[9.0] "I'm absolutely hooked on watching ROH, it's match after match, banger after banger. It's insane. This match was spectacular: short, intense, and just seeing the names already had me hyped. But wow, this is the definition of pro wrestling: amazing technical grappling, super dynamic sequences executed to perfection, and hard-hitting moments that make you throw your hands up in disbelief. Just absolute madness! It's a shame it was so short, and the ending felt a bit weak, but still, what a match!"
[8.0] "Yeah, this was a good match. Styles and Ki have awesome chemistry with one another. ROH has produced one of the best matches around this time, and I could honestly say this is one of Low Ki's best matches. This was an amazing contest between two of the best. One of my favorite moments was when Low Ki hit a powerbomb and did an amazing bridge on his neck, which I thought was awesome. I still think this was one of the few indie matches that have held up well. (4.25*)"
[10.0] "To say this was a classic would be a complete understatement, this is a masterpiece. This match conveys everything the sport of professional wrestling is and always will be, no silly gimmicks, no constant kick-outs that ruin the flow of the match, just utter perfection. By FAR one of the greatest wrestling matches i have ever watched, it kept me on the edge of my seat and never bored me. Ki's kicks, the submission holds, the stiff chops.. wonderful."
[4.0] "Honestly, this does certainly have some of the good stuff you would want from a match between these two. Stiff everything, good looking everything and all and alot of counters that look really good. At the same time, I can't help but not really like how this is structured and the amount of kickouts that are in this that I really don't think were necessary."
[8.0] "Wow, this was an amazing match and the perfect debut in ROH for Styles. Very back and forth with Low Ki taking the win. Low Ki was on a completely different level in the early days of ROH, putting on banger after banger."
[8.0] "Three ROH shows in and Low Ki has 4 classics, dude was on a different level in 2002. Of course AJ made a great debut and he immediately had to be considered one of the best in the company. 4.25 stars"
[7.0] "This is a pretty good match. Ki is so fun to watch at this time, a novelty with his stiff kicks and intensity and AJ had a name but was still finding himself as a performer with his peak athleticism. They really set a pace , first with the early mat work struggle, trading kicks, chops, then hitting big moves on each other. The crowd is super into it, the only knock on this match I have is its a tad long and towards the end, its big move, lay there, switch lol.. Not necessarily a bad thing but something you notice paying attention. The action was good enough to forgive it. I don't mind the finish, because they're pretty even and it sets up doing a possible rematch."
[8.0] "Match of the night easily. Low Ki streak of showstealing matches continue, this time against the debuting AJ Styles. This was structured the same as the Danielson match from the prior show, having some really great technical work and counters in the beginning eventually devolving into brutal striking and high impact moves by the end. This was honestly on pace to be as good as the Danielson match, but this lacked a proper finish. Styles goes for a Razor's Edge type move and Low Ki counters it into a roll up and wins. It almost looked as if AJ was supposed to kick out it was weird. Finish aside, this match still ruled. Watching these ROH shows has really put me on to Low Ki, I think he's absolutely incredible and it's easy to see why he was being pushed as the face of the promotion early on. Really great match, although the finish does knock it down a little bit. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Excellent match. Low Ki continues his streak of great matches in ROH, this time against a debuting AJ Styles. The initial grappling sequence is really good, with a real sense of struggle and full of clever reversals. The match goes from there and steadily crescendos into more of a big move exchange by the end. The whole thing is tied together with some very good striking by both men, mainly Low Ki. Styles gets some of the best spots in the match, but I wish he got a bit more time on offense. The finish was anti-climatic as well, even if effective and understandable"
[10.0] "What an underrated classic this is - I'm stunned that most fans on here don't seem to have loved this as much as I did. The match has a wonderful legitimate fight atmosphere and feeling of authenticity that made it feel like a real competition. There is a terrific sense of escalation throughout the match that begins with a great, simple spot where Ki tackles AJ to close out a kick exchange. AJ does an excellent job ramping up his intensity over the course of the bout to match Low Ki. Some of the strikes here look brutal, and the spot where Styles drops Ki on his head with the Cliffhanger DDT seems devastating. I would have preferred a different finish (although this still got the job done), but everything else was tremendous. Just watch the spot where they trade strikes while on their knees - it's something you see all the time these days, and it's never even a fraction of as dynamic or convincing as this. A brilliant blend of different wrestling styles and physicality that is well worth going out of your way to seek out."
