[7.0] "Blair looked some of the best I've seen her in this match. Another strong match with Meiko's style really shining onto NXT UK at this point. The false finishes work really well here and Blair looked credible."
[7.0] "It's very authentic, it's very mature. The narrative starts decently on the mat, where the Asian has her advantages. By the end, Davenport is incredibly close, bringing brawl and even impact at times, but most of all credibility. Not quite eight points in my book, but I desperately want to see more because this is significantly better than anything else being offered on the main roster at the same time. If this match was a YouTube channel, I'd provisionally subscribe to it for now."
[9.0] "Before this match begins, shout-out the persons that designed the gear for Satomura & Davenport, the two pieces are so beautiful! Anyway, Davenport is a little apprehensive in the beginning - I like the personality shown. That apprehension lets Satomura get in firm control in the opening, and manages to kick Davenport off the top-rope and send her face-first into the apron which really shifts the tide of the match-up. I like this showcase of the clash of personalities, the stoic Satmoura, versus Davenport's apprehension. Satomura has a response for everything Davenport throws, and strikes Davenport violently. But, Davenport shows intelligence by striking Satomura as she is exiting the ring. Davenport's control is very vicious and nasty. Davenport makes a mistake as she leads the contest, she chooses to strike with Satomura and finishes the sequence dumped on her head from a aggressive Satomura back-drop suplex. Davenport still gets offence in, but it is always shutdown roughly by Satomura. They then exchange some huge offence, and Satomura wrestles back the lead. Davenport evades the Scorpio Rising, and hits a brutal knee, but Satomura kicks-out and continues to battle strongly and pins Davenport for the 3. Gorgeous technical wrestling masterclass with an engrossing story. Beautiful stuff."
[9.0] "This was basically a great 'joshi' match as a NXT UK main event. Only thing holding it back was the environment - bad announcing and awful crowd took away from this great match. Because of that: (****)"
[7.0] "That was great, surely when you have Satomura in the mix. Davenport put on a good performance. She was credible enough to dethrone Meiko. Some good stiff sequences and technical stuff. Like the Japanese way. I'm not a fan of the finish, however."
[8.0] "Good showing here from these two. Nice back and forth match with hard hitting action. Not a fan of roll up finishes but it doesn't effect the rating for me. Blair looked strong despite the loss too."
[5.0] "Ja, das war ordentlich. Speziell, wenn man das mit den Barbies vergleicht, die bei WWE so in den Hauptshows rum rennen. Trotzdem hätte ich mir hier -vor allem - zum Ende hin mehr Geschwindigkeit und Technik erwartet. Es war doch arg Strong Style-lastig, was natürlich auch zur Japan-Vergangenheit von Davenport passt. Dennoch wäre hier deutlich mehr drin gewesen."
[8.0] "Overall I found this match to be pretty good definitely could be a nine out of 10 then ringwork was very good on both sides not a huge fan of the rollup finish I feel like Meiko should've been booked a little bit stronger than that but overall a pretty good main event."
[8.0] "Great strike based match, with some really nasty punts to the head specially that first one from Blair to Meiko. Just very good both strike wise and on the technical side. It was also fairly balanced which I appreciated and also while the ending came out of nowhere it did a good job of protecting Blair for the future. Good match"
[7.0] "Mit Meiko Satomura kann man scheinbar nur funktionieren. Sehenswertes Match mit einem ganz guten Vibe und auch erwähenswert guter Heel-Arbeit von Blair. Titelwechsel lag in der Lut, aber Meiko ist halt Meiko."
[7.0] "The best female roster is exactly in NXT UK! I am sure that the next meeting awaits us two heads higher. I will be very much waiting for a rematch."
