[9.0] "Currently i'm trying to watch a few matches of Luke Jacobs before his match against Nakajima, such a banger and a slugest this match against Tomohiro Ishii for the eleven birthday of RevPro, the elbows in the face and the chops were massive, it's very easy to connect with this kind of action, and it's my favorite style of pro wrestling, so obviously i had a great time during this match."
[8.0] "[4.0*] What a magical match. Luke Jacobs is a 23 years old prospect and is already giving us bangers like that. Absolutely hard hitting, with nasty headbutts and suplexes, the awesome kickout at one spot and the classic Ishii chop battle. Lukes pop-up powerbomb is beautiful."
[9.0] "Incredible match and match of the night for sure. At the beginning I was thinking this would be another generic slap meat match, but it evolved in a perfect way. So many cool moments and spots, this match is in a special place in my heart. It's the kind of match that the storytelling overcame the name of the wrestlers, simply amazing - {****1/2}"
[5.0] "One of my favorite Ishii matches. And by that I mean slightly above average and with a couple fun sequences. Ishii's matches have never done it for me despite my best efforts. First Luke Jacobs match and he's a solid athletic big man but looked sloppy at times."
[9.0] "Absolutely exceptional match, a classic Ishii display, proving that hes still got it at this stage of his career. No one does big epic hoss clashes like Ishii and the intensity and physicality was undeniable. But Luke Jacobs really impressed me. Not only did he hold his own, but displayed a sense of babyface spirit and likeable personality; even as he repeatedly battered a crowd favourite. What a match and easily the best on the show."
[10.0] "4.75 stars. Im normally not the biggest fan of Ishii's style of matches but this was a huge exception, i thought it was absolutly electric and being there with that hot crowd made it all the better. Luke Jacobs is the MAN"
"Pretty good fight. Liked when they both kicked at 1 from the same move. Could've done with more selling and jacobs got too much of the offense in for him to lose. He seems ok, pretty green still in his collar and elbow tie-ups which looked super weak. His boobs bounce v distracting. Final brainbuster was nice and the right guy won. Commentary sucked. ****"
[9.0] "Going in this was probably the match I was most excited for, None of my friends had ever watched Luke Jacobs but I told them he was great and a fantastic match for Ishii. Safe to say, they more than lived up to the hype."
[5.0] "If there's a match from 2023 that makes me genuinely confused from its MOTY praise it has to be this one. This was your standard Ishii strikefest that he has with EVERY single opponent these days. It featured all of his usual spots (the chop-elbow combinations in the corner, the double lariats into a double collapse, taking a ton of strikes before knocking his opponent down with one forearm, the headbutt spots, the kickouts at one from lariats), lazy/poor technique from both wrestlers and an especially obvious imitation strong-style performance from Luke Jacobs. This match was on my bad side the moment they stood in the middle of the ring exchanging soft chops and forearms for several minutes. There's no logic or structure here. Ishii used to have incredible matches with a ton of explosivity, but he doesn't have that intensity he did from 2013-19. **1/2"
[9.0] "Should've been 5 stars. Absolutely great match, especially live. Crowd was fully up for it, including myself. Every chop echoed around the Copperbox, both men gave it their all and it was a great hard-hitting affair. Great chemistry between them both and could easily have went longer and nobody would've got bored at all."
[9.0] "[4.75*] Simply incredible, hard-hitting and exciting match. Both outdid themselves here and delivered one of the best matches of the year. The Chops, Clotheslines were extremely hard and the dynamic between the two was perfect."
[6.0] "I haven't seen much from Jacobs, but from this alone, I'm not much of a fan. Most Ishii matches feature the stiff strikes and timely no-selling, and this one is no different. However, Jacobs doesn't bother to sell much of anything, and it really kills the whole fighting spirit theme that makes Ishii matches so great. 3 Stars."
[4.0] "This was everything that I hate with Ishii's matches. Sometimes he mashes well with his opponents and they avoid his stupid striking exchanges for the most part, but here the young and green Luke Jacobs clearly followed him in everything he did and the match tourned out to be a collage of stiff strikes and no selling without any logic behind them or any psicology. They kicked out at one because they had to and they made over and over the stupid spot where one guy hits the other and then waits for his opponent's turn to hit him; I can understand this spot when is done later in the match, when both guys are hurt, but as the first thing right after the bell is completely nonsensical."
[4.0] "If the idea of Ishii doing his thing against this really young British guy gets you going, youll love the match, the crowd definitely did. But for me, I wasnt really feeling it very much. Theres a lot of striking back and forth but none of it really seemed to mean anything. I liked the hot crowd but commentary was poor, and I certainly didnt feel like I was seeing anything very special, more like just another version of Ishiis usual match formula that was a lot fresher 10 years ago. Fighting spirit, both guys acting like they are even regardless of whats happening, weve been here many times before."
