Masashi Takeda vs. Toshiyuki Sakuda

[8.0] "The match begins with some chain wrestling before quickly escalating into chaos, as both men hurl bundles of light tubes at each other and trade tube shots. Sakuda gets the first big momentum shift, hitting a hurricanrana and following up with a dive to the outside. Back in the ring, he continues smashing tubes over Takeda, but Takeda regains control by carving Sakuda's forehead with broken glass and scoop slamming him onto a pile of tubes. They trade stiff strikes until Takeda holds a light tube against Sakuda's mouth and hits a Russian leg sweep. Things get nastier when Takeda stabs a gusset plate into Sakuda's arm and stomps it into his hand. Sakuda fights back, hammering a gusset into Takeda's forehead and even shoving one into his mouth before dropkicking him in the face. A board of gussets is brought into play, and Takeda slams Sakuda onto it before hanging him upside down in the corner and blasting tubes across his chest with a knee strike and chair shots. Sakuda answers with a bulldog into the gusset board, then ups the brutality by piercing a needle through Takeda's cheek, pushing it across his mouth until it exits the other side. He smashes Takeda in the corner with a senton through tubes, but Takeda counters soon after with a dropkick. Pulling the needle out of his own cheeks, Takeda gruesomely drives it into Sakuda's cheek before hitting a German suplex for a 2 count. Sakuda retaliates with a German of his own, then slams Takeda into more tubes for another near fall. The match ramps up further as Sakuda sets a bundle of tubes on four chairs, then backflips off the top rope with Takeda in his grip, driving him through the tubes. Takeda somehow kicks out 2. Sakuda goes up again for a 450 splash, but Takeda moves out of the way. Takeda wedges tubes across Sakuda's back and powerbombs him down, shattering the tubes, then smashes more tubes into Sakuda's body with a brutal knee strika, yet Sakuda still kicks out. Takeda introduces a board of forks and plants Sakuda with an inverted sit-out powerslam for another near call. Finally, he delivers a lifting reverse DDT to end the carnage and secure the 3 count. The first half of the match was a bit slow, but the second half was explosive and packed with brutal innovation, insane bumps, and dramatic near falls that kept the outcome in doubt until the very end. Both men endured incredible punishment, and the creativity of the violence made it unforgettable. Highly recommended deathmatch."

[6.0] "Hard to go wrong with a deathmatch in a super hot Korakuen crowd. Nothing here was really ground-breaking stuff though, although Takeda's splash mountain powerbomb with the light tubes stuck between Sakuda's arms was a sweet spot. The spiked boards, spikes through the mouth and a shiranui off the top through light tubes helped too tbf - ***1/4"

[10.0] "One of the all-time great death matches. The kick outs at one at the end are so damn thrilling with just all around great wrestling."

[8.0] "To be honest, i enjoy every single Takeda match, and this was no exception. It should have been the main event though. My only issue was that there was a lot of no selling in my opinion. On the plus side, Sakuda and Takeda have really good chemistry and this makes me look forward to more of their matches in the tournamnet. Good way to start the tournament off for sure!"

[8.0] "Could have done with maybe a sprinkle more of the "epic" formula but this went along at quite a nice pace and didn't have too much of the old "I'll sit/lie here and hold this over my face for you" which can plague these matches. All in all, a pretty solid deathmatch even if I don't think there's any part which sticks out as truly memorable if you've seen a few of these."

[10.0] "A Great Match That Was About The Fighting Spirit And Was Great In Showing That From Both, Takeda Is The Best Always"

[8.0] "Really great deathmatch. Didn't reach the heights of Takeda/Kodaka but this still delivered. Takeda was the mad genius working on top, and Sakuda was the underdog having to fight hard for every comeback. Lot of fire and passion showcased from both men. Sakura's overall selling was especially perfect. The spots were obviously brutal, and some were very creative. The skewer through the face and even a knife stand out the most as incredibly dangerous. The ending stretch was great, but lacked a little something. Overall this was a banger. ****"

[9.0] "Violent beyond all conceivable limits. The two wanted to kill each other and went tremendously close. Not recommended for the faint-hearted, recommended absolutely to lovers of the genre"

[7.0] "I gave this match *** 3/4 stars out of five. It was bloody violent and the skewer through the cheeks spot is always gross and cringey. The match missed a little for me to give it the four star rating but still one of the best death matches of 2019."

