Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi vs. Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji

[8.0] "Minoru Suzuki and Naomichi Marufuji being tag team champions is such an oddball pairing that I often forget it happened despite it being recurringly important company lore. Makoto Hashi is taped up like he just got back from brain surgery so naturally one of the very first things he does is a top rope diving headbutt to the floor - they're letting you know right out of the gate that it's gonna be one of those matches. It is weird seeing Marufuji in his prime more-or-less working pure heel opposite a babyface Akiyama on NOAH's biggest ever show. This is not a bad bout - far, far from it - but I do have to echo the sentiment that it's a totally weird one."

[8.0] "This one is a strange match in some ways. It's one of the lesser known big tag matches from this era of NOAH and neither team have much chemistry as a pair. But this ended up being a really well worked match which is no surprise considering the amount of talent in the ring. The start of this match might actually be the best part. Hashi and Marufuji have some quick exchanges which resulted in Hashi giving him a diving headbutt onto the floor. Suzuki is full of charisma here and toys with Akiyama and Hashi any chance he gets. I loved Suzuki kicking Hashi's hands off the rope for Marufuji to give him a powerbomb onto the floor. The psychology was very good as Suzuki and Marufuji separated Hashi from his tag partner and beat him down. There are a few flaws here. Marufuji had a good showing here but his timings and execution were noticeably off at times. His worst habits were him being too flashy for his own good. When it worked he was one of the best in the world but sometimes he overcomplicated things. There were a few miscommunications near the end as well. But they still had a hot finishing stretch which invested the crowd. ****"

[8.0] "It's a damn shame Hashi retired so young, but you can see why his career was cut short by the sheer amount of punishment he took here. After hitting a headbutt to the outside minutes in shows off how reckless he was, Suzuki and Marufuji work as an unit to take out Hashi. Suzuki and Marufuji work well as a team and it stops Marufuji from falling into his worst tendencies bar a few instances (the weak two step springboard dropkick being the worst offender). Hashi sells his ass off here and I really brought into his comeback."

[8.0] "its not perfect and it has its problems but it also has some incredible intense and physical exchanges and some incredible wrestling. Marafuji climbing up and kicking off his tag partner was insane"

[8.0] "This is a bit of a weird one to rate, neither team have that much chemistry as a pair, but you still have 4 incredible workers demonstrating what made NOAH such a thrilling company at the time. This is prime Suzuki era, agile and smooth in the ring while having maybe the best in-ring charisma of anyone going. Akiyama and Hashi are also expectedly excellent, and while Im not a huge Marufuji fan, he also puts in a shift here to complete a really high quality bout. The crowd seem a bit tired out from the previous matchup which is understandable but does take away a bit from a relatively solid first half, made to seem a bit slower and duller than it really is. My favourite exchanges are between Suzuki and the eternally underrated Hashi, but all 4 have good chemistry as opponents which makes it feel very special. There are some really cool spots in here including an awesome slap battle between Suzuki and Akiyama, and by the closing stretch the fans are finally invested in the bout which is excellent to see. There was what seemed to be a miscommunication close to the end with a missed tag which definitely dampened the spirits for a bit, and there were a couple of other moments when timings seemed off and it all became a bit sloppy. It truly felt like an epic so the slight mishaps didnt take away too much but maybe a couple of minutes being trimmed off the final product wouldnt have hurt. Ultimately this was still a very good watch and although there were a couple of slight blemishes its still 100% worth a watch."

[9.0] "This match had to follow the impossible kenta vs kanemaru match, but this match did deliver to some extent. Well makito hashi was a forgettable member here but he did his job as a underdog babyface who felt short winning the title. The heel team of marufuji and Suzuki did a great job of pissing people off. Akiyama went from main eventing the departure show last year to be in a mid card was kinda disappointing but he was great here. Overall it's a genuinely great match."

[10.0] "I had no clue what to expect here but I actually loved what I ended up seeing. Young Minoru Suzuki looked incredible, those facial expression, good god. And Makoto Hashi was out of nowhere giving an amazing performance, well done."

[8.0] "This was a really solid tag match. Everyone put in a good showing, especially Akiyama who was the real standout. I've never seen a Makoto match before but he was pretty good here and took a real beating from Suzuki and Marufuji."

[8.0] "A really interesting tag team here with Naomichi Marufuji and Minoru Suzuki. Their styles are so different, but that's kind of what makes them work so well (that and the fact that they're both legends). Then you have Jun Akiyama (one of the all-time greats) teamed up with Makoto Hashi, who is definitely worse for wear by the end of this. A really good match and the shiranui from Marufuji at the end was awesome."

