[4.0] "Some classic Kanemaru heel work here, but it was hampered by Dragon Dia's inconsistent selling. Liked this more than the BOSJ opener, but can't bring myself to rate it any higher."
[6.0] "This match was ok, they almost had to fuck it up towards the end with the shenigans but luckly Dragon Dia countered that and then finished the match. It wasn't anything especial, booking two HoT matches back to back wasn't certainly a smart idea though. **3/4"
[4.0] "Not the best placement on the card for this as it followed a Torture match. The heel heat was better in the previous match. I was quite impressed that Kanemaru can still move as well as he does. **"
[5.0] "It certainly was a choice to start this BOSJ with two House of Torture matches. But this one worked for me. It was a classic case of Yoshinobu Kanemaru targeting the knee throughout, with Dia overcoming him in the end. SINGLES RECORD: Dragon Dia 1-0"
[6.0] "(Grade:C-/**3/4) First time seeing Dragon Dia and I like his energy! Kanemaru heel work in here was solid better than SHO in the pervious match as well as working over Dia's leg. Dia hitting that Asai moonsault and didn't even wait for Kanemaru to stand up and I got worried."
[3.0] "Dragon Dia hat hier sehr selektiv gesellt und zwar manchmal sehr doll und manchmal wirklich gar nicht. Kanemaru war nur auf das Bein aus und das Bodypartworking war schon ordentlich, aber der typische House of Torture Kram hat leider das übrige getan. Das Comeback von Dragon Dia kam mir zudem viel zu plötzlich und in Summe überwiegt leider das negative"
[4.0] "[2.25*] Unlike the previous match on the card, the selling wasn't good, and Dragon Dia couldn't consistently sell the leg Kanemaru was targeting. The match was quite weak."
[5.0] "Kanemaru's leg match formula does not really suit Dia, but it was still fine. Gotta respect Kanemaru for always making everyone wrestle his match."
[6.0] "I'm liking Dia a lot more this tournament - I was introduced to him last year at BOSJ, and he's impressing me a lot. Match with Kanemaru was the same sort of match for HOT, but Dia winning was a nice touch."
[5.0] "Very similar structure to the previous match, which I don't think helped. Kanemaru worked on Dia's leg relentlessly. Dia sold it well and showed good fire in his hope spots before ultimately getting the surprise win. 2, 5 stars"
[6.0] "This was my first time seeing Dragon Dia and he seems very good, has some of the limitations you'd expect from any junior but he has time on his side to improve in these areas, his theme kicks ass too! He brought enough fire and speed here for the usual Kanemaru schtick to work. Not exactly a barn-burner but a perfectly adequate tournament match here, made me wanna see more Dragon Dia."
[4.0] "This wasn't the best. Much of this match consisted of leg work form Kanemaru which Dia never sells. He eventually makes a comeback by hitting moves on his leg that has been worked over for the whole match and eventually wins. A pretty bland match made worse by a bad sell job from Dia. **"
[6.0] "Run of the mill Kanemaru match, which is to say he was solid in his ability to be the dastardly heel while, much like Nick Wayne before him, Dia was a solid firey babyface. We did get a ref bump (again to absolute crickets) but this was pretty typical Kanemaru rather than just garbage HoT stuff so I didn't ding it too hard for that. ***"
[3.0] "**1/2 meh match, nothing to write home about (again), it was going well with Kanemaru's limbwork on Dia's leg but I think it got a bit boring until the final point which was basic and simplistic, slightly better than the previous one but not enough"
[4.0] "Two House of Torture matches in a row to kick off this tournament is truly cursed. This one was a little better than Sho/Wayne, but it's a Kanemaru match that I've seen a thousand times and Dragon Dia looked surprisingly sloppy at points. Could be the injury I suppose"
[5.0] "Solid match but the problem I had was Dia forgetting to sell the knee Kanemaru worked over at times. Dia spammed a couple flying moves like his knee was perfectly fine. Other then that it was decent."
[6.0] "The match is good; the selling and the pace are well present. Good face vs. heel work with a really super good finish. What a good surprise for this first day."
[6.0] "Kanemaru's work on Dia's knee here was really good and Dia did a pretty good job selling it for the most part. Very impressive finish for Dia, hopefully this is a big tournament for him, 3 stars"
[8.0] "As my father who peered over my shoulder to watch this said "that Dragon guy is really really good"! The finish to this with the Avalanche Flying Mayorana was crazy and Yoshinobu Kanemaru also put in a very decent shift. I love House of Torture's crazy weapons and the whisky mist is one of the better ones (nothing beats the piano wire). The only problem with the finish was the slight slip-up with the Sunset Flip however I think personally that it made the move look better as it looked like a desperate followup to keep momentum from Dia"
[6.0] "Kanemaru is a personal favourite of mine, particularly his work in the 2000s, but his HoT form is sadly the same predictable slop we get from SHO alot of the time. He did pretty well here though, working as the bigger and stronger bully with some underhanded tactics. Dragon Dia plays the sympathetic face very well, really great selling for Kanemaru and his savage offence. Dia pulled off some really fun sporadic offence but maintained his selling of the knee as it was targeted by Kanemaru. Dia got the win with a roll-up in a slightly sloppy finish, but it was a really fun match overall, great limb work by the Heel Master. Worth a watch if you enjoy either man and their work."
