[8.0] "They begin with the grappling and its delightful to watch as always the case with these two. Aoki gets HARASHIMA in Heel hook which HARASHIMA escapes well. Aoki tries for the abdominal stretch and then transitions into a pin and then tries to twist HARASHIMA's leg but HARASHIMA resists well and gets a hold of Aoki's arm for the arm bar. Aoki gets to the ropes and HARASHIMA goes after him and rolls him over to get him into the mount position I reckon but Aoki grabs HARASHIMA's leg and so does HARASHIMA. Aoki smartly locks HARASHIMA in figure 4 leg lock. HARASHIMA grabs the leg of Aoki that is applying the pressure and twists his ankle , though Aoki frees his leg and transitions into an ankle lock of his own which HARASHIMA counters brilliantly to get him into sleeper hold but Aoki smartly traps his legs to break free. This whole segment is brilliant as they struggle it out with submission counters and they keep on going until they reach the ropes. HARASHIMA tries the test of strength and he gets the better of Aoki who tries to trap HARASHIMA in the triangle which HARASHIMA quickly let's go before Aoki could complete the submission. Aoki is in the Antonio Inoki position from his match against Muhammad Ali and HARASHIMA carefully grabs his leg and busts out a giant swing. Tried to make Aoki dizzy but HARASHIMA himself feels the effects after Aoki kicking out. This is where it turns into more pro wrestling side as HARASHIMA slides him to the apron to do his signature stomp over the ropes from the apron which Aoki moves away and hits a diving body attack from the apron. Aoki does a nice cross arm bar attack from the ropes and the arm bar looked painful. HARASHIMA gets the rope break and we get a kick exchange between the two. I don't like both doing the corny double high kick spot. It looked a bit odd in this type of match. HARASHIMA does follows up with a cool sweep and sliding enzui. Aoki ducks a Somato and hits a nice back drop and goes for the sleeper. HARASHIMA escapes by rolling backwards and tries for an arm bar which Aoki counters with a front neck lock. HARASHIMA breaks it with a falcon arrow and Aoki kicks out by going for another arm bar but HARA gets to the ropes. We get to the finish as Aoki tries to get HARASHIMA in the back drop grab to hit it but HARASHIMA grabs his neck and grabs between his legs for a piledriver and follows up with a Somato for the win which looked stiff. 8.00"
[8.0] "Fantastic match. This is what I love most about DDT. There is always so much variety on these shows. Weve had comedy balls to the walls wrestling. Big men. Now he was some intense grappling. HARASHIMA holding his own here against Aoki. Every hold and every counter. These two were locked together in a massive struggle. Fully enjoyed this. Great match. ****"
[7.0] "This was a cool clash of Aoki's style meeting HARASHIMA's kick offence. Wasn't expecting the challenge and self-unmasking of Super Sasadango Machine afterwards, or the victimisation of Imabayashi from a man who looks suspiciously like him. Thought-provoking stuff. ***1/2"
[8.0] "An Extreme Championship match all about grappling, I'm here for it. HARASHIMA and Aoki make their grapple exchanges feel legit and the ending stretch was pretty hot - ****"
