[8.0] "Excellent match, quite an interesting contrast of styles. This fell short to be match of the night because of the main event, but delivered incredible moments and spots. Amazing contest between two incredible athletes - {***3/4}"
[7.0] "[3.75*] I really liked this match, Claudio and Pac did a great job with good exchanges from the beginning to the end of the match, Claudio started out dominant and relentless, making a giant swing on the stage on Pac. The end of the match was bad, Yuta got in the way and Pac lost with just one finisher, the match could have been much better."
[9.0] "The intensity was huge and the star power between these two was too good to be a co-main event (yet understandable), and the expectations weren't let down when the bell rang. PAC's chances of winning the title were high considering the catalog of his accolades and the story drove it even further, but the brute power of Claudio and the interference from Yuta put those hopes in the rear view. The post-match confrontation was darn interesting back then and still holds up the excitement. 4.5 out of 5 stars!"
[9.0] "These two fantastic athletes didn't dissapoint and gave us an incredible match: Claudio tried to win immeadtely with the uppercut/neutalizer combo only for Pac to escape out of the ring. Lots of cool spots outside of the ring like the swing on the ramp or the sick gorilla press slam on a table. Both men delivered wonderful perfomances and their offense was great. The ending was also good and the post-match was cool. 9/10 - 4.5*/5*"
[8.0] "Two utter freak athletes having a really nice back and forth match with a lot of smooth counters that show how beyond most men they are in terms of what they can pull off physically. I found the match started out doing pretty standard stuff but after the utterly insane table bump it started to ramp up into a series of really excellent set ups and counters that had a scant few false finishes to make each stand out. Claudio being able to lift & toss a dude as dense as PAC is a crazy visual. It makes the really lame interference finish stand out a lot more. Dump that finish and add about 3 more minutes there (maybe pulling some of that from the pre-table spot time) and this could be a classic. ****"
[6.0] "Bit of an unfortunate finish as Yuta runs in to distract PAC which allows Claudio to hit the Ricola bomb for the win. Not sure I would have ended it like this, what with the Yuta interference and then all the angles at the end. Feels like a great match like we just had should have allowed the end to breathe more, but I cannot allow this to take away from what we saw. Two inhuman wrestlers who put on a match showcasing how incredible they are."
[8.0] "An excellent match right up until an unnecessarily lazy finish. Could do the exact same angle afterwards by just having Claudio win, then Yuta comes down post match and starts mocking PAC, who then swipes at him only for Claudio and Wheeler to then 2v1 beatdown. Queue LB and then roll as intended. I will never tire of going "damn Claudio is strong" though."
[8.0] "These are two masterclass wrestlers who have very good chemistry and when put in the ring delivered greatly. Lots of nonstop action between the two with little pauses in between. I think they have the potential to step it up greatly if given another chance, however; with a more decisive finish and some more heat built into it beforehand. Still a wonderful match, which in my opinion was the best put together one on the card! ****1/4"
[7.0] "Two random heels fighting over a shoehorned, last-minute storyline afterthought. Decent physical chemistry & some jaw-dropping exchanges, but Pac recovered from waaaay too much here ***1/2"
[10.0] "I knew these guys would have a banger, their great chemistry goes back over a decade, but they went way harder than I even expected. I'm still sitting in shock at that military press slam to the floor through the table, that's a Darby level bump and PAC took it flawlessly. That was just the tip of the iceberg, this was bomb city and it was completely awesome, not to mention some great selling and not to mention a really solid story of Claudio having PAC outmuscled but PAC being just too mean to go down, until he lost focus for a split second and Claudio was able to just murderize him with an amazing Ricola Bomb. This slapped absurdly hard."
[6.0] "A good little match. The start was pretty underwhelming with their slightly over-telegraphed exchanges and spots, and I disliked Pac doing the generic cowardly heel schtick by constantly disengaging and outright running away (especially when he's so perfect as an aggressive bruiser, yet isn't properly presented that way). They followed up with some solid but not very interesting and pretty mindless brawling, with the first truly cool moment coming when Claudio uppercut Pac and forced him to basically backflip over the table. From there, they actually became a lot more aggressive and focussed with their attacks, like they were finally trying to actually inflict damage and put each other away rather than just lethargically taking up time. Claudio hurling Pac out of the ring and through that earlier table was really cool, though Pac's immediate selling of the damage could've been better, since he mostly just looked kind of confused instead of in massive pain, as if he couldn't remember if he brought his lunch to work that day. The rest of Claudio big moves back in the ring all looked good, as were Pac's split-second counters in response, with them both having really strong chemistry as they went back and forth. They sadly did once again fall into the trapping of having a pretty predictable pattern and pace as they went back and forth trading their moves and going for their big spots, though the individual technique of both men's attacks still remained really good, and they still had a few sequences that were pretty creative (namely their work when Pac had Claudio stuck in the 'Brutalizer'. The match ending with that lame distraction by Yuta and then Claudio simply pouncing on Pac and hitting his Ricola Bomb was really disappointing. The match had already lost quite a bit of steam by that final 1/4th anyways, but that finish solidified that the match wasn't going to end up being rated any higher. ***1/4"
[6.0] "This was a good match that should have been great but it was also booked at the last minute so there was already a ceiling on how much investment I had with it."
