D-Lo Brown vs. Toshiaki Kawada

[6.0] "Very strange seeing these two share a ring together. This is a pretty solid match for the most part. D-Lo makes his entrance to DMX which was very sick. We start off with some mat work before the big strikes start getting thrown. D-Lo's selling in this in this was actually really good and probably my favourite part of the match. Kawada did his thing here, basically putting in the exact performance you'd expect him to at this point in his career. I thought the finish here was quite good with Kawada essentially chopping down D-Lo with kicks before finally finishing him off with a big one to the head. Not an amazing match but it was interesting to see these two vastly different wrestlers share a ring together and there was enough good stuff in here from both guys to where the match was at least somewhat enjoyable overall. ***"

[7.0] "Would have liked a longer more drawn out match between these two but this was great good physicality and psychology really beat the shit out of each other great."

[6.0] "Good match to welcome Kawada back to All Japan, with D-Lo showing surprising comfort in this domain. He's really quite good here, meeting Kawada head on for some impressive physicality. ***"

[8.0] "DMX at the all japan show is too fire. Really interesting seeing these 2 in the ring together but I thought this was a good showing for d-lo and a good return match for kawada"

[7.0] "Very decent match here, seeing D-Lo Brown in there with a Pillar is a crazy sight but I will say he does manage to hold his own in this match, It's not particularly memorable which is a little upsetting to me because I love both of these guys but I guess since it was Kawada's return it wasn't gonna be a blow out sprint but it was enjoyable."

[5.0] "Kawada's big return to AJPW after a fair bit of absence, and he's fighting perhaps his most dangerous foe yet.... the 4 time WWF European Champion himself, D-Lo Brown. Seriously, you can't get any more random than this. I get it, this is a warm up bout for Kawada but it's just so random to see these two guys matched up with each other somehow. As for the match, it's pretty much just generic stuff for the most part: Kawada by this point was on the backend of his career and certainly wasn't going to turn up the remaining gas up here, so we get a match that's mostly just some slow ground work for the first half and then D-Lo trying to outmatch Kawada in strikes, which was never going to happen and doesn't until he cheats with a poke to the eye. In all fairness, D-Lo isn't terrible here and does manage to sell and wrestle competently, but no one is believing that he's got a inch of a chance against his opponent but he does manage to get some reactions with some over the top selling and stealing Kawada's Stretch Plum for himself, but mostly the crowd are very much apathetic beyond the finish, which has Kawada smack him in the face with a kick for the pin. As stated, this isn't bad or anything, just that there's zero tension and Kawada was very much in his usual state of not really caring about the smaller matches and as such, you get a far more subdued version here that hits the usual hits but doesn't really do much beyond that. A competent match but one that I won't be watching again."