[8.0] "This was (unsurprisingly) a really good match. This was certainly match of the night. Two of the top guys ROH had access too at the time and they went out and put on a show for this small but passionate Philly crowd. Good to see AJ Styles in ROH of course. They were pushing Low-Ki as a top guy here; even AJ Styles in his debut didn't win. I enjoyed this one more than what I've covered so far of them facing off in TNA."
[7.0] "This AJ's debut match was good, but the finish ruined it. The pace was fast and also the action, with extraordinary ofense by bought. Low Ki's kicks are just incredible. AJ does some powermoves and good selling of the Low Ki's moves, for example on the Tidal Wave. The match had some really cool spots, just like the Dragon Clutch in the ropes or the Ki crusher inverted into a strong DDT. I didn't like the ending, in which Low Ki kicked out of the Styles Clash and when Styles was about to hit another one, Low Ki made a roll-up for the win. This finish was really bad, first because the Style Clash, an awesome move, looks really weak, when it's important to show it's strenght on a debut. And also a normal pinfall woundn't hace damaged neither of the participants, because they've had an strong and intense match that showed that bought are some of the stars of the company, but that finish out of nowhere was really lame and ruined the build of the match. I give this match a 7."
[8.0] "Great match, felt more like an exhibition showcase for AJ Styles since it's his debut, but they sure made it competitive at all times. The opening matwork/grappling was excellent, albeit aimless. Ki with the strikes while AJ with that technical high-flying hybrid was a fun dynamic. The ending was terribly abrupt, but I guess you have to protect someone somehow. Indy-rific stuff. [***3/4]"
[8.0] "The ROH debut of AJ Styles and what a debut it was. Both men killed it here with a great show of athleticism and power moves. I think this should have gone a little longer as the action just kept getting better and better and they could have done a bit more false finishes to make the match more exciting and unpredictable. The finish was extremely lame here and came out of nowhere which is a shame as the rest of the match was very good. [****]"
[8.0] "Very good match between Styles and Low-Ki as it could hardly not be the case given the workers they are and the context they were put in, but to be honest I don't think this match reached any level of greatness and I didn't enjoy it as much as Meltzer did. It was still a match that I thought was fantastic from start to finish, for eighteen minutes it just grew in intensity and pace, they produced a true banger together and it's one of the first truly famous matches for Ring Of Honor. What I liked most about this match beyond the great action was the intensity, I have rarely seen such intensity in a match and that is what I love about Low-Ki. I know many have a controversial opinion of him but damn, he was so damn good at that time. All in all, a qualitative match that I didn't think was great and I hated the roll-up finish."
[10.0] "Ein Match, wie man es heutzutage weder in WWE oder AEW, noch in den Independents findet: Jeder Move und jeder Reversal sieht realistisch aus und man kauft den beiden einfach ab, dass sie den Gegner besiegen wollen. Dazu passt auch das etwas überraschende Finish."
[7.0] "AJs erstes Match in ROH und dann auch schon ein sehr gutes. Man hätte meine Meinung nach das Chain-Wrestling auslassen bzw. ersetzen sollen, da beide nicht unbedingt dafür bekannt und auch keine Vollprofis sind. Sie gehen dann sowieso in einen anderen Stil über, der mehr zu ihnen passt. AJs Athletik damals war einfach der Wahnsinn, der Stylin DDT sah einfach super aus. Das Ende war auch richtig stark, die üblichen Kickouts und Big-Moves, aber es funktioniert halt immer wieder(***3/4)."
[7.0] "By the end, this went on for a few minutes too long. It felt like the two didn't have enough material to do a match this long at this point, as there's quite a few moments in the match where there feels to be a good dead minute or two. All in all it's enjoyable stuff though, as the two sure beat the crap out of each other, with Low Ki especially (unsurprisingly) being a great ass-kicker. Those Kawada Kicks of his are just nasty in the best ways possible. Definitely a more-than solid ROH debut for AJ Styles, and Ki continued his streak of strong performances. And it sure did set-up the inevitable re-match between them pretty much perfectly."
[5.0] "As par the course with young AJ, he does nothing for me and it's the same here. With Low Ki of all people too. They have better matches in TNA later in the year but this wasn't that. The crowd was good and really added an atmosphere for the match. There is a couple of cool spots but those are few and far between, unfortunately. Low Ki had some good offence, AJ has a slash here and there but overall, this was okay. **1/2"
[9.0] "A crazy awesome debut for AJ against the just as hot Low Ki. This was a crazy physical match from start to finish with the quick mat wrestling in the opening minutes to becoming a brutal bombfest midway. Roll up pins don't normally bother me, but both guys went into so much overkill towards the end that a definitive winner would have been more satisfying, ****1/2."
