BxB Hulk & Shingo Takagi vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori

[9.0] "GREAT interpromotional bout between NOAH and Dragon Gate in the peak of Japan's junior divisions among all the territories. Insane work."

[8.0] "That was great. There is a genuine all-star lineup here, and you get all the great spots and strikes throughout. You don't get much of a cohesive narrative aside from the little babyface in Peril from Hulk. There's a random dragonscrew in here too, but they drop all that and go for the big spots. A good idea, as they craft a belter of a spotfest the rest of the way through. 4+ Stars."

[8.0] "Wow! This match, as expected, had an insane pace and an endless supply of jaw-dropping action. Taiji Ishimori did several things that defy explanation, including the way he ran up the ropes into a Top Rope Hurricanrana without a moment of pause or hesitation. He also pulled off one of the best Crucifix Bombs that I have ever seen. Dropping his Dragon Gate opponent on the Dragon Gate logo for a dive attempt was also brilliant storytelling BxB Hulk showed why he was one of the top stars in Dragon Gate as he unleashed several sequences of kicks and aerial attacks that made me jump out of my seat. And then you have KENTA and Shingo Takagi. KENTA was arguably the best wrestler in the world at this point in time and, if you were not a Dragon Gate fan, Shingo was the best kept secret in all of professional wrestling. These two went to war with brutal strikes and creative throws that built perfectly to the finish. Throw in an all-time great sequence between Ishimori and Takagi, and you have yourself a certified banger of a match. 4 stars, 8 out of 10. 14 years later, this is what wrestling looks like now. Dragon Gate and NOAH really changed the game."

[9.0] "A fantastic spotfest between four awesome competitors. Lots of awesome fast-paced tag team action, as you expect from Dragon Gate. This was the first NOAH vs Dragon Gate crossover that I've ever seen and it was awesome to see wrestlers like KENTA and Shingo Takagi face off. Takagi has quickly become a recent favourite of mine, and KENTA is just super high up on my all-time list. BxB Hulk and Taiji Ishimori were the less-great wrestlers here but still had great moments. Super fun, super fast and just really entertaining to watch, overall."

[7.0] "Great mix of styles here, as we had the flashy high-flying stuff from Hulk and Ishimori and the hard hits from Kenta and Shingo. A good portion of the match consisted of Hulk being dominated, and he gave a very strong sympathetic babyface performance in these moments as he struggled to fight back but still managed to hit his trademark moves as best he could. Shingo would get some great hot tags to build off of Hulk's extended selling, and of course he would thrash either of Ishimori or Kenta whenever he could. Kenta was great too, as he had that cool arrogant attitude about him as he calmly beat the hell out of either Shingo or Hulk every single time he stepped in the ring. The tag-team spots and sequences were impressive from both teams, but I thought Hulk and Shingo had the best, as they made great emphasis on Hulk's agile high-flying and Shingo's monstrous power. The near falls in the final few minutes were very convincing and hype, and then the finish was very cool as Kenta refused to simply pin Shingo after a sickening GTS and instead chose to kick him in the head a few more times before getting the pin. Given the talent in the ring, I was hoping for maybe a more rapid pace at certain moments, and maybe a greater number of complex exchanges, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this and thought all 4 guys performed extremely well. ***3/4"

[9.0] "Awesome match with so many interactions. Shingo vs KENTA. Hulk vs Ishimori. Amazing. Some of the chemistry was off the charts. Shingo and KENTA exchanging big bombs and stirkes. Ishimori and Hulk exchanging submissions and high flying ability. What else do you want? Fantastic Match with a great ending. ****Œ"

[9.0] "NOAH juniors invade Dragon Gate to get back their titles in an awesome clash between stars. I'm surprised this match isn't as revered as the KENTA/Ishimori vs Marufuji/Ibushi match as I would say both are on equal levels of craziness. You have Hulk and Ishimori flying all over the place, and then you have KENTA and Shingo beating and stiffing the hell out of each other. Just a wild and fast ride from start to finish, ****1/2."