Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito

[7.0] "Really interesting mix of stories here. Naito is on a roll in 2023 (booking-wise), SANADA looks like a new beast after winning yesterday, Shingo is being stretched to the max because of his KOPW title while someone like Henare looks ready to explode in the NJPW Cup. The tag match was good behind it - nice team brawling to start, SANADA got great reactions when he tagged in and worked OKhan and a nice finishing run too. Henare and Tagaki preview their NJPW Cup match with a battle which Henare actually wins and puts Shingo down for a three with an upset. ***1/2"

[6.0] "Surprising win for Henare but makes sense to make him look strong ahead of the NJ Cup. Henare & Shingo's encounter got the juices flowing for the tournament. ***1/4"

[7.0] "There was some great stuff in this preview match. Sanada took that match with Taichi to heart and is now showing that he has a chance to win the whole tournament. He is certainly my pick at this point. Henare gritting through the pumping bomber and getting the win was delightfully unexpected."

[6.0] "This was the first match of the event that I really got into. I really like the UE team of the big guys and the heavyweights of LIJ made a match without an obvious pin-eater. Henare getting the pin on Shingo was a good surprise and the action between them was really good. This was the only multi-man match that effectively built interest in a future NJC contes"

[5.0] "LIJ matches are always fast paced with some creative spots but this didn't really do it for me. United Empire winning was suprising"

[7.0] "Shock win for Henare which means he more than likely wont double down on winning in the cup, Needed Cobbs help for the pin as well, But good midcard stacked tag with shocking result"

[6.0] "Pretty decent match, lots of fast moving parts as usual for a LIJ tag match. Aaron Henare really looked great in this match, and the ending with him was really surprising. Nothing outstanding, but not a bad way to spend your time."

[7.0] "Cool match with even unexpected surprising stuff. Very good match in my opinion, and surprising victory for UE."

[6.0] "The Henare vs. Takagi stuff here was really good. Really interesting that United Empire felt pretty dominant here, as despite coming off wins yesterday SANADA and Naito aren't looking the strongest (especially Naito)."

[7.0] "This was the second United Empire match of the night and better than the first. All three members of United Empire in this match came out looking like hosses against top tier opponents. Love the continuing of stories from the NJ Cup, with Sanada keeping his fire from the Taichi match and setting up Henare vs Shingo."