[8.0] "Two of my absolute favorites having a really good first time match. This is one of Brody's highest profile AEW matches so far and I think he more than rose to the action. The chemistry between the two was good and the match was at a great length at about 10 minutes. The physicality between the two wrestlers really sold this as a good match. ****/5"
[8.0] "It didn't really live up to it's full potential, and the winner just wasn't in question, but it was still a good match between both men with really solid and hard hitting action and chemistry between each other."
[6.0] "I could go on and on and on about how Okada just goes through the motions. doesn't really care, has no passion and should maybe go away for a year. Or how and least Brody was interested in making something of the match. Or why this belt even exists. So I will. Until Okada proves me otherwise."
[6.0] "I'm not a fan of Brody King. Okada is a legend at this point, but I just couldn't get into this one at all. Okada does some great heel stuff here and I love it. But Brody just doesn't do it for me in any way."
[7.0] "Not everything I was hoping it would be, but still a cool match. King getting this opportunity was really nice, and my "in-person bias" comes back into play, as I was just happy to see Okada wrestle live for the first time. I do wish this was longer, but it was still solid for what it was."
[7.0] "***1/4 (6.5/10) Again: f**king Tony and his booking tactics! A-E-dub has been around for six years now, yet he keeps burying his own baby by screwing the supposed bangers and then sells his downers as all-timers. One day: I promise you, one day, Okada will enlighten us to just how delusional the Khan-man is, unless I'm mistaken and it's been the Rainmaker's decision to phone in his (still) young time in AEW."
[3.0] "This match was the star representative of MATCHES THAT SHOULD NOT BE ON THIS LONGASS PPV. A typical AEW Okada match were he sleepwalked throughout the match, went through the motions, spent ages outside of the ring without countout, and made his opponent (Brody who should be getting pushed after the HOB death) look mid."
[7.0] "These two are incapable of having a bad match. We got 10-11 minutes of two great wrestlers going at it. Everyone loves Brody. Everyone loves or loves to hate Okada. And he's a huge star. Didn't overstay it's welcome and was a lot of fun despite there being a .02% chance that Brody would win the title. This is the perfect "filler" match for a big PPV: There's one legit star vs another guy everyone loves, a title at stake, a fun match, and not too long."
[8.0] "Whilst this was a filler match as many other commenters have specified, it really did not have that feel. Okada had his best nonchalant look before the match but when Brody began laying in those damn chops you felt his energy change entirely and we got the best version of Okada that AEW has yet to truly experience. Brody himself felt like he was elevated massively by his performance and the need for Okada to use the belt to get the upper hand. A great title match and a wonderful showcase for both men."
[6.0] "This was still a good match, however I can't say it was on the same level as the other matches on before it. Okada has not been delivering in AEW except for a few matches, but Brody still gave him an excellent match for his title reign. Kind of a let down, but still had good in-ring for and above average match. Overall it was okay, but still a bit disappointed."
[6.0] "This match was a nice cooldown after the frenzy first hour of incredible battles as Okada was not in jeopardy of losing the title. Nonetheless, Brody was a fantastic challenger who gave his best shot at bringing doubt into Okada's mind through his barrage of offenses. Okada wasn't at his best but he was rather comfortable enough to deliver a good title defense in a match that was roped in at the last minute. 3 out of 5 stars!"
[6.0] "This was solid but not as good as it should be. Okada in AEW doesn't have the same workrate as in NJPW and seems to struggle to have excellent matches, it's a little sad because I can't see him as a top star as long as he doesn't commit more in his worl. Whereas Brody King can be a top star in not so long, he really shines in every match."
[6.0] "Solid match. This was a good tv match on a pay per view. It wasn't really necessary here. Okada was never gonna lose here, there wasn't much hype, it was more of a filler match. ***"
[7.0] "Good match, led by Brody clobbering. He takes most of this and gets shined up a ton, with Okada taking a beating as the outgunned heel. It's a pretty restrained match compared to the show's norm, but one that makes a worthy sacrifice in that regard, colouring inside the lines and keeping a stacked undercard moving. ***1/4"
[6.0] "This was a good, hard-hitting match, but it was definitely in a cool-down spot after Swerve/Ricochet and probably didn't need to be on PPV. The winner was never in doubt, but Brody did get a couple of fun near falls near the end. ***"
[7.0] "One of Okada's most physical matches so far in AEW, Brody's power being on fully display here. Okada in AEW still remains a very undynamic wrestler."
[6.0] "About what we can expect from Okada at this point in his career. Extended heat segment, Okada comeback, cheating, Rainmaker, 1-2-3. Don't think this was PPV quality, but it wasn't bad by any means, just the fundamentals."
[4.0] "Yeah, this didn't work nearly as well as anything else on the show so far as it was basically a cold match with no reason to believe that King was going to win the title. Okada was trying well enough here but he wasn't exactly burning up the mat. It wasn't a match that needed to be on the pay-per-view and the fans seemed to realize that."
