[7.0] "For the caliber of both men, they left a bit to be desired. Even though it was on a weekly show, AEW tends to deliver lengthy matchups in tourneys, and this match was one of those I expected to receive that perk. Nonetheless, it was a solid back-and-forth fight that showcased their technical prowess, with the right winner. 3.5 out of 5 stars!"
[6.0] "[3.0*] Good Main Event. A very short but also super hard hitting match. Soup is so used to wrestle 30-min matches nowadays that I think he got worse in quick matches, he was fucking incredible at them in 2022. Anyways, this pairing worked for me and the back-work for both of them was nice. The Blue Thunder Bomb on the barricade spot was insane. It definitely left me intrigued for a rematch, that's for sure."
[6.0] "Disappointing if you expected a great match, but if you just came here to watch a TV match, you will be satisfied with it. Ended so early, basically let the feeling that it would be a match between those guys in the future with more time. It was pretty short man, for real. Those monsters should creat something better than that."
[8.0] "(4 Stars) People wanted to see Takeshita in meaningless 2v2 and 3v3 matches at NJPW just because he's the IWGP champion, when he can give us this kind of superb match during the CC."
[6.0] "Good, physical, and intense action with some impactful spots that'll stick with you. Honestly, I could've gone for way more of this. I wish this had ended with an exhilarating closing stretch. ***"
[8.0] "I really enjoyed this match. There were some incredible spots, including a wild Blue Thunder Bomb onto the barricade, and Roddy brought a ton of intensity throughout. That said, having less than 15 minutes to build the main event definitely held it back, it felt formulaic and told a very simple story. Takeshita got the expected win with a Raging Fire, and while both men performed well, we didn't quite see them reach their full potential. The finish could have been more climactic, but overall it was still a solid, enjoyable good match"
[6.0] "Another 'good but not great' C2 contest; predictable, and didn't hit the gear which these two are so capable of, but still a high-quality and entertaining contest to close Collision. This reaching a definitive finish without either man having a particularly big chance to flex their strengths, and is unfortunate given that Strong is coming off the back of a win over Moxley and that Takeshita is on a historic run right now."
[7.0] "Another banger for the C2 but again it feels like my expectations are too high. Konosuke Takeshita and Roderick Strong are two of the most clean and proficient wrestlers on the roster but I really wanted them to not hold back and really give it that big match feel. Still we get a great back and forth with many stiff strikes from Takeshita and back breakers out of nowhere from the Messiah himself. A nice competitive well worked match to close out the show."
[5.0] "***1/2 interesting match, but disappointing, I expected better and I think they could have delivered a better fight. They had good chemistry and worked reasonably well, with some good sequences but few. The pace was interesting, but they needed to increase it more. The intensity was interesting, but I think a little more intensity, pace, and time would have helped the match. The ending was standard, somewhat simple, with Takeshita hitting the Direct Drive Knee followed by the Raging Fire to win."
[6.0] "Another match that I thought was good but ended up being a tad dissapointing. Rodderick was great here, loved his focussed attack on the back of Tekeshita. Takeshita was solid but was definitely restraint. Solid TV wrestling but I would like to see the two of them go all out on each other. ***"
[7.0] "A good bomb-trading match, since Takeshita is a premier bomb-thrower and Roddy is physically built for that style when he's called for it, but as both of their first matches in the C2 and one of them being the top champ of another promotion this didn't really have much of a pull beyond that. ***1/4+"
[5.0] "The main event was decent but fairly basic and not as unpredictable as the other C2 matches. There were some good sequences, but I think they can do much better. In-ring quality: 1.25/4. Stakes: 0.75/2. Justification: 1/1. Placement on the card: 1/1. Suspense: 0.25/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 5.25/10. Match watched on Triller TV."
[7.0] "They struggled to take it to the next level, as some of the other matches have, but it was a solid showing none the less. There were a few moments where Roddy slipped when applying submissions, and the energy was as intense as I was expecting, but both men walked away looking decent."
[7.0] "Good match that did not meet the expectations. Some really great moments. The blue thunder on the guardrail was an awesome spots Takeshita looked strong though as he should."
[7.0] "Right whilst this match was still a fun watch which is to be expected from just how unbelievably good these two men are at their craft. I was still left a little bit disappointed as i felt it only scarted the surface of what a match between these two can be. The fact it only got 13 minutes is absolutely criminal they could of given this match the time they gave the MXN segment and it would of improved the match as it never really felt like it had time to fully reach the top gear. The match did have a nice start with a slow build with a nice test of strength and then some stiff striking. Then we got to the outside and got the spot of the match with Take hitting Roddy with a brutal blue thunder bomb on the apron. We then got back in the ring and the pace was starting to build with some big sequences and trades. We then got Take hitting a really nice BTB before the Powerdrive knee and the Raging fire for the 3 points. So yeah this match happened but it was definitely the floor of what the two of them could do together in a longer match as the pace was just picking up we went straight to the finish which was a bit disappointing to me. Obviosuly both guys did great as you would expect but i still feel like this could of been a lot better. (***3/4)"
[7.0] "Enjoyed this a lot. Some sick bombs in this including a wild blue thunder bomb type thing onto the barricade as well as a lot of intensity from Roddy. I expected this to be a lot more bomb heavy than it was but i liked the more grounded approach they went with here. The finish couldve been a bit more climactic but overall, this was still pretty great. ***3/4"
[7.0] "Good match, it was kinda short, didn't have an ending stretch per se, but that was the story of the match, Takeshita being a dominating wrestler and Roddy Strong trying to hurt him the best way he could, and that's what happened. I believe everything here was pretty interesting, Roddy performed several neck/back breakers like always, but Takeshita also knows how to work stiff and that blue thunder bomb head-first on the barricade was crazy. There was a little homage to Sami Zayn there with the helluva kick followed by a tease of the brainbuster, and Roddy countered with a move of his own in the corner. It's pretty cool that Takeshita did this against a ROH guy like Roddy, cool effort, smart match - {***1/4}"
[7.0] "(Grade:C+/***1/4) A solid main event for The Blue League. However, was expecting a bit more offense and intensity which occurred at certain points notably when Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on the barricade dropping Strong hard! I did enjoyed the grappling and testing each other in the opening minutes of the match which I feel Strong does perfectly still keeping that part of he's style intact. Glad to see Takeshita to the victory and excited for the rest of the bracket to play out."
[6.0] "I somehow feel really letdown by this. Was excited for this match, but it was just an OK match. Nothing was wrong with it, somehow, I wasn't the biggest fan of it. Love both Takeshita & Strong, but this felt like it never picked up"
[7.0] "7.5 - Takeshita hit two of the sweetest BTBs he's hit in a while, the one on the outside looking brutal. Roddy will be a fun addition to this year's tournament, a really stiff guy to make people earn their points over."
[7.0] "Having less than 15 minutes to build this main event definitely hurt it and cost us what honestly could have been a much better match. This was overall a good match, but it did feel very formulaic and told a very simple story. Takeshita got the win as expected with a Raging Fire, and while both men did well, we did not quite see the heights of either of them. Sadly not one to seek out particularly."
[6.0] "Suffered from not having much time left in the broadcast. Never really picked it up. Definitely some teases of some future greatness here though. The spinning backdrop on the barricade was nasty. The backbreaker in the turnbuckles was another highlight. Would love to see them rub it back properly but room for improvement for sure."
[7.0] "I had high hopes for this one, however it never really got to be as good as I thought it would. The action we got was solid, but not nearly what I expected. There were some miscues, however everything else was mostly fun. ***.75"
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