Fred Rosser vs. Minoru Suzuki

[6.0] "This was a fun old-school match. They didn't bust out anything too flashy, but just beat the crap out of each other. With the look of the studio they recorded this in, it felt like I was watching old Mid South or something."

[6.0] "A decent match as a whole. According to me, this match was largely carried by Suzuki, especially towards the end adding spice to it with the super callous forearm strikes that rattled Rosser's footing, and then the Gotch piledriver would seal the deal. The initial moments felt a bit rugged and redundant. This rigidity did not allow it to gain some ground but Suzuki allowed Rosser to get some offense in and garner much needed momentum. Suzuki would find every possible and feasible opportunity to lock Rosser in the sleeper hold to daze him and shake him off of his footing to connect with the Gotch piledriver which was evaded by Rosser twice. Rosser also messed up the back body drop on the apron but other than that he did an adequate job. Rosser continues to improve daily but he's just not there yet so till then, I'll wait and appreciate him for his will and positive intent. For the match though, in my opinion, it was solid and thankfully the right booking choice was made here. ***1/4"

[6.0] "I thought this was a pretty solid opener. Suzuki definitely carried the match, but it was just a standard Suzuki match but with Rosser as his opponent. Suzuki is great as always. One thing I really like to see looking back on this is how much Rosser has improve in terms of both booking and wrestling. [*** 1/4]"

[6.0] "Solid match, Suzuki had a good performance of course. They did a lot of satisfying strikes, but I've seen better, especially by Suzuki. Even if there were some sick elbows by him at the end."

[6.0] "It was a quite solid match. Rosser had his time of his life against Suzuki and proved he was worth for facing The King. He showed great fire but Suzuki-gan fucked the hell out of him. Great showcase for Rosser."

[6.0] "This was a good match to start the show. Minoru Suzuki did a good performance and Fred Rosser resisted well to him. Simply, Suzuki is stronger. This was a pretty basical match but an interesting one. ***1/4"

[5.0] "Suzuki is maybe the best wrestler to go against Fred Rosser but still it doesn't work too much for me."

[7.0] "Solid stuff between Suzuki and Rosser here to start this episode of Strong, sure it wasn't the most spectacular match you'll see this year but it was a real clash of styles superbly written. The story of the match was that it was pretty obvious that Suzuki was over his opponent in every aspect and Rosser had absolutely no chance, but Rosser still wanted to show that he had some quality and believed in his victory, for example the spot where he counters the Piledriver was very cool as it proved that he could compete with the King in some ways. Obviously in the end it was Suzuki who came out on top but he gave Rosser the most convincing match of his career and that was because the two of them managed their differences perfectly to give us something solid."

[6.0] "Not a bad opening match. Before that, we were shown a good promo video about Fred Rosser. I have always noted how Suzuki feels the difference between Japanese and American viewers, being able to adapt to the situation. Suzuki was shown to be very strong in this match, perhaps he will become a contender for the STRONG championship in the near future. I really missed the chant "Kaze ni Nare! " at the Suzuki exit. Rating: *** (3)"