[8.0] "Yet another match where Suwama makes his opponent look like a god. Another thing that this Suwama run really showed me was that Kohei Wada is still such an incredible referee. His interactions with Suwama during these matches really help build the drama. One thinks about all the matches he's refereed and all of the memories and emotions and it really adds to the drama of these title matches that he referees."
[6.0] "Kohei-san strikes me as someone similar to an acquaintance I had from Derry: one moment he's calmly drinking a pint, lightly joking-about, and the next, out-of-nowhere, he headbutts you for what you think is no reason. Yes, there's something seemingly sociopathic within the glint of Sato's eyes. He's aged now, meaning he doesn't move like he once did, but I've seen him live multiple times against a prime Sekimoto in both tag teams & singles matches and then he brought It. Now it's it. He can still deliver some impressive looking moves, here the Falcon Arrow looked gorgeous, but this is a plodder. Professional, hard-hitting, intense near-the-end, correct finishing stretch, but no barnstormer. 3 1/6"
[6.0] "TLDR; Slow painful build, really bad first ten minutes, builds to a really good hard-hitting climax. ----The build/pacing of this match is so incredibly slow, after ten minutes of watching I was already struggling to stay interested, there's some good leg work from Sato, but really the first ten minutes just left me thinking that both men should probably retire, their bodies are quite clearly giving out on them. The match itself is slow, it's clunky, it's not quite botchy but given they stuck to working holds and a couple of bigger moves it could have been. Suwama always has a german suplex/no sell spot in every one of his matches. The strikes in the latter half of the match are great as are the bigger moves. The match definitely gets better building to a really good finishing sequence. The ending reminded me why they haven't retired, if they stick to what they are good at, hard strikes and big suplexes then they can have great matches. Really they just need to not try and go twenty-plus minutes even if it is a world title fight."
[7.0] "Another Suwama title defense that is good but not great, I think they get somewhere pretty great near the end but we take too long to get there. I could actually see these two having a better match in the CC if they cut down the time and go straight to the action"
[4.0] "This match is supremely boring. It genuinely felt like the longest 20 minutes of my life. This follows what I've come to expect from All Japan thus far: Minimalistic matches where not a whole lot happens as it slowly builds to the climax. However, it done in such an unsatisfying way. In particular this match had practically nothing to sink my teeth into. No limb work or otherwise interesting continuity. Just terribly drab grappling and a couple of high impact moves. Perhaps I'm spoiled by modern wrestling, but this type of style just feels outdated."
[8.0] "This was an awesome main event, another great defense in Suwama's title reign. His moves were very impactful, even if the selling was inconsistant, this match stays excellent, Sato hitting a Knee Drop outside of the ring was incredible. Suwama's strikes were too, and his Rolling Larriat is just insane. ****"
[6.0] "I'm not as high on this as most it seems. I just felt the pace was so painfully slow at times, and not in a building to a climax type of slow pace but just a situation where neither guy was particularly athletic enough to suddenly pick up the pace after a certain point. I enjoyed the clotheslines and back drops in the last few minutes but the match to me was just fine."
"7. 5. /10 is my rating for this match . It was a nice match and a great defense of Suwama . Kohei sato washt that impressive on this match and i have to admit that Suwama saved this match ."
[8.0] "A surprisingly good match. Sato in All Japan really freshes up the promotion. He hit hard, and Suwama hit as hard right back. Not a long match too which is great."
