Shigehiro Irie vs. Yuji Okabayashi

[5.0] "[2. 50*] This match for the first half was just a nothingburger, and at its peak it was an above average BJW Strong match. Irie did not really add anything, and I feel like his move set is super repetitive. There was not much selling going around for Irie, but Yuji did alright. The finish was lackluster, and this match dragged, it was around 7-9 minutes longer than I cared for. There was potential for better here."

[8.0] "Obviously, a match featuring Yuji Okabayashi is rarely going to be bad. And when you add Shigehiro Irie--who I think is a very underrated wrestler--you get a really strong matchup. Irie managed to bring some pace and pull off a few very cool moves, which made the match even more engaging. And Okabayashi, who at that time was probably one of the best wrestlers in the world, gave us exactly what you'd expect--pure power in his signature style."

[9.0] "When I don't know what to watch, I always choose a big Okabayashi singles match. It definitely didn't disappoint; they were throwing some crazy lariats and elbows."

[9.0] "Obviously, a wrestling fight between Okabayashi and Irie rocked hard, really hard. It was just the first minutes that were a bit strange. Irie's mates were acting strange, maybe that was the aim. Otherwise, it was just two big meaty men who destroyed each other for 25 minutes straight with insane striking and throws. Gladiator fight. Irie was a credible outside threat and that was a major point of the bout. As well as Okabayashi's great comebacks. An ode to stong-style, for sure."

[8.0] "A great meaty men slapping meat match. Some seriously stiff chops, elbows, lariats, and gnarly suplexes. It felt like a classic 90s AJPW strongstyle match in many ways; fighting spirit a-plenty. The match was mostly back and forth, with some psychology sprinkled throughout. Really fun, and highly recommended. It's free on BJW's YouTube channel, so go check it out! ****1/2"

[8.0] "Another great defense by Yuji. Irie and Okabayashi exchange bombs, it's everything I want the Strong division to be."

[7.0] "These two have fantastic chemistry so the match was unsurprisingly great. Could watch these two freight trains crashing into each other for hours. Irie? s selling in particular was tremendous and really helped the match hit the next stride. The first 10 minutes or so were pretty meh but once they let up, they never stopped."

[10.0] "I love when two meaty guys just absolutely smash each other to pieces, and that's what this is. If you can blast a cloud of sweat off the other guy, you are allowed to just stand there and chop a man to death, though they also did a ton of other awesome things."

[9.0] "Good physical match from both. But not only the strikes, pretty great wrestling in general, loved the "Sleeper" sequence in particular."

[7.0] "I found this enjoyable enough, but it lacked that special quality of the other Okabayashi title matches. Irie was the underdog although he had a stable behind him, who weren? t afraid to interfere which seemed a little backwards to me. But the match was good nonetheless. Irie? s selling of the lower back was strong. ***1/2"

[8.0] "Another great match from Yuji Okabayashi. It had an akward start but after the first minutes they delivered what we all expected."