[6.0] "There ain't no way in hell this was only 10 minutes, felt like 18, just felt really long. I was expecting a bombfest sprint. I got a damn overly long Okada match after three already pretty long matches, now granted it didn't go thirty, but still was unnecessary. Brody was super fun as always but it felt like he wasn't being as stiff as he could be. Okada's performance was basically the same as every match he's had on AEW TV, nothing special but he got his ass beat. Brody winning would've been cool. Three Stars out of Five."
[6.0] "This was pretty fun while it lasted. Brody mostly dominates Okada for the whole match, with Okada putting in a great selling performance for him. Eventually Okada is able to get the upper hand, hitting Brody with the belt and then with the Rainmaker to get the win. Pretty entertaining for what it was. ***"
[6.0] "Alright match, entertaining but not exactly engaging, and certainly didn't blow me away. King did well with the crowd considering the affair, and said character/psychological work was probably my highlight, save for a few strong offensive displays as well from Brody."
[5.0] "Found this quite boring. Hard to follow 3 very good matches in a row, but aye, just plodded along and did nothing much for me. I love Brody King usually, and love his big crushing offence, so I am disappointed that this didn't really hit for me. Ah well, can't win em all."
[6.0] "This match was unfortunately quite boring. This is the first time I've seen Brody King wrestle and I won't be going out of my way next time. It wasn't dreadful but it lacked anything captivating."
[6.0] "Honestly. It's fine but it isn't great or special. Just like okadas entire title reign and run in aew as a whole. We're a year into this run and it just never has felt important or special. Like i never thought id say okada is on national tv in the u.s. and i could care less about him or his matches or what he does weekly.That is horrible. AEW should have made this guy around the same amount of importance as they did with ospreay and strickland. They just have fumbled his entire run since the beginning. I'd do anything for him to just drop that title. Which we all know isn't happening until him and omega merge the belts at all in in july. So yeah we still have a few more months of the half ass matches. No story at all coming in just a match were expected to care about. 3.25 stars i guess"
[7.0] "A good title defense from Kazuchika Okada against Brody King. Personally I wasn't too interested in this match but they blew it out of the park. Some genuinely good moments spliced throughout here. Not one of the most memorable but still pretty damn good. [***3/4]"
[5.0] "Okada sleepwalks through yet another title defense lol This would have been fine as a weekly tv defense but ended up being an underwhelming match for the PPV. Crowd used it as a way to rest between all the craziness. I guess they're doing Okada vs Omega at All In so the predictable and boring nature of his title defense will continue and stick out like a sore thumb when he can't be arsed to work. Average match. Brody is awesome and should be getting a singles run with TNT title but I don't have much hope."
[6.0] "It's a good match but Brody King never felt like a serious threat. Both Brody and Buddy have been losing everything ever since they were repackaged as The hounds of hell. So why would they win a championship here against one of the top stars of AEW?"
[8.0] "(Grade:B/****) A solid match that definitely shifted the usual Okada match format. Brody looked like a million bucks especially delivering those NASTY chops to Okada who's goes up higher in my rating simply on his endurance taking those as well as the barricade crossbody and the DVD in the corner! Happy to see Okada and Brody duke it out cause it was a definite surprise so far on the card!"
[5.0] "It was a TV match that got put on a PPV, but it was alright. Brody King and Buddy Matthews have never felt like real challengers for Okada, and I'm afraid that these matches with Okada have done nothing for either of them but give them title match losses. What started as a slap and chop off never evolved during the match, just your typical "big wrestler meets small wrestler who wins" affair where neither wrestler looked into it. Turns out teasing a match at All-In already can make the in between stuff feel inconsequential for both the audience and the wrestler! Who knew? I think Okada wishes he could just fast forward his title reign to All-In, and so would everyone else."
[3.0] "Brody King was fine. Okada was maybe slightly less than fine. Didn't work great together. At least King put in some real effort. I think it's time to accept Okada is not only just another guy, but maybe below par and close to washed. There are near 100 guys in the company that didn't work the show that could have put on a better showing than he did. And it ain't a one-off, it's a constant at this point."
[8.0] "Good match, basic routine but they made it work effectively. Brody dominated Okada and Okada used some heelish tactics to gain control. It was a solid match with some nasty chops from Brody."
[5.0] "***1/4 normal match, some good sequences, interesting chemistry, normal pace, adequate duration, the classic spots of both, normal ending, the classic Dropkick - RainMaker to retain, little to highlight"
[5.0] "This match was passable I guess. Brody did put his working boots on here, but for me, I don't know if this is Okay's new gimmick of not caring, but it feels like he doesn't care in matches these days. Maybe that's just me"
[6.0] "[3.0*] The usual AEWKada decent-ass performance where he gives 50% effort and his opponent has to fight for his life to take something good out of him. This is such a shame because the dude is probably the best Big Match/Epic wrestler ever but he just does not want to be this guy anymore. For the event as a whole this was a positive because the crowd needed something to cool them down, but I do not think this was done on purpose because this is the exact Okada performance that he gives every time. There was nothing bad about the match but they never left first gear. Brody is fucking awesome btw."