[9.0] "Überdurchschnittlich gutes Match - mit sehr viel Spannung aufgebaut. Low-Ki und AJ sind absolute Top-Athleten und beweisen dies in diesem Match eindeutig mit einer sicht- und spürbaren Härte und ganz, ganz viel Technik. 9 Punkte!"
[8.0] "Another fantastic 2002 ROH match. Both men were absolutely awesome. This mixed Low Ki's martial arts striking with AJ's high flying and allowed for many great combination sequences and spots. Things started off with a technical wrestling segment that was probably longer than it needed to be, but both men were very aggressive as they constantly exchanges grapples and had very fluid motions that made it all still very interesting to watch. Once things really got going it became really brutal. These two hit each other with a LOT of impact. It all started when Low Ki delivered a superkick that easily could have legitimately dazed AJ, and then later on AJ hit Low Ki with one of the most brutal piledrivers I've ever seen. There was a constant back and forth of both men upstaging each other as the individual spots just got more and more impressive. They had an absolutely perfect control of pacing and structure, pulling off moves at exactly the right time and usually following up one impressive spot or sequence with an even more impressive one. The finish was abrupt and rather deflating, but it allowed both men to look strong since it solidified how closely matched they were that the match only ended because of a quick count. With a shorter technical wrestling sequence at the start, a proper finish, and perhaps an extra 5 minutes this could have been a classic match. As it stands, though, this was still superb. ****1/4"
[9.0] "Hier wurde nicht lange gefackelt, Beide brachten Härte und Technik rein und gaben van Anfanga na Vollgas - wenn auch manchmal was zuviel. Dennoch, ein weiteres Match, was ROH auf die Landkarte der Wrestling-Fans beförderte!"
[8.0] "This was fire. Right from the get go AJ & Low KI brought it to eachother. Ki is fantastic with his crisp looking strikes and MMA game, and AJ flies around here and there. Their 2 different wrestling styles worked for a pretty great dynamic here. (***3/4)"
[8.0] "Another fantastic Low Ki match from the early ROH days. This match around 2/3's in was looking like a ****1/2+ affair, the intensity and aggression both guys were showing was unreal. Although the match did seem to 'pass its peak' and continue for 5 minutes more than needed, it was still a great showing from both lads (***3/4)."
[9.0] "This was just absolutely brutal in every sense of the word as these two just beat the ever living daylights out of each other in a Fantastic match for 2002 and for ROH. Low-Ki was on fire at the time and Styles was just starting to make a name for himself and well this match certainly helped Styles a whole lot. Go out of your way to see this as it's totally worth it. ****1/4"
[9.0] "Low Ki puts up a great fight against AJ Styles. The stiff kicks of Ki seems so brutal in this match. Great reactions from the crowd. What about a Ki Crusher reversed into a DDT? Amazing, it's hard to believe they could do a ****1/2 match in their early careers. Of course Low Ki was more expert than AJ at that time and I easily noticed that."
[8.0] "Both guys show some incredible potential, but also make some rather simple mistakes. They sometimes slow down at the wrong times and rely too much on exchanges, but the spots are all super impressive. **** 1/4"
[9.0] "Well the finish was extremely weak and no one should kick out of that DDT Styles gave Ki, but that was mostly a super fun match and a good introduction for Styles."
[9.0] "A very fun match. My one complaint (even if it is a dozen years after the fact) is that the commentary was really subpar, without being able to shut up about Low Ki."
[8.0] "Das phänomenale (pun intended) ROH-Debüt von AJ. Low Ki ist zu diesem Zeitpunkt seiner Karriere auch richtig gut drauf. Wirklich gestört hat mich nur das Ende, hätte eine etwas epischere Sequenz als einen Roll-Up verdient gehabt"
[8.0] "Sehr gutes, schnelles und intensives Match, welches zu keiner Sekunde langweilig ist. AJ feiert ein enorm starkes Ring Of Honor-Debut, und auch Low Ki haut einen weiteren Klassiker raus, eine absolute Empfehlung mit ****!"
[9.0] "Ich vergebe 9 Punkte für das ROH Debut von Styles und dem dritten Klasse Match von Ki in ROH. Ki hat es wirklich verdient bei Crowning a Champion den Titel zu holen. Einfach wahnsinn was der Mann Show für Show abzieht, genauso wie in diesem rasanten Technik Feuerwerk, meine Meinung nach schlechter als Danielson vs. Ki, aber trotzdem ein Must-See."
