Daniel Garcia vs. Kazuchika Okada

[7.0] "A decently structured 20-minute affair, where both men, as champions, look well-matched at this time. Good heel work from Okada is the highlight. [***.5]"

[7.0] "This match suffered from what used to happen in Jay White matches when he was in NJPW. A really slow first 5-8 minutes of boring wrestling to fill time. This match also suffered from the commercial breaks. It really broke the flow of the match. The only reason this didn't get a lower score if because I really like the draw ending. This is what was missing from last years tournament. A rub for the younger guy without the veteran taking a pin. Otherwise zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz."

[8.0] "The first half of this match sucked, it was a lazy Okada fighting against a early match Danny. You can literally skip the first 5-8 minutes without losing nothing. However, the last half was great, and for a moment I even imagine Okada losing. A draw looked much better...I guess?"

[6.0] "Main event of Collision and the crowd is ready. Daniel Garcia is out after Okada and gets absolutely no reaction in his first match as TNT Champion. Credit to Garcia, he is doing the right things as a babyface, showing fire and asking for the crowd to cheer. He is just not over. No one expects he will beat Okada or anyone, for that matter. I would barely give it a 6/10. Match story was more about Garcia believing he can win against Okada than anything else and they really took their time with nothing spectacular because they knew the result was 20 minutes."

[5.0] "It's a Champion VS Champion match. It's from Okada who has shown he does good in tournaments multiple times in the G1. It goes for 20 minutes. It should be good right? Well if anything I thought Garcia looked pretty good out there, but this was not as good as it probably should've been. It's obvious that they're going for a draw and they are dragging the match in the first half. The crowd seems to like Garcia but doesn't care about Okada as a heel. Garcia's selling of his neck is decent. Some of Okada's heel antics are good. And they did a few decent sequences near the end, but it ended up underdelivering massively for me. Hopefully we'll get a rematch at some point because I feel like they might be able to get something out of this pairing. For now though, not very good."

[8.0] "This is without a doubt the best fight I've seen so far of this Continental Classic tournament. I really liked the attitude and performance of Okada and Garcia, both have good chemistry and performed quite well what they wanted to show us in the fight. The draw is the least of it, but I like knowing that it won't be easy for the reigning champion. A worthy Main Event that is awesome for my taste."

[6.0] "That was a good match, and I think it was the right decision to have it ended on a draw, since it was a Champion vs. Champion on the first round of the tournament. (***1/4)."

[9.0] "I had SOOOOO much fun with this! Garcia was a top-of-the-line babyface here. Okada's heel actions also gave the match a really nice touch. The way these two worked gave so much to analyze. The spot where Garcia holds the hand of a kid in the audience while firing up is genuinely an all-timer for this promotion, that should be played in every intro. Okada doing stuff like mocking his dance while flipping him off was great stuff, that lead into the two kicking the piss out of each other and a rock solid finish. Just a blast overall. *4.25*"

[6.0] "Okada vs Garcia might be Okada's best match in AEW thus far. And that's primarily due to his selling which I thought was pretty good. I thought it made a good effort to make Garcia look on his level. However he is still so low energy offensively. Almost lackadaisical. The draw was well paced at least. ***"

[5.0] "Maybe it's just because I was expecting more but this was the disappointment of the night and the tournaments opening round. Obviously Kazuchika Okada wasn't going to lose his first match in the C2 and of course Daniel Garcia wasn't going to lose his first match as TNT champion so I thought it was strange that they were having this match so early into the tournament. The outcome of this being a time limit draw was predictable but not necessarily a bad thing. AEW has given us some of the best time limit draws in the last couple years but this did not live up to that legacy. This felt like it was on auto pilot until it came time for Okada to be a tricky heel and commentary did not do him any favors by constantly mentioning that the experienced Okada is saving his energy for the rest of the tournament. Ok but he's in there with the new TNT champion, maybe we should be getting a bit more urgency, especially since we're supposed to believe Garcia almost made him tap. It's not a bad story to tell but this is a champion vs champion first round match in the C2, this is the time to go hard on TV"

[7.0] "I think Okada's time in AEW has exposed him a little. He's still an absolutely phenomenal wrestler, but I feel like he just doesn't hit as well as when his opponents aren't the usual crop of top talent he's used to in NJPW. This match was very good, but still lacked something to make it hit harder for me. Either way a pretty good match with an understandable time limit draw that helps Garcia, but doesn't hinder Okada."