[9.0] "Great tag match, Akiyama and Hashi gelled well together, and Hashi got the absolute hell beaten out of him, ending the match split open badly. Great storytelling with Akiyama and Hashi repeatedly saving each other, Suzuki and Marufuji isolated both of them and kept stunting their momentum, until Suzuki was able to neutralize Akiyama and Marufuji was able to hit an amazing top rope Shiranui on Hashi for the win."

[9.0] "Excellent match. The finish building to the avalanche Shiranui was incredible: Suzuki holding back Akiyama because Akiyama stopped the avalanche Shiranui previously. Suzuki and Marufuji also had great teamwork, whereas in a lot of tag matches it just feels like two wrestlers working independently."

[9.0] "Another banger to follow the Jr Heavyweight contest. Every single worker brings it for this one ****1/4"

[9.0] "Outstanding tag match, the level of brutality that Marufuji and Suzuki inflict on Hashi is incredible, absolutely adore the finish. 4. 75 stars"

[8.0] "This was an absolutely excellent tag team match. This was just maybe a bit long but everyone here was so great. The first exchange between Hashi and Marufuji was very good, Hashi's Larriat on Marufuji on the apron was incredible. I also loved the exchange of slaps between Suzuki and Akiyama, it was incredibly impactful. The finish was also very good, everyone shined so much here ! ****"

[8.0] "This was a great, no-nonsense tag team match, one that doesn't often get the praise or attention that it deserves."

[8.0] "Pretty great tag match on NOAH's biggest show of the year. Poor Hashi got his ass kicked and head dropped so many times too. Would've liked to seen more from Akiyama, but he was a fine hot tag. Suzuki and Marufuji were an excellent tag in their team work and presence, ****1/4."

[8.0] "Really good tag match. There was some very good tag psychology with Suzuki and Marufuji double teaming Hashi, separating him from Akiyama and it worked. Akiyama tired his best but the tag champions stuck to their plan and isolated the weaker Hashi. Beating Hashi to a bloody pulp. Hashi had a great babyface performance in this match, selling really well and being a great face in peril. There was a lull in the match at the beginning where Suzuki and Marufuji weren? t doing much to Hashi but the rest of the match was great. The sections with Jun Akiyama and Minoru Suzuki were fantastic to watch and made me want to watch a match between the two. Great tag team match. ****"

[8.0] "All four participants get long intro's... who replaced Suzuki's glorious theme with this poor-man's Hansen rip-off? Oh why the music changes, NOAH? So Hashi's head is all bandaged up and yet within the first minute he's top-rope headbutting a floor-based NM. Nuts! Speaking of, the former Jr daredevil. is really going to have to step-up his physical game if he is going to persuade the peeps he belongs. It's funny though cause MS would only allow so much bullying of NM by unproven big-time player MH and he soon lays him out DDT style on the ramp -> goes back in the ring, climbs the ropes and gives the boo'ing crowd a big smile. And don't think that 'protective' bandage is going to last... MH's head gets worked over and over... although not too far in age the dynamic feels like MS beating-up Nakajima. Eventually A-ki-ya-ma enters and gets in his licks incl. backdropping NM over-the-top into his partner. Another ex. of NOAH taking poor care of its future... Suzuki is not a NOAH guy so he should NOT be winning a slap-battle against Akiyama. It's Hashi who actually gets in a good shot on Suzuki - hitting a reverse DDT on the apron while NM/JA battle it out in-ring w/ JA mostly coming on-top. MH hits a top-rope headbutt but the ref won't count - a weird 'neutral corner' issue... Hashi gets another close call on NM after a Gorillaman Driver. I now get it - Hero of Heart Hashi is the Honma of NJPW in '13-'14. And with that he needs to lose - Super Shiranui 2nd best match of show. 8. 4"

[8.0] "A good tag team bout that started great but had a weak mid part, the end wasn't as great either, but the crowd was sold into the match and Hashi & Marufuji showed a lot of fire."

[9.0] "Oh man, Suzuki BEAT THE SHIT out of poor Hashi. Hashi took the beating of a lifetime and made this one hell of a tag match. Hashi did most of the work but whenever Akiyama was in the match the exchanges he had with Suzuki were fantastic."

[8.0] "A great tag match. Makoto Hashi had great offense and all else I can say is that he has heart."