Karl Anderson vs. Tama Tonga

[5.0] "I don't think there was any reason for this match to go over 15 minutes as there isn't a single point where this gets fun to watch and on top of that I don't think there was any sensible reason as to why Anderson won the belt here, he was extremely bland and uninteresting in this match, I cannot recall one cool thing he did in this match, Tama was fine tho, he has some good fire, he works suprisingly well as a face for me."

[5.0] "This was below average, and looking back now, it was a HORRIBLE decision to have Karl Anderson win the belt, VERY skippable."

[6.0] "Better than their next encounter at WK17, even though I would have never gave 'em 16 fucking minutes. Anderson was, at least, motivated here, or seemed to be. Tonga is a pretty good babyface to carry things, but the wrestling sequences were quite interesting at some moments, but that went too long for what it was. The result was predictable, but the finish was well handled."

[5.0] "Not bad but a very average match. Both guys were alright in this. Doc Gallows and Jado were there too."

[5.0] "Can't comprehend wanting to put a belt on Karl Anderson in 2022. I'm not a Tama Tonga fan but I thought he looked way better than Karl here. 2.5 stars"

[7.0] "I liked it. The former mentor versus the student was a good story and the wrestling was simple but crisp and physical. The ending felt a little flat, but that was probably by design with the heel winning."

[7.0] "Surprisingly good. Both guys are limited in terms of in ring but they told a good story and I enjoyed it. ***1/2"

[5.0] "Some of this was definitely better than I expected from these two, but ultimately fell into the usual Bullet Club stuff."

[7.0] "I thought this match was pretty good, but I'm bummed that Tama Tonga's first NEVER Openweight run was so short. I think Anderson will be a great champion, but I wish Tama Tonga had a little more spotlight. 7/10 match"

[5.0] "This was just a match really, nothing bad, nothing particularly good. The fact that this got more time than the Ospreay/SANADA match is baffling to me."

[7.0] "These two gave a nice competitive fight & Tama enacted the fiery babyface role so well, but the BC-styled interferences and slow pacing hurt the match's expectations and downgraded the quality a bit. That's why some parts felt plodding especially the predicted dusty finish. Karl winning wasn't the best move but if this signals a breakout for Tama in the upcoming Climax, I'm fine with this. 3.25 out of 5 stars!"

[5.0] "Just overpassing the adequate rating. The match went pretty slow with all that sheenaningans. The final minutes were really exciting, but that trashy end didn't help at all. [**1/2]"

[8.0] "Tonga and Anderson worked very hard here compared to their usual output - it was clear that this match is a chance for both of them to stay on this level, and both of them wrestled like it. Tonga somewhat surprised here, or maybe I'm just used to him being in his spot because here he showed up to play, and showed up to make a statement. Very good match."

[6.0] "A good NEVER title match, surpassing the EVIL match from Dontaku. The history between Anderson and Tama adds a lot and Tama plays the fiery babyface well. Interference gets Anderson the win in a close one as Tama's struggle is just beginning. They can get a good program out of this."

[6.0] "Karl Anderson chose a strategy to exhaust the opponent and he stuck to it to the end. The match was very slow at first and it all came down to Doc Gallows' interventions and Tama Tonga's euthanasia in the sleeper. Towards the end, the fighters dispersed and there was a pleasant confrontation between two identical branded techniques, as a result, Gun Stun got Gallows and Tama T. and the new champion was "The Machine Gun". The match came out slow and trivial in terms of the referee and distractions. It could have been much better. It was as if the fighters did not have such a task."

[6.0] "Aside from the slippery chokeslam botch this was pretty enjoyable. They pulled together some good sequences down the stretch based on the cutter, and they really got over as a babyface/heel pairing."

[7.0] "Another super solid encounter between these two former fellows. If you aren't into BC maybe is not the best booking for ya, but the match is good."

[7.0] "This match had a few flaws, but still wasn? t a bad match. This was a pretty solid story, Tama Tongas rivalry with Karl Anderson coming to an end. Was mainly filled with some tricks from Karl majority of the time, with Tama Tonga playing a nice face role. I enjoyed the ending of this match, UNTIL Karl Anderson won. He? really shouldn? t have won the match, I dont understand why at all. It? ll be made up if Tama goes for another title or does really well in the G1, but it was just a good match with a bad result. [*** 1/2]"

[6.0] "This was a decent match between two decent workers, but it feels like this match would have been better suited lower down on the card instead of for the NEVER championship. It definitely feels like the title has lowered in value a bit since last year seeing as we went from Ishii, White, Tagaki, and Tanahashi last year to EVIL, Tama, and Karl Anderson this year."

[6.0] "This was a mostly entertaining match, but it felt like it ran too long and dragged at times. Karl winning the title is interesting since he's not in the G1. Tama has been a red hot babyface which I never expected, and this loss will further that."

[6.0] "The match had some cool sequences and they told a solid story. However, I think it dragged a little bit and I didn't like the result as well. Tama Tonga had some momentum coming in and it seems it was just wasted. Plus, I don't know if Karl Anderson will be able to defend it since he is still with Impact."