[5.0] "This show was fine, but none of the matches were memorable or worth seeking out. It was also pretty disappointing for an anniversary show and hardly felt like anything more than a New Japan Cup show. [MOTN: Tetsuya Naito vs. SHO]"

[5.0] "Anniversary show should be a celebration of NJPW. This was a very dull event. Yoshi Hashi at least gave it his all to get a decent match out of KENTA. If you can only watch one match watch that one. NJPW really need a new booker."

[4.0] "A lot of this was just kind of dull. Of the tag matches, Nicholls/ZSJ vs ELP/Hikuleo was the only one that really stood out as pretty decent. The Naito-SHO main was also fine, as was most of Umino vs the debuting Jack Perry (until it started to suffer from its overbooking), and YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA, which which was probably my favorite match of the show. There was also an overreliance on House of Torture antics throughout the show. You can definitely tell NJPW is suffering from the recent losses of Okada and Ospreay; hopefully they'll find a way to right the ship soon."

[5.0] "Times like these really make me worry for NJPW right now, as with Okada and Ospreay leaving, I really wanted a more optimistic viewpoint coming out of this show. Admittedly, not all of it was awful, I personally thought YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA was very good, and even though Jungle Boy (I'm never calling him anything else) vs Umino ended with Goat Man joining the HOT, the match was actually good for the most part. But still, a lot of the undercard I couldn't care about, Yano vs Takahashi was really bad and the main event was simply too much HOT, like I'm a avid HOT sympathizer, but there's a clear limit to how much works and NJPW overstimulated us constantly. My main issue with this show was just how stagnant everything is, with everyone leaving I'm disappointing with how badly affected the main event scene feels, but at least we have David Finlay and EVIL to help us keep warm :T."

[4.0] "A very weak Anniversary Show card. Great O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs Tanga Loa & Tomoaki Honma: A match that didnt even get to the 5 minute mark, the action was average at best [*]. Mikey Nicholls & Zack Sabre Jr vs El Phantasmo & Hikuleo: A solid match, TMDK getting the win was a surprise, GOD looked decently in ring but they could have done with the win here [**1/2]. Boltin Oleg, El Desperado, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs Los Ingobernables de Japon: It was an okay multi man match, Boltin Oleg displaying his power was good to see, the opening stretch between Tomohiro Ishii and Yota Tsuji was hard hitting which was good to see [**3/4]. Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP vs David Finlay, Gabe Kidd & Gedo: An average match to be honest, the action was average [*3/4]. Just 5 Guys vs House Of Torture: Not the best multi man match of the show, HOT continue to use their underhanded tactics which continue to make their matches more on the downside [*1/2]. Toru Yano vs Yujiro Takahashi: Not a good way to start the New Japan Cup 2024, the outcome being a count out and going just under 3 minutes [DUD]. YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA: A great performance by YOSHI-HASHI, KENTA put up as good of a match as he can give these days which is limited, YOSHI-HASHI winning was good to see [***1/2]. Jack Perry vs Shota Umino: The first 5/6 minutes were slow, the pace did pick up but the ending completely ruined it with HOT coming out and helping Jack Perry get the win, with Perry joining HOT [*]. Tetsuya Naito vs SHO: Some wrestling in this match, but yet again the underhanded tactics were used again like ref bumps and HOT getting involved which were not needed [**]"

[6.0] "As far as anniversary events go this is was a very weak card. Though all the matches were of a good quality, none of them really stood out. Still, as an event that tells a story of where a promotion is at right now, this told us a lot about New Japan and the many possible paths they can take moving forward. An interesting watch."

[4.0] "A disappointing show overall for the 52nd Anniversary of the company . The wrestling itself wasn't particularly bad but there was way too much HoT stuff, from the undercard to the main-event they looked to be the main-focus of the entire event. **1/4"

[6.0] "Nothing special overall but a fine anniversary show. Went by pretty fast and none of the undercard matches felt like they outstayed their welcome. Yano match was pretty funny which I feel less and less with him, Yoshi-Hashi and Kenta had a surprisingly good match and I really enjoyed Shota and Jack Perry too though I feel they have more in store. Main event was fun too though not anything like some of the great junior vs heavyweight champ matches we had over the years."

[8.0] "Very solid show with some fun moments and good multi-men tag matches, the card went by pretty quickly. Every NJC match was good enough, surprisingly. The main event had some nice limbwork and every move mattered, thankfully LIJ came quickly to make the save and a Naito promo to end the show is always a good choice to make the fans happy. As for the dude in the comments crying about how the wrestlers supposedly didn't care about the fact 3000 people bought tickets to watch that show: maybe you should watch the show with the audio on, because despite the current narrative about New Japan being doomed and despite all the miserable people this fanbase seems to have nowadays it sure looked and sounded like they had fun and were happy at the end of the show."

[5.0] "A couple of fun matches but nothing remotely great on the show. When a YOSHI-HASHI vs KENTA singles match is your MOTN you know you didn't witness a show of the year contender. A disappointing main and underwhelming Umino vs Perry match all thanks to the utter garbage that is HoT continues to drag down this company. 5/10"

[3.0] "What are we doing here? This show managed to draw a much better crowd than last year, despite a pretty piss poor card on paper, and then everything under delivers. I don't think I even feel bad about saying that the best thing on this card was the Yano comedy match that lasted less than 3 minutes. Most of the card was more of a joke than Yano handcuffing his opponent to an announcer. Did anyone on this card even care that 3000 people had paid to come to the show? Naito decided to take his shirt off to provide the illusion that he gave a damn, bu then did absolutely nothing but sell for uninspired knee work for 20 minutes. I'd comment on the other matches, but none of them did anything worthy of comment. I suppose not knowing Jack Perry was going to join HoT meant the generic, boring, played out HoT finish was unexpected. It still sucked. Honestly, at this point, fuck this company. If your going to book your shows with less seriousness than DDT, at least have the decency to make them fun."