[7.0] "Nakamura is perhaps not quite the fighter that Sakuraba is. Hes nowhere near him on the mat and he isnt half as fast or half as furious as he is as a striker. He does one thing exceptionally well though, and after being blocked once from doing it, he was able to pull Sakuraba into his world at the end."
[6.0] "Really appreciate the intensity and hard hitting ( the Sakuraba knee to Nakamuras chin is brutal) but wish it was a little more fluent and smooth. During the 11 minutes of the fight the match feels just like a sparring or a rehearsal between the two."
[9.0] "A match where everything made sense. A good mix of MMA and wrestling, and I loved how Sakuraba grounded Nakamura right away. PSYCHOLOGY. The crowd was losing its mind over the reversals (and they were awesome). This match was pretty short, but it was awesome. Great fast-paced action. This was a perfect ten minute match."
[9.0] "This match has no theatrics or playing to the crowd. It is pure focus, two expert fighters trying to break each other down and take advantage of openings. The match flowed super well and managed to be fast-paced despite the methodical style. Would have loved to see a bit more offense from Shinsuke, but I loved to sudden victory. Really smart and exciting match."
[9.0] "Such a creative and magnificent match. There is only one pinfall attempted and it is the very end when Nakamura beats Sakuraba. Nakamura can't beat Kazushi with grappling and lockups so he has to literally just knee him repeatedly in the dome to put him away, even just as Sakuraba kicks out at 3.1. ****1/2"
[9.0] "It was a nice match. Started with grapple. Nakamura and Sakuraba showed some pure stuff. It remembered me the old japanese wrestling. Happy to see these kind of action now. (****1/4)"
[7.0] "Auch wenn ich den Reiz dieser Begegnung schon verstehen kann, zieht das ganze für mich nur so bedingt. Sakuraba strahlt halt überhaupt nichts aus, so garnicht. Der Kampf ist sicher etwas besonderes aber runtergebrochen auf die Unterhaltung, war das zwar ganz cool, aber nicht so meins."
[9.0] "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7 The match beginning a little bit slowly but after 5min the match ruled. That was so technical and i really liked it, An hidden gem from the Tokyo Dome CFØS Ratings : ****1/4"
[9.0] "Sakuraba's first singles match in a long, long time and you can feel that there's something special in the air. The mat work is dominated by Saku and even if you aren't you aware of him before this match like I was when I first saw this, you now know that he's no pushover. The first few minutes establishes that Nakamura has no chance of beating Sakuraba in a grappling match and he has to resort to using a lucky strike to bring down the mighty Saku. Nakamura makes the mistake of going for a takedown and is met with a legitimate looking knee, a direct call back to when Nakamura attempted a takedown on Takayama many moons ago. Nakamura manages to slide out of an armbar and takes Sakuraba out with a violent Boma Ye, the only pin attempt of the match. Still as great as it was when I first saw this back in 2013. It's like Lesnar v Cena at Extreme Rules, but worked as a shoot-style match, and who could hate that?"
[9.0] "I really love this blend of MMA and pro wrestling and wish it was something we saw more often on the big stage. I'm kind of tempted to rate this as an '8' because it seemed so short, but I guess it should be to add gravitas to the "real fight" aspect of it. They made use of their time and had this feeling like a real battle."
[9.0] "They start it off with some nice grappling stuff -- it's certainly not the best grappling ever seen in a pro-wrestling ring or anything close to that, but it's slick n' nice, aaaaand it also comes with a GREAT sense of caution & danger, which help make it all extremely enjoyable. The match really explodes once Nakamura decides to deliver a lil' disrespectful slap to Sakuraba, to which Saku answers accordingly by going on a huge strike-flurry. It was a great way to transition into the 2nd stage of the match I thought, and everything that followed was just superb. Everything Sakuraba does has such a fantastic feeling of danger to it, Nakamura sells his ass off & they make every bigger move and submission truly feel BIG. It's some terrific Tokyo Dome worthy drama, but with its own, unique charm. I love it. Saku vs. Naka is such a beautiful match that holds up on every single viewing of it."
[9.0] "A great MMA style match. Sakuraba repeatedly had thr upper hand and Nakamura has to rely on his cunning instincts to try to shift the momentum. A very stiff match which was short. This was a nice change from the usual long title matches and it still included everything it needed to make an entertaining match. ****1/2"
[9.0] "This was actually a very good match but it gets one extra point because I am tired of 45 minutes epics as title matches. There were a couple of serious mistakes preventing it from being a 10 but these two were good enough to cover them very quickly. No complaints here and could watch it time and time again."
