Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada

[8.0] "the openening start was a little slow white with a headlock for awhile but okada turns the pace up crossbody to Gedo and white, Okada turning the clock back to the old okada but even then its not enough with gedo getting involved and white finding all the counters to a simple rainmaker tho he does get hit with a spinning one great match here"

[8.0] "Wasn't a huge fan of the first stretch but I think this match was fantastic overall. Okada had a fucking amazing entrance and the Rainmaker was really back with this one. Also a fantastic way to put White over."

[7.0] "i feel like nothing to extraordinary happened in this match. I like the story alot coming into the match and theres so good fast paced action in it but nothing to memorable. Best part of the match is probably the end with the great smooth transitions from both guys. 4stars."

[6.0] "Okada getting a big pop for coming out in shorts is cool as hell, but the actual match itself here is just fine. I didn't enjoy Jay's heel work as much here, and Okada really only brought good aggression towards the back half of the match. With all that being said the last minute or so had great counters before Jay won.***"

"Revisited this because of their upcoming WK main event and also I remember it being a relatively short match for both White and Okada. This was really quality stuff and considering their coming title match isn't necessarily hot, a shorter bout like this should suffice. ****1/4"

[7.0] "This is exactly what I wish modern Okada matches were like. Short, sweet, not full of over the top and overdone strike exchanges with a thousand no-sells and kickouts and a simple babyface/heel story with a satisfying build and finish - ***3/4"

[8.0] "This match marked the point for me where Jay really came into his own as a heel, he was smooth and precise and every move felt like it meant something. After years of so many extremely long Okada singles matches, it was refreshing to get one at 15 minutes that still feels so well paced."

[8.0] "This was a good match but not a classic or even must-see as Meltzer's rating would make you think. It is important in putting Jay White over however, but the match doesn't do much more than that. It does it's job though. ****"

[8.0] "This was one of the shortest Okada's singles match that I have watched and although it was really good, I wanted a lot more as I know these two are more than capable of delivering ****1/2+ matches. That being said it was very fun although never went full throttle and maintained a good and methodical pace. Jay White is so great in the little heel things he does and makes him so unlikable to the crowd. Okada played a great babyface but as far as grudge match goes, it was a bit too clean and fast. ****"

[10.0] "What a tremendous match. Not only it was very much anticipated, exciting from beginning to end and had a memorable finish, but also really helped to revitalize the show going into the last two matches."

[10.0] "I loved this. It was great action pretty much the entire time. There was a lot of animosity between the two. I was hyped the entire time right from the entrances on. The crowd was a big part that helped. They were going crazy the entire time and that allowed me to be just as excited as them. A spot that will stick in my mind was when Okada did the crossbody over the barricade to both White and Gedo. I loved that a lot. In the later part the two were unbelievable with how they got the crowd behind them with loads of reversals and the lightning fast offense and drama. The last few minutes were really excellent. I loved how even though everyone was behind Okada, including me, there was still a massive pop when White hit the Blade Runner and won. It's hard to put why I loved this into words because with everything by the end I was just incredibly fond of it and was lost in the action. This was a fantastic match."

[7.0] "The return of the rainmaker! Solid good guy vs. bad guy match here. White does his heel stuff with the prancing, posing and taunting the crowd. Okada plays babyface hyping the crowd up and getting them to clap along. The impressive part is that they pull this off in front of a crowd of 40 000 plus. Of course this match is most remembered for the shocking result of Okada losing at the Dome. In retrospect this probably only happened because NJPW needed to create a new heel with Omega leaving. ***1/2"

[8.0] "I was worried I only loved this match as much as I did on my first viewing because I didn't know the result... but nah, this was still awesome on a second viewing. We all expected that Wrestle Kingdom -- Okada's number one playhouse -- would be the perfect setting for Okada to get his win back over Jay and thus begin his journey towards reclaiming the IWGP Heavyweight Title. So, what a beautifully tragic and fantastically booked twist it was to see Jay end Okada's fairy tale comeback (and do so cleanly! ). Okada was the biggest babyface in the world here, eliciting rabid crowd responses to every bit of offence he got in, and Jay was great by contrast as the slimy heel with all his super aggressive and powerful attacks, all of which allowed Okada to further show off his legendary babyface selling. It was fantastic seeing Jay arrogantly toy with Okada, and Okada was outstanding as he got more and more p*ssed off and eventually gave Jay the beating he deserved. The in-ring work here admittedly wasn't the most polished or creative for the first 2/3rds, but Okada's charm has always been how he's capable of putting in only 50-75% of the effort that his colleagues put in yet still producing equally if not far superior matches, and he absolutely did that here. It was cheesy but very fun seeing Gedo constantly interfere only for Okada to keep knocking him down, and this would also help to highlight how Jay's victory would end up being clean. Jay was fantastic as he dropped his pure arrogance and instead just brutalised Okada with various power moves, and Okada of course sold perfectly while responding with his own fantastic signature moves. Watching these two go back and forth at the end with counter after counter, teasing various Blade Runners and Rainmakers, was marvelous. Ignore the lukewarm other ratings here -- for being only 15-minutes long, this was incredible. ****1/4"

[8.0] "Really fun match overall. I am surprised by the result and the length of the match. Okada's return of trunk was great even crowd popped hard. White was pretty good as a heel. But Okada looked great here with tremendous reaction from live audience. He did great as a babyface. Really like the crossbody to both Gedo and White. And then it was your classic Okada formula with full of reversals, counter move, which was fun as well. I like the sudden finish making White even bigger deal and his win more important."

