Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii

[9.0] "This was awesome. The fact that Ishii can make a match with a 52 year old look amazing is telling, and the fact that 52 year old was also a beast is telling. A true warrior vs warrior clash between two guys who have given their all to the business. Just like most of Ishii's matches in the G1, this had the potential to be an all time classic if it went on longer, giving these two only 13 minutes is criminal. A load of chops, kicks and headbutts and some no-selling here and there, but i'll let it slide considering their ages. In short, an awesome G1 match that should have gone longer."

[9.0] "The only thing that make me not rate this higher that it's supposed to be due of the great talents present in ring is due to some lack of good selling from Suzuki, which is completelly understandable due of his age and also seeing that he was never good at selling stuff, and most of his "students" have the same issue, like Zack Sabre Jr and Taichi. But this match is impressive, a great hard hitting match between two very strong and impressive wrestlers. The time passes and you can't even notice, the intensity of the match don't increases at any moment"

[9.0] "Great match between two extremely tough guys, and best of all it never overstayed its welcome. My only critique is of course they couldn't resist a couple Shibata style headbutts, folks in NJPW never learn I guess, but other than that I thought this was great."

[7.0] "Love both these guys. They may not be what they once were, but they're still two of the most high intensity, hard hitting wrestlers in the world. Do you like people beating the shit out of each other? Then you're gonna love this."

[8.0] "A fantastic fast paced match, as is to be expected from a Ishii G1 encounter, and especially against someone like Suzuki. Ishii initiates with a rough chest thrust before the two go at it. His selling is impeccable, and one could be fooled into thinking he was legit knocked out a couple times. In the end Ishii does lose and Suzuki starts off the G1 looking strong. **** 1/2"

[8.0] "This was a fantastic bombfest with an extra amount of violence thrown in. Possibly the best match these two have had against each other. There were a lot of headbutts, forearms and slaps. You know the strong style routine but both men brought the added viciousness with each blow. Loved the one sequence where Suzuki hit like 3 or 4 LOUD forearms in a row and then kicked Ishii repeatedly in the chest. Ishii's selling was masterful and I think his face was getting legitimately swollen from the slaps. I also loved the callback to their previous matches with the brutal looking Air Raid Crash from Ishii. It's not quite that MOTYC level but it's one of the best from the G1 2020. ****1/4"

[9.0] "A symphony of destruction. From the very first strike, this was an all-out war between bitter rivals with a decade of history between them. Even at the height of COVID, these two made the audience audibly gasp for air and let out cries of disbelief. With good reason, too. Tomohiro Ishii was the pillar of defiance, while Minoru Suzuki embodied a sense of entitlement that few could actually dispute. Driven by different things but eternally intertwined, this was the perfect way to usher in G1 Climax 30. Suzuki enraged by the fact that he was left out of the G1 Climax 29 groupings and hungry to punish all who were there in his stead. Ishii perpetually ready for war, but rarely as motivated as when Suzuki is his opponent. And with a rather emotional striking battle that offered an abundance of reasons to rewind and rewatch, including the sick variation of the Air Raid Crash, this checked all of the boxes to be regarded as one of the best matches of 2020. 4.5 stars, 9 out of 10. An all time rivalry resumed."

[8.0] "From minute one, Suzuki vs. Ishii delivered everything you want and expect from a Suzuki vs. Ishii match. Everything about this was wonderful, from the headbutts, to the slaps to the face, to the pure fighting spirit from both men."

[9.0] "I'm comfortable in calling this their best match together, mostly due to how fast-paced it is, Suzuki's dominant work, and Ishii's truly phenomenal selling. Suzuki is WOTY so far. (****1/4)"

[10.0] "I think it's underrated, one of the most hardhitting matches in NJPW history, both guys are tough & unstoppable. What a brawl, very loud & brutal striking war, I love these type of NJPW matches, short but stiff"

[7.0] "As everyone's pointed out, this is exactly the g1 match you'd expect from these two, just two vets beating the living shit out of each other. Some hard elbow strikes and disgusting headbutts, with Ishii bringing his excellent selling and Suzuki his great character work. (* * * 3/4)"

[8.0] "Great match, albeit a bit overrated. This was an awesome war between 2 veterans, and they just beat the shit out of each other as expected. Also, Ishii's selling is very underrated. The part where he is so damaged that he just flails at Suzuki while trying for an elbow was brilliant. Great match, but would I call it a classic? I think not quite. ****1/4"

[8.0] "Great match but overrated in my opinion. I love slugfest, that was one hell of a slugfest but it didn't procured me many emotions like in Shingo/Suzuki or Ibushi/Ishii. It stills a very great match btw. Ishii's no sells are fantastic. ****"

[7.0] "7. 7/10: You can go ahead and skip my review because my criticism of the match is exactly what you'd expect. This style isn't for me, unfortunately. My favorite moment was when Ishii hit Suzuki with a german. It's really not for me but I can somewhat recognize its merit."

