[6.0] "A limited but still quite good match. Both Violent Giants members are obviously on the decline by this point, but they're both still such imposing figures with their large size, gritty displays of aggression, and meaty strikes that they're then still capable of putting on compelling matches, even in 0-attendance arenas. Their lacking mobility and speed definitely resulted in a few moments of awkward chemistry or underwhelming interactions, but because that negative was so equally shared between them it thus just naturally resembled a heavyweight fight rather than it looking like one guy had to clearly slow down and work down to the level of the other, so I didn't mind that much. Suwama did well sympathetically selling as Ishikawa gained control, as well as showing his fire as he attempted to stage his comebacks. The match improved further as they picked up their pace and came out with some more intense and stiff strikes, plus as they brought out some pretty beastly and physically impressive power moves. It maybe did become quite 'samey' with a lot of the same moves or only slight variations being repeated, but that work was all still quite fun and the match still felt like quite a struggle for both guys. I definitely think at this point that both guys would impress more so going against smaller guys they can more easily ragdoll and have massively bump for them, but this meeting between two similar styles was still fun. ***1/4"
[8.0] "Suwama and Shuji have demolished each other before but here it was before no audience and was a tournament match up between the Triple Crown champion and the Gaora TV champion. A tremendous finishing sequence, a stiff and violent match."
[8.0] "The TC champ is The champ; the GAORA TV champ got some big victories in this tournament, Miyahara & Lee, and so he didn't need this victory. So we all know how this story is going-to-end, but that didn't stop the tag-team partners from having a bruising hoss battle in-which Shuji bled after only five minutes of action. They really laid into each-other, and then I was completely wrong. I wasn't keeping track of points & evidently Suwama had to lose so that only one of the Main Event competitors would end-up w/ 12 points. Well Suwama could have won, creating a tie-playoff like in the 2019 semi-finals, but that wouldn't serve as Y give-away the match that will also be the Main Event of the Big Ota-ku bout in June. Anyway, it was cool watching this, w/ my faulty thinking, and then have the tables turn. Shuji got his win back from his failed attempt at the TC in '20, and ya know what'.', this was better. I thought the intensity and move-execution was ripe & I'm so tired of the IWC ripping-on Suwama & Wada. That's a rant for another day, but I thought Suwama had a very fine tournament & I'd also choose a ref who doesn't hog-the-spotlight & have to play-into the ridiculous NJPW hijinx. Yea, he's old & slow, but it's the wrestlers who have to & choose to adjust for a man who has been with the company since its founding, and was trained by the guy who was universally beloved and was just-as-geriatric in the mid-late 90s, if not more so, than Wada is now. 3 1/2 - 3/5 - 7.4 but I'm gonna round-it-up as I was, (respectfully, ) annoyed by 'Mizzle's' comments."
[5.0] "I couldn't call this bad or anything, but I was pretty disappointed compared to what I expected. I am a big Ishikawa fan but I am leery of his partner Suwama, and this match definitely reinforced that, in my opinion the guy is really started to look past it. Ishikawa did a bit better, fighting through the early bloody nose(? ) was cool, but he also seemed to be wrestling very slow. I don't think these guys really complimented each other in the end. Also, the referee was distractingly bad, seemed too tired to properly go down for the counts. Passable at best, certainly not more in my view."
[9.0] "I grant people who can't forgive the lack of pace and athleticism in this one, but I just loved the psychology of these two old grizzled veterans just trying to beat each other up. Loved Suwama's fire in particular and Ishikawa having to use everything in his locker and more to put Suwama away. ****1/2"
[9.0] "Whatever the period, I will always enjoyed a good hoss fight between two heavyweights. Suwama and Ishikawa beat the shit out of the other and they were very good at it. Shuji accidentaly bleed and there's nothing like an accidental cut to add an epic feel to a wrestling match. Ishikawa blames Suwama for the breakup of Violent Giants and makes him pay badly. What a fight."
[8.0] "Die letzten beiden Matches hätten halt 10. 000 + Zuschauer verdient. Ishikawa vs. Suwama war halt dieser Hauch von Ruchlosigkeit und die blutige Lippe von Ishikawa war halt genau das, was das alles noch besser machte. Im Ring war das für mich extrem geil und als Story hat man jetzt Ishikawa, der Suwama den Sieg im Carnival gekostet hat und gleichzeitig den Champion besiegt hat. Ich freue mich schon auf ein Titelmatch zwischen den beiden (****)."
[8.0] "4 Stars - Absolute bomb fest between these 2 and best way to describe it , as a sprintfest but instead of flippy shit its these fuckers throwing each other around. Great little match here"
[8.0] "Really good selling and brutality from both of them. Even with the run time being a bit exagerated, they managed to be entertaining the whole time. ****"
[6.0] "I can not get into this matchup, both of them are slow as boulders, and without a faster wrestler to play off the match just has 0 energy. Not a bad match but these guys work so much better with anyone else ***1/4."
[9.0] "An absolute selling masterclass by Suwama here. He made Ishikawa look like a killer here, and had me on edge from the moment he got hit with that DDT. Go out of your way to see this."
[9.0] "This match was incredible. My 2nd favorite match of the whole tournament. Suwama and Ishikawa have so much story between each other, Ishikawa wants to make Suwama pay because he is the reason why the Violent Giants disbanded. Suwama knows it, we don't have the same atmosphere of respect that we had in their Triple Crown match in july 2020, and that's awesome. Suwama making Ishikawa bleed was a very good moment of the match, Ishikawa was so badass, his strikes were very impactful and Suwama's replies too, and more the match lasted, more we could see a very tired Suwama. Often, I am not a fan of this type of ending with a lot of nearfalls, but here I found it very logical because Suwama wants to stay alive, he is resisting against everything but he gets too much beat up and Ishikawa wins it very logically. And it's another awesome building in Suwama's reign, because it clearly shows that he is gonna lose the title against Jake Lee. ****1/2"
[8.0] "Just two massive men beating the crap out of each other, it rules. A bloody Shuji made the visual of the match even better. Both were delivery some absolute bombs against each other. Suwama selling is also fantastic through out this match. Loved it."