[8.0] "Takeda strikes again, showing how death matches can be the exact sort of 'work-rate' matches that us 'normal' wrestling fans will love. This was awesome. Unlike the majority of other death matches out there, this match had both performers putting every ounce of effort they could muster into making every single typical death-match spot look painful, sickening, and downright brutal. Takeda is a twisted, sick individual, and he's totally okay with that. He was fantastic as he victimised Sakuda, and Sakuda was fantastic in selling, since he has a natural baby face that adds a lot of drama when he's being sliced or carved up in whatever way Takeda sees fit. Likewise, once it was Sakuda's turn to fire up and gain control he was also great, showing appropriate fire but also showing the same sadistic side that Takeda was showing. I absolutely adored the sequences with both guys having their cheeks pierced with the rod and then having it disgustingly yanked out. It's moments like those where I have to applaud both guys for their facial expressions and energetic little jolts and spasms that take an otherwise underwhelming attack and turn it into something truly skin-crawling and cringeworthy in the best way possible. I was struggling to watch everything unfold, but I wouldn't dare look away. Then the match moved into more traditional wrestling territory as we started getting big power moves and crazy close near falls, which all benefited from the visual of both guys drenched in blood and the ring filled with light-tube shards and various other debris. I love Takeda, but I was desperate for Sakuda to pull out the win, because he really impressed me in how he managed to hang with Takeda, plus the crowd was pretty much all behind him. In the end Takeda would get the win in a slightly deflating finish relative to the carnage we had already seen unfold, but that didn't stop this being an outstanding match. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Takeda might be a legit lunatic. Everyone knows he's the best in the world, but props to Sakuda for showing up and putting on the match of his life so far. I'm not too familiar with him outside of tag matches, but he was fantastic here and if he keeps this up he could be a deathmatch champ in the future. Great start to what is hopefully a great tournament."

[9.0] "This match was amazing and had pretty much everything you want from a deathmatch. The pacing of the match was really good and the match flowed by easily. There wasn't a part in the match that felt anything other than engaging and entertaining. Takeda has been really great and seems to always deliver these amazing deathmatches. This match is one of the best matches I've seen this early in the year."

[8.0] "This was gnarly as hell. Takeda is a madman and Sakuda is right there along with him. To quote Bobby Heenan: they are both nuts. (Never thought Bobby Heenan and deathmatch would be in the same few sentences). Sakuda whilst didn't have a the skill of Takeda, he had the heart and the pain threshold to stand toe to toe with him and get through this match. Didn't reach the dramatic height of say Takeda vs Kodoka but this was an awesome match. ****"

[9.0] "Sakuda is a small guy so much so that he makes Takeda who wrestles as a jr look much bigger. This is a great boon for the match as Takeda takes a large part of it with Sakuda going for quick comebacks most of which come to nothing while the crowd get more and more into it at each attempted comeback. This simple story was almost expertly told as Sakuda sold and showed great fire while Takeda seemed to relish what he was doing being in control so much. This did not feel like most singles bjw deathmatchs which can often feel way to back and forth and just a collection of stuff. This was more structured and was much better for it. They did some really nasty stops outside of the usual glass spots, a stick through both cheeks for both men was the highlight. The only negatives were that one of the spots took for ever to set up and Sakuda was just sat on the top rope looking dumb, the other negative was the 1 counts which I never like. Finish where Takeda was just too strong and had too much in the tank for his smaller opponent. While Takeda looked good this was all about the performance of Sakuda and made him look special. ****1/4"

[9.0] "This match is a fantastic start to the tournament for both men. Very violent, exciting and a little over-the-top at times. I'm sure Sakuda has been great for a long time but this match has opened my eyes up, will be paying more attention to him in the future."

[8.0] "Takeda is a mad fucking genius. Everything that this guy does is either brutal, disgusting, or creative. Sometimes all three at the same time. He absolutely massacred Sakuda with a variety of weapons for some awesome spots. Props to Sakuda for taking all of it too and delivering it back and then some, ****1/4."

[9.0] "Strong Japanese men, daredevils, wrestling another brutal deathmatch. Takeda is simply on another level as far as deathmatches go, so every match he has is worth watching. Haven't seen much of Sakuda, but I sure was impressed by his performance here.."