[8.0] "Okada didn't mail this one in and it showed. It was a good outing. From both and I like the draw here. The submission at the end where Okada could've tapped was very entertaining. Okada's fake shoulder injury turned chair shot was also entertaining!"

[9.0] "I think Okada's AEW run has been fairly underwhelming, but he seemed to care a bit more about this match and put in more effort and it paid off, thanks also of course to the top level effort of the highly talented Daniel Garcia. I appreciated how well they were able to engage the crowd, Garcia seemed to literally draw strength from the crowd at times and the fans responded by supporting him all the more. The draw was predictable but still, this might be Okada's best singles showing in AEW for my taste."

[6.0] "In terms of story, this gets more right than wrong. Okada remains complacement to start the Continental Classic, almost paying the price but barely surviving long enough to see the final bell. That works, as does Garcia's late success, giving him a flattering finish to his first match as TNT Champion. Unfortunately, the action is noticeably weak, falling short of the early C2 standard in that regard. There isn't much oomph to the work, with Okada again sleepwalking through the meat of the match. Unfortunately, Garcia isn't able to go through the gears in response, making it two straight for him in that department. Disappointing match, even beyond the admittedly tired crowd. **3/4"

[6.0] "**** a good match, the best by far of the day, good chemistry, interesting sequences, good heel exchanges by Okada, good decision that ended in time limit, because Garcia could not afford a defeat so soon as he was recently champion , Okada probably won't lose a match until the final or semis at Worlds End and may have another time limit, against Fletcher perhaps"

[7.0] "From one point, they had some great showing here with subtle storytelling. Okada, once again, did a great job at being a prick and Garcia is on high waves after his TNT title win. But, sometimes it felt like there were too much resting phases in the match. Commercial breaks do tend to do that, but sometimes it spilled over back on TV and screwed with the phasing a little. Really hard to choose between 7 and 8, but knowing they can have an even better match, I'll save 8 for their (hopefully) future encounter."

[8.0] "Good match, very strong wrestling, didn't love the finish and thought that Garcia should've carried more of the offense. I liked the wrestling but what keeps it from a 9 or 10 is that they didn't accomplish waht they set out to do and that's make Garcia look like he can really beat Okada - this match would have worked MUUUCH better if Okada already had a win or two under his belt, and I think they would've actually done what they wanted if they just let DG beat Okada. Definitely some problems with the booking, but the guys themselves did a great job"

[8.0] "For someone who prefers a bit of nuance and sports-based presentation, this hits like crack, but storytelling subtlety is an art that is lost to people. That, and the uniquely American allergy to a good score draw. Without a word, this match managed to portray Okada as a wrestler who got too cocky over the past few months as part of the Elite, and Garcia as the wily underdog that's undergone a startling transformation from scraping a win in a no-stakes match last year to tying up against - and almost beating - one of the best wrestlers on the planet this year. Marvellous stuff."

[6.0] "Good match, probably the best match of the night, but I wasn't super excited about it like some people, it was a decent time limit draw, the match was well worked, Garcia had the support of the crowd, but the pace and the psychology weren't the sharpest. I really liked when Okada faked the injury to outsmart Danny, that was a cool moment, and the ending stretch was nice, with Okada trapped on the sharpshooter, surviving and waiting for the bell, an exciting finish for sure, I'm happy that they chose to do a draw so soon, considering that last year's edition only had a draw on the final round - {***}"

[6.0] "Your typical time-limit draw Okada match in a tournament in which he participates, the problem being that in the ring it was solid but you got the impression that nothing much was happening. Nothing really interesting, it really lasted twenty minutes just to make it last twenty minutes and personally I got a bit bored. But again, it was solid, just forgettable."

[8.0] "[***3/4] Great main event. I'm surprised they didn't start Kazuchika Okada off on a tear, will be interested to see where they go with this, as the story was that Daniel Garcia has levelled up."

[8.0] "It is a bit strange on reflection that Kazuchika Okada didn't win his first match of the Continental Classic, but Daniel Garcia shouldn't have lost his first match after winning the TNT Championship, so the draw was a fair result, especially emphasising the 20 minute time limit. It just makes me wonder what they would be capable of in a longer match, as this was really good, showing off both men's strengths."