Makoto Oishi vs. Tetsuya Endo

[7.0] "This wasn't the most action packed match but it had a good story, as Oishi had to make up for his power and strength disadvantage by working over Endo's leg. He did so in a great variety of way, as he had the usual strikes, holds, and even aerial attacks, plus some illegal attacks where he used the exposed outside floor and the ring post. I really enjoyed how dedicated he was in targeting the leg after he realied what a significant weak point it was, and Endo's real-time selling was very good. His long term selling really wasn't that good though, since he was far more interested in executing all his acrobatic and athletic spots without having to worry about gesturing to or expressing any issues with his leg at the same. This was really unfortunate, but Endo was so great at everything else he did -- with his beautiful powers moves, his incredibly flashy movement, and his impressive displays of strength -- that I didn't hold this no-selling as a major negative against him. His power moves became less frequent as Oishi came to more heavily dominate the match, but they were always great whenever he did get to bring them out. It was a shame about Endo's botched rebound kick (which appeared to have been Oishi's fault for forgetting to take the bump), but Endo was still able to follow up with some impressive moves and eventually hit his Shooting Star Press for the win, so that botch -- much like Endo's no-selling -- wasn't a major impairment of my enjoyment. I was surprised to see that the match went nearly 30 minutes, but at the same time it felt like the match was missing one or two big sequences to compliment the finishing stretch. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Amazing match with great amount of good wrestling and great technique. Some viewers might not understand gay moment from Oishi, but it was absolutaly appropriate in this case. Contender for the match of the year in DDT"

[8.0] "A match built totally around showcasing Oishi as a main eventer, and it was almost perfectly done. Oishi himself shined in this match on every level - his limb work on both the neck and leg of Endo, his dominance throughout the match, series of his top big moves and his babyface aura. Oishi proved that he can hold his own, and then so, with guys like Takeshita, HARASHIMA and Sasaki. I'm all for a further main event run for Oishi down the line. Endo was really selfless in that regard, and I totally get why he took a back seat in his first title defence when he didn't need to. A great sign of a champion, in my opinion. His performance was good, not great but his offence was so smooth and pretty much flawless except one fluff towards the end. His selling could've been better though which is the only true criticism I have he warrants in his performance. But everything else was more than good. ****"