[5.0] "A standard, soulless modern-Ishii match. Without any hyperbole, at this point if you've seen even a single Ishii match before then you've already seen this match, and you can probably predict exactly how everything will go. Stop me if you've heard this before: "a 15-plus-minute strikefest with lots of fighting-spirit displays and 50/50 trades". That sort of thing was exciting and felt ground-breaking back in 2013-2018, but it's painfully, painfully boring by this point. Ishii always just eats up his opponents these days, though not in kayfabe terms by dominating them, but by forcing them to only wrestle his strict "strikfest and fighting-spirit"-style match. It doesn't matter if you're Shingo, Moxley, or now Luke Jacobs -- you're going to wrestle a point-by-point Ishii match whether you like it or not and regardless of whether it even fits you or allows you to show off your actual talents. Ishii did all his standard spots like defiantly standing up after being kicked while seated, willingly withstanding multiple strikes before knocking his opponent down with just a single one, arrogantly booting his opponent in the face while theyre down, doing the chop-elbow combination in the turnbuckle, willingly withstanding yet more strikes while staring his opponent down in the turnbuckle, trading rapidly no-sold power moves, doing the "double lariats into a double collapse" spot, and OF COURSE the traded 1-count kick-outs, because how could a match possibly be exciting without all that? It's. All. So. Tiresome. I've seen this exact stuff done so many times before, and Ishii genuinely doesn't have even half the power or intensity behind his strikes now that he had 5 years ago, so even if you still care for the Ishii formula in theory, I dont see *how* you can when his actual execution of it just feels like a poor rendition. Jacobs was no star here either, since his offence was decent but certainly nowhere near as explosive or stiff as I was led to believe, and his general technique was nothing that special either; in fact, a few times he looked a bit awkward as he clearly telegraphed the next attack/movement he was going for, making his work look a slight bit too choreographed. His displays of "fighting spirit" always felt very forced, too, not at all fitting his look or his facial expressions, and I wasn't a fan of his constant thigh-slap sound effects, which are the quickest way to make a supposed "tough guy" brawl immediately look fake. They kept up their rapid big strike and power-move trades essentially the whole match, also throwing in their generic no-selling and clearly convincing kick-outs, until Ishii finally got the win. I won't go as far as to call this anything near an actually 'bad' match, since both guys still had a base level of physicality, and durability that I could at least respect, but having *this* sort of match in 2023 feels like the equivalent of watching Hogan do his completely stale "I get beat up, then I hulk up, then 5 moves of doom and I win" matches in 1995. **3/4"
[5.0] "That Jacobs header was spectacular, this methodology of brute force and strength in general was fun; Well, for this type of matches, you have to like more what is a test of resistance, a slow season and more brute force moves, pure attacks in themselves, it is not to my liking, little agility, few maneuvers, not bad , it's a good show, but it even bothers me that there were so many empty spaces without action, a visible match and that's it."
[9.0] "Absolutely phenomenal. Luke Jacobs called this his dream match. Tomohiro Ishii must have heard him. The story of this one was clear, as Ishii took on the role of senpai against his proverbial kohai. He stepped into the ring and did what he so often does in that he allowed his opponent to dictate the pace. You want to wrestle one way, I will wrestle the same. You dare think you can defeat me by doing what I do, then punishment is coming your way. It was a wild ride along that very trail, with Jacobs proving that he was as worthy as anyone to stand and trade with The Stone Pitbull. These two beat the tar out of one another from start to finish, with a white-hot crowd applauding their every move, step, and breath. Jacobs made me a fan here, as he showcased significant upside by trading strikes with Ishii and doing what so many foreign-born wrestlers fail to due to the misinterpretation of what makes Ishii special. A story was told that accentuated the battles, with even the chop exchanges that are overdone around the world carrying a different and infectious energy. Many have attempted to emulate what Ishii does, but the nuances of his approach to wrestling make him a truly special wrestler. And he and Jacobs tore the house down here. 4.5 stars, 9 out of 10."
[7.0] "I guess it doesn't help going in expecting a 9.0. This was your bog standard Ishii match with the usual no-sell/death-sell tropes. Jacobs' forearms looked pretty weak and weren't helped by Ishii barely giving them the time of day. The intensity was bolstered by an admittedly rabid crowd, but dragged back down by unbearably self-aggrandising commentary ***1/4"
[9.0] "Match of the night and a star making performance by Luke Jacobs. It was an epic hoss battle where everything landed well, the crowd was electric and the final minutes were outstanding. Ishii is still one of the greatest. Not a five star match, but still a match of the year candidate. (****1/4)"
[8.0] "Luke Jacobs got given a spot to make his name and delivered. Ishii must really love Weatherspoons because he always has his working boots on when he comes to the UK and delivered as expected here. This was really good stuff and exactly what I love in my pro wrestling."
