Eddie Edwards vs. Tomohiro Ishii

[7.0] "At first, this match was rather rough, Edwards worked on top, which I found to be quite boring, he had no intensity initially and I couldn't get behind him but as soon as the back and forth started, Edwards stepped his game up and his offense was much more hard-hitting and impactful, I mean Ishii always brings the best out of his opponents, as he did here, average Ishii carry"

[8.0] "This was a great match. Eddie Edwards had just turned heel and revealed himself as the leader of Honor No More, a faction consisting of ROH talent that weren't working after they shut down at the end of 2021. Keep in mind, ROH on Honor Club hadn't debuted yet and there was only 3 ROH shows in 2022, so Impact took advantage of their freedom and developed a heel faction for much of 2022. Tomohiro Ishii made his Impact debut here in this match, and to the surprise of no one, he was great. This was a strong style match right out of New Japan or NOAH, which is funny considering Eddie decided not to represent Impact, but NOAH. Ishii won, which looking back wasn't shocking because a month later, he got a shot at the Impact world title against Josh Alexander. ****"

[8.0] "It would have been a pity if a fight between Ishii and Edwards was bad. Some great intense and brutal shit all the way, but not the right booking. A win against Ishii would have been something great for the credibilty of this new Edwards, leader of Honor No More. Otherwise, that was pretty cool. Edwards showed the very best of himself. IMPACT shouldn't have been afraid to make Ishii lose, he's the type of dude who can lose everytime, but still being the baddest man in town."

[6.0] "Wow this was much better than I thought it would be and I was quite excited for this match, both guys worked great together considering it is their first time together"

[5.0] "Slow and plodding. Ishii doing the same match he always does, but with less intensity and no story. Also, how the fuck does it make any sense to Impact's higher ups that Ishii beats clean the leader of the new hot stable?"

[8.0] "Quite good match. Definently have to reduce points for the sloppy performance. I guess Impact didn't want tp take any risk for Ishi's age. Or the wrestlers themselves. (***3/4)"

[8.0] "die hard NOAH eddie almost resurfaces, but i agree there is some work to be done before he recaptures the glory of the dojo bros era. ishii formula has almost run its course, but still enjoyable!"

[8.0] "This was a damn fine hard hitting match-up. I expect nothing less from either wrestler. I definitely recommend checking this match out."

[6.0] "*** I remember liking this less than other people seem to on this site. Eddie has clearly lost a step."

[8.0] "A lot to unpack from the very beginning of this match. Eddie Edwards refusing to represent Impact Wrestling and instead draping himself in emerald green to show his allegiance to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Tomohiro Ishii taking great pride in representing New Japan Pro Wrestling against the rival company that it just competed with a mere three months prior. And, above all else, two of the hardest-hitting strikers in all of professional wrestling looking to achieve supremacy through their respective symphonies of violence. The wrestling itself was as brutal and hard-hitting as I was hoping it would be, with Edwards showing again why he is the only foreign-born wrestler to ever win the GHC Heavyweight Championship. He chopped the skin off of Ishii and delivered a series of kicks and elbows that had me cringing. Ishii responded in kind, fighting an uphill battle against a borderline dominant Edwards for most of this match. The Powerslam outside of the ring was perfect, only for the DDT on the apron to change the trajectory of this match. A damn good sequence that set the stage for Edwards being in control until one of the best Headbutts Ishii has delivered finally evened the odds. What takes this match from a 7 to an 8, however, is the story being told. Edwards unleashing a Misawa tribute with the Misawa-style Elbow leading to one of the cleanest Tiger Drivers I have seen in a clear display of paying homage to the legend of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Edwards then going too far by attempting to mock NJPW with the Boston Knee Party, only for Ishii to respond with a Shining Wizard of his own to pay tribute to New Japan Pro Wrestling legend Keiji Mutoh. Little details showing the differences between NOAH and NJPW from start to finish made all of the hard-hitting action even more fun to digest. As always, Ishii had the unfathomable blend of perfect selling and immaculate no-selling. He even sold a concussion after the knees by dry-heaving. Arguably the GOAT from a selling perspective. Throw in a red-hot finish and you have yourself a match that I am happy to have experienced. 4 stars, 8 out of 10. I would love to see a rematch in front of a more puro-friendly crowd."

[8.0] "A great Puroresu styled match between one of the underrated strong style wrestlers & a legend of his own. Both dished out intense aggression to each other on a whole new level and did their very best to entertain the crowd. Ishii winning was expected but Edwards had some spots where he could pull off an upset. Edwards representing NOAH even though being an Impact wrestler adds a nice touch. 4 out of 5 stars!"

[7.0] "The clash of a fan of Japanese wrestling and the brightest representative of Japanese wrestling is interesting. Of course, the fighters did not leave at high speeds and decided to fight slowly. Tomohiro Ishii managed to please with hard and fatal blows. Eddie Edwards tried hard to pull the fight to his side, but the beast is difficult to stop. No matter how tired Tomohiro got towards the end, he still managed to crush him with pressure and rage. For me, this result was a good surprise."

[7.0] "A very Puroresu match, following the Tomohiro Ishii formula. Hard hitting and intense from end to end, with both men delivering amazing strikes and sequences. I'm not a big fan of Eddie Edwards, but he looked great here, especially when he exchanged strikes with Cinder Block Tom. ****"

[8.0] "Another Great Match for this show! This was as stiff & as hard hitting as you would expect from these 2! I'd love to see these 2 go at it again, whether it's in Impact or NJPW...I hope we get a rematch in the near future!"

[7.0] "This followed the standard, done-to-death Ishii formula of lots of strike battles and 50/50 tests of power/endurance. I appreciated the novelty of seeing someone like Eddie work this structure with his few unique stylistic twists, especially since he could hit hard but was also far more agile an opponent than Ishii was used to, but that didn't change that this was ultimately still the same tired match that Ishii has been having for the last 5 years. It was at least fun seeing the crowd pop for all of Ishii's signature spots, even if those spots no longer feel the same to me as when I first saw them all those years ago. Eddie honestly did far better than Ishii with getting strong impact in his strikes, with Ishii getting strikes that were 'heavier' but which didn't have nearly as impressive impact (though Eddie's shirt didn't help matters). For as much as I complain about Ishii's repetitiveness, he ultimately ended up still impressing me here with his wonderful selling and his exciting displays of defiant intensity. All it would take is literally just a few dashes of creativity to his matches and then I'd agreed with all the other people that claim he's one of the best workers ever. He and Eddie both displayed good energy and physicality as they traded big moves back and forth in the finishing stretch. It's a shame it ended when it did, because they had only just found that sweet spot of crowd hype, but they definitely both still gave good performances in the time they had. ***1/4"

[7.0] "There were a bunch of great exchanges in this match, but it ended before Ishii and Edwards could really get the crowd going. ***3/4"

[4.0] "Man, I try, I don't know what it is about the Ishii formula, but his matches always feel so lifeless to me. Which is impressive considering intensity is supposed to be one of his things."

[7.0] "This was your average Ishii match before the last 2 minutes with Ishii using the boston knee party. The chops were loud, the stikes were stiff and they threw in a couple of big bombs. Fun"

[9.0] "Eddie brought his A game to this and Ishii was certainly not going through the motions either. hard hitting match."

[8.0] "Hard hitting match. I think it's a new one this crossing between Tomohiro Ishii and Eddie Edwards. The result is a super solid wrestling match with a perfect role in this kind of event. Very nice to see here."