[6.0] "Even some weeks after the emotional tumult of K-Ness's final match, Susumu still appears as emotionally wrought as-ever. His facials really compelled me to the beginning of this contest. However, and seemingly like so-many of SK's singles matches, his inability for his lengthy matches to tell a vivid story really make the late-middle sections a chore to get-through. As champion Kai has the menacing look and dismissive personality, but he lacks that next gear to be a great champ. In-addition, funny-enough, I always thought Kai thought of himself as a working-class hero in the Onita mode & that his heart wasn't fully-engaged in this character that has catapulted him to his greatest puroresu standing. When paired with a top charismatic performer like Miyahara, Kai's can come close to meeting his opponent in M Event matches, but w/ a (still) stolid (really) tag specialist like Susumu in twenty-five minute matches, the effects are energy-draining, and not-in-a-good way. What made this time-spent really memorable was the after-match departure of veterans SY & Genki from the 'Natural Vibes' faction. Obviously this was done to place more focus on the younger talent while freeing SY, or SM I should now write, to join the revamped 'M3K.' Really solid mic work from those two & Kzy to end a solid 'Dead or Alive' show even-if I missed the typical Nagoya treat of the elimination-cage match, hence the name of this show. 3 1/8 bout raised to 3 1/4 for the post-match happenings."
[9.0] "Another great bout which ultimately lacked of crowd reactions. It's a case of now or never for Yokosuka while KAI showed no mercy at all to his oppoent. Just imagine this with his packed and vocaling venue. Yokosuka's babyface fire was beyond superb, man had his arm fucked up, but tried and tried again with some great comebacks. The moment KAI broke the K-ness' necklace was something, Yokosuka went into rage mode and that was so damn cool. These two have surely a chemistry and they've displayed it pretty well during an emotional, competitive and brutal fight. The final minutes were pretty crazy, definitely."
[5.0] "I generally like Dragon Gate whenever I dip in, so I was excited for this, but felt very meh upon watching the match itself. I like Susumu in particular and he did well enough but KAI is just... dull, there's no other way I can describe him. Very surprised to see him as champion, considering the talent they have on board."
[8.0] "Good and hard hitting match. But these two failed to give a classic main event. Their selling and psychology are very poor. Really disappointing. (****)"
[9.0] "This exceeded every expectation I had for it. The emotion and storytelling were off the charts. KAI ripping off Yokosuka's K-Ness necklace before facing a barrage of lariats in retaliation got an audible reaction out of me while watching live at 5;30 in the morning my time alone. Yokosuka refusing to stay down and be forced to leave Natural Vibes and pulling out everything possible to get the win only to fall short. This is my Dragon Gate match of the year so far."
[8.0] "I have always said that KAI is definitely one of the most underrated wrestlers of all fucking time, and this is one of the plenty of matches that proves my point. The emotion and storytelling here were absolutely perfect, not a single flaw from any of them, especially Susumu Yokosuka, who did a magnific job as the babyface desperate to win. When KAI destroyed K-Ness' necklace and Yokosuka got all fired up, I marked out so fucking hard, I'll totally be thinking about this spot for a lifetime. The closing stretch is just out of the park, and the crowd's reactions to literally anything was just great. Awesome. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Excellent main event. With the name on the line, there was a slight doubt on KAI winning this match, turning what would be a filler title defence into a proper and true match with stakes, and all of that was shown. KAI was excellent in the match. He doesn? t always put in great performances - KAI rarely has bad ones either - but his selling was really good. His vulnerability in the closing stretch really brought home the drama of the match. Although his beatdown early in the match, particularly when attacking Susumu? s arm, was a let down. Not so dis-similar to SB KENTo? s earlier. Susumu laid it all on the line considering the stakes involved. This might also be his last Dream Gate Title match. And he did pretty much everything for the occasion. Despite his stoic, pain-faced ways, there is something oddly expressive about him that can? t fully be explained. The match ended with the classic DG formula, with some really big pinfalls and a standout moment of KAI ripping Susumu? s bracelet. ****"
[6.0] "The match was ok. It had some pretty good moves and sequences, but it still had some flaws in my opinion. Their selling was a bit inconsistent and the pace of the match seemed a little odd to me. The finish was also a bit awkward with KAI hitting his finisher 3 times with no response."