[7.0] "A brutal thirteen minute match w/ some of the nastiest strikes I've seen in a woman's match outside Japan. Of course it featured two women who have, for the majority of their careers, fought in Japan. Although it was slow & deliberate, this best fit both women's strengths as at this point Meiko's body is a bit worn-down from 25+ years of competing against the best Japan can offer, and furious paced matches are not suited to Bea's strengths. I think Bea's imposing stature and English arrogance benefit her appeal yet I do wonder if she is veering into, or is already in, what is commonly known as X-pac heat. For my part, I'm not interested in seeing her w/ the belt any time soon, yet I don't know who else on the NXT UK roster is ready or currently positioned for it. 3 1/3 - 3/8"
[6.0] "This was a good match between Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport, but to be honest I expected a bit better of it, even if I don't like Blair Davenport. Satomura's kicks were very impactful and I liked it, but the Rollup finish didn't really make sense with Satomura being "The Final Boss". ***1/4"
[8.0] "Fantastic main event with an indecisive finish. These two had great chemistry and dished out hard-hitting offense to each other that was presented as a great fight. Davenport is a hit-and-miss in wrestling generally and this match is a sure hit against the legendary Satomura whose title reign was one-sided until here. Meiko's true battle was this since her dual tantrum with KLR. The finish might lead us to a rematch where Davenport wins the big rig! 3.75 out of 5 stars!"
[8.0] "A great start to the new year for NXT UK! Meiko Satomura gave a lesson in bumping and selling in this one, with Blair Davenport delivering some of the nastiest strikes I have seen in quite some time. The V-Trigger and Double Foot Stomp sequence was Grade A wrestling, as were the Kamigoye and the counter kick and hanging DDT. I apologize if this spoils anything, but those were expertly executed combinations and moves that had me jumping out of my seat. I also thoroughly enjoyed the story of this match and rivalry. Davenport claimed to know Satomura inside and out due to her past experience as a Joshi. With a gradually building story of Satomura out-classing Davenport, only to be stopped in her tracks by Davenport effectively proving the predictability of her iconic opponent, I was hooked from start to finish. I also loved the sequences with the Scorpion Kick and Death Valley Bombs, as it further displayed Davenport knowing what to expect from The Final Boss. Even if it meant enduring punishment. All in all, a great story with some incredible action and a finish that fit the story perfectly. 4 stars, 8 out of 10."
[8.0] "Also, das Match hat mich richtig überzeuge von beiden Damen. Von Meiko habe ich leider zu wenig gesehen, aber hier zeigte sie warum sie, zu einer der besten Damen im Wrestling-Business zählt. Aber auch Bea zeigte ihr hier Fähigkeiten und zeigte eine mehr als anständige Performance. Hat mir echt gut gefallen und war ein klasse Main Event."
[8.0] "I don't like endings like that. But it was right. I'm sure that title will be Bea/Blair's at some point. Anyway, good match, told well and wrestled well."
[7.0] "Pretty surprised that Meiko Satomura retained the title to be honest, as I thought the big Blair Davenport push was leading to her winning the title, but her post-match attack may lead to it happening anyway. This could have been great in a bigger setting, but I felt it got lost a bit in front of such a small crowd of people. Fairly certain they have more in store with each other soon."
[8.0] "Meiko Satomura hat hier aus der ehemaligen Bea Priestley vielleicht das beste Match ihrer Karriere herausgeholt. Beide funktionierten wahnsinnig gut in ihren Rollen und Meiko ließ Bea wie eine echte Gefahr um dann aber auch wieder in ihrer unnachahmlichen Art anzuziehen. Ich fand das Match echt richtig gut und halte 8 Punkte für angemessen."
[8.0] "Great match between Satomura and Davenport here that I really liked from start to finish and that's not surprising at all of course as we had two very good wrestlers here, they're excellent even if Bea can still improve and she's obviously below Meiko who's a real legend. But in any case, neither of them was better than the other here, both shone equally and it was a very competitive affair with some believable suspense because for me both results were possible. Meiko made her challenger shine perfectly and Davenport showed some interesting things against the champion, she's so far the biggest threat Meiko has faced since the beginning of her reign and she's surely the one who will dethrone her as the roll-up ending most certainly points to a rematch. This main event was very good anyway, I loved it and I can't wait to see Davenport with the belt."
