[7.0] "A good match between the two, but a match that felt like it never reached the upper level. No crowd really hurt this one, more than a lot of other pandemic-era NJPW matches, but maybe that's just me. 3.5 Stars."
[10.0] "This was exactly the kind of stuff you want to see from these two and it was amazing. The year before they almost missed it but in 2021 they finally pulled up a banger. Greta actions, great flips, great lariats and great finish. They definetely delivered and some. *****"
[10.0] "The energy and atmosphere for this was just on a whole other level (literally on fire). Both competitors delivered a show stopper, a banger for the books. The history between these rivals only helped ignite this very fire. Shingo was the hard-hitter, the hoss fighter whilst Ibushi was the more athletic and agile one however he did not hesitate to get his hands dirty when required and dished out brutal shots when necessary. He has one of the stiffest kicks in all of wrestling to his name after all. The sequences were well-timed and synchronous and it almost produced a symphony of motion such was the accuracy and precision of everything done here. Shingo even connected with the Kami Goye of his own and the near-falls added a lot of suspense and excitement to the match. The content is admirable and top-class stuff undoubtedly. The chemistry between these two at this point is organic and clicks right away as observed in their previous outings. This one was no different either. They threw everything one could possibly throw, firing all cylinders and launching at full force holding nothing back. Ibushi would win with a vicious Kami Goye to the face followed by an even ruthless one to the back of the head to seal the deal. This was a battle of epic proportions and a brawl to remember as well. Not the best of the tournament but definitely deserves a place in the upper echelon. ****3/4"
[8.0] "Great match and unsurprisingly one of the best of the tournament. Shingo is the best wrestler in the world right now and Ibushi's an all time favorite of mine so it was expected for these two to have a banger. They've been subtly building a story together as Ibushi wanted to wrestle Shingo at Sakura Genesis and they were supposed to wrestle in the summer before Ibushi's health issues. This match had a generic structure with a slower paced first 10 minutes into the finishing stretch but both men mixed up their styles and had great displays of offense. Loved Shingo using Ibushi's dropkick for momentum off the ropes into one of his lariats. That looked awesome. Ibushi hitting a beautiful moonsault was a sweet highlight as well. Ibushi's been having trouble this entire tournament but here he looked comfortable and back in form. Some of his power moves did lack impact but he made up for quite a lot. Shingo was fantastic on offense and i loved him hitting a knee strike of his own for a loud crowd reaction. It looked perfect. After that the match kicked into a higher gear with incredible lariats and strikes from both men + Ibushi's world-class bumping. Ibushi hitting the reverse frankensteiner and a plethora of knees for the W was an awesome finish. Can't wait to see these two wrestle again. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Ibushi brought his 'A, I'm not gonna f-up, game this evening.' Also I was pleased this went under 24, not 'doin' the cheese' taking it to the last couple of minutes. I saw Shingo live in Fall '18 at PWG & it's interesting to me to see how much his face has aged in the past three years. Solid, rewarding stuff! When wrestlers compete at this level of skill-workrate-impact-pace-etc, selling becomes less important to me as I'm viewing it as I would a top-rate American indie. Thankfully Nagoya got a very good semi-final and final for their sole G1 show. 3 3/5 - 2/3"
[5.0] "Wasn't a fan of their last G1 match and also not a fan of their newest encounter. Those entire no sell sequences are far from being my thing and overall this felt lacking something for the entire time."
[9.0] "Great match. Slow methodical start with an explosive finish. Personally I loved the start: Takagi does a great job of dictating the pace with the confidence, cockiness and flair of the Top Champion of the Company. The finishing moments were very good but it wasn't the best these two can do. Crowd was great throughout. Also, Kevin Kelly did a nice job on commentary even without a partner although a partner to add his/her own two cents to the match would have been welcomed. Great match. ****1/2"
[9.0] "What a main event. Two of the World Champions of 2021 putting on an amazing match. These guys just have that chemistry. Their styles match perfectly. Ibushi is extremely athletic but the man is also a murderer in the ring..and then you have Shingo, the best wrestler in New Japan at the moment. In my opinion, this match featured the two best wrestlers in NJPW. Takagi should definitely finish with 14 points. I mean, he's the champion. But if there's one man who deserves a World Heavyweight Championship match between the G1 and WK is Kota Ibushi. He was completely screwed over with a three month reign at the top this year after all he went through. He was initially supposed to get a title match with Shingo on July 25 but was screwed out of that because he couldn't wrestle. Now, we're getting a title match probably in November and it's so exciting. Huge win for Ibushi and he is my pick and prediction to win the tournament. ****3/4"
[9.0] "This was a great match. I like the story told with Shingo slightly overlooking Ibushi but them going all out. I think Kota could have brought more malicious intent than he did but that's what I guess he can bring out in a Title match. Can't wait to see them meet again and really live up to what they can really do."
