| 1 | 20.01.2023 | giantkimalaIV | 9.0 | This tournament was a really good success from an artistic standpoint. Not only did it lead to very good matches between pairs you don't see together that much in the earlier stages but it lead to this show where both semi-finals convey each character so vividly. Hino and Yuji murk Strong Hearts in the semis, but it's the younger Hyodo who really guts it out and proves himself to win in the finals. Meanwhile Nomura overcomes hardcore wrestling in the semis to look really strong heading into his Daichi challenge, and Kamitani who doesn't have much pressing matters going on but whose defeat can still carry some weight gets upset by Hyodo. King's Road refers to the simple approach in life and this is simple booking that's really good. Other than the tournament, seeing the tune-up match ahead of the trios title match was good. The deathmatch featuring Ito challenging for Abby's belt at BunTai was epic, it crushed me to see Drew and Decker split up, especially Decker yelling afterwards that Drew was holding him back. They may have been from two different countries but damn it they were closer than brothers! Finally, the juniors match was awesome. Abe is a truly realised pro wrestler and his showmanship can feel second to none when he's on fire. The angle afterwards where everyone piled in to yell on the mic while TAJIRI was dead on the ground was real funny too. |
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