Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi

[7.0] "Another very good Taichi match that suffers the same exact flaws his previous tournament match with Tanahashi had. There are some moments of true greatness here. I loved all the strikes and big move exchanges they had. Taichi is at his best when he's throwing his big bombs and nasty kicks so Ibushi is a perfect opponent for him. What we saw was some very good chemistry but the overall product is flawed. The shenanigans with the Suzuki-gun and Tana interference, the ref bump and the weapon use is just too much. I feel like a broken record at this point but Taichi doesn't need all of this. At most Miho Abe could get involved for Taichi to gain the upper hand but i don't see the point for anymore hijinx than that. Overall this was a very good match with some exceptional exchanges but ultimately this was a tease for the Tekkers/Golden Aces match at Dominion. Also, if they're trying to replicate Taichi beating some of New Japan's top stars like Zack did in 2018 it's not reaching anywhere near that greatness. ***3/4"

[6.0] "Typical Taichi matches with a lot of shenanigans but overall it was still fine to me. Taichi's work was pretty solid. Ibushi was okay without forcing him to sell the limb work. The finish was expected as they wanted to set up the tag team title match. Nothing much special at all."

[8.0] "**** rating. Good match. Another quality match from Taichi. He's improved so much in the last year. Ibushi delivered his usual hard striking while Taichi fought back with strikes of his own."

[5.0] "I enjoyed the technique & stuff of which the blows were delivered, but this individual encounter suffered from pace & hijinx-aplenty issues. Yet all-along this tournament was build to their Dominion title encounter that I expect to be fantastic. Taichi's point is proven; I look forward to his exit from the tournament."

[10.0] "Genuinely one of my favorite matches of the tournament. Adding Ibushi on the list of now 3 people that Taichi can have great matches with. Others being Tomohiro Ishii and Tetsuya naito. The back and forth kicks showed the spirit. Taichi has proved me wrong so many times. Hope he continues to. Matches like this validate him as a key member of the roster. 4. 75*"

[5.0] "There's 2 types of Taichi matches: The ones against Ishii where he goes all out and shows how good he is, and matches like this one, where there are tons of shenanigans with occasional moments of greatness. This felt less like a tournament match and more like an angle leading up to an eventual Dangerous Tekkers vs Tanahashi and Ibushi tag match, probably at Dominion. It served its purpose in that regard, but I really wish we got a quality match on top of that. I want it give it a better grade, but this was a 5/10 match."

[6.0] "This was a good match by Taichi standards but still not actually good and definitely had the wrong winner."

[3.0] "This was fucking awful. It's everything I hate about most Taichi matches boiled into one concise example: 10 minutes of meaningless shenanigans, poor king's road style imitation, laughable attempts at delayed selling, followed by more shenanigans because that's what people want to see when they watch New Japan. This wasn't just Taichi's fault either; Ibushi has been in autopilot mode in this tournament. If he did more than playing the hits it's possible this could have been an average match but he didn't and thus it wasn't. I'm still giving it a couple points because I know these 2 have the capacity to put on good matches as they clearly have talent and can execute their stuff well. This just wasn't enjoyable to me at all."

[5.0] "There were elements I liked of this match. I liked the exchange of low and mid kicks. If anyone is going to have a leg striking match with Ibushi, Taichi is the one to do it. I thought that having Tanahashi out there would stop the shenanigans, but alas not. I was shocked by Taichi winning. Once the iron glove hit I knew it was over. Taichi advances to round 3. I mean ok, this is an interesting decision. To see both members of the tag team champs defeated by the Holy Emperor is great, and to see Taichi get a push is also great, but I just wish it was a better match."

[6.0] "A bit dull at times, especially during the middle portion of the match, but the strike exchanges were good, and its nice to see Taichi continue his winning ways. Still, I liked his match with Tanahashi better. ***1/4"

[7.0] "Taichi is a phenomenal wrestler. He made the most of the interaction with Ibushi and completely adjusted the whole game to suit himself, shining and surpassing his opponent. He was smarter, more interesting and more impressive, and the last part finally exposed him as a true villain and the main contender for the NJC finals. I was annoyed of Ibushi, but all his attempts to devalue the big moves are not successful. A good match with certain disadvantages (***3/4)."

[7.0] "That was a pretty good match, both of them did a good job here and showed some good skills in everything. Once again, Taichi pinning one Tag Team Champion was awesome and showed that him and ZSJ really are a threat to the reign of the Golden Ace. ***3/4"