[8.0] "An unusual match for Nakamura since Sakuraba is better at striking and submissions, both of which Nakamura usually has the better of between his opponents, so he has to rely on his counter-based wrestling to find a way to win. I really liked the start with Sakuraba throwing his weight around, taking Nakamura to the floor and hounding him but Nakamura stays composed and rethinks his strategy, which then led to a great slap fest between the two. Sakauraba brings out some great offence like the jumping stomp, the version that you only see in MMA and his body shots. Nakamura being quite able himself, sticks with Sakuraba really well and does a great job of getting a rise out of Sakuraba. There was a great moment in the match where Sakuraba hit a nasty knee to Nakamura? s face, ala Takayama. Nakamura? s selling of the shot was great - him looking to end it quickly afterwards was a great sense of urgency from him. The struggle for the kimura was great, too. Nakamura always finding a way to get out of the hold and then catching Sakuraba out when he tried to change course. A great match. ****"
[9.0] "This was a really compelling modern take on Inoki-ism. The grappling portions of the contest were where the MMA influence really shone through. The strike exchanges were crisp and oh so vicious. It's interesting to see Nakamura, for the large part, work from underneath in this. Sakuraba one upped him repeatedly and that created a real feeling of jeopardy, the kind that every title defence should be able to garner. That meant the crowd were doubly invested and the explosive finish paid off this short-ish match brilliantly."
[9.0] "Really excellent match here. Both worked very well together in a heavy MMA style match. Love the submission exchanges between these 2. They also did some chain wrestling earlier in the match, which was exciting. The crowd was really into the match, too. Well done."
[8.0] "Definitely one of the most unique Nakamura matches ever. This was really short for a Dome semi-main event match, but the action in all 11 minutes was great. Nakamura tried to wrestling Sakuraba's match, and it came back to bite him with the latter beating the shit out of the former. This is the match with the infamous knee to Nakamura's face that legitimately knocked him out. The ending is pretty funny to watch still with Sakuraba literally kicking out at 3. 1, ****1/4."
[8.0] "Das Match hat mir richtig gut gefallen. Sakuraba's Submissions waren genial und Nakamura konnte da noch gut mithalten. Die Knees von Naka wie immer stiff wie sonst was. Das Ende dann sehr gut. Kurzes Match, dafür gefüllt mit Aktion. (****)"
[9.0] "Ein weiteres Match das auch beim Rewatch sehr stark und sehr unterhaltsam war. Kazushi hier noch nicht bei CHAOS und bei Shinsuke sah man schon diese Arroganz und die Michael Jackson Elemente. Die Bearbeitung der Beine war stark und auch sonst gab es einige harte Szenen. Top Co-Main Event (****)."
[7.0] "Nakamura was great as the charismatic striker, and Sakuraba was great as the emotionless grappler. There’s some nice simple grappling to start off. It’s slow, but really cool seeing how intricately both men exchange positions. Things fire up when they start unloading strikes on each other. Ive read that Sakuraba supposedly momentarily knocked Nakamura out with that knee he delivered to counter Nakamura’s takedown. It was definitely a really great moment, and if that’s true then it only adds to the match. With the tension now increased dramatically, watching these two go back and forth with their jiu-jitsu inspired sequences was even more interesting and exciting. The finish was a bit disappointing, as Nakamura is struggling to escape Sakuraba’s armbar position, which was a great sequence, and then only JUST as Sakuraba locks it in Nakamura panics and somehow manages to escape by simply pulling hard enough… And then it appears that they botched the following sequence, or maybe Sakura just wasn’t aware that this was meant to happen, because Sakuraba looked really confused and wasn’t doing anything after Nakamura escaped, so Nakamura quickly decided to deliver a Bombaye to the grounded Sakuraba to save things from looking too awkward. Following this, Nakamura delivered one final Bombaye and won the match by pin. This was a very good match. If MMA’S jiu-jitsu was exciting as these two made it look then I’d actually watch it more often. ***3/4"
[8.0] "Sehr schönes Match, welches ich so nicht wirklich erwartet habe, da ich eigentlich kein sehr großer Fan von Sakuraba und generell kein großer Fan von einer Mischung aus MMA und Wrestling bin. Doch das Match ist für mich wohl die große Ausnahme, da beide hier ein unglaublich spannendes Match zeigen von dem ich noch gerne ein paar Minuten mehr gesehen hätte. **** (17)"
[10.0] "What a stiff match. This match which was very short, got amazing when Nakamura pissed off Sakuraba, and Sakuraba started stiffing the shit out of Nakamura. I think I can agree with Dave Meltzer on the rating."
[9.0] "Sehr sehr starkes Match! Sakuraba der es sehr sehr oft mit seinen Aufgabegriffen versucht und Nakamura wie gewohnt sehr viel mit seinen Tritten und Knees arbeitet (und natürlich durch seine Arroganz mit dem Gegner spielt)."
[9.0] "The ending sequences are so thrilling that I dare not spoil it for those who haven't seen it already. If you fall into that category, then seek this match out. Immediately. A Match Of The Year candidate in January. How about that."