[7.0] "Had this not had a clap crowd and been a less generic in its structure, I very likely would have gone at least ****+, maybe up to around ****1/4. This was ultimately very good, but still quite a bit below what both men should be capable of. It was very fun getting to see both men mix up their styles and signature moves. Shingo's powerhouse bully work was very cool as always, with Ibushi taking some sweet bumps to put it all over all match long. Ibushi eventually fired up with his standard "strong-style" spots, including his defiant stare while absorbing strikes before unloading with his own strikes. It's a shame that he does those sorts of spots multiple times in every G1 he's ever competed in, plus every big singles match he ever has, since it makes them feel far less special because of how overdone they are. Those spots still add to the match, but with diminishing returns each time they're trotted out again. Ibushi looked very good as he showed off his agility and acrobatics in his comeback, but there were still a few of his strikes or power moves where either his technique or his impact was underwhelming. Shingo, by contrast, hit everything with full force. Also, in typical Ibushi style, he put zero effort towards the long-term selling of his worked-over leg, making Shingo's work feel pretty wasted. What made it worse was that he utilised so many kicks and knee strikes as well, all while frantically running and jumping around for his other attacks, yet never bothered to show that he had been hindered at all or that he was in any pain. It's a good thing that almost everything else in his performance was strong. A few of their big-move trades were quite creative, but as usual the clap crowd zapped out a lot of the excitement that otherwise would have been there. The match really stepped up another level once Shingo shockingly hit one of his own Kamigoye-esque knees, eliciting a great crowd reaction. From there, they both went on to trade some brutal and beautiful strikes before Ibushi's Kamigoye, with that finishing stretch being exciting enough to bump the match up a bit. ***3/4"
[9.0] "Beautiful match. Shingo Takagi is my wrestler of the year for 2021 and Kota Ibushi is one of the greatest of all time. I see so much potential for a longer rivalry between these two. As much as they did here, there is still plenty of room for them to do more. Ibushi seemed very excited to have more matches with Takagi again and I personally cannot wait. These are the kinds of matches that make NJPW far and away the best in-ring product in the world."
[10.0] "Shingo again proving why he is the best wrestler active right now, and considering the other wrestlers active at the moment that is one hell of an accomplishment. Ibushi rarely disappoints on a big stage and these two put on a hell of a match. I wish I could give this a 9.5 because I feel 10s should be reserved for storyline important matches but even without much storyline ramifications this was closer to a 10 then a 9 thats for sure. Perfect example of everything a strong style match should be."
[9.0] "That was anticipated as well this was a banger. Just two dudes throwing stiff strikes and took some mad bumps. Their fighting spririt elevated the match so much. Ibushi's returning little by little to his peak, good to watch."
[9.0] "Fantastic. I knew these two would deliver and boy did they just. Hard hits, near falls, technique, strength, it had it all. Shingo continues his quest for wrestler of the year. ****1/2"
[9.0] "Ho ly sh. An excellent match with an absolutely incredible final five minutes. In a matchup that we were previously robbed of, Kota Ibushi and Shingo Takagi wrestled one of the best matches of G1 Climax 31 thus far, if not all of 2021! The action was riveting, the physicality was disconcerting, and the storytelling was Grade A. That includes Takagi calling back to the match that was meant to happen by channeling what he learned from the wrestler that replaced Ibushi: Hiroshi Tanahashi. I was going with a 4 or 4.25, but the closing sequences pushed it over the top. 4.5 stars, 9 out of 10. Unbelievable!"
[10.0] "Absolutely majestic match with A LOT of storytelling, magnific counters and a great closing stretch + awesome result. Dear God, everything here clicked so damn well and made so much sense that makes me want to fucking cry my eyeballs out. Shingo using the Kamigoye was very cool and Ibushi having to hit a third Kamigoye to capture the win and two more points was an amazing way of a story being told in the ring. ****3/4"
[9.0] "9.5 - Ibushi had to fight for every bit of this win. It felt like he was totally outmatched by Shingo for the most part. Shingo's pumping knee was great."
