El Phantasmo vs. Shingo Takagi

[7.0] "This match was pretty good! Of course, to an extend it felt like they just went through their usual stuff, ticking the boxes of which of their signature moves they haven't hit yet, without much thought put into the overall structure. Still, it was fun, I especially liked the contrast of their offenses with Shingo being much more hard-hitting and ELP's high-flying offense. And towards the end, the near-falls of the CR2 was phenomenal, got me on the edge of my seat"

[8.0] "ELP vs. Takagi is that kind of singles bout that you wouldn't have thought of, and on top of that, they have a superb chemistry. Phantasmo wanted to prove that he can belong to the Heavyweight division, and Takagi is the perfect test to prove it. It was a great clash of styles with ELP's high-flying moves, and Takagi just going all out on the strikes. Phantasmo certainly threw some good blows as well. Headbanga displayed great fighting spirit, and The Dragon is certainly a good client to put his mates over. Superb showcase for ELP, and the bout's storytelling surely elevated the shit. Finish was cool, moreover."

[6.0] "I'm interested in seeing their other matches that happened recently because I was left disappointed by this one. It's been described as an ELP showcase but this was more of a Shingo showcase for me. Shingo was on point with all of his usual attacks. ELP's offense didn't do a whole lot for me, which isn't usually the case. Several of his attacks looked weak, especially compared with Shingo's heavy bombs. ***"

[8.0] "What a win for Phantasmo, what a great killer match. The intensity was even bigger and more dramatic than the previous match. Very nice to see him compitiing with this Heavyweight guys. Good match. [****]"

[5.0] "Phantasmo is so bad here, jesus christ. Worst I've ever seen him look, unimaginably sloppy. Takagi is great of course, but it takes two to tango."

[9.0] "Purely great wrestling between two great wrestlers. Shingo has his amazing, hard hitting style. Whilst ELP brings a nice dose of high flying in a brilliant match."

[8.0] "Shingo Takagi has lost his big opportunity to win. In a cool and intriguing match, everything was decided. I liked this combination of former Juniors very much. El Phantasmo needs to be more careful with Moonsault in the future, otherwise the flight was big. And so the match that you just want to praise, fast pace, beautiful shots and throws. ELP already seems to have shown everything and could not calm the dragon, and only a modified CR2 helped the Canadian to a 1-2-3 victory."

[8.0] "I thought that was a really great match. ELP had some excellent athleticism, and the back and forth sequences between both men was truly impressive. 8/10"

[6.0] "Was very excited for this match between two very good wrestlers, and was surprised to find out who won. Very exciting huricanrana to Shingo Takagi at the start of the match that unfortunately led into a bit of a mistake outside the ring by El Phantasmo which took me out of the action for a bit. Was brought back in with the huge punch from Shingo waiting at ringside for El Phantasmo, which would also return again in the form of a lariat later in the ring. There were entertaining spots with some good and snappy fighting going on closer to the end. Felt overall disappointed with this match, but most likely because my expectations were so high."

[8.0] "A pretty good bout, with the story of ELP wanting to prove he's a true Heavyweight against Shingo, who wants to win the block. I liked the mix of high flying moves from ELP and power moves from Shingo, they meshed well. I liked the finish of ELP having to debut a new finisher (the CR3) to beat Shingo, which finalizes his transition into the Heavyweight division."

[6.0] "6.5 - ELP's missed moonsault jarred the match early on, but it got into the swing of things. Felt like a bit of an Ospreay tribute, but ELP did manage to make the win seem huge."

[7.0] "I definitely had higher hopes for this, though it was still pretty good. Shingo needed a win here to win the D block, whereas ELP was competing for nothing except personal pride and the incidental chance to allow Ospreay to win the D block instead of Shingo by scoring a win or at least a draw here. It felt more likely that Shingo would get the win, since ELP was still mostly a junior and not yet truly established as a credible heavyweight, but ELP at least had a better chance of beating Shingo than some of the others in their block, so an ELP win never felt totally out of the realm of possibility. ELP did well his all his usual smooth and effortless aerial attacks, while Shingo impressed with the intensity of all his powerhouse attacks and the fighting spirit he delivered them all with. They had very good chemistry as they mixed their styles together and constantly traded control. At times ELP's attacks looked a bit weak in impact or as if they didn't fully connect, but the majority of his offence looked good and credible. Shingo impressed with how immensely destructive his signature strikes became, with his power moves all looking very good as well. ELP was doing his best with his purposeful no-sells and displays of heart, plus his array of near falls, with the near fall on his first CR2 being genuinely very convincing and thus surprising. The same applied with his 2nd CR2 following his series of Sudden Death superkicks, which allowed him to score the upset and put Shingo away. ***1/4"

[8.0] "Someone asked for a Shingo/Ospreay in a little fashion here. Maybe is the case, it's really a strong match."

[8.0] "A really striking contrast of styles in this match, especially with how much ELP goes to the ropes versus the grounded Shingo. A good subversion of expectations with Phantasmo coming out hot but eventually get snuffed out with some patented Takagi bombs before finding an opening to deliver a pair of CR2s for the win. A sprint the whole way through, and a really good one at that. ELP killed it in his first G1."

[6.0] "This was a decent ELP offensive showcase. The result was obvious as Ospreay was going to advance regardless. There was no real storytelling but it was a fun exhibition of what these two can do together as opponents. The chemistry was apparent. ***"

[9.0] "Another banger match, I had really high hopes for this and it delivered, great to see Phantasmo pick up a big win"

[8.0] "Probably ELP's best showing. He and Shingo threw everything at another. Too bad about the botched moonsault. The finish was sick."

[8.0] "Great match. ELP has shown he really belongs and these two meshed well, unsurprisingly since they're both excellent wrestlers. Very good given the time allotted to them and would love to see future bouts between the two ****"