Ricky Steamboat vs. Tiger Mask

[7.0] "This is a very underrated match. Is it as good as it could have been. No i don't think it was but still an awesome wrestling match. Steamboat was the best in the world imo at this time. (***3/4)"

[8.0] "I liked this match more than others here it would seem. While the first half was a little slow, I felt it built up well and told a good story, with the final six or so minutes picking up the pace and intensity."

[5.0] "An odd match really. There is a lot to like: both guys get off good-looking strikes and good strings of strikes. They build up an incredible pinfall series for Misawa, real 2.999 counts, including off a frogsplash. Nearly everything is clean and well-executed in itself. But, like I say, weird. Why is the first half a headlock contest, given the natural work these guys want to do? The Driver comes out on the mats outside, but otherwise doesn't play into the match, and so the issue of neck work is never teased. It's not jockeying for position and advantage either. The mat work is crisp, and initially looks good, but palls. The exchange outside is fine, and has Ricky doing the Ricky Hulkup act a little bit, but it doesn't really fit with anything else. A few cutoffs and transitions, especially later into the match, just look slow and even telegraphed. The win is clean, as Misawa gets a rollup and Steamboat reverses (which certainly feels like it's referring to a few Steamboat matches! ). This is decent coverage for a both-faces match but it's a little deflating, for whatever reason. The crowd starts very odd - behind TM2, happy to see Steamboat, but there's some heckling and laughter for a long time about something else. The crowd heats up a lot in the end stretch, which is solid and fairly forward-looking. 2.5/5"

[7.0] "(Grade C) whilst these are legend, the match itself felt very repetitive though they were still drawing the audience in so can't harp on them too much still a decent match"

[7.0] "people are being harsh imo. This is a good traditional match between two legends. Could these two do more, yeah probably, was it still a pretty decent match... yes."

[6.0] "Most of it looked good, aside from the missed spin kick and the really silly looking wrenching headlock, but it was a slog to get through to the final moments. The final moments are decent but barely work sitting through the rest. Luckily it's fairly short so not impossible to sit through, and the crowd helps quite a bit. Steamboat's chops are great and Tiger Mask control's the majority of the match with decent to good offense so it's worth at least one watch."

[7.0] "This was a good match. Tiger Mask at this time was being played by Mitsuharu Misawa, so the idea of a Misawa/Steamboat match feels like an all time classic. Unfortunately, this was not that, as they stuck with mostly headlocks for the first half of the match. Normally I wouldn't mind, but for a 13 minute match, that eats up a lot of time. Everything was technically sound, and when they did start hitting their moves, the match got a lot better. Given more time, this could have been great. That said, this is still worth watching. ***1/4"

[5.0] "Steamboat/Misawa sounds like a dream match knowing what they did in their respective careers. However, this match wouldn't give you anything close to that sort of impression. During his stint as Tiger Mask II, he'd often rely on numerous headlocks and counters until the finishing stretch. It's no different here as he spends nearly all match repeating the same handful of basic moves for the most part. The crowd may've been roaring, but their excitement doesn't translate to the work being done in the ring. Once Steamboat starts building momentum the match picks up, though it still never amounts to anything particularly good. The striking exchange was cool yet baffling in context - Steamboat takes a piledriver ringside and proceeds to engage in a chopping contest, showing no worse for wear. It's a decent back-and-forth until Ricky counters a pin attempt for his own to retain his NWA World Championship. **3/4"

[6.0] "It is similar to many Tiger Misawa matches of the same decade, decent high-flying back-and-forth and not too much else. Steambot sure knows how to work in Japan, though, but he has never shone particularly, while Misawa has never been that great of a Tiger Mask, to be fair, and we are lucky they unmasked him the year after. **3/4"