Gabe Kidd vs. SANADA

[6.0] "Better than most of these Kidd brawls that we've had this tournament. Kidd has been adding moves to his arsenal that help to make his matches feel like matches rather than extended angles. Kidd was able to get the crowd behind SANADA better than SANADA has been able to since his repackaging.The in ring didn't have the intensity of the Kidd/Kaito match because SANADA doesn't seem to have that fire in him to elevate this type of match. There was a nice count out tease that got me and the last minute wasn't a bad way to end it quickly to keep Deadfall one of the strongest finishers in NJPW. ***1/4"

[6.0] "I thought this was fine but not nearly as good as Kidd's encounter with Kiyomiya. That's partly down to a largely pedestrian performance from SANADA who showed nowhere near the babyface fire Kiyomiya did, and partly down to Kidd to who was a bit paint by numbers as a heel here and lacked the aggressive approach he showed prior. Decent but nothing more. ***"

[8.0] "Second match of the tournament for both Sanada and Kidd where they've been able to flex their ring psychologist muscles. Kidd continues to develop a vicious streak that suits him well, and Sanada is slotting nicely into the role of athletic, Superman-esque ace."

[7.0] "I am starting to really enjoy Gabe Kidd, he did a damn good heel role here and in the matches before too. At first the attacks pre-match were a little annoying, but because they lasted too long and the match was not that good. Now the attacks are becoming shorter and the matches quite interesting, SANADA looked like a hero winning this. ***1/2"

[6.0] "The match is not as bad as I expected but I still struggle with Kidd's attacks before matchs. We add to that the long passage in the public that I found unnecessary. Once in the ring, the action was better with Sanada struggling more than usual. A logical victory."

[7.0] "Part of me wanted Kidd to win just because in only a few minutes he showed he could have been a very worthy contender for the world champ. As a lot of people are saying, Kidd's roof is the sky and he'll be a name to remember for years to come. But what I really liked was seeing SANADA as this serious veteran that had to teach the little rascal a tough lesson. This G1 has done wonders for my image of the champ."

[8.0] "Gabe with another fantastic heel performance, screaming at the fans, biting, cheating, bullying old women, just classic stuff. He made SANADA look like such a great conquering hero. SANADA played the babyface so well, and even made the ref spots fun and creative. Gabe has a bright future ahead of him, I can see him as a top NJPW guy."

[8.0] "Another great heel performance by Gabe Kidd, the perfect fuel for SANADA as the babyface. Gabe brought his type of fight to SANADA and the champion played well with the formula, looked strong while making Gabe look like a dangerous bastard. Very good match."

[8.0] "A quarter star below last Kidd's match (Umino/Kidd, what a match it was! ) but your usual very savage performance by the Alex and SANADA almost surely will end the first part of this year Climax with a perfect score and I think he deserves it at all. ***3/4"

"Good match. Better than expected for a match that didn't have anything on the line really. Kidd really working on establishing himself as a complete bully and it's working. SANADA didn't put in a ton of effort - but he really doesn't need to for these G1 fillers. Overall a "very good" match. Nothing special and nothing you'll be remembering years down the line, but an entertaining tournament match!"

[7.0] "SANADA's best match in a long time, probably at least a couple of years? Kidd is an absolutely unhinged animal and an amazing heel to make him look as good as possible. Don't get me wrong, SANADA didn't do anything particularly noteworthy, but Gabe made him shine as a gutsy babyface nonetheless. There was even a genuinely convincing nearfall! Very good stuff here. You love to see it."