SANADA vs. SHO

[6.0] "This was a drag to get through on rewatch. Why SHO and SANADA had to wrestle a submission match for 20 minutes in front of a dead restricted crowd is beyond me. There was minimal limb work and psychology. There wasn't any drama. The wrestling was fine but nothing more. ***"

[8.0] "An excellent technical bout. Compelling mat wrestling for the first half of the match, with both wrestlers working limbs and battling to lock on a submission. I'd have preferred it if they'd wrestled the whole match like that, given the stipulation, but towards the end, they fell into the rhythm of a normal singles match. Things like SANADA being so desperate to hit the moonsault and SHO going for a cross-arm piledriver didn't really make sense since it was submission only. Even Kevin Kelly called it out on commentary. With a bit more focus at the end, this could have been even better. Still a great match though, and it was refreshing to see a wrestler win with a move that isn't their finisher."

[9.0] "Very good match, SHO is on the way to stardom, his push that started at the last year's BotSJ is great, I like how he develops rivals for the future(SANADA, Shingo)."

[9.0] "Both men put on a clinic in this match, there were few boring moments in this one, amazing finish too with Sanada landing a brutal looking mooonsault on Sho's back and applying the figure 4 on him for the win, it could have been perfect if it lasted just a bit longer."

[6.0] "The matwork was enjoyable but the lack of any pinfalls removed a lot of the drama, they weren't doing any limb work so most of the match was just moves being executed, still ok I guess ***."

[9.0] "These guys went out here in had a straight up wrestling match. The crowd was going back in forward between the clapping they have been during through the COVID-era and the new machine but you can tell that they loved the highly skilled technical wrestling both wrestlers showed here. ****1/4"

[9.0] "A notable step up from their New Japan Cup match, and easily SANADA? s best performance since his injury last year. Not a slow moment, both guys were super smooth, some unique spots from both guys, and they worked the submission stip well without making it repetitive. ****"

[9.0] "SANADA and SHO tore it down here, this match was what I hoped their NJPW Cup 2020 match would be. Excellent back and forth technical wrestling that didn't have a single slow moment. Told a great story and both men looked like a million bucks."