Tommy End vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

[7.0] "They held back quite a bit, considering Tommy had the tournament finals still left to wrestle in that night, but they still managed to impress with the 13 minutes they had. This was textbook strike-and-grapple match, with both men having a preference for one but still being very competent at the other. They went through periods of attempting only grappling exchanges and only striking exchanges, with both usually ended up in a stalemate without either being able to get any meaningful offence out, reflecting how evenly matched they were. The match finally opened up as they both began going 50/50 with some impressively stiff and flashy strikes. Tommy naturally had the upper hand in these trades, but Sabre was still pretty good with his own, and he managed to pull out his signature smooth and sudden submission-transitions and pin attempts to likewise help him fight for control. Their various rapid pin and submission trades were fun, and I especially enjoyed when the pace slowed down and they both really had to fight hard for control out of any one attempted move. Their 50/50 mirrored strike trades were a bit hokey for how overly contrived they felt -- especially for how long their roundhouse kick trades lasted -- but their technique remained so smooth and professional that I still really enjoyed it. They both started bringing out some more creative big spots and counters in the final few minutes, all of which were yet again very smooth and very professional-looking. The urgency they displayed with every interaction in that final 1/4th was very fun, and Tommy looked impressively dominated as he hit his Owari Death Stomps followed by his Owari Death Clutch for the win via ref's decision. Good match, but as with Tommy's match with Marvin in the previous round, I wish they had 20+ minutes to go all out and show us what creative and exciting interactions they were really capable of. ***1/4"

[9.0] "Just an all out crimson war between these two. They rolled around on the mat for a few minutes before kicking it into 3rd gear and just going hard all the way to the finish."