[8.0] "The build up to that match was excellent, leading to a crowd 100% behind The Rainmaker who came back with his most iconic look and theme. But that was not enough, Jay improved really fast and still saw some flaws in Okada's wrestling, allowing him to have a shocking win in 15 minutes on the biggest show of the year. It's an important moment for Jay White and his story with Okada. Not a Wrestle Kingdom classic but it did exactly what it needed to do, and the fans were totally invested in this."

[7.0] "THE RAINMAKER IS BACK! Good match with an insane ending sequence. Hyped for what's next for both these guys. ****"

[4.0] "Didn't really see much appeal with this. It certainly wasn't bad, Okada is talented and I liked the bit of interaction he had with Gedo especially, but I just don't see any appeal in Jay White. His tights are covered in bloody slashes, but there's nothing violent, urgent, or even interesting about him in the ring, bland as can be. If New Japan is banking on this guy replacing Omega, they are in bad shape."

[8.0] "Better than i expected. Jay White has improved a lot during this year. He can be a great opponent also for the intercontinental title. But ... am i a great njpw fan or all the matches were perfectly enjoyable? also the dark match :)"

[8.0] "I didn't have high hopes for this match but luckily it was really good and the pop for Okada's trunks eas awesome. Lots of cool reversals that helped show how devastating the rainmaker is. Loved Gedo's karma catching up with him multiple times. The crowd was really invested in the match. (****)"

[6.0] "Jay White -vs- Kazuchika Okada [***] was good, but bland. Not sold on White at this level, but they are pushing him strong as a possible Omega replacement. The most positive thing about the match was the return of Okada's short pants. The most negative was the dance they called counters and reversals leading up to the end. Looked ridiculous. Thankfully most of the match looked more credible than that."

[9.0] "Oh this was so fun. The return of the Rainmaker and the pop for the trunks was legendary and some of the sequences in this match were outstanding. The final 5 minutes propelled this match and the shock victory from White was the right decision, I believe. There is definitely unfinished business here but what a match, it just needed more time. (****1/2)"

[8.0] "The match was great, and while not quite the star making performance in itself, it was good enough that coupled with the clean and decisive win, it should still elevate White to stardom."

[8.0] "Great match with so many awesome sequences. Outcome was a MASSIVE surprise to me and wish it went another 10 minutes though. That pop for the shorts though good stuff. 4. 25/4. 5"

[8.0] "Very good match, the best of a Jay White career, and the best for Okada since Tanahashi at Destruction 2018. Finish arrived to soon, but the timing wanted that. I hope a 3rd match between now and Dominion"

[8.0] "That pop for Okada? s shorts was. The crowd was pumped for this since it was announced on the screen. Total boos for Jay White, who played them up perfectly and MASSIVE pops for Okada. This wasn? t a traditional Okada match, he was much for fiery in his attacks. He was aggressive and urgent. White was great in his heel role, cheating at every turn and getting one up on Okada. If White offered a bit more passed the reversals, this would've been a MOTYC. But alas. ***3/4"

[5.0] "When it comes to an event like Wrestle Kingdom or Wrestlemania, I prefer to be harsher on rating matches, because I believe this is the event where wrestlers should put everything on the line and then some, where they have to make their moments count. Jay White is NJPW's new golden boy, the one who'll lead the promotion into a new era, while Okada is now the past who must inevitably pass the torch. This was where White was supposed to finally win me over, going toe to toe with who I believe is the best wrestler in the world today. Okada comes out as the Rainmaker of old, golden hair, coat and everything, and I was overjoyed; it's been over half a year since I saw this Okada, the same Okada who had the greatest title reign of the modern era. And so... the match was good. But just good; it never quite reached the heights that I expected it would. Jay White finally manages to hit one Blade Runner, and that was it. It was a dud, and it killed the crowd. Why wouldn't it? There wasn't a huge build-up to the finish, and at no point did the match itself go 'next-level' with amazing spots. Okada lost clean at WK; a feat that the very best of NJPW struggled relentlessly to be able to do. What was the point of the last few months if you'd just toss out his character growth with an unconvincing loss? Jay White gloats, and hardly sells as he walks to the back, while the fans half-heartedly boo him. I get it, a lot of western fans seem to love Jay White, but nothing about this match won me over with him, nor did he win over the Japanese crowd. Jay White is not main-event caliber, and I'm much less likely to watch any match he's in, because he's proven to me he can't deliver when it counts, and I've had enough with the carry jobs from superior wrestlers trying to put this new 'Ace' over."

[1.0] "The pop Okada got for revealing his OG Rainmaker trunks made me smile. The match itself was very much how I imagined a match between the two would look like. Robotic & forgettable, and yet another match that never kicked into the 2nd gear because of the length. Okada going too long has been a real annoyance of mine for the past few years, but here the match actually could've done w/ 10 more minutes or so. Bleh. *1/4"

[8.0] "Jay White winning clean was awesome and they had a super masturbatory counter stretch leading into the finish if you? re into that. ****1/4"

[8.0] "Match of the night up to that point. Okada bringing back the trunks and blonde hair was a huge moment, and I was convinced he was picking up the win here so Switchblade coming out the victor really shocked me. Could've done with a few more minutes for it to be truly special but an excellent match regardless."

[6.0] "it is a normal macht not so good not so bad. i thick this two wrestler may better, if the dont it is ok but no body say okada is the best in the world"

[7.0] "Very good, but several steps down from the usual Okada epic you expect at WrestleKingdom, although it was beautiful to see Okada back in rare form in appearance."