Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Yuma Aoyagi

[8.0] "This was a great match. This is the first time I've seen Yuma Aoyagi wrestler, and he seemed pretty good but not on the level of Kento Miyahara or Suwama in his prime. After leaving WWE the second time, in a run that hardly anyone noticed, Davey Boy Smith Jr spent time in MLW before going to All Japan. They went 22 minutes and while it may have been a bit long, the fans stuck with it and were loud for the last several minutes of the match. Davey Boy was wearing tights that had to have been some sort of tribute to his father, who wrestled in All Japan at various points throughout his career. When he hit the Bulldog Bomb and won the Triple Crown Championship, it felt like the culmination of not only his career, but also the career of Davey Boy Smith as well. For all his success, the British Bulldog never won a world championship in any of the promotions he wrestled for. So to see his son win the big one was cool. Davey then cut a promo putting over not only All Japan, but the country in general for treating him so well during his career. Even though he played the role of transitional champion, that doesn't take away from how big this moment was for him. ****"

[8.0] "[3.75*] Fucking awesome match. Very, very underrated. This was almost a DBSJr carryjob, specially for the first half. It was the classic modern AJPW slow burn but with a pretty good level in a technical standpoint, until they went full crazy mode at the second half with all those suplexes, bombs and nearfalls. Davey was on a special night and all his moves were executed perfectly. My favorite nearfall was when Davey hit Yuma with a picture-perfect Dangerous Backdrop (that bridge was just WONDERFUL) for a kick-out at the 2.99. With the higher pacing Aoyagi was able to showcase his best attributes more and it just ruled a lot. It was the first puro match I have seen in a couple of months and I could have not made a better choice. Loved it."

[7.0] "I accidently spoiled myself on the result before I sat down to watch this which meant it had an uphill battle to engage me. For the first half, I was just waiting around for the finish as the work was not of any particular interest. I enjoyed the second half. I was not a fan of Aoyagi's second run with the belt. I am higher than most on DBS jr and I can live with him as a transitional champion as AJPW have such a small pool of guys who are actually credible at TC champions and outside of Kento they all have very long careers ahead of them so there will be times when leftfield outsiders hold it for a bit."

[8.0] "A very solid match, while DBS Jr. is someone i've gone back and forth on in recent years after being a huge KES fan and then less of a fan of what he's done in the past few years, this felt like a real solid main event, and it also came off as a very emotional win for Davey Boy, doing something his father was never able to do, not an absolute all timer match and I maybe rating it a little too high but I feel very strongly that looking back at this in a few year we'll see this as a great title victory and hopefully a great Gaijin reign."

[6.0] "[***] This was a solid match but was a bit slow and flat for the cast majority. I wouldn't go so far to say boring, but not very engaging. I've not watched much of Davey Boy Smith Jr since his Suzuki Gun days so I was surprised to see him working such a grapple heavy style. It came pretty good by the end but not main event standard for me, especially not triple crown standard."

[7.0] "Even though few pieces of the puzzle that made this particular result possible were shown here and there months ago, this still was one of those 'I won't believe it until I see it' outcomes, I mean even if it probably gonna be just for 2-3-4 months, DBS Jr. is a Triple Crown Champion in 2024 - reality is much stranger than fiction. He dominated the match and Aoyagi was bumping and selling really well for him, but not every time a Japanese champion can make a massive comeback and decisively win."

[7.0] "Wow surprised to see this result. I'm curious to see how long will DBS Jr. will devote time for AJPW. Cool to see him winning though. The Match itself was a good basic stuff but I wouldn't say it was either man's best bout. Davey has grown a little roid belly but can go for sure. Really cool result sadly in front of A really small crowd. Congrats! ***3/4."