Kazunari Murakami vs. Yuki Ishikawa

[9.0] "In my opinion what is a classic Battlarts match and what made battlarts so special. These two go to war with each other and i couldn't take my eyes off the screen for a second."

[7.0] "Good little match that is far from exceptional, the course of the match isn't bad but the end if, Murakami dominates the entire match to fall asleep in a few seconds I didn't really like it, seeing the rating of the match I expected an excellent match but it's not the case, I had a good time all the same"

[6.0] "Murakami is the aggressor at first, laying in alot of shots on Ishikawa as very clearly being the favourite to win. But the match gets real interesting as Ishikawa steps up to him and is able to snatch a win. Do wish that the first 4 minutes were a bit better and more vicious, but those last 4 minutes were great."

[8.0] "Yeah this rocks. Murakami is just an absolute bully in this and Ishikawa just can't sustain any offense for long before he is taking a beating again. They end up in the crowd at one point and you get a great visual of...the backs of photographers that I weirdly got a kick out of to emphasize how wild it is. Ishikawa gets bullied so much it almost makes you uncomfortable. Back in the ring Ishikawa manages to grab a leg as he is kicked and finally gets the opening he is looking for, a strike, headbutt, enzuguri takes Murakami down and he locks on a choke for the finish."

[8.0] "A very good proof that it doesn't need to be long to be awesome and damn this match might be the best under 10 minutes match i've ever seen. Murakami was facing one of the biggest name in the shoot style, a legend to the person of Yuki Ishikawa and he dominated Ishikawa with his fierce and unpredictable striking while the latter tried to calm Murakami with his submissions. Ishikawa was a bit frustrated to be dominated but he stay calm but at one point, this match became a wild brawl with both beating the crap of each other outside the ring which Murakami ended up with the upper hand. When they came back inside the ring, Ishikawa destroyed Murakami and showed who was the boss - ****"

[9.0] "Sub-10 minutes - great match against a young punk trying to make his name against a veteran. Great douchebag ! Stiff strikes, great explosiveness by Murakami, bloody mouth on Ishikawa. Work like a classic old school match."

[9.0] "This was pure spectacle. The intensity was already high before the match even began. Murakami was lethal with his strikes and Ishikawa absorbed most of them and tried to ground him. They took it to the crowd and beat the shit out of eachother. Murakami got the better of Ishikawa in the brawl infront of the crowd. Him stepping on Ishikawa's face infront of his fans, in his promotion was badass. Ishikawa was got up and Murakami didn't even wait for him to get back in the ring as he striked him at the apron and forced him inside the ring, off the top rope. The finishing stretch was awesome as Murakami blasts Ishikawa with his strikes but Ishikawa manages to land a punch to rock Murakami and finished him off with the enziguri + choke. 8.50/10"

[8.0] "Ishikawa comes into this with a real easy plan: time Mura's strikes, block and then work on the legs to ground him. While this had worked in prior matches, Mura's aggression and ability to sprawl and counter multiple takedowns puts a big spanner in that plan as he quickly finds out as he slowly gets less and less success with each attempt, ending in Mura snapping on a nasty rear forearm choke that Ishikawa gags and chokes while in. Mura's a complete bastard as he wrecks his opponent with strikes before hurling out big silly corner stomps. Ishikawa gets up and we get more nasty stiff shots as he attempts to get control with the same gameplan. He does get the lad trapped in a nice Inoki-lite Indian Deathlock, but a attempt to apply his own choke ends with Mura impressively armbarring and then getting to stand-up so he can land some free boots onto the guy. Ishikawa thinks he has Mura sorted out as he kinda waits for Mura to walk off the apron and get beat down, but he instead leaps for a wild kick instead which sends him over the guardrail. The two go for some very wild outside brawling as the beating continues over there. Ishikawa is again left beaten, he gets back in the ring last and with the crowd noticeably silent out of pure tension, it's fantastic stuff. Mura makes the mistake of swinging, which allows Ishikawa to pull off a trick he already done a few matches back; namely grab the arm and bounce it off the ropes; but Mura is again ready for it this time, countering into a really nasty rear-naked choke throw into the ring before hurling more stiff kicks to the body and head. I thought the flash finish of this was great: Ishikawa gets one moment to swing with a palm strike to the face and he 100% takes advantage of that moment with headbutts and a frantic Enzuigiri to rock the big lad before quickly snapping on a rear naked choke for the win. Mura loses, but he had so much of the match in his favour that it doesn't hurt him whatsoever stature-wise. Sure this is 8 minutes and it's definitely not a insane big NJPW-style epic, but it didn't need to be to be a really neatly tied bow of a match where everything is for a reason, One of Mura's best showings, just a complete monster here despite post-match shaking hands, which was a big moment given the hatred both lads had for the other. Ishikawa does some top-notch selling and really gets over the desperation once he's in the hole."

[9.0] "A match filled with the brim with badass energy. Murakami is a vibe all in himself, and he's one of the most fun guys to see go to work. Ishikawa is an amazing brawler so naturally they produce maybe the best crowd brawling segment I've ever seen. A truly beast mode match in every sense of the phrase."

[5.0] "Murakami perfectly fits as the shootstyle bully, with Ishikawa selling his stuff like Kazunari is a worldbeater. Yuki strikes back with fury, nice little smackfest. **1/4"