[9.0] "Na minha opinião, desculpa KOTA IBUSHI e OKADA, mas este SUZUKI VS ISHII deveria ter sido o main-event ****1/2"

[8.0] "The match, from the very first second, is filled with hardness and fighting spirit. It's unbelievable that Suzuki, who had long passed his 50, is still fighting like this. (****1/2)"

[10.0] "MiSu/Ishii PLEASE FIGHT FOREVER. Hard-hitting as always, should have been the main event. THIS IS AWESOME."

[10.0] "Hard-Hitting, Old-School, NEVER Openweight style match that was no big surprise considering how good both wrestlers are, and how for some reason they either get better with age or maintain a consistent in-ring quality year after year. Ishii sells like a hurt boxer throughout this match and Suzuki expresses both sadistic character and aggression to perfection. The elbow strikes are beautifully executed, and the match ends with 1 of the best looking versions of a finisher you'll ever see. It is not a highlight reel of shock and awe over the grace and difficulty of moves performed, but It is an excellent and very complete match that made me happily watch it again just before watching the next show."

[10.0] "I had so much fun with their last singles match, this was phenomenal! Two veterans hammering each other faces to a pulp. One of the greatest, most vigorous fights in history."

[9.0] "Jeez this was just a brutal sprint of the match some of the elbows these men threw were incredible. Given how short it was there were some fun near falls."

[8.0] "This is a long-established pattern, but I'll mention this now because of how worshipful gaikokojin fans are of MiSu... about 70% of the time Ishii is in a highly-regarded singles match, that being on my scale a 3 1/2 star 'very good' encounter, most of the the media-fans talk-about how great the other guy is. (An exception was the wonderful Ishii/Despy match from the NJ Cup in which people just forgot about entirely because of two old men's facials the next day) It's like when Hiromu beat Ishii... you do realize that these matches are sculpted with the intention of putting-over the other guy because that's largely Ishii's role... gatekeeper and put-over who the company soon wants in the main-event. All the 'supposed-boredom' or lack of anticipation for Ishii's matches I read from my fellow commentators on Cagematch & beyond is largely a result of Ishii doing as the company-Gedo instructs. Remember Shibata's comment, "... I don't want to be a salaryman pro-wrestler, " well, that's what Ishii is, and what's the golden-rule of being a 'salaryman' in a Japanese company... compliance. (good 2012 movie, btw) And Ishii's happy to do that, as 'Tabbr2' alluded to in his profile, as in NJPW Ishii was only destined for a Saito Hiro or Heisei Ishigun thug role, so being a gatekeeper while giving crowds great matches is something Ishii-san feels very comfortable & content doing. The swings of momentum & brutality were memorable, intense and first-class. Unfortunately, the Osaka crowd was dead lowering my rating of this match from a 3 3/4 for a normal Osaka crowd, and a 3 3/5 for this silence. I'm still giving it an '8' though as it's clearly beyond the parameters of what would qualify as 'just a 7. ' Oh, and for you 'Shingo's the best-in-the-world' promoters... MiSu's the second guy in three months Ishii had had a higher quality match with, (Despy, ) look at the scores."

[9.0] "For a 12 min match, this was so damm good. They didn't really do much but everything they did meant a lot and the insane amount of chemistry displayed by these two great Wrestlers was completely out of this world. Loved the early part and middle portion of the match. The ending sequence was okay, wasn't the best I have seen. All in all, this was quite a spectacle. Great. ****1/2"

[8.0] "This kinda goes exactly as one would expect, and I for that reason wasn't really looking forward to watching it, BUT as usual with going into Ishii matches in general, I have my doubts about my interest in them, but usually always by the end, I come away with something I really loved. Such was the case here. Him & Suzuki brought the violence big time, with it being most in display in that absolutely wonderful sequence where Suzuki destroyed Ishii with those deadly forearms -- those strikes looked & sounded awesomely brutal, and Ishii's epic selling complimented them peeeerfectly. All in all, I really loved this. Sure it felt a bit long, as in it could've used some trimming, but come on. That is to be expected. Comes with the territory. This ruled."

[7.0] "Match of the night, they beat the shit out of each other. Suzuki was fantastic, who has the best forearm strike in the game."

