Oleg Boltin vs. SANADA

[6.0] "Far from the best match in the tournament, but also not the worst. Boltin getting another win is super cool, especially against someone like SANADA. Now, SANADA is not the performer he used to be whatsoever, but I still see it as an accomplishment with his past accolades."

[7.0] "An under rated match. This shows the growth of Boltin Oleg and also shows that SANADA has genuinely found his groove. While this is far away from the SANADA of 2023 and early 2024, he's helping put together some highly entertaining matches. SINGLES RECORD: Boltin Oleg 1-0"

[5.0] "5.5 - SANADA still has some motion, that's for sure. He hit his athletic stuff well, and all we needed was for Oleg to do his mad power-counters. He's also still doing some of the small stuff really well. A very encouraging start for Oleg."

[6.0] "One of SANADA's better singles performances of late, but admittedly the bar is extremely low. He gave Boltin a decent match here and the HoT shenanigans were thankfully limited. Nothing special but good enough as an opener. ***1/4"

[4.0] "Other than the cool finish this was a slog, a boring match with neither doing anything great. The work on the outside was nothing special and I'm not a big fan of this story where when Sanada tries to wrestle like champion Sanada he loses but I get what they're going for. The quick snap finish with the shining wizard reversal into a Kamikaze was great though and almost enough to move this up a rating."

[5.0] "(Grade:D+/**1/4) Not a bad match, Oleg definitely had Sanada number in terms of strength. However, Sanada had moments of getting an upper hand on him like the rolling neck breaker on the floor looked gnarly."

[5.0] "A slow pace imposed by SANADA at the beginning of the match until Boltin Oleg shows his strength. Nothing exceptional to notice."

[7.0] "This was quite good. Sanada comes into this match dresses like Giant Gonzalez for some reason. He works over Oleg's leg which he sells pretty well. Oleg is eventually able to simply overpower Sanada and get the win with the Kamikaze. Fairly simple stuff for the most part, but this was quite entertaining. ***1/2"

[6.0] "Not much to say about this, but it was decent. Far better then I had expected, which is the story of SANADA so far this year. Nice cheating from SANADA, Boltin overcame it and won with a neat finish with a shining wizard reversed into a kamikaze."

[6.0] "Better than I expected. SANADA has been a pleasant surprise this tournament, especially after seemingly being positioned as a total chump by getting squashed by Tsuji on day 1. Also helps that the HoT shenanigans are confined to EVIL's matches. Best part of this one though, was definitely him coming out in a Giant Gonzales cosplay. ***"

[6.0] "A pretty ok match until the finish stretch that increased it a touch in my eyes. Sanada looked ok once again which is decent to see (his entrance gear was defiantly something though) he had some nice moments i liked his two swinging necks breakers when he had Oleg on the ropes. It was nice to see the H.o.T bollocks kept to a minimum as it has ruined loads of match in this G1 already. Boltin was definitely the stand out in this match and looked great again he hit all his power moves really well and kept the match interesting for me at least. The finish was nice was Sanada having the control until Boltin hit a crazy counter to set up a Kamikaze to get the 3. Overall just a pretty standard tv bout to start the night 5 block action. (***)"

[4.0] "**3/4 decent match, little to highlight, a normal but eye-catching ending for the public, normal sequences but almost meh the match in general, without anything behind or any motivation just Sanada not doing so badly, and Oleg doing what he can to entertain"

[6.0] "An okay opening matchup. Boltin Oleg continues to impress each match he's in and Sanada hasn't looked great, but he looked pretty good here."

[5.0] "Fairly mediocre match , sanada continues to be the most boring wrestler in this tournament , this match is mostly fighting on the outside before getting back in the ring and boltin thankfully ends the match quickly after"

[6.0] "This wasn't always smooth, but it was fluid and worked for Boltin's style. Wouldn't be surprised if this and the Finlay match end up being Sanada's best matches of the tournament, though that's not really saying much."

[7.0] "Enjoyable first G1 match of the night. Love that SANADA keeps the HoT stuff to a minimum and is still mostly just a worse version of regular SANADA. Oleg made the match pretty fun"

[6.0] "It was a decent match. Boltin continues to be the highlight of every match he is part of, while Sanada is struggling to have a good performance nowadays. All things considered this was a decent performance from the former world champion."

[2.0] "Incredibly poor match, barely anything interesting happened and it left me a taste of nothingness in my mouth. I just didn't find this one engaging at all, it's a pity as SANADA's perfomance with Finlay was great but this wasn't his day at all. *1/4"

[6.0] "A surprisingly good match which really highlighted how good SANADA is and how far Oleg has come as a worker. This was not a classic or a masterclass but SANADA was spry and tactical in his offence and Oleg felt like a realistic threat who could have put down SANADA at several points. Oleg picked up the win with a Kamikaze and the image of an almost tearful SANADA going to the back was shockingly powerful, it has been sad to watch him lose when he tries to actually wrestle."