CIMA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru

[7.0] "Pleasant surprise, I didn't expect this match to be this good, Kanemaru worked CIMA's legs, as he conveyed the pain wonderfully, I absolutely expected CIMA to win, as he did, but when Kanemaru got CIMA and the figure four, I lowkey thought he was gonna tap out. Match could've been a bit shorter, but still pretty satisfiying aside from that."

[7.0] "The veterans tored the house down. Kanemaru is not "The Heel Master" for nothing. He targeted CIMA's leg so well as the later sold it like a boss. Quite a lesson they taught to everybody. Big strikes, big submissions. Kept it simple as this was effective."

[7.0] "Two of the best Junior Heavyweights of all time showing exactly how to make every moment count. The surprise start to this match was brilliantly executed and Yoshinobu Kanemaru proceeded with laser-like focus on the knee that he had been targeting all along. CIMA sold brilliantly and even displayed desperation in key moments through little actions like trying to punch Kanemaru in the hamstring when he doubted his ability to drag the aggressor for a rope break. Or CIMA blocking an Irish Whip reversal by putting all of his weight down so that he could instead counter into a Side Russian Leg Sweep so that he would not have to run. Little details takes matches to another level and that is exactly what happened in this one. Later in the match, Kanemaru showed why he is one of the greats with his subtle selling of the back. CIMA had targeted that area with almost all of his offense, which led to Kanemaru struggling to get through the sequences he normally hits with fluidity. That includes the delay in going into a cover. Throw in the fun ending that included a Stone Cold style finish and you have yourself one of the best matches of the tournament thus far. 3.75 stars, 7.5 out of 10."

[7.0] "MOTN. I loved the sneak attack at the start; Normally, I don't really like this type of sneak attacks but it worked here. Kanemaru's leg work was pretty good and it was fun watching him work on top; CIMA was also a very good babyface with decent comebacks and his selling was good the most part. It was a good match, very different from what I expected but a good surprise. ***1/2"

[6.0] "Good, not great. CIMA got his leg worked over most of the match by Kanemaru, until he was able to get through the pain and deliver a few big moves and a Meteora. Way slower of a pace than I expected. CIMA is good as an babyface fighting back against the heel, and Kanemaru is solid as always, but not a super notable match."

[7.0] "Really good match, and a situation where heel tactics didn't take away from the match. This is the perfect example of the heel's wrestling not being quite enough to take out the face, so he turns to underhanded tactics like pushing the ref in front of him."

[7.0] "Yoshinobu Kanemaru is one of the most underappreciated wrestlers of all fucking time and this match right here is one of the million proofs of my point. Uncle Nobu's legwork was excellent and it is no surprise that he portrayed an amazing heel throughout the bout. CIMA's selling was perfect, and his high-speed moves and strikes were also great, adding a lot to this match. It's no surprise for me that these two delivered a good match, in fact, it was one of the matches that I was most looking forward to. ***3/4"

[7.0] "A good level of tournament match. CIMA breaks through to the top list of participants. He uses his style correctly in the ring, he has a lot of experience, but the opponent also has great experience, as a result, the one who does not make a mistake wins. Yoshinobu Kanemaru seemed to do everything right, broke his leg. But for some reason he decided to act dirty and got a super kick. Then CIMA knew what to do to win."

[8.0] "Pretty cool match between CIMA and Kanemaru here which was for me exactly what it should be despite the lack of suspense as there was no reason for Kanemaru to win this match, that said the dynamic used was the right one to try to make him shine as much as possible with an interesting character-work from him from the beginning to the end. Seeing him attack CIMA during his entrance from nowhere, seeing him sadistically destroy his leg and behaving so arrogantly was really fun to watch. This was my introduction to him as I'd never seen him in action before and although he's far from captivating, there's no doubt he's a damn qualitative worker who knows what to do with good execution and movement. CIMA was simply CIMA with a great performance as the resilient underdog, selling the damage to his leg perfectly from start to finish. I liked the visual of CIMA doing a Superkick and Kanemaru spitting out his drink, it looked really cool. A match truly simple to understand with a well told story, solid stuff."

[7.0] "Enjoyed this. Kanemaru remains one of the only heels in the world to be able to do heel shenanigans without it coming off totally lazy. He mixes it in with excellent in ring work and I just love it. CIMA was ok, particularly impressed with when he was in the figure four. ***1/2"

[7.0] "A pretty good match which didn't drag out or overstay its welcome. That missed Meteora was wince-inducing. I have to say, though, there has already been an insane number of ref bumps in this tournament."

[9.0] "This was a great match. Yoshinobu Kanemaru's leg work was masterclass, and CIMA's selling was equally good. They shined up CIMA excellent into a babyface comeback and win. They had a bit of an epic in just 15 minutes and this is probably the third best match of the tournament so far. I hope CIMA & Stronghearts are sticking with NJPW for the foreseeable future, they are adding a new level of freshness to the shows."

[9.0] "Truthfully, I thought this was the match of the night. I am a sucker for continuously working over a body part for the entire match like Kanemaru did, and Cima's come back felt all the better afterwards. I genuinely thought Cima would not be able to overcome and expected him to tap out during the figure four. ****1/2"

[8.0] "The match per se is pretty cool but my god what selling by CIMA on the leg. Masterwork for that, absolutelly."

[6.0] "Kanemaru attacked CIMA before the bell rang and targeted the left leg of CIMA. Pretty good encounter."

[7.0] "Kanemaru does some great technical work targetting the leg of CIMA and CIMA does some fantastic selling along with a really great spirited comeback at the end. Good match. Nothing amazing but one of the better matches from the tournament so far."