

 

Don't get me wrong, please, I am still a huge fan of Rey Rey.

[Toxxic 0]

I'd go with Spanky, to be honest, although neither Rey Rey or Knowble are far behind. The problem with Rey's offence is that it's all a bit "bouncy" - hurricanranas and West Coast Pops etc look really good, but when you think about it they don't actually look like they do much damage (unless you're Matt Hardy getting a concussion from a WCP). Spanky on the other hand does do some bouncy stuff but his offence seems to pack more of a punch (i.e. he'll run up your leg and kick you in the head). Rey's offence rarely seems believeable against anyone except cruiserweights, whereas if he was actually allowed to get some offence in then Spanky's would look far more convincing.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I think that I would DEFINATELY agree that Ultimo 96 is better than Rey 96. But nowadays, the fact that the WWE uses Ultimo for Velocity fodder, I go with lil REY REY.

[Guest Douche]

The problem with Rey's offence is that it's all a bit "bouncy" - hurricanranas and West Coast Pops etc look really good, but when you think about it they don't actually look like they do much damage (unless you're Matt Hardy getting a concussion from a WCP). Spanky on the other hand does do some bouncy stuff but his offence seems to pack more of a punch (i.e. he'll run up your leg and kick you in the head). Rey's offence rarely seems believeable against anyone except cruiserweights, whereas if he was actually allowed to get some offence in then Spanky's would look far more convincing.

The 619 is bouncy and can only be hit on lightweights? The 619 is primarily a double kick to the face and you only need to be leaning on the 2nd rope.

The WCP is a hurricanrana, just with a pin. You mean to tell me that Scott Steiner's famous frankensteiner wasn't believable or didn't hurt? That's a shame then seeing how many people took it.

 

I think that I would DEFINATELY agree that Ultimo 96 is better than Rey 96

And while I don't exactly agree with that, Rey any year but 96>Ultimo 96

[Guest Monday Night Jericho]

I'd take the J-Crown 96 match over Misterio/Guerrero at Havoc 97. It is a close call though, but the big difference would be that Rey was guided by Guerrero who was calling pretty much all of the shots. Rey was/is very good but he needs his opponent if he wants to have sometime legitimately "great", otherwise his work tends to be good but a bit spotty if he's not controlled. Ultimo never really had that problem.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Ultimo-Ohtani is definately better than Rey-Eddie. Ultimo used to be fucking great.

[Guest Douche]

I'd take the J-Crown 96 match over Misterio/Guerrero at Havoc 97. It is a close call though, but the big difference would be that Rey was guided by Guerrero who was calling pretty much all of the shots. Rey was/is very good but he needs his opponent if he wants to have sometime legitimately "great", otherwise his work tends to be good but a bit spotty if he's not controlled. Ultimo never really had that problem.

Then how come Ultimo's matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Psicosis, and Juventud were either spotty or boring?

I also don't see how Rey is very good but needs to be carried. That's a contradiction. I also don't see what the problem with being spotty is if he can do it well. He's not a Low-Ki or an Amazing Red or any other indy guy who pulls out spots just to get pops when they otherwise couldn't. Rey Misterio's job is to entertain and he does that. Rey's always over and he never even talks. Misterio Masks and Pendants are usually top sellers. I think being the best cruiserweight entails everything that Rey does well. However, even if Ultimo was better 7 years ago, he's not good anymore. I don't get how people splooge over a guy who was good 7 years ago and usually put American crowds to sleep yet crap on someone like Lex Luger who was good the same number of years ago and was actually over doing only clotheslines.

[Guest Monday Night Jericho]

Then how come Ultimo's matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Psicosis, and Juventud were either spotty or boring?

 

I'm not saying he's perfect. But his work with Liger, Ohtani, Sasuke (who needs to be controlled) and so forth speak volumes of how great he used to be.

 

I didn't say that Misterio need to be carried, I said that he had to be carried to have something *truly* great. That doesn't mean he can't have good matches unless he's working with someone like Eddy Guerrero, because he can and does. He can also have decent matches with average opponents, but he is not known for being a great carrier or ring general. And yes, I agree that it's unfair to put Misterio in that same sentence as the likes of Red, Styles, Ki, RVD etc as he is far superior to them.

 

Western audiences are for the most part retarded when it comes to wrestling, hell they even used to cheer El Gigante. I could name many Dragon matches that had a fair amount of crowd heat, granted most of which was his WCW work but he still gets a decent reaction on Velocity. Ultimo isn't close to what he used to be but given the chance (which he isn't...) he could still have good matches.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Then how come Ultimo's matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Psicosis, and Juventud were either spotty or boring?

 

Deano-Dragon > Deano-Rey, IMO.

 

If the Dragon/Malenko matches were "boring" then surely the Misterio/Malenko matches were, too. Personally, I loved Malenko vs. Dragon.

 

However, even if Ultimo was better 7 years ago, he's not good anymore

 

and you're basing that on what? His spotty 3 minute matches in the WWE? Why not check out his work in NOAH in the Differ Cup 2003? It was pretty damn good, IMO.

 

Basically, Dragon's best work > Rey's best work. Overall, it's a close call.

[Jonathon 0]

I actually got a big kick out of the wcw cruiserweight tag team tourney they had in their last days. That was the one thing keeping me watching their programming back then. Shane Helms was their breakout star, and when I heard he got acquired during the Invasion storyline, I was psyched. Too bad they neutered him. I thought he would really put on great, exciting matches and really re-vitalize the "light-heavyweight" division. Has he put on any quality matches since his tenure in the WWE? Like I said before, I've been away from wrestling for a while, so forgive me if I sound dumb....