[10.0] "Claudio has been on a hot streak to the point he's entering my wrestler of the year contender, but this may actually be one of the best singles showings I've ever seen from PAC. These two had chemistry to spare, and a few really cool spots like the military press outside through the table, the Giant Swing on the outside, PAC countering a top rope Ricola Bomb, the deadlift suplex, just tons of great mixes of sky-soaring offense and jaw-cracking physicality. Claudio uppercutting PAC over the table and him just flying totally ass over teakettle was a thing of beauty. Genuinely hope they revisit this match, perhaps in an thirty minute Iron Man bout a la PAC vs Omega? *4.5*"
[7.0] "I like both of them and have enjoyed matches of theirs dating to years ago. Going in, this was a tough spot for both to be in as a makegood match between essentially two heels. The work was not bad but I felt it was missing a better dynamic compared to matches theyve had in the past. The interference did not help matters either. It would be nice for PAC to stick around for ROH as he has felt lost in the shuffle for AEW for a while."
[9.0] "(****) When you see Claudio Castagnoli and PAC in the same ring you know something amazing is going to come out, and it did. Two excellent Wrestlers doing an excellent fight."
[8.0] "What a match! It was full of great spots, both guys showing why they are great wrestlers with the mix of athletic + power moves. The finish was awful however, a typical heel move that with what happened post-match does not make sense at all. Still a great encounter however. ****"
[7.0] "Hmm this didn't quite work for me like it should have given these two's reps. Yes, the ending was straight up bad, but I wanted more before that."
[6.0] "No idea what that finish was, especially coming after the Blood and Guts story. I thought they set up this match nicely in that match but the ending didn't follow with it."
[5.0] "Just an ok match from two great wrestlers, so pretty disappointing in my eyes. Even before the finish, which does knock this down some, it was good but not great."
[9.0] "PAC and Claudio are two of the best professional wrestlers in the world, and each has been overlooked for a long time. So for the two to come together and have a gem of a match is no surprise. I do not normally pop for strength spots because I know that the victim can cooperate, but Claudio doing a pop-up uppercut in the opening minutes looked great, and PAC got crazy high! And the gorilla press throw was one of the most impressive power throws I have ever seen. The build was short, but I did not mind that. The only criticism is the utterly annoying and superfluous Wheeler Yuta run-in. Maybe I am just getting worked, but more than heel heat, I just thought it put a damper on a rare pure work-rate singles match."
"Being that the plans for the ROH World title match changed twice before the announcement of this one. Both Pac and Claudio delivered a very intense world championship match. They made an interesting dynamic given that they are both heels and the match was really good. If not for the Yuta interference finish that felt horrible, this match would be better. (****1/4)"
[7.0] "A good effort for a thrown together match at the not-quite-last minute since they did set it up at Blood & Guts. Again, though, the finish was just bad and not the sort of nonsense you need on PPV or for a title match."
[8.0] "Fantastic match. Claudios best singles since joining AEW. Every spot was clean, everything made sense, two great performances from two of the best. Would have scored it a 9 if not for the really underwhelming finish."
[9.0] "Really good match, and even if was made short, it felt like two men that hate each other, and the audience was invested in it. Claudio is having some great moments as the champion, some great matches defending the title, and that was no different. PAC hardly will deliver a bad match, he's fantastic. Looking foward for what those guys will do now."
[9.0] "This was a super great match. About the same level as the main event even if I maybe prefer the main event slightly more. Having PAC back is great for AEW, you can plug him in to any show, singles, tag or trios that he always delivers. Eddie clearly has to be the one to beat Claudio now. ****1/4"
[10.0] "PAC and Claudio turn into beasts and, given that this is this impromptu main event, what we see here is a remarkable level of chemistry and coordination between two legends. Nearly a perfect match, save for that clumsy Wheeler YUTA ending which was just totally unnecessary."
[9.0] "Really good match, i believe the rivalry between BCC e Death Triangle can be amazing, i thought PAC going to be the winner, but was cool see they fighting."
[10.0] "Fantastic showcase for this two men. Claudio was really aggressive trying to hit the Neutralizer two times in the first minutes and PAC countered almost everything and also took some nasty bumps. The ending Is the worst part of the match but the running sit-out Ricola Bomb was a good move to end this fight. ****3/4"
[7.0] "I got a bit disappointed by this match, as it was part of the two matches which hyped me for this show, with Shibata facing Garcia. We obviously had a good storytelling following what I've heard for Blood and Guts, PAC and Castagnoli are two great wrestlers so it was impossible for them to deliver even only a correct bout. Yes, this was very good, but it really felt like it went longer than how long it should, with a pretty much flat finish considering what we have seen during the whole match, the spots and all, which were by the way for most part of it well done and logical. ***1/2"
[9.0] "Great title match between Castagnoli and PAC right here that would surely have been even better with a few more minutes, with a more justified ending than this one and for that I would have liked PAC to kick out of the Ricola Bomb after all the overbooking, the nearfall would have been crazy and would have taken the match to that higher dimension I was looking for with two elite talents like them. Here again it must be said, very little story, no rivalry even, and yet they manage to offer you a world title match of this quality so kudos to them, even if Im not surprised coming from them. Really very good action as they know how to do, I need more between them and it may not be over."
[9.0] "This was pure excellence and exactly what you would expect from 2 elite performers. My only nitpick is the lame finish with Wheeler Yuta causing a distraction at ringside. They truly went above and beyond, given the circumstances of this title match changing a couple of different times."
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