[8.0] "Douki got to show off his technical ability here as we got a lot of actual wrestling from him. Yoh had the crowd behind him but with a couple of bullseyes in the shoulder and the knee, was more often than not having to fight from underneath. We then got a ref bump and a lot of HoT nonsense, but here's the thing, when they get some comeuppance it's a lot of fun, and for quite a period Yoh was giving them their comeuppance. Ultimately the numbers game is too much as Yoh's only potential ally in Wato is taken out at ringside, and Douki gets the win with his beautiful Suplex de la Luna. This was better than I feared, even knowing it had a 7 rating going in."
[6.0] "While it's a low bar, this was the best defence in Douki's reign and it's all thanks to Yoh. Yoh added some much needed levity and entertainment value to the typical House of Torture formula. From emulating Evil (God, does the crowd in Japan love to shout "Everything is EVIL" in unison) to the kiss with Sho, Yoh was just magnetic. Douki did a solid job too, but his slower style does drag down the match a little. New Japan had the perfect environment to give the belt to Yoh (the crowd in Koruken wanted so much and I did too), but wasted it in my opinion. Still a really fun match with a deflating ending."
[9.0] "This was a wonderful title match. YOH's idea was that to defeat the House of Torture you must embrace the spirit of its creator. To beat DOUKI you have to be EVIL. And it surprisingly worked out. YOH managed to go further than anyone on their defences. It took 3 referee bumps and 3 interferences by House of Torture and YOH still kicked out of Everything is EVIL. Had DOUKi not knocked Master Wato on the commentary out he would have won. The ending for DOUKi's Reign of terror is near. The next time YOh will get his title shot will end up with his victory. But that's the story for the more important shows, not a random Road to... show (even if one takes place at Korakuen Hall)."
[8.0] "It's always great when that rumbling noise kicks in at Korakuen Hall. A highly entertaining title match. I was on the verge of thinking YOH would finally do it. While it wasn't to be, that doesn't detract from the fun of the match. SINGLES RECORD: DOUKI 2-1"
[9.0] "This match served as a tribute to EVIL, and had a spot where Sho and Yoh kissed. It had me legitimately convinced that Yoh was going to win the title, before ruthlessly snatching it away. What more could you want?"
[5.0] "This was not that good at all. Mostly boring, plenty of HOT heel "work", and just hard to get through. Not very entertaining or good. Average at best. The only enjoyable parts wS the brawl at the start whilst the commentators questioned if the match had even begun lmao"
[8.0] "A pleasant surprise. Little disappointing to see YOH fall here as I've enjoyed his copycat act and the House has cratered since EVIL left. The EVIL STO into the timekeepers table was funny with Tanahashi bumping."
[5.0] "(Grade:C-/**3/4) It started very good, as YOH Stan I'm hoping this would be his grand-victory of finally achieving the Junior Heavyweight Championship. But, at last HOT continue to do their usual interference with a ridiculous amount of ref's bumps that has me screaming at Gedo! I will say YOH did a good job at knocking out some of the HOT interference but didn't end up doing him any justice."
[5.0] "A bit above the usual HOT template due to Douki's work and Korakuen absolutely getting up for YOH, but if you're not especially high on him (or more fanservice makeouts with SHO) I don't think this'll change much for you."
[8.0] "Great match. Only a few negatives here, the action is a little stagnant at points but the work is never bad, that's more so an issue of this being a NJPW main event. Whilst there is some filler to get this over the twenty minute mark, the majority of this is incredibly entertaining. Really fun shenanigans, the HoT interferences were even a good time. YOH has great chemistry with the HoT guys and he works much better with them than most. Of course; he has the most chemistry with SHO who he shared a steamy kiss with. One of my favourite main events of the year to date. ****1/4."
[8.0] "Very very fun match. YOH was super entertaining throughout it and I enjoyed Douki's work especially compared to the rest of the title reign so far. This was the first time the House of Torture run in stuff did not hinder the match for me mostly because of YOH's fire and ability to thwart most of it. Near the end, like the very hot crowd, I was legit rooting for YOH, and in a way that kicked me out of my cynical jaded wrestling brain. Only an 8 cause there were minor dull moments that had me looking at my phone, but I guess that's nitpicking tho. My favorite HoT match of the decade so far, enjoyed it a lot!"
[7.0] "Hell with it, I had fun watching this. YOH almost cheesing the Junior title off of DOUKI with his gonzo nonsense was a fun ride. Probably the best of DOUKI's title defenses on the whole. The bout was almost pure schtick and ran a little long in the tooth but it was consistently entertaining, which is more than I can usually say for DOUKI's output."
[5.0] "Not the worst of DOUKI during this awful title reign, but it was definitely dull. The wrestling we got was very run of the mill stuff, but what elevated it from being straight up bad was the crowd were undoubtedly into this. YOH made a few references to other wrestlers which got the crowd going, but ultimately the HoT clown car was rolled out which killed the crowd each time and ultimately dragged this down a notch. **1/2"
"Armchair booker in me says YOH should have won this one and freshen up that junior title scene, but at least he got that big, beautiful, whiskey-soaked kiss with SHO, and that might mean even more than gold. Good little match here. I hope Tana's okay."
[4.0] "[**] I didn't like this match. I'm sorry, but the wrestling in this match just wasn't fun. Don't get me wrong, i liked the character work by both men in this match, YOH especially had some amazing moments. But the wrestling match itself felt unimportant and was pretty boring. YOH had some good moments where he almost won, but of course the HoT must remain on top. Now we get DOUKI vs Tiger Mask IV.... I'm hoping for the best but idk how excited I can be for it tbh."
[7.0] "All of a sudden, that HoT nonsense ain't so bad when you've got someone being equally nonsensical. YOH's Ditto gimmick is all over the place but seems to be very over with the home crowd. He and DOUKI showed just enough in the back half of this match to make it more than just dramatics."
"Match super divertissant et drole grace a yoh qui peut devenir un super atout pour la njpw , malheureusement et comme beaucoup de match de douki on a l'impression qu'il ne se donne jamais a fond et ca se sent , hormis ca m.e marrant et très bon !"
[8.0] "This was the best DOUKI match in approx 16 months and it's mainly because YOH was a great and most importantly smart babyface, who played his role really well. I don't think I've seen a single guy without any help countering so much HoT bs as YOH did in this and the crowd ate it all up and was rocking behind YOH like CRAZY. Not going to be for the majority of people, but I had my fun with it"
[8.0] "YOH was a really competitive challenger, he works really fine in this Junior Heavyweight Title shot with Douki. The match had some nice sequences, but ruined bah the too many interruptions of House of Torture, this part of the match and the finish was a bit boring."
[8.0] "Alot of people I assume will not be defenders for this match but i thought it was one of the better HOT matches based on its structure. 15 minutes of Douki doing some fine leg work and then your usual HOT interference but with a nice subversion of expectations with Yoh reversing most of it. Also any match that has Yoh and Sho french has to be at least a little good."
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