[6.0] "Pretty much just an extended squash, but a good one. Rin's small comeback attempts were good and Kong can sell them well enough, but Kong on offense is what the match is about, and it did a damn good job showing that off. That piledriver looked fantastic. ***"
[5.0] "Natürlich wirken die Aktionen von Kong aufgrund des Gewichtsunterschiedes noch mehr. Dennoch sieht man hier eine absolute Könnerin, die trotz Alter und Leibesfülle noch einiges zu bieten hat. Schade ist, wie man Rin Kadokura hier präsentiert hat. Die kann deutlich mehr als sie hier zeigen durfte."
[7.0] "A good match and only match on the card having a good amount of story telling and ring psychology . Aja at 50 years old till gave a very good performance . A top dog vs underdog or a bigger and stronger woman vs smaller but faster woman , David vs Goliath dynamic was being played out here. Despite , the match being short , 7 minutes in fact . It was still a very enjoyable match , the first part was Aja dominating Rin and her strikes were very hard hitting and Rin did a very good job at selling those heavy strikes . It had good pacing and momentum . The outcome was never in doubt and so there was no way I was going to be left surprised by the end of the match . Rin had a good babyface comeback but it was short lived as she missed with her top rope front senton and unfortunately crashed into a clubbing lariat by Aja and a huge diving elbow from the top rope to end the tournament for Rin . It served its purpose and was different from the rest of the matches and did a very good job . A enjoyable main event bout . ***1/2"
[6.0] "The weakest match of the night. Rin had a very difficult task. Giving a great match against Aja Kong who is long after her prime years is really hard. Hopefully, it was not a squash match for Aja. Rin showed some strenght and endurance in this fight."
[4.0] "Möchte nicht leugnen, dass das hier Aja Kong irgendwie over gebracht hat, aber das Match hat mir fortlaufender Zeit nicht mehr Mehrwert entwickelt, da schon recht früh klar war, dass Kong mit ihrer Power eine Gefahr ist und auf Japan-Seite mit ihr zu rechnen ist. Behäbiges Match ohne die großen High Impact-Moves und das gewisse Etwas."
[6.0] "This was pretty much a uniform Aja Kong squash, but Aja looked like a true professional in the way she carried a lively match with an opponent who doesn't have much physical charisma. **3/4"
[6.0] "Should Aja Kong hang up her boots? Yeah probably. But god there's just no one else left in the game who projects her level of sheer presence and it really does feel like Kadokura got a real shine just from sharing the ring with her. To her credit, Kadokura just looked strong here, period, managing to make a seven-minute match look like a showcase for her fortitude as she absorbed Aja's slow but bruising work. Even a half-mobile Aja Kong is compelling to watch and despite being the weakest match of the night from an in-ring POV it still felt like a worthy closer."
[4.0] "This was about an average match, so two stars (or 4 points) for me. Aja is really limited these days, and Rin Kadokura didn't blow me away in my first time watching her."
[7.0] "Placed in the main event with a short duration but the David vs Goliath booking works perfectly, a super powerful finish and a great discovery with Rin. Note: *** 1/2"
[5.0] "Look, obviously Aja isn't wrestling like she used to at the 90's, but she still has a presence and has what to offer. Also, her piledriver was sick. I'm not familiar with Rin, but she had a very nice performance as she brought the energy to the match. **1/2"
[6.0] "Dieses Match lebte von der klassischen Formel klein gegen groß und das Ganze wurde kompakt erzählt. Natürlich war das sehr einfach gehalten ohne große Komplexität oder Ähnliches aber wenn man es dann halt so als Sprint bringt ist das in meinen Augen ein durchaus anständiges Match, welches 6 Punkte verdient."
[5.0] "Serviceable and didn't outstay its welcome. It's a nice little match considering it's Aja Kong in 2021 - it's really cool that despite her current mobility she's still always in position and her selling was above the average for this show. Being a first round match, it struck a nice balance with Rin, who played the part of the small underdog very well, not looking out of her depth as a tournament entry but still making it clear who the dominant person in that ring was."
[4.0] "It was ok for an Aja Kong match nowadays, but probably shouldn't have gone on last, despite her legendary status. Sets up what should be a much better stylistic match up against Ryo Mizunami."
[6.0] "Für Aja Kong Verrhältnisse im Jahr 2021 war es sogar ein überdurchschnittliches Match und ich froh, dass es kein Squash wurde. So sah Rin Kadokura auch gut aus und das Match erfüllte seinen Zweck."
[4.0] "It's basically a match of Aja Kong in 2021. A match where she is presented as the beast because she can't do something else in the ring, her selling is awful, and she can't move with a normal rythm. Seeing her beatdown Rin Kadokura is just a waste of time, but Kadokura did a pretty good work to move Kong, her Tornado DDT was awesome. **1/4"
[6.0] "I was a little scared by this being the main but they kept it simple and it was very effective. Aja dominated most of the match but Rin put on a good underdog story, meshing well with the veteran who made sure to keep her work smooth ending it with a perfect elbow drop that damn near flattened the courageous Rin. Not to mention that sickly sounding kick to the gut earlier in the match. Good ending to a good show."
[6.0] "Decent match. Kong dominated almost 70% of the match. Nice counters by Rin, for example tossing her from the second rope. Aja Kong is dominant as ever."
[6.0] "Rin survived 8 minutes with Aja Kong. It's a win in my book. Lol. Rin was a good underdog counter to Aja's monster hoss. Aja got the predictable win to move on to a stiff match with Ryo."
[8.0] "I thought AEW was nuts putting this on last, especially compared to the Sakura-VENY match but this ended up surprising me. I think it's because the story they told, while simple, was well done, largely because Rin Kadokura is really good. She needed to be; she was the biggest unknown of this tournament and looked poised to be squashed by the legendary Kong here. Instead she got a ton of offense that looked good and most importantly just kept coming after Kong, despite the fact that Kong did everything but backfist her out of the dojo. It was precisely the breakout performance she needed. It doesn't hurt either that Kong is Kong; even at 50 and with less mobility she remains a captivating presence and one of the smarter workers in the world. A really, really good main event and a worthy closer, something I didn't expect going in."
[6.0] "I'm surprised this match was main event, beacause it felt just like any other Aja Kong match with a smaller opponent. Yeah, for the most part the story played out well and Rin did the job of underdog properly, but in the end it felt really flat to me. Not bad, but for me that was the weakest match of the first round. ***"
[7.0] "This had some really really good moments and some really really bland slow boring moments. I think the time given was fine and it worked for Aja Kong's advantage as she isn't as mobile as she used to be but I'm not sure if I think this was the best option for main event other than Aja Kong being a megastar"
