Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima

[7.0] "I love Shibata and I've never cared all that much for Kojima. This match, as mathematically predicted, averaged out to being acceptable. This bout was helped tremendously by it being one of the few I've seen from Satoshi Kojima where he is not doing his kitsch WWE Lite style of working. I can totally buy this more intense, varied version of Kojima being a main event talent capable of dispatching someone as dangerous as Shibata."

[6.0] "I liked this overall, but there were plenty of modern tropes here than had me rolling my eyes and take me out of the match. We get some uninteresting strike exchanges and Shibata no selling Ace Crushers by using his fighting spirit was corny as hell. They were able to pull me back into the match after Kojima lands a CCD on the outside. Shibata focusing on taking out Kojima's lariating arm and the aggression he showed were two things that I dug from him. Kojima is great at being a condescending bully. We get some more boring no selling before Kojima puts Shibata away, but with Shibata looking strong in defeat."

[8.0] "Pretty good for a relatively short match. Starts of fast with Shibata beating the daylights out of Kojima, there were some slow parts outside of the ring but then it finally picked up and had a great ending sequence. Kojima did some great selling here and did two picture perfect dragon screws (I was really impressed by those and the best I've seen in all the matches I've watched. Ending was great multiple finishers and reversals. Shibata made it look like his head had almost been taken clean off. Full match can be found on youtube and I'd recommend it if you are a fan of either man in this."

[8.0] "Prepping fior Shibata's WK in-ring return by going through all his BML work. Thought this was a little better than his match w/ Murakami and was exciting as I haven't seen a lot of Kojima's past work."

[7.0] "Awesome little match that people don't nearly give as much attention. Kojima tries to start things off with a traditional collar and elbow but Shibata says fuck that, starts throwing big kicks and boots him in the back hard. Both guys exchange big elbows and strikes for the duration of the match: there's some grappling here but it's mostly just filler for the first half outside of it being a tool for Shibata to focus on Kojima's greatest weapon in his lariat arm. Kojima can play that game as well and works on his legs, as well as just slapping the shit out of him at points. Shibata answers with some decent counters but mostly goes to his stiff kicks to keep his bigger opponent down. Both men have their share of no selling as Kojima ignores a corner dropkick after a few seconds for a Koji Cutter, which Shibata no sells, goes for a backdrop which then leads to a second one.... which he also no sells for a successful backdrop that Kojima no sells until Shibata boots him back down. There's some nothing outside brawling outside of Kojima landing a Northern Lights Bomb on the outside. Shibata almost gets counted out after a big elbow sends him to the outside again but he gets in eventually. Kojima lands big chops and counters Shibata's kicks with some tight Dragon Screws before applying a Sharpshooter: as Riki Choshu had popularised the move as more of a wear-down than a "instant tap" move Shibata isn't screaming in pain here. Shibata no sells the limb work to score a PK but Kojima ducks for a near fall. Shibata tries taking out him with a front choke and a triangle, but the ropes stop that from being actualised. Kojima goes full bomb mode, in particular a hard brainbuster that sounds like a shotgun going off. Kojima no sells a backdrop into a lariat but is too exhausted to pin. Shibata hits a PK and then goes for another but Kojima just completely wrecks him with a lariat that sends him flying. Shibata kicks out and then goes on to kick out of another but he's punch-drunk at this point and can barely stand, leading to a final lariat for the pin. I'm not the biggest fan of the backdrop being used as a transition here but outside of that, this is a pretty decent showcase of stiff strikes and some great exchanges. Shibata is a bit iffy no selling the leg work: Kojima at least howls in pain when he kicks near the lariat arm: but outside of that, he's full of piss and vinegar here as the young upstart trying to bring it to the established big dogs. This could've been a lot better if the pacing issues were handled through: there's some obvious filler for filler's sake going on."