[9.0] "Of all the matches on this card, this was the one with the highest floor. There was reason for slight trepidation with every other match, but everyone knows what to expect with these two: stiff, hard-hitting action that they are both known for. This was a fantastic 13-minute match that wasn't quite a sprint as much as it was a full-on great G1 match. I'd love to see these two face off again, as I always am. What a treat for wrestling fans. ****1/2"

[7.0] "A really good strong style match that was a good change of pace in comparison to what has been being shown lately. It had a lot of the same spots that we see in more of the modern day, what I will refer to as brawler match, such as the taunting kicking of the head into a striking match. While bringing using alot of technics that havent been missing from the modern brawler match such as no selling almost everything and the massively stiff shots. These added intrigue and intensity to the match that had been missing from recent brawler style matches. Overall a very good match."

[9.0] "Felt like a 8-10 minute match but the clock said 13. Strikes were great and the finishing sequence was unexpectedly quick. Great compact match."

[8.0] "Easily the best match so far. Suzuki still looks great for a guy who's 50+ and always seems to work great with Ishii. The short length was surprising but I actually think it made the match more focused and organised, allowing for both men to get their shots in. Mat work was solid, Suzuki seems like he's more fired up than usual and consistently took the advantage against his opponent: that might play into things later on, maybe a win streak of some kind? Either way, a good bout as expected from two workhorses like these."

[9.0] "I could watch these two beat the crap out of each other on a daily basis and never get bored this was such a fun match that showcased how entertaining these two legends are in the ring."

[8.0] "This was a fantastic brawl, the short match length time really did them wonders. Ishii going in to this match was about the same as usual but Suzuki coming into this match was a man possessed decking Ishii with stiff strikes repeatedly knocking him out, this is a position we rarely see Ishii in. This was a face paced hard hitting match and easily thier best match together"

[7.0] "This didn't quite reach the level of their Power Struggle 2018 encounter for me, but it's still a very enjoyable 13 minute match with exactly the kind of brutal strike exchanges you'd expect from these two."

[9.0] "Absolutely a slugfest as expected from these 2. Of all matches they have so far, this is easily the best one they produce. Suzuki is still a top class worker over age of 50. Ishii remains one of the best sellers in the business. And listen to the sound from those forearms of Misu, it is amazing. This is exactly what you want from a short G1 match with high intensity - a really throwback from the same formula in G1 of 2013-14 period."

[10.0] "Ah yes, another classic between these two absolute monsters who don't give zero fucks about homicide and suicide. Jesus Christ, these two always delivers great matches, but this one is something more, it's like watching an anime battle, I could even imagine the sound effects and OST in my mind. The G1 Climax just started and we already have a fucking MOTTC. ****3/4"

[10.0] "WOW! Suzuki was on fire this whole year and this is his best match in years, it was fantastic, easily a 5 star match, as brutal and physical as it gets"

[10.0] "What a brawl... These two never disappoint when together in singles. Suzuki's elbow strikes are on another level. Great match 5*"

[9.0] "Excellent and brutal match between this two. I'm going to watch again this match later like the main event, the end is anticlimatic i was waiting for Ishii to kickout after the piledriver. No matter what it was excellent, the headbutts were vicious."

[7.0] "With these two, you know what exact match you're getting and this was definitely that but somehow a tad more vicious and violent this time around. There were a ton of forearm strikes and headbutt shots but I think the charm of the match was watching Suzuki clearly overtake Ishii in that regard and Ishii selling the results of that. I'm pretty sure Ishii was getting some serious swelling on his face thanks to Suzuki's slaps. Ishii pulling out of the Air Raid was awesome as well. Very good G1 match. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Didn't quite reach that next level for me but I enjoyed every minute. Match of the night. Suzuki is quite a specimen, as is Ishii who is likely to still be just as tough when he hits 50. A decently high '8' from me and a fun watch."

[9.0] "Surprised this was only 13 minutes, they beat the shit out of each other as expected, but Ishii was an incredible babyface here too, my favourite match from the both of them in ages and ages ****1/2."

[9.0] "Suzuki's forearms are a work of art. Ishii's selling was top notch. Incredible match, stiff and fast-paced"

[10.0] "Stiff and hard hitting. You wouldn't have thought that Suzuki is in his fifties. What a beautiful violent match."

[10.0] "An all out war between two bitter enemies, not a slow moment in the match and I was smiling the entire time. MUST see match. ****3/4"

[9.0] "Seeing Suzuki go at it in a total sprint it surreal in a way. As brutal as you would expect from these two."

[9.0] "Two of the hardest lads in New Japan hammering each other with strikes very hard. On this occasion, Suzuki struck just that bit harder, with some of his forearms and punches rocking Ishii. Exactly the sort of style I love, and these are two masters at that style."

[8.0] "Pretty much the brutal hard-hitting match you would expect. Very competitive match with both men coming out looking tough regardless of win or loss and just an overall joy to watch. My only complaint is that I wish it could have been longer, which is a pretty nice complaint to have."