[10.0] "I wish this went on longer but man do I love this match. The strikes both of these men do are other worldly and the combination of styles combined perfectly together."
[8.0] "Yeah this was good. Hard hitting strike while Marufuji was still at his peak and Nakamura was close to his one. Fun match and really enjoyable if you're a striker fan, if that really exist"
[9.0] "[4.5 Stars] A match as cool as its 2 protagonists. Nakamura and Marufuji are living legends and probably the 2 coolest wrestlers in history, they had too much of that specific aura. It's crazy to think that this is the only match between the 2. A Banger! (****, 5)"
[9.0] "Really great stylistic matchup with tons of quick striking that makes it fly by. This is especially short for a Marufuji match, but still a really fun, high action match."
[8.0] "A very good and fast-paced match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Naomichi Marufuji. Both of these guys' unorthodox styles worked together really well here. Lots of great action throughout. If it'd gone longer, I think these two could've brought it to another level. I wouldn't say this was amazing, but it was really good, and I'd like to see these two go at it again."
[9.0] "This crowd absolutely loved everything that both Naomichi Marufuji and Shinsuke Nakamura were doing in this match. The hits were hard and they went crazy, the both of them. To see the pillars of their companies, NOAH and New Japan respectively, wrestle is beautiful honestly. ****1/4"
[8.0] "An incredible match in an all-time environment! The fans were eating every single thing up that these two did in a genuine dream match between NOAH and New Japan legends. The bombs they threw were reason enough to check this out, as were the counter wrestling sequences that resulted in some incredible heavy offensive blows. What made this so special was how much appreciation the fans had for them and how they managed to make every minor sequence feel as major as they should. The subtleties of the characters shining through as pillars of their respective companies went to war. Several sequences made me jump out of my seat, and that does not even count the incredible and perfectly placed near falls that had me biting every time. This is the type of match that makes me love professional wrestling and wish we could have seen these two wrestle more than just once. All in all, the epitome of a great match. 4.25 stars, 8.5 out of 10. An absolute joy of a time."
[9.0] "I? ve always thought that there were times when Marufuji was more appreciated outside of NOAH than inside the company. This match (and the Okada one four years later) are instances of that, and Nakamura is just a great dance partner for him here. He was able to display that great set of skills of his with such poise and speed and rhythm. Great bout, with Nakamura prevailing by just a small margin, finally figuring out Marufuji? s game of kicks and quickness."
[6.0] "This is a dream match that did not live up technically. I feel like these two relied too much on their star power to carry them to this match and there was a few no sales or blows spots here, If these two would ever meet again I believe they could top this even with Nakamura's lack of top matches over the last few years. ***"
[8.0] "Even in the rewatch this match still is good as hell, man. The fast pace here is great and the strike exchange between them is the best part. The closing stretch is magnific as fuck and can make you go crazy and hyped. Incredible match. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Two forms of counter-wrestling, done right here. Marufuji baiting Nakamura in, using his speed and quickness to stay ahead of Nakamura while Nakamura using it as a defence tactics. Marufuji does some great work on the neck of Nakamura too. Nakamura ducking Marufuji? s signigaure corner strike flurry was great. The urgency of both wrestlers was great, although Marufuji was a little too eager to get to his feet or go back on offence after taking a Boma-Ye in the face. Great match though. ****"
[7.0] "There were a handful of great sequences, but aside from those it felt fairly standard and one or two sequences weren't executed well enough to feel authentic. I think if given more time to build, it could've been special."
[9.0] "Very fun match up between two very charismatic opponents. Crowd wasn't super hot for this match as one would hope, but they still brought the energy for home favorite Nakamura and eventually got hot towards the end. Maru used some great psychology early on after he hit a Piledriver on the ring apron by consistently working Nakamura's head and neck. This is the type of Marufuji that I really enjoy watching, one that doesn't rely on spamming kicks and strikes, but instead uses his flashy technical skills to wear down his opponent and only uses kicks and knees sparingly. Nakamura on the other hand still worked his usual stiff style, but needed Maru to miss a dive in order to gain back some momentum. The ending sequences are really exciting as Nak and Maru trade beautiuful kicks with eachother until Nak finally hits the Boma Ye to call it a day. This match was around the time that everyone started realizing how special Nakamura would treat the IC Championship, ****1/2."
