[6.0] "On paper I should really like this. It balances your classic deathmatch tropes and traditional pro wrestling pretty well without the deathmatch elements being excessively convoluted or the wrestling being piss poor. All that being said I don't think either style was done particularly amazingly. The actual wrestling spots gave me hope especially with their being a solid mat based struggle to kick off and Toru Sugiura performed a very clean springboard back elbow out of nowhere.Yusaku Ito was also no slouch pulling canadian destroyers out of thin air. That being said a lot of the moves were just happening and felt they lacked any real impact on the match. The big deathmatch spots were also solid with lots of glass and blood but again they all didn't seem to be built up much and didn't really feel big until the final stretch and at that point they've shown their full hand. I also don't like Sugiura's mallet covered in thumbtacks as it's a devastating looking weapon that can never really be used as you imagine it would be. Again this is a good match but doesn't scratch either of my itches for standout wrestling. It's probably the most well rounded Sugiura match I've seen so far but probably his least exciting as well"
[7.0] "They strung together a bunch of random geekshow stunt spots, self-harm and no-selling in a way that led to a lot of resets and the tiny crowd going quiet in between the carnage. That said, the visuals were suitably horrific and the final 2-3 minutes were great ***1/2"
[9.0] "In a different year, this is a deathmatch of the year candidate. Yusaku Ito does such a great job as the scrappy, undying underdog while Sugiura is the unstoppable monster."
[8.0] "Ito is a tremendous bleeder, that alone makes his matches that have extended finishing stretches with few extra close near-falls amazingly compelling and entertaining, though that formula has been done to death for years and years, especially before the pandemic. Sugiura also brought it, imo this was his best performance in quite a while. Together they got the crowd invested from the very beginning and set them on a very enjoyable ride that proved my observations about noticeable amount of relatively new pro-wrestling fans that haven't seen matches that I personally seen many times before. For those fans all these familiar formulas are fresh, and because fresh is king (just like Ito's rise in Japanese deathmatch scene), they love what they see."
[10.0] "Ito is a real magician, otherwise I can't explain why for the second year in a row in a fight for the main title he puts himself on the line and shows a war in the ring with an already established death match star and by the end everyone fall in love with Ito. I can't find another word, because Yusaku's matches are often similar to this. A huge amount of rage and hatred from both sides together with a fairly simple, but working and in some sense heartfelt story. The scheme "Devil's forearm versus headbutts" is clearly a formula for one of the toughest matches of the year. Honestly, the use of objects and weapons here was verified and very correct, but the best and most uncomfortable moments these two created with their actions in the ring without weapons. Also, this match is probably built on wrestling much more than many others this year, and in general, probably. Sugiura and Ito clearly gave us one of the best matches of the year, but now Sugiura vs. Hirata looms ahead and this match may surprise us."
[9.0] "A very good deatmatch. It was more of a wrestling match than is usually the case in a deatmatch. Lots of headbutts which were too many in my opinion, but nice exchanges and sequences"
[10.0] "Man this match was absolutely wild. The headbutts Ito have throughout the match were absolutely sickening and he certainly sold his skin surviving the entirety of Sugiura's sit-out bombs-set which is pretty huge, including an incredible Avalanche Michinoku Driver. Best moment of the match was Ito not selling Sugiura's finisher which was incredible. Overall this would be the japanese DOTY if it wasn't for the Kasai and Despy's feud throughout the year. *****"
