OZAWA vs. Tetsuya Naito

[6.0] "There's a very direct way of interacting or even pandering to the audience here - something I usually despise, but I find it used to a rare good effect here. Naito is a wrestler easily identified by symbols, the Tranquilo & the opened eye taunt, and throughout this feud Ozawa has appropriated those symbols to mock him - he can do more, he can do it better, he can flip into the Tranquilo pose, add all the whistles and bells. It becomes very much a match reckoning with the persona and state of the greatly-adored and fairly-washed Naito, a man whose weaknesses and crumbling knees have been ill-disguised by the tag matches he's shunted into. It surpasses matters of winning or losing, with Naito in his first singles match he's had in Japan in over a year, and with a build-up laden with callbacks and references. While he and Ozawa have personal scores to settle, and while their match is the deciding factor of some faction war, as they're flaunting these symbols to an evenly split crowd, you can tell that they're fighting for something deeper than all that. It's suddenly not as bothersome when Naito's moves look sluggish or weak - in the storyline, even outside the lens of kayfabe, it adds to the story of a man desperately waging war against the inevitable. Of course he cannot win, Ozawa prevails, and he hits that eye-opening taunt afterwards for good measure. The time will continue to pass, the new generations will inevitably emerge victorious with all they've picked up and learned, but the fight against that process is one of the most beautiful stories pro-wrestling can tell. Maybe I'm just biased towards the first thing to make me feel emotion after a dreary Noah undercard, but I thought this was very affecting even while the actual wrestling is extremely rough around the edges. It's so much more than the sum of its parts."

[7.0] "While Naito's physical struggles and botches in the closing stretch were undeniable, I was deeply moved by the storytelling layered throughout this match. Rather than seeing it as a flawed performance, I viewed it as a poignant portrayal of a "legend in denial." Watching Naito desperately claw for a Destino his body could no longer deliver, contrasted with OZAWA's breathtaking "Stardust Press"--where he effortlessly leaped to the top rope and executed the very move Naito had long since lost--was a haunting display of irony. This wasn't just a quest for technical perfection; it was a psychological drama about aging, pride, and the relentless rise of malice. OZAWA proved his worth as NOAH's next-gen Ace by breaking the legend both physically and mentally. If you look past the execution errors, the tragic aesthetic of this match is truly captivating."

[7.0] "I must say the amusing antics and cleverness of the match story have more than made up for Naito's physical deficiencies in this instance. The story of Naito's character was that of a veteran not accepting that his time is way past, but Naito the person seems to have accepted that to an extent, as the finishing sequence looked premeditated in that Ozawa captitalising on the opportunity affored to him by Naito's failed attempts to hit Destino."

[7.0] "I know this score is going to be controversial, but I enjoyed the match. If it was Nation's final match, I would've rated an 8 even. (spoilers) Naito simply couldn't. He botched his signature, and then his finisher several times. So why a good rating? Well, it made sense to me. The legend clearly past his prime, unable to accept it, giving it all against a man that is, in a way, what not only what he was, but also what his greatest rival Okada was. Naito is man unable to accept that the past is no longer the present, and found out when he did find the present. It's also the 3rd, final, and tie break match of the All-Out Battle between LTJ and 2000X, and the way Ozawa gets the victory for his team makes the whole thing feel like a crowning achievement. That being said, I hope the booking team takes good notes of what happened, as these circumstances will only work this once."

[4.0] "Ozawa did his best with a past his prime Naito here, but it was a rough match to watch at times as a Naito fan. Some fun character work here from Ozawa, it didn't go on too long, but Naito can't hold up his end of a big singles match anymore, unfortunately."

[5.0] "In fact, Naito wasn't as bad as some people say. He did make a few fatal mistakes at the end that ruined a lot of the perception of the match, but he wasn't that bad throughout the fight. It's a shame that Naito tried to play his classic match right here and now with these neck bumps, etc., when his body is so out of shape. OZAWA is as good as ever, and it was his bullying and parodies of Naito that gave this match depth and made it at least somewhat interesting to watch. This moment when OZAWA uses Naito's techniques, which he no longer uses because of his sore knees, is a chef's kiss, a great job, and how glad I am that the victory went to a young talent."

