[7.0] "Definitely a good match, though I did not love it quite as much as some others. The pacing was a bit weird to me and I wasn't feeling fully invested. But the action is still quality, worth checking out as we get a strong mix of technical wrestling, high flying, and some nice big bombs."
[8.0] "This is probably the most acclaimed match of the tournament, with the final itself getting a lot of praise too. But also Ultimo Dragon is a big prospect in this era, getting US exposure and bigger Japan spots and Otani is in the form of his career so I had expectations, naturally. I thought the technical wrestling in this was really good, especially with Otani leading the match. Ultimo is the flashy one but Otani shined with his aggression and skill. There were a few moments where Otani seemed to be truly bending Ultimo's arm in two. It was quite gruesome in parts. Even when the match escalated to the nearfalls part of the match, Otanis charisma and incredible facials were the stand out. But there was drama in Ultimos big signature offence too. His rolling cradle got a massive response when he executed it. Otani hit his German suplex time and time again, with his Father watching in the crowd, but couldnt get a job done despite his efforts. Ultimo hit a running powerbomb to win the match in what felt like the wrong winner alongside going a little past its apex but its a match well worth watching. ****"
[9.0] "I don't think that old junior. matches have aged well cause now days juniores but anyway this a good bout. I didn't like the technical work in the beginning but when they started spam Dragon Suplexes and springboard maneuvers this match started being excellent. A good example of NJPW '90 junior matches. ****1/2"
[10.0] "The best Junior Division match in NJPW history. They did the modern indie flippy shit in the most flippy way imaginable but it was all respectable & intelligent"
[8.0] "NJPW G1 Climax 1996 : The start of the match was based on grappling and submissions and it was pretty good. But the most important part of the match is the part with the near falls, it was amazing. Everything was prefectly executed and the crowd loved it so much. The near falls on the dragon suplex and tiger suplex of Otani was so good. Ultimo also showed his great high flying skills and Otani did same and it was great to see that he sucessffully did his missile dropkick. Great stuff. (****)"
[9.0] "This is a complicated one. Ultimo worked on the head early on, and the inverted STF spot is absolutely beautiful. Otani worked the head too, but at one point he transitioned into an armbar, and he kept on the arm while letting the damage he'd already dealt to Ultimo's head heal. With that said, the limbwork just... felt a wee bit off imo. The lack of attention to the head/lack of focus on the arm played into both of Otani's suplex nearfalls, as if he'd gone for the arm from the beginning, he probably would've won it with that tiger suplex. In contrast, Ultimo kept on the head, and while the Indian deathlock into the inverted STF was a bit flashy, he consistently found ways to work the head. Even though he didn't do it with the dragon suplex, it softened up his neck a bit more for the end, and that made sense. I dunno. It just felt like some of the spots in between the limbwork and the nearfalls were flashy for the sake of it, flippy shit that looked cool but didn't really play into the story of the match and wasn't really that significant in the grand scheme of things. It's not super indulgent tho, and it went on just as long as it needed to, so I like it."
[9.0] "Geniales Match und für mich schon nahe am Klassiker ... Die beiden zeigen in knapp 20 Minuten wie schön Pro Wrestling eben sein kann ... Die Crowd ist heiss wie Frittenfett und die Protagonisten excellent ! Ultimo Dragon mit klasse Kontern und schönen Spots, Otani mit ebenso klasse Kontern, schönem Mattenwrestling zu Beginn und grandiosen Nearfalls bei denen er fast im Ring stirbt von der Mimik ... ganz stark ! 9 Punkte und 4 3/4 Sterne"
[8.0] "Wow, this was surprisingly great! Otani was a badass; pissed off and determined to not let Dragon get the better of him. He focussed on grounding Ultimo Dragon and working him over with submission holds to limit his high flying offence. Otani’s grappling and general submission game here was energetic and looked damaging, and Dragon sold Otani’s offence very convincingly. Once Dragon finally brought out his trademark high flying things got even more exciting, especially since it felt so rare once finally brought out. Otani’s own high flying was surprisingly impressive too. Otani seemed to have a fantastic chance of winning and Dragon seemed to be on his final legs but was intelligent enough to still be a threat. The energy in this match was crazy. The near falls were all extremely well paced and fantastically executed by the two wrestlers plus the referee. Otani’s character work was fantastic, looking absolutely determined to win, so much so that he was becoming very aggressive. He put a great deal of emotion into his role and it was exhilarating. Otani’s disappointment after learning his near fall on Dragon following a tiger suplex was only a two count was fantastic, and his ‘fire up’ moment after delivering a fantastic missile drop kick to the back of Dragon’s head was awesome. I so badly wanted Otani to win and was massively disappointed to see him lose. Otani’s reluctantly respectful showing to Dragon post-match was a nice touch. This was just an awesome match. ****1/4"
[10.0] "One of the finest matches New Japan had to offer in the 90's. Otani and Ultimo Dragon delivered a fast packed action match here, with a really amazing ending sequence. The juniors were rocking New Japan in the 90's!"
[9.0] "Both wrestlers show some very impressive moves and counters, but the match is plagued in the first half by poor crowd reactions and Ohtani making some minor mistakes (for instance, he really should slow down at certain parts of the match). The second half of the contest is great - although some might say that it degenerates into a kickoutfest. **** 1/2"
[10.0] "Unglaubliches Match! Für jeden der auf High-Drama Junior Heavyweight Wrestling steht ist das hier genau das richtige! Nicht nur durch die legendäre Vereinigung der Titel ein klassiker. Otani ist wirklich unglaublich stark."
[8.0] "Es gibt einige großartige Dinge im Wrestling, die sich leider trotz ihrer Klasse schnell abnutzen. Ich weiß Ehrlich gesagt nicht, ob ich es jemals leid sein werde den kurz vor den Tränen stehenden und total verzweifelten jungen Otani anzuschauen, wie er einmal mehr nicht glauben kann dass dies kein 3-Count war. Toller Kampf!"