[8.0] "Match of the night for me. They stuck to their strengths - Sak stiffing his opponent and Nakamura resorting to high-impact only offense just to keep up."
[9.0] "Auch ich fand das Match sehr stark, weil es eben das was sein sollte super erfüllt hat. Das beide sich erst auf der Matte begeben mag für manche befremdlich sein die dürfen aber auch nie UWF, -I oder sonst eine Shootstyle-Promotion gern gehabt haben. Sakuraba macht das wofür bekannt ist, hinter den unscheinbaren Typen steck immer er noch ein Catch Wrestler der jedes Bein, Arm oder sonstigen Körperteil verbiegen und brechen kann. Also äußert gefährlich, er zeigt sogar einen German Suplex! Nakamura war wohl die absolut richtige Wahl und die meiner Meinung nach durchaus angebrachte Skepsis die ich vor dem Match hatte, war dann sehr schnell verflogen. Edit: Schon erstaunlich was hier gezeigt wurde, vielleicht hat Inoki ja zugeschaut? Dann dürfte er jetzt wissen wie seine IGF zu laufen hätte."
[7.0] "Nur Shinsuke Nakamura, wirklich nur Shinsuke Nakamura darf beim Entrance so einen Dancemove zeigen! Der Mann ist so unfassbar großartig, dass er selbst aus dem Fremdkörper Sakuraba ein anständiges Match herausholen kann. Ich habe bei der Ansetzung wirklich mit wenig gerechnet aber dafür viel bekommen. Nakamura ist einfach vorbereitet und passt sich dem Stil Sakurabas so gut an, dass tatsächlich ein sehenswertes Match ist dabei herauskommt. Der Mann ist einfach ein Killer, was auch das Finish wieder unter Beweis stellt. Nakamura for Wolrd Champion!"
[9.0] "Spektakulärer Kampf. Einen Punkt Abzug gibt es für den lahmen Anfang, geprägt durch extrem langwieriges Abtasten. Aber danach gewinnt das Match mächtig an Fahrt. Abwechselnd sehr harte Strikes, was den Kampf um so realistischer wirken lässt."
[8.0] "Wenn du während eines Matches aufspringst, obwohl du das Ergebnis schon kennst, dann muss dieses Match etwas richtig machen. Sakuraba und Nakamura passen viel besser zusammen, als vorher bisweilen gemutmaßt worden war. Auch der Verlauf des Matches passt zu dieser Paarung, etwa die Grappling - Sequenz zu Beginn. Stiffe Aktionen, Abwechslung und wirkungsvolle Spots machen aus dem Kampf eine bis zum Schluss spannende Begegnung."
[6.0] "Unabhängig davon, dass die Art des Kampfes nicht meinen Geschmack entsprach, kam er mir ausserdem nicht in irgendeiner Art und Weise besonders vor. Vielleicht muss ich mir erst einige NJPW-PPvs ansehen, um die Qualität würdigen und erkennen zu können. ;)"
[8.0] "This match was my match of the night. Having already watched 3 and a half hours of decent wrestling this was like a refreshing breeze of knees to the face. This was my first gander at both wrestlers and I very much liked what I saw. The match approached a UWFi shootfight style and was very exciting. Well worth tracking down as I hold it a slight step above the main event."
[9.0] "at first i thought this match was going to be a complete disaster because i wasn't a very big fan of new japan's day when they would cross over with mma stars. however, this match surprised me. it was very suspenseful and hard hitting. i think nakamura's hit his best match in my book"
[7.0] "Ich hätte niemals gedacht dass der alte Sakuraba (sein Körper passt inzwischen noch mehr zu seinem Gesicht, er sieht aus wie ein pensionierter Postbeamter, der sich nun im Schrebergarten fit hält) noch so ein Match zeigen kann oder Nakamura ein solches aus ihm herausholen kann. Die "erste Drittel" fand ich ziemlich lahm (weil Abtasterei und Mattenarbeit ohne Richtung und Ziel) aber dann gewinnt das Match immer mehr an Fahrt. Einige klasse Szenen und gute Dramatik, Hut ab."
[9.0] "Man war das stark. Nicht nur Nakamura war in diesem Match stark, auch Sakuraba hat seinen Teil zu diesem Match beigetragen. Ich habe mich gefragt, ob ich das Match nur so gut fand, weil ich es live gesehen habe und unfassbar spannend fand, aber auch in einem zweiten Durchgang bleibe ich dabei, dass beide hier etwas großartiges boten. Gerade die Stike Battles und die Submission Szenen auf der Matte waren so, wie ich sie mir in einem Shoot Style Match vorstelle. Ich hätte vorher niemals damit gerechnet, dass die beiden so gut harmonieren würden, aber am Ende war natürlich Nakamura ein Teil des Matches - einer der besten Wrestler Japans."
