[7.0] "[El Desperado vs Fujita] - 2 Ÿ stars. [Tama Tonga vs Yoshi-Hashi - 3 œ stars. [Goto vs Chase ] - 3 stars. [Cobb vs SANADA] - 3 Œ stars. [Tanahashi vs EVIL] - 2 Ÿ stars (Worst of the Night). [Okada vs Taichi] - 4 œ stars (Match of the Night). Average match rating: 3.29 of 5 stars (or 6.58 of 10). Rounded to 7 for Cagematch."

[6.0] "Desperado vs. Fujita - **1/4; YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tonga - ***; Goto vs. Owens - ***1/4; Cobb vs. SANADA - ***1/2; EVIL vs. Tanahashi - **1/2; Okada vs. Taichi - ****1/2."

[7.0] "Most of this was fine but unremarkable. What really bumps it up are Sanada vs Cobb and Okada vs Taichi (especially the latter, which I'd consider a top 4 match in the G1 so far)."

[8.0] "- YOSHI-HASHI vs Tama Tonga 6.5/10: they were smart in having this short and quick match in which their agility and speed was the thing they highlighted the most. - Goto vs Owens 6.5/10: much like the opener, this was short and sweet and they took it home while showing some of their best moves. - Cobb vs SANADA 7/10: another mauling for Cobb, who beats SANADA in relatively short time to once again prove that he's seemingly on another level. SANADA got some shine but the focus in this G1 is somewhere else, rightfully so. - EVIL vs Tanahashi 7/10: I know the usual suspects will complain but this match did exactly what it had to, aka take you on a rollercoaster and make you desperatedly want Tanahashi to overcome his POS rival. He failed and the more EVIL wins the more it will be satisfying to see him lose. - Okada vs Taichi 8.5/10: while we're used to praising Okada, Taichi really deserves credit as well. In this G1 he proved once and for all that he's a great wrestler and he can more than hold his own in singles matches, with a great performance. His "dangerous" side is the perfect opposition to Okada. - show 7.5/10: a great main event and 4 solid matches, this was a very well done G1 and you can see that the wrestlers have kicked in the next gear."

[5.0] "Just watch the Main Event, Taichi had one of best performances in his career. Even that crowd that was pretty dead before EVIL's match and EVIL made things even worse somehow, but it didn't hurt that Main Event, I liked it that much."

[6.0] "Other than the main event, this show was pretty middling. EVIL v Tanahashi stunk and really lowered the rating of the show for me, everything else was fine, Main Event was pretty good. Not worth going out of your way to see other than the Main Event."

[8.0] "I don't know, I enjoyed this show as much as the one before. El Desperado's match was not limited to the basic beating of "young lion" this time, but looks like a full-fledged match. Cobb/SANADA was the match of the night from athletics standpoint, with the best action and without any unnecessary drama. Okada/Taichi was a classic NJPW main event match, including many moments of "fighting spirit" and the lack of selling of some moves, such as a DDT on the bare floor, a lot of emphasis on drama. Tanahashi/EVIL, despite the low score here, is a prime example of a good oldschool wrestling match with the clean heel and babyface. It seems to me that even Jim Cornette would be pleased to see this match, as well as the Cobb/SANADA one, so I don't see any problem with wrestlers doing stuff within their assigned role. The only weakness of this show is the first two tournament matches. They are not bad on their own, but perhaps because of their low importance I couldn't get involved in them, or perhaps they're just too "one-sided" to their losers. Tama Tonga didn't seem to have a chance to win, and the only point with Chase's victory over Tanahashi didn't played here. As for the rest, it's a very stable good show."

"Good showing here. Most the card was good to great. Don? t sleep on the Evil/Tanahashi match, it? s getting underrated. At this point EVIL might be NJPWs best heel and the booking here proves that. He pulled out every heel tactic in the book. Great storytelling. Yoshi and Tama was surprisingly solid. Cobb and Sanada could have had more punch to it but in the end Cobb looks like a beast and that? s what matters. Great main event from Okada and Taichi. Taichi really has looked fairly strong this tournament. This match made him look extremely credible."

[7.0] "This was a solid but unspectacular show. Pretty good action throughout with a great main event but no MOTY candidates. The crowd was very engaged for a clap crowd, which helped."

[6.0] "The show is modest, solid anyway, with some good thing and some don't. Solid matches overall from start to finish."

[6.0] "One more satisfactory night for the G1 Climax 31 tournament. The shows have been pretty much the same, they're all enjoyable and have at least two good matches, and this one is no different from the rest."