[5.0] "Alright, I'll give it this for 2026 Tetsuya Naito, it's not that bad. But those botches in the final sequence really kill it, which is a shame because the crowd was just starting to get into it and bring some energy."

[5.0] "The match's formula would have led to a very solid outing, but it is definitely true that Tetsuya Naito underperformed here. The moments where he should have shone were overtaken by botches and failures that were reflective of Naito's current in-ring shape. I think Ozawa had a very solid outing tonight but Naito did look lost and it's a struggle to watch him fail to hit moves like the tornado DDT and Destino that are signatures of his. Rating: **.5"

[4.0] "Naito's far too stubborn for his own good. He's had a surprisingly good run of form these past few months, topped by a really good match over in Germany against Ahura and a really solid tag outing against T2000X the other month. He decided to try and wind this back and work like he did a decade ago, which is obviously the wrong decision. When Naito's worked within himself, he's allowed his opponents to lead, shine and get a decent match out of him. That is not the case here and instead, the focus is on his now substandard work. Shame. **."

[6.0] "The match wasn't bad, it was exactly as i thought, Naito is Naito, with all of his knees problems, but he tried and sucessed some great moves, OZAWA is so over and on fire, he's so great really."

[1.0] "1.5 - It needs to end. Naito is in worse shape than most wrestlers ten years his senior. It's unfortunate, but not all wrestlers are destined to go beyond a certain point. There are wrestlers with timeless style, but Naito has never even remotely adapted to his declining abilities. The crowd was booing, BOOING, when he failed the tornado DDT. He's never ever going to draw sympathy because he refuses to change. He just wrestles, wide-eyed, terrified, the same way he did a decade ago. OZAWA really didn't help much here."

[2.0] "Good god, this was terrible. Naito is completely washed at this point and it is just embarrassing to keep trotting him out there to work these big 15+ minute matches. I was impressed that he was able to properly hit one Destino in this match, but then he went and followed it up with 3 botched ones and an especially ugly sequence of botches IN THE FINISHING STRETCH OF THE MATCH. The ONLY saving grace is that he actually did the job to put OZAWA over, but I'm not sure how much Ozawa truly gained from winning like that. Thank goodness that NOAH did not listen to the fan vote that wanted this to main event over Inamura and Haste... what a trainwreck that would've been."

[5.0] "Unfortunately in ring wise the worst match of the whole event, even if the other aspects were done really well: the story during the match was engaging, the crowd was super into it, as those are the 2 biggest names in NOAH right now and the build was awesome. The match is carried by Ozawa with probably his best performance to date as he manages to keep the crowd into it and cover some of Naito's limits, while telling a great story during the match, him hitting old Naito moves that he can't hit anymore was awesome, especially the stardust press. Unfortunately the parts where Naito is in control during the first half of the match are too slow and boring, and while he does most of his moves correctly he still has 2 big botches, the ddt off the ropes and the final Destino, which unfortunately ruins the finish. I think that they could have used some more interferences from the factions to cover for Naito but still, while Naito's performance wasn't nearly as catastrophic as Ibushi's was in NOAH a couple years ago, I'm happy that this match didn't end up main eventing."

[4.0] "I'm not a normal NOAH viewer, but seeing Naito wrestled a near 20 minute singles match in 2026, I had to check this out. I liked the start of the match, Naito moved well enough, and they had a charismatic back and forth. But it just drags as it goes on, and Naito's body begins to fail on him."

[4.0] "Look, I'm a Naito guy over Okada and was a giant LIJ mark, but Naito looked like everyone now says he does. CHarisma here is great. Action ... to be desired."

[3.0] "Saying this as someone who broadly enjoyed Naito as recently as 2024, he looks to be in an incredibly bad state here. Ozawa looked good but is a bit too focused on schtick for my liking, as had pretty much always been my gripe with him. There were stretches where we could see Naito overcome his deteriorating physicality with his great mind for wrestling, but they are increasingly few and far between as time goes on. OZAWA wins with a roll-up, I felt very disappointed by this one."

[3.0] "I'm disappointed. As a huge Naito fan, it's hard to watch what's happening to him now. The entire match was incredibly boring, and to top it all off, Naito couldn't land his finisher on several attempts. It's terrible. He really needs to take a break from wrestling. I don't want such a legendary figure to be remembered for such bad matches in the twilight of his career."