El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi

[8.0] "This was a fun action packed junior tag title match, LOVED ELPs moonsault, this is what ALL tag team wrestling should be."

[7.0] "Good opener but could have been great if not for that finish which was a bit disappointing. Mega Coaches are a good staple of a division that's desperately needed worthy challengers. ***1/2"

[8.0] "A good match with some very interesting callbacks by the mega coaches to Apollo 55 and Forever Hooligans. The story revolved around the conspiracy that there was a metal block in ELP's boots which makes his super-kick lethal and dangerous than all the other wrestlers who use it. In the end, Taguchi is able to take off ELP's boots and exclaims in surprise as if a metal block is in the boot. However, when he tries to show it to the referee, Ishimori steals it keeping the conspiracy theory alive. This gives ELP time to low-blow Taguchi and win the match. The favorite move of the match was ELP's insane moon-sault which covered a massive distance. The match had a very good flow and the tag team tandem offense was one to witness as it was very pleasurable. The match had a smooth pace and despite going 20 minutes, it was action concentrated. Good match overall. ****"

[7.0] "Fun opener. There were some silly but entertaining spots early on showing the Mega Coaches getting the better of the champs, though they both naturally displayed their true, more serious talents the longer that the match went on. ELP was entertaining with his slimy heel tactics, and both he and Ishimori were very impressive whenever they finaly showed off their true abilities with their athleticism and acrobatics. Both teams displayed good tag chemistry, and the chemistry within the 2 teams was mostly solid as well. There were some very creative spots and exchanges in the final 1/4th, though the match started to go too long after a while with all the big moves and near falls, as if NJPW was desperate to make this into a forced epic. Despite that, the work in this final 1/4th was all still really physically impressive. The ref distraction finish was a real shame. ***1/4"

[7.0] "Really fun stuff. El Phantasmo in particular really shone here, with a mixture of high flying (including an incredible dive over the barricade) and suitably irritating heelwork. I love his use of the moves of former Bullet Club leaders. It makes him so hateable. I thought that Rocky also looked great here, but Taguchi and Ishimori looked a little more like they were going through the motions. It mainly made me want to see ELP and. Rocky in another singles match. The only thing that really didn't work for me was the ongoing 'loaded boot' angle. I just find it really underwhelming, because there's no visual evidence that Phantasmo is doing anything wrong (apart from his opponents selling his superkick like death). It just makes the babyfaces look like they're whining about nothing, in my opinion. Certainly not as intriguing as commentary seems to make out. All in all, a minor blemish on a good match though."

[8.0] "Very good opener. ELP looked fantastic and I liked how they incorporated the ELP loaded boot storyline into the finish."

[7.0] "Was pleasantly surprised by this given that Rocky and Taguchi are typically used to fill up the card wherever needed but this was more than just a time killer. They had a great story between the two teams and lived up to the Jr. Heavyweight class with the work."

[7.0] "Really slick match with a fast pace. Great action throghout. The fast pace was my favorite element of the contest, and made this so entertaining."

[7.0] "Great way to start the show proper. The Junior division is looking in good shape between this and the next match on the show. Rocky and Taguchi still have a lot to give and El P is deceptively good."

[7.0] "Four pros. Rocky looked good, Ishimori was a little off on some of his bigger spots. ELP's dive to the outside was very impressive."

[7.0] "Fun match to really get the show going. Having Phantasmo and Taguchi do some light-hearted stuff while also maintaining a pretty dramatic story was impressive."

[7.0] "A pretty good balance of fun light-heartedness and big match appeal. That makes a solid early card match for me."

[6.0] "Just an OK match. The best moment of the match was El Phantasmo waking on top rope and doing a Moonsault outside the ring."

[6.0] "It was a good match to me, El Phantasmo's heat at the beginning was not really good to me and I think he is becoming a bit repetitive with it. However, when he was not in his heat anymore, he was great to watch. His teamwork with Ishimori was good, and the finish was intelligent. Taguchi is cringe with his character work to me as always. ***1/4"

[6.0] "I was heavily invested in this match based on ELP/Romero's past history and the matches these four had roughly a week ago. There was just some dangerous sloppiness and some ambitious goals that weren't executed very well. I'd normally overlook that, but this was one was hard for me to overlook. I also think the early taunting took me out of my suspension of disbelief with how long the opponent was just comfortably resting in a front face lock without even attempting to escape. Nevertheless, a solid opener for sure. Just under a 7 out of 10 for me. Going 3. 25 stars, 6. 5 out of 10."

[8.0] "ELP is in the best period of his career, his delivering always. This match is very good with great storytelling and very good psychology moves by moves."

[7.0] "A good opener that definitely overdelivered with just the help of a simple story between the villainous faction up against some loveable babyfaces. Pretty straightforward and that's all you need to be to deliver something good sometimes."

[9.0] "A banger to start out the main show. No nonsense (with the exception of the finish), great and unique spots especially from the Mega Coaches, and a fun fast pace. Awesome match. (****1/4)"

[7.0] "A very solid Junior Heavyweight tag team showing, one which really picked up in the last half. These are some of the best in the division, and the story of Phantasmos loaded boot really did add to the match. Ishimori & Phantasmo played the heel role well, and are great champions. Match Rating: 3. 5/5 (***)"

[7.0] "That was cleary good, no doubt with the quality. Mega Coaches played very well their underdog veterans persona very well like ELP & Ishimori was on point on their cheats. However, that went too long for an opener. Doens't affect match quality but my appreciation of it. Good spots like the ambitious Moonsault of Phantasmo and the continuying of ELP's goofy boot story. Chemistry was here as well. In fact, I didn't expected much of this match, the surprise was even greater."

[7.0] "They made a pretty good match. They told a nice story around the two veterans trying to teach the Bullet Club's cheater a lesson."

[8.0] "really fun match that might have been a tad too long. I'm loving the loaded boot storyline and it helps that ELP is a fantastic wrestler. His moonsault from the rope to outside the barrier was amazing. It was a real all out match too even for the length."

[8.0] "Really good opener, I enjoyed it a lot. There wasn't any overbooking except for 10 seconds at the end, so we could just enjoy the in-ring performances of four amazing wrestlers. I don't really like Taguchi, but the others were amazing especially ELP that I found incredible here with a lot of impressive moves and a great heel work. A true show stealer. ***3/4"