[7.0] "This was a very good match, even if I think that Ishii/ZSJ would've been a better main event. Indeed, this one was mostly a match of highlights, and nothing truly more. I really liked Shingo's neckwork on Ibushi with some very impactful moves like his Sliding Fore Arm, and Ibushi's selling was correct. However, what bothered me is that since it's a match of highlights, they didn't really built the big moves like the Kamigoye for example, they just did them for the case of doing them. ***1/2"
[9.0] "Awesome match, I had high expectations and they delivered. Ibushi hitting the first Kamigoye and waiting just a few seconds, which allowed Shingo to kick out was masterful. Loved the final stretches of the match, built to a great finale."
[9.0] "Really good match. This was supposed to happen at Some but it was matter of time until we got it. But i think we'll get rematch soon for title maybe at Power Struggle. It was different from Shingo's matches. In early mins Shingo dominated mostly. Shingo used holds to control Ibushi which was something new to see from Shingo because he don't use much submissions. Even though Shingol main target wasn't Ibushi's neck but mostly offense came from Shingo was hurting Ibushi's neck. Different but great match. (****1/2)"
"A fantastic match between the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of 2019's and 2020's G1 Climax. Not MOTYC level but still fantastic. Ibushi and Takagi have done a fantastic job. Great victory for Ibushi."
[10.0] "Shingo Takagi delivers yet another classic! Both he and Ibushi were at the top of their game in this one. Ibushi looks like he has regained his top form after his nasty battle with pneumonia. They went back and forth with nasty striking, sick lariats, and precise kicks for 23 minutes and never missed a beat. The finishing exchange was nothing short of fantastic, and the crowd simply couldn't contain their excitement for the last 3 minutes. This is the second best match of the G1 so far, behind only Takagi vs Ishii. *****"
[9.0] "This was a very good match, they got their spots in, we saw some new offense from Shingo (with a knee strike he could use as a finisher), and good stiff back and forth striking and then and protected loss to keep Shingo strong. 9/10."
[9.0] "A fantastic match. The match that we were supposed to get at MetLife dome. Shingo continues his BITW campaign and with every match, Ibushi is looking much better since his return. Vvery hard-hitting, with some strong slap exchanges and some stiff kicks by Ibushi and lariats by Shingo. This type of match is right up my alley. Hopefully we get a world title match at Power Struggle."
[9.0] "What a fantastic main event, excellent match! It was very hard-hitting, with some strong slap exchanges and some stiff kicks by Ibushi and lariats by Shingo. The first 10-15 minutes good but also rather slow, however it was just insane for the last 10 minutes. The tension was really high, as the outcome was quite open to me until the end. There were great reversals and no-sells. Also this one kickout of the Kamigoye by Shingo truly got me on the edge of my seat. I hope that they will have another match in the near future which will even be better than this one."
[9.0] "Really liked this match. It seems like Kota is nearly back to 100% and I loved his selling throughout the match. There was one point where Ibushi ducked a lariat from Shingo but he looked like his head just fell underneath by accident and then Kota capitalised on that rather than it being intentional. also a great sell when Shingo hit him with his own version of the kamigoye. A great hard hitting match from both and im glad ibushi got the win. Since there's only Power Struggle on the way to wrestle kingdom I wonder whether ZSJ or Ibushi will challenge Shingo for the belt, but maybe a #1 contenders match on the g1 finals night could sort that out!"
[9.0] "This was insane and I loved every goddamn second of it. First time in a long time where Ibushi really shined again after his bad luck this year. Shingo just can't miss this year and I feel like we will see a rematch soon for the World Title. (**** 1/2)"
[8.0] "Qualitative main event match-up between Ibushi and Takagi to conclude this ninth day of the G1 Climax, but to be quite honest it wasn't as good as their great match in the Climax last year, here it was definitely very good but I wouldn't call it a classic and it wasn't even the best match of the night to say. This is the match that was missed two months ago because it was supposed to be at Grand Slam for the world title but it was eventually cancelled due to Kota Ibushi's pneumonia, so seeing this match here was still something symbolic and again it was some really good content to watch. These two are incapable of producing bad matches and they're two of the biggest names in this roster so it was obviously going to be explosive, we saw some fire sequences and great nearfalls."
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