[10.0] "My match of the year. I expected these two would put on a great performance, both of these are excellent wrestlers. Both with hard hitting styles. However, these two overdelivered. I had to temper my expectations given that Ishii is aging, and this is not his home company. Despite this, they put on a classic. There was some sick bumps here. Like the gonzo bomb, and the amazing headbutt to the eye of Ishii. They just kept building and going. They enthralled me. This was pro wrestling perfection."
[10.0] "Jacobs has the skills to be someone that matters in wrestling in future and he showed it again with this Strong Style Fest here. He and Ishii just kept on spamming everything to try to get win and the whole match was just awesome from bell to bell if this is your cup of tea (and surely it's mine). Perhaps the ending came too fast, I wanted to see more on my screen. ****3/4"
[6.0] "I'm unable to see the MOTY hype this match has seemingly been getting as of late. This was pretty much another run-of-the-mill Ishii performance where the wrestlers exchanged shitty looking strikes as the crowd pops for anything. This was no different. This was basically the Kingston match from the G1 but without any of the charisma that was on display there. On one hand it did it's job as the crowd popped and gave a standing ovation multiple times but one the other, RevPro's horrible camera work and mic setup ruined an already overpraised match for me. First time watching Luke Jacobs and this dude throws the softest looking lariats. But that could also be my deterred viewing because of the promotion's production issues. All in all, this was as good as every other strong style Ishii performances with a half capable wrestler is. Decent but never anything more."
[10.0] "This was exactly my cup of tea! It was just them chopping, punching and brainbustering the hell out of each non-stop. I knew this match was amazing when they both hit each other with so many forearm shots the crowd could only clap with joy but then they just kept going for another minute!"
[8.0] "This match was pretty much exactly what you would expect from a Tomohiro Ishii and Luke Jacobs match. Extremely physical and hard-hitting, but in my opinion, this is nowhere near Ishii's best matches in his career, or even in RevPro. It was a great match, and well worth a viewing."
"this fight is great. Jacobs and Ishii give us brutal, combat. Jacobs improve he is great powerhouse like WALTER. Ishii typical fight , great and brutal. 2 best fight in this RevPro 11 Year Anniversary Show.Jacobs must get push and get Ishii vs Jacobs in brutal stipulation"
[9.0] "This match was amazing. Feel like every review will be similar because the audio was honestly so terrible for basically the entire show but it didn't stop me from thinking this was awesome. Wasn't too familiar with Jacobs but now I'm a fan. Ishii is at his best in these hard hitting hoss fights."
[7.0] "I dont get it why this match has such high ratings, it was good but it wasnt that perfect that a lote people say. There was a lot of repeating action and in some moments the match was boring. Crowd was very good and too bad that it wasnt like that in other matches."
[9.0] "This match was literally awesome and it's a shame I can't give it the proper flowers it deserves because the production of this show was embarrassing. The audio sucks so I can barely hear the hits and the meat on meat, the video was choppy for like a few seconds in the middle of it and the commentatary not only gets names of moves wrong about 5 times but they're also too loud and sound like they're talking into Playstation 3 mics. With that being said, the action was phenomenal and Luke Jacobs is undoubtedly a future star, hell I'd bring him in for a test tour if I'm NJPW. Ishii is 47 and he's still pulling out performances like this. One of the most consistent ever. ****1/4"
[10.0] "Best match of the night. Ishii and Jacobs gave all they had to produce an impressive hard hitting match. British and japanese strong style perfectly matched here, with Ishii huge chops and Jacobs flawless German suplexes. Ishii at 47 is still a bless to watch and Jacobs appears to be a young star in the making."
[10.0] "Anyone who had seen Luke Jacobs before knew that him against Ishii would be a dream match. But this exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. I could watch 1000 Ishii matches and never get sick of it, so the little twists that he and Jacobs put into the finishing stretch were an added bonus. The story of Jacobs transitioning from young upstart, in there against his hero, to absolute warrior, one-upping Ishii at almost every turn, was brilliant. One of the best matches of the year, and perhaps the best match in the history of RevPro. *****"
[9.0] "Big meaty men knocking the crap out of each other. Some great nearfalls, and holy crap moments. A great showing for both men. I was looking forward to seeing Ishii, but he exceeded my expectations. A really good showing from Luke Jacobs too! He proved he could hang with Ishii. ****3/4"
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