On May 2nd, 1996, Shinjiro Ohtani and Dean Malenko faced each other for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Ohtani defended the WCW Cruiserweight title against the man of 1000 holds, Dean Malenko.
It was a simple enough WCW Saturday Night match that transitioned the Cruiserweight title back to the man of a 1000 holds.
It involved then-champion Shinjiro Ohtani, managed by Sonny Onoo. His opponent was the man of a thousand holds Dean Malenko.
Ohtani came into the ring with a great deal of fan animosity towards him. The jeers he received from fans was actually quite loud. Ohtani was the inaugural champion as he won the title after winning a tournament.
Malenko had lost in two matches. His exit was in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. He would now be granted a title match against Ohtani.
The fans were chanting USA in the MGM Disney Studios World Wide Arena. Tony Schiavone and the American Dream Dusty Rhodes were on commentary.
As the match begins, Ohtani and Malenko begin a feeling-out process of one another. They lock up with Malenko taking Ohtani taken down with a side headlock.
Ohtani counters with a headscissors causing the break. The champion regains control with a rear chin lock that turns into a clutch and grabbed of the face.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match –
Shinjiro Ohtani and Dean Malenko
Malenko regained control and tossed back into the ropes. It looked like an accident that he really worked to play off well.
Once back in the ring, Malenko scoop-slammed Ohtani and then locked in a reverse chin lock. It was the first title defense for Ohtani and the first in the championship’s history.
Ohtani temporarily regained control, but Malenko caught him. A Northern Lights suplex with a bridge led to a pinning combination by the challenger. Malenko nearly had the match won at that point.
Malenko then has a whip to the corner countered by Ohtani. Ohtani makes the pin, but to no avail. It was clear that time was of the essence in this matchup. As the match continued on it was about quick pacing in order to tell the story they did.
He then hits a dragon suplex on Malenko again for only a count of two. Ohtani attempts a spin heel kick, but Malenko ducks the attempt.
The pins and counters here are quite steady throughout. Ohtani fights off a full nelson attempt.
He climbed the top turnbuckle but is caught by Malenko and locked into the Texas Cloverleaf. It was almost instant that Ohtani tapped out to Malenko.
The winner AND NEW WCW Cruiserweight Champion was Dean Malenko.
There were a number of quick moves taking place throughout the match. Neither man were being given a great deal of time. When considering, this was a television match it is understandable why things were sped up.
The television program was only an hour in length. It was important to tell as an impactful of a story as possible. Malenko capturing the championship in what was essentially five minutes could have been more.
In 1996, Cruiserweight wrestling was just beginning to catch on in North America let World Championship Wrestling.
At a time when heavyweights were typically a focus, and the new World order would capture everyone’s attention, Cruiserweights were beginning to gain attention.
If we equate this five-minute championship television match to today, it is clear to see how appreciated it happens to be today. Malenko has long been known for classic encounters.
His matches with Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and Eddie Guerrero were among them. What is special to note about this match, however, is that it was the first-ever title defense for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
That first-ever title defense was in the United States and aired on television. What is unfortunate that the match didn’t appear on an episode of Monday Night Nitro.
If fans never had the opportunity to see these two face each other, these should give this match a watch.
Viewers are encouraged to take into consideration that this laid the foundation for the future.
Dean Malenko, however, has had far more memorable matches, but this was his first championship win in World Championship Wrestling. Readers could watch the match in its entirety by clicking the YouTube link below.
While a match of this magnitude would often fly under the radar it shouldn’t be. The contributions of Ohtani to wrestling, in particular in his native home of Japan. Ohtani’s career has spanned into four decades.
In fact, when Malenko’s career ended in 2001, Ohtani continued to compete. So while, the match appeared, on WCW Saturday Night, what it did was make fans that typically wouldn’t know of Ohtani aware of him seeing him compete on North American soil. Ohtani has the heart of a lion as he recovered from a major injury in 2022
Sadly, this match between Malenko and Ohtani didn’t give fans the full experience of what both men could do against one another. It remains memorable as the title reign by Ohtani was as important to building the WCW and NJPW relationship overseas as it was in North America.
On This Day’ is a commemorative article series. It is dedicated to specific events, matches, and occurrences in wrestling history. We revisit those key moments and look back at how they went down and what they meant to the wrestling industry. Shinjiro Ohtani and Dean Malenko is that match.