[7.0] "I get they wanted Okada to defend on the PPV, but honestly this could've been a tv main event as their was basically no build to it. Good match but nothing of note"
[7.0] "Brody tried his best to get revenge of Murphy but kicking out a belt shot wasn't enough unfortunately. Anyways, his chops were among the best I have seen recently and those were the highlight of the bout. It's a pity this was a transitional title defense. ***1/2"
[7.0] "This was good but never threatened to be anything beyond that, Okada seems to be willing to come off as a bit of a bitch but he's Okada so he's not gonna give you most of the match anyway. He's still good enough to have good matches without trying but these days you can tell when he's trying and when he isn't. He did not try here, Brody did his best and maybe with some drama this could've went somewhere but Okada vs Kenny is more of a lock than Darby vs Mox at this stage so yeah. This was still physical enough for it to be enjoyable."
[7.0] "This was great! A smash mouth brawl that sat nicely on the card. Two guys throwing themselves at it and playing to their strengths. I genuinely enjoyed this and Brody looks more and more like a class act every time he performs. Okada was as always, brilliant."
[6.0] "I very much appreciate that Brody did not give in to working the lackadaisical routinely worked matches that have been a trend for Okada and it seemed like that was where it was heading at first. Instead, Brody upped the physicality bringing it to Okada forcing him to step up and get to work. Brody was the imposing bruiser that he is while Okada had to rely on using Brody's momentum against him to turn the tide and find some respite. As the match went on, Okada wrestled with more effort in his physicality, and the Rainmaker for the finish had the most oomph I've seen in a while from him. I also enjoyed Okada's selling here a lot. Brody's performance was very good here. ***1/4"
[6.0] "6.5 - Is it wrong that I loved seeing Okada get beat up here? He's only 37, but he feels like he's phoned in a lot of his AEW tenure so far. Brody didn't let him, laying in all of offense. Nigel was annoying on commentary."
[6.0] "After three matches with almost 20-minutes, and with a big match structure, I really needed to watch this one, even if it looked like a TV-match, it was extremely necessary to relax and watch something less frenetic, something easier to watch. Brody King is fantastic, he dominated basically the entire match, with incredibly stiff moves, and he was able to show how good of a wrestler he is, specially when he's doing the control segments. I knew it would be a 'Okada wins lol' type of match, and it's perfectly ok to be like that, after being punished for long minutes, Okada managed to comeback, hit the rainmaker, and retained the title - {***}"
[7.0] "A very decent match between both men, where Brody King looks great, and Kazuchika Okada does the usual shtick he's been doing since this title run. Really, I just don't think this was needed on the card at all, and the time on this match should've been given to several other matches instead. At least a bigger spotlight is on Brody King, that's really the only thing you note it for."
[8.0] "One of the few things that make me angry about someone in this sport is a guy or a woman that even being really good, don't give 100% everytime that the person step in a ring cause he knows that it's not necessary. This is the PERFECT example of what Kazuchika Okada in AEW has been for now. The only moments that he showed a bit of the NJPW Okada was the match against PAC and the Continental Final facing Ospreay, and that's all. I mean, this match was good, but I hate to see a wrestler so lazy and so fucking good like this. On the other side, Brody King is fucking phenomenal, I already said a hundred times that he's world champion material and people are starting to notice it. His connection with the crowd, charisma, ring skill and impact, he have basically everything necessary to be at the top of the industry, but sadly, he's at a company with 300 guys ready for being into the top lol"
[6.0] "***. This would have worked as a Collision main event. On a card as strong as this, though, it was lost in the shuffle. Solid work from both guys, but nothing spectacular. The commentators routinely mention how Okada "works smarter, not harder" and other euphemisms for going through the motions. It would be nice to count on him to bring it on a PPV stage, even in a filler match, but no dice. Hopefully he is able to build that special aura back up as we approach his showdown with Kenny Omega at All In."
[5.0] "Oh how the king has fallen. I did not like this one. Okada seemingly losing all his aura the longer he stays as another wrestler/big name in this company. They need to bring the man back to the top of the mountain, which is what they are seemingly planning to do in All In, hopefully. He is just out there playing his old hits with a heel persona, nothing much. Brody is always exciting to watch. So nothing to complain about him, dude was solid. Love how he's English improved so much though. Man have been grinding clearly."
[8.0] "I can't get enough of Brody King. He brought tons of energy to this match and brought the crowd back after an emotionally draining Swerve/Ricochet match. His lariat to counter the Rainmaker was so cool, and his chops were disgustingly loud. He needs to hold singles gold at some point in the next couple of years. Okada seems to be taking this more seriously, so I'm interested to see what his next defenses look like before the presumed title unification match with Kenny Omega at All In Texas."
0x
0x
108x
323x
196x
41x
1x
2x
0x
0x
0x