Tam Nakano vs. Utami Hayashishita

[7.0] "Wow! This is a war. Just a storm of emotions and a hail of blows to the head from women. Great, I'm waiting for their personal meeting already in a full match and again I didn't understand, if it's a draw, who goes through to the next round? or there's a point system here, it looks like I should have studied the rules before watching - sorry. And the match is just wonderful!"

[7.0] "Another very good well wrestled match with a bit of comedy also thrown there thanks to the rather funny gag Utami Nakano. Besides that, which made me chuckle, these two are great and they showed why, puting on a very good match. Very dangerous spot on the apron with Tam that made me think she was gone. Time limit makes sense: none of them needs the Cinderella and this way they both look strong."

[4.0] "This match had some spots that would look good on GIFs, but they found a way to make this match feel like they were killing time till the 10-minute mark - they went straight to big near-falls that had zero drama to them. They were trying to make them big to sell them big, but it didn't create any interest in seeing another singles match between them."

[7.0] "These two have an interesting feud, having only faced each other in singles exclusively in tournaments. In Utami's debut year, she bulldozed through Tam by referee stoppage. Last year, Tam was finally able to get revenge when the two were arguably at the height of their strength as the promotion's top champions. Now both of them are beltless fighting their way back up after having been defeated by Saya Kamitani. This was a sprint-style match with exchanges of big moves and some comical elements mixed in. It wasn't an ideal match, but it was good for what it was given the limitations imposed by the rules of the tournament. Hopefully they meet again in the near future. ***1/2"

[6.0] "At the end of the 10 minutes, I felt like both had a lot more room in the tank for the match to continue so this is a rare time limit draw that works and feels natural even if I'd have liked to see more of the match."

[6.0] "Utami's rose has become her Bret Hart 'sunglasses' gimmick; it's a wise move as usually she's a rather unapproachable character. But she showed personality tonight against Tam, even mocking her facials early-on. Tam's forcing of-the-issue was a bit cloying, but it also helped me to buy the semi-enmity and desperation both showed late in trying to achieve victory. I liked that their apron spot was done mid-match & that Utami hit one-of-her-bigger moves, the Torture Rack Bomb, late making me doubt, just-a-little, that this was going to-a-draw. 3 1/4 - 3/10 I'm stuck between a 6 & 7 as 3 1/3 is my basis for how I rate matches I would score a '7' on this website, so down, but I thought this was just-a-tad-better than the previous match, with its interference, etc."

[7.0] "Utami imitating Tam was a pretty random set-up going into this match but great nonetheless. She only did one kawaii face the whole match though. They hit a ton of big moves for such a short match. I guess we won't get to see Tam in the dress this year..."

[5.0] "I'm not a fan of their chemistry, and it seemed to be an interesting storytelling with Utami Nakano and Tam being furious because of it, but it was another exchange of big moves the whole match. Utami just did kawaii face once and... That's all? Build-up was more interesting and entertaining than the result."

[4.0] "I'm always glad when main eventers don't limit themselves to their status and come up with additional storytelling, but why was all this, why was there an imitation of Nakano's cute side, if everything turned out to be aimed at a ten-minute big match - I don't understand. From the first second it was just not interesting to me, and nothing changed until the very end. I would say it was a disappointing match, but I didn't expect anything special from him (**)."

[8.0] "Yeah, no surprise at the draw but also no surprise how good this was. They played off their personalities well in the beginning and kicked it into high gear for the finishing stretch."

[7.0] "This was really the match I had been waiting for, since these two always deliver. I loved the Tam mocking stuff, and this was just a really entertaining match. It's a shame it had to go to a ten minute draw, because these two could have gone for longer and I guarantee that the rating would be higher. But I have to give it a seven because of the unexpected ending and some pretty forgettable moments at times. Still a good watch if you have ten minutes to watch a match. Best match of the Cup so far. [*** 3/4]"

[7.0] "I'd say it's between this and SLK vs Poi for best match of this first round. Result was predictable but they did great. Nice suplexes, fighting spirit, all the typical stuff. Wish they wouldn't have been champs at the same time last year, would've loved a PPV title match between the 2, they have great chemistry. ***1/2"

[8.0] "As soon as this match was announced, it was clear that it would be a draw and it would be entertaining as hell. Then the press conference happened, hilarity ensued and hype grew even more. Would Utami come out dressed as Tam, and act like her during the match? She didn't, sans one short moment, but it didn't matter because the match was still awesome. The dialogue at the beginning was hilarious, Utami channeling her inner Tam was funny, and the rest of the action was every bit as good as what you would expect from these two. Just a ton of fun from start to finish. Tam nearly touching the floor was tense as hell and a great way to play on the stipulation. The end result was expected, but since the time limit is so short, it was perfect."

[7.0] "Fucking hell, what a good match! Fun to watch from start to finish, both women did a good job here and delivered some insane bumps and beautiful sequences as well. Not as good as their 5STAR Grand Prix match, but this still rocks and gets you ultra hyped for a rematch. It sucks to see it ended as a Time Limit Draw, since I wanted Tam Nakano to win, but it was a good finish in spite of the draw. ****"