Pete Dunne vs. Tomohiro Ishii

[7.0] "A fascinating match to look back on. Pete Dunne, then just 23 years of age, entered this match with quite a bit to prove. Already something of a phenom, he had just received a tryout for WWE. As the commentators brilliantly put it, this was his chance to have a de facto tryout for New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well. And Dunne looked to make an immediate impact, looking to beat Tomohiro Ishii at his own game with a series of Shoulder Tackles and Chops that... Got him nowhere. Still inexperienced, Dunne did the only thing he knew how to do when that initial attack failed: He allowed his cowardice to prevail. Ishii was happy to reward Dunne's arrogance with a series of strikes of his own, thus teaching The Bruiserweight an important lesson about respecting your opponent enough to know just how to disrespect them. What follows is a balance of arrogance versus resiliency, as well as Ishii proving he can go shot-for-shot with Dunne the same way that The Bruiserweight had attempted to go strike-for-strike with him. Just misses the four-star mark for me, but certainly a good match worth watching. 3. 5 stars, 7 out of 10."

[7.0] "A pretty nasty clash between two very nasty men. Pete really switched it up here by being straight foward with his physical barrage of strikes and kicks, and Ishii retaliated in only the best way he could. Not as good as the Hero match a day before, but still a very good international showcase of sorts. The Ospreay interference was unnecessary though, ****."

[8.0] "This was very good. Dunne's heel work was really good. He looked like a total dick here. Ishii was great as usual. He played the underdog role very well. The selling, kicking out at 1 were well done, well timing too."

[9.0] "A wonderful match with a very skillful storytelling. Well done Pete, funny stuff up each other, and very competent end the confrontation Pete and Will. Excellent match (****1/4)"

[7.0] "It speaks to the experience and the talent level of Ishii how he can so fluidly go from the role of under to the role of over and still maintain not only his credibility as one of the world's toughest brawlers, but also elevate his opponent while maintaining absolute integrity and control of his character. Last night Ishii refused Hero's assist-ing overtures b/c that role called for him to maintain his pride despite being completely physically overmatched. Tonight Ishii is thankful to the assist Ospreay provided putting over a CHAOS man as a valued teammate, but also putting over Dunne in that he needed Os or he would have fallen to Dunne's might and cheat. Dunne's physique and in-ring style are a close match to Ishii, and though Dunne's heat segment constituted the most difficult part of the match to get over, he still has work to do in captivating fans' attentions as this element of Dunne's package either needs to bewitch fans with its color or frighten them via intimidation and tonight both of those boxes were left unchecked. Ishii's middle-rope superplex-lift is always a beauty to behold. I didn't mind the booking as Ishii's far from a full-timer, and it protects Dunne from a second clean loss in-a-row, but employing this match as a tool certainly lowered my overall rating for this individual package. Yet there was good action (during the expected moments of an Ishii formula match) especially from about 50% in to about 90% in, or sth. like that. 6. 75"

[8.0] "A heavy-handed clash between two wrestlers that are as different in their styles as they are similar. Dunne & Ishii love to beat down and bully their opponents, but Dunne's lack of ethics makes a world of difference in how they go about it. Really loved how that built the structure of the match, and gave us a match outside of Ishii's wheelhouse. In the end, after many strong strikes and moves were exchanged between the two, Pete's constant incessant bending of the rules came back to haunt him and cost him the match. Great bout here, made Dunne look great and also like a complete dickhead. ****"

[9.0] "I loved this as well. Pete Dunne is slowly becoming on of my favorites. Love him and his Bruiserweight style. Ishii is just one of the best and most badass wrestlers on the planet. The story here was quite good, Dunne tried working Ishii's style, Ishii bumped and sold quite nicely for Dunne. A match I'd recommend as well. (****)"

[8.0] "This was my favorite non-Chris Hero match of these RevPro/NJPW shows. Dunne got to do work on top, and he was really good at it, his offense looked real good, and Ishii sold his ass off for him. We also got some trademark Ishii stuff w/ the strike trading & big moves, and it all made for a fun overall package. ***3/4"