[7.0] "The best match so far of Kai's Dream Gate reign, which isn't anything because it's been very mediocre so far. The first 2/3rds here were low-level good but with heaps of annoying issues, whereas the final 1/3rd was when they finally began shamelessly trading big bombs to give the match some spark. Susumu jumped Kai at the start but lost control after injuring his arm on lariat that connected with the ring post. Kai then began his generic grimy heel beatdown segment, which wasn't interesting apart from the simple story of his basic arm-targeting. Kai has always excelled when hitting his flashy and athletic attacks in rapid succession, but him playing a "grind and beat you down" heel has really limited his singles-match performances because he now purposefully slows down to annoy the fans by not letting anything exciting happen on either side for extended periods. Susumu initially did well selling his arm whenever Kai targeted it further or whenever he himself attempted to use it for his various attacks. A cool story also then developed as Susumu began targeting Kai's leg in order to limit his signature kicks, mirroring how Kai's arm-targeting would limit Susumu's signature lariats. Unfortunately, this is Dragon Gate, where you'll probably see the most blatant no-selling in all of Japan, as neither guy paid any attention to either's injured limb outside of that first 1/3rd. Their rapid bomb trades were quite fun, but their complete no-selling of their injured limbs was especially egregious there because, realistically, Kai's leg and Susumu's arm should have been heavily aggravated by their constant usage, so it was very jarring to see that logic completely ignored. It's as if Dragon Gate thinks even bad limb-targeting is better than no limb-targeting at all, but I'd much prefer something not be attempted if it can't be done decently at the absolute least. Yeah, complaining about selling in DG is so 2008 or whatever, but it's genuinely still disappointing to see engaging match stories set up but then never properly utilised. They eventually settled into a slower series of bigger bombs trades. It was a very "I hit my spot, then you hit your spot" formula, with their trades being less creative or exhilarating than their earlier, rapid trades. It at least allowed each individual spot more time to breathe, but they were still going overkill with the "big move -> near fall -> repeat" structure. Kai breaking Susumu's necklace from K-ness gave the match some much-needed juice, as both men then showed far greater intensity and got greater impact in all their attacks. They were sadly still just in overkill bombfest mode, especially with the constant finisher kick-outs, but at least they were making their exchanges feel far more intense. Their physicality and sprint-pacing at the end bumped the match up to 'pretty good' territory, but it's pretty forgettable in the grand scale of Dream Gate/Susumu matches. ***1/4"
[9.0] "Great main event for great show. Extremely tough and emotional war of two talents, who're heavily rooted in both junior wrestling and AJPW style. Susumu is a master of emotional(less) comebacks and KAI is a wonderful heel. I personaly think the fight should've gotten a few more minutes of pure dramatic warfare, but overall I totally enjoyed the ride. ****1/2"
[8.0] "This was a great classic babyface vs heel match. Both guys played their roles really well and the crowd was super hot for anything Yokosuka did. I really liked the start of the match with the lariat, dive and then exploder on the stage. The last 5 minutes are also super drama filled with great near falls. People are saying it's KAI's best match in DG, I personally disagree I thought the match with YAMATO where he won the belt was definitely better, but this was still great. **** or ****1/4 I can't really decide."
[9.0] "I think this is KAI's best match in this company. A masterful display of storytelling by both men that tugged at the heartstrings in a way that only Dragon Gate can. I don't want to spoil too much; Susumu's desperation to win and KAI's villainous antics make this match an absolute must watch. ****1/2"
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