[9.0] "Zwei alte Veteranen zeigen dem jungen Gemüse wo der Hammer hängt. Beide geben von Anfang an Gas und es gibt diverse wirklich geile Kontersequenzen zu bestaunen. Die Chemie zwischen den beiden stimmt und die Halle feiert das Ganze gebührend ab. Am Ende wird einfach nur noch gekickt bis die Lichter ausgehen. Schön dramatisches Finale eines Matches, dass wirklich Spaß gemacht hat. Sehr starker Co-Main-Event."
[9.0] "Great match. Marufuji looked the best he had looked in a quite some time, him working over the neck of Nakamura was pretty awesome. Nakamura was his usual great self, full of swagger, and him fighting against the neck work of Marufuji with his knees was great. ****"
[9.0] "Das Match hat mich daran erinnert, wie sehr ich Marufuji eigentlich liebe. Nakamura vs. Marufuji war für mich ein absolutes Dream-Match und das Match hat mich alles andere als enttäuscht. Es war durchgehend spannend, es gab nicht eine einzige langatmige Phase und das Match hatte alles was einen guten Kampf ausmacht, nämlich schöne Schlagabtausche mit flüssigen Sequenzen, High-Spot Moves, eine schöne Hook/Grab-Phase und ein spannendes Finish. Jetzt gibt mir bitte noch Okada vs. Marufuji und ich kann in Ruhe sterben. **** 1/4 (12)"
[9.0] "Ein wirklich sehr sehr gutes Match zwichen diesen beiden verschiedenen Stilen! Diese beiden hatten desweiteren auch eine Super Chemie! Dieses Match hätte durchaus auch der Main Event am abend sein können.... aber war es halt eben nicht. Trotzdem 2meiner absoluten Lieblinge im Ring!"
[9.0] "Wow, this was super nifty, and a great match to right before the main event. Something about working with Marufuji seemed to motivate Nakamura to not just do the usual. (Granted, the “usual” from Nakamura is generally better than the great majority of wrestlers in the world. )"
[10.0] "Ich möchte obzöne Liebeserklärungen für Marufuji vs. Shinsuke abgeben. Nach nur drei Minuten into the action. Aber dann würde mein Beitrag gemeldet werden. Ich liebe Nakamura für all sein rotziges Charisma und seine Bewegungen. Für die Selbstdarstellung. Einfach cool (****1/2)."
[8.0] "Hat mir richtig gut gefallen, was sicherlich auch an der Frische der Auseinandersetzung liegt. Die Chemie passt und generell hat mir diese Mischung beider Stile mit (Super-) Kicks, Knee Strikes und einer Portion Sleaze einfach zugesagt. Super Match!"
[9.0] "For their first one on one encounter against eachother, this was really awesome. Lots of innovative offense in here as well as counters. They knew their moves so well that it rivals the Tanahashi-Okada chemistry"
[9.0] "Von der ersten Sekunde an stark. Dieser Kampf hätte selber Main Event sein können, so sehr wie er gerockt hat, wäre da nicht der eigendliche und noch etwas bessere Mainer, der so leicht nicht zu erreichen sein wird. Die Art, wie Nakamuras und Marufujis Stil miteinander harmonierten, sah schon ganz interessant aus. Der Sieg Nakamujras überrascht mich etwas, aber positiv. Ich will Naka definitiv nochmal ganz oben angreifen sehen. Aber fürs erste hat er einen starken, kurz unterbrochenen IC-Titelrun weiterzuführen. Zurück zum Kampf. Das Finish kam mir etwas sehr hektisch vor und ich möchte auch einen Unterschied zum Mainer betonen, deshalb gibts 9 Punkte. Normalerweise wären auch 10 in Ordnung gegangen, aber dafür gibt doch noch einen Unterschied von einer Nasenlänge, zwischen den beiden letzten Kämpfen dieser Veranstaltung."
