Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito

[10.0] "I don't think this is the best match of Naito's career but it might be his best ever performance, he really elevated Elgin to a true classic in the ring. One of the rare 30+ minute matches that earns it's runtime. 5 stars"

[8.0] "Great match but I felt Naito really outshined Elgin. For as long as Elgin was in New Japan, I never felt like I got a good grasp at what it character was trying to be beyond a big guy who throws people around. And that's about all we got from Elgin in this match. On the other hand, every second Naito is on screen you can see his character shining through even the smallest of gestures."

[7.0] "As a big fan of Big Mike well I gotta say I was so disappointed watching this match. Sure it was good but it was just way too long and boring in many parts. ****"

[7.0] "I don't seem to enjoy Naito's style or the rhythm he imposes in matches, and although Michael Elgin's power moves are amazing to watch, his intensity only shines sporadically in this unnecessarily long match."

[9.0] "Too much kickouts, and giving that to Elgin is just... a choice. This is still a fantastic match. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Great match, I didn't know much about Elgin going in but this made him look like a star. MOTN and one to remember. ****3/4"

[5.0] "Big unearned epic for a feud no one remembers. The psychology is perhaps the biggest strength of the match. Naito goes after either the leg or eyes quickly when an opportunity presents itself and Elgin even sells it on offense pretty well. However, selling involves more that just knowing where your being hit and registering it. The true problems with this match lie deeper than that. There are so many instances where Elgin's able to stop Naito on offense and counter with a big impressive power move, yet hardly any of them feel significant to the overall match. Despite how strong Elgin obviously is, it's hardly played up through these moments. Rather, it just keeps sprinting through a dozen or so sequences like this. It was like King's Road without context for why that style was so dramatic to witness. The exhaustion on display is no different from the standard New Japan main-events had set, meaning at one point they're barely keeping themselves upright and the next they're going through fast-paced reversals. Neither have more than one signature move that has been protected enough to win matches, which is quite different to what the Four Pillars could work with. There's a great 20 minutes match here somewhere, but I can't look past whatever the rest of the match was."

[9.0] "An almost perfect match and the best of Elgin's career, this unexpectedly topped the incredible title match Naito had with Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. I love how Naito's leg work made Elgin into the underdog, despite him being the much more powerful wrestler, and even though I've seen this match before the nearfalls are still so great in this one, including the only time I remember anyone kicking out of the Elgin Bomb ****3/4."

[9.0] "That match was enormous, I didn't thought Elgin could've impressed me so much. He was against Naito, God of selling, simply God of wrestling. So much good moves and counters for these two, almost perfect. The match was incredible in the ring, but with not too much storytelling. It stills one of my favorites matches of 2017. ****3/4"

[10.0] "Just am epic main event to close out their tremendous feud. A big time Kings Road style slugfest where these guys just killed each other. While this does get big move and kickout heavy toward the end, I think not works really well for the story and setup to the Burning Hammer attempts at the end. This match really showed how much Naito can and will go through to win, and that he's undoubtedly a top guy on the level of others, but also really put over Elgin as a threat to top guys too. Really felt like a truely big match to finalize their rivalry *****"

[9.0] "Elgin und Naito zeigten schon ein Jahr zuvor, dass sie großartig miteinander harmonieren, aber das war mit Abstand das beste Match der beiden und gehört zu den besten Matches von NJPW in diesem Jahr. Die 36 Minuten vergingen wie im Flug und das Match fühlte sich zu keinem Zeitpunkt so an, als müsste man den Inhalt auf diese Zeit strecken. Es gab einige nette Manöver und üble Bumps in diesem Match und vor allem das Pacing war überragend gestaltet. Gegen Ende wird das Match dann vollkommen verrückt und man sieht endlose hervorragende Nearfalls und tolle Reversals, das Finish jedoch war mir etwas zu deutlich und nach dem Verlauf des Matches auch etwas antiklimaktisch, weshalb ich es nicht ganz auf dem Niveau sehe, wie es Meltzer tut. Nichtsdestotrotz eine tolle Leistung von beiden und ein starker Abschluss für eine gute Show. **** 1/2 (7)"

[9.0] "This match had all the convincing near falls you expect from a 5-star match, but as a whole it falls well short. It's slow and sludgy at times. I was running on the treadmill as I watched this match, and I realized that my outta shape ass still wasn't half as gassed as Elgin was by the end of this thing. Granted he was doing a lot more work than I was, but I definitely expected more from a supposed 5-star match. It was still great regardless, just not THAT great. ****1/2"

[8.0] "Mit 10 Minuten weniger wäre es sicher das MOTM geworden. Doch mit über 35 Minuten war das dann doch etwas zu viel. Hervorheben mit dem ss man definitiv die letzten 2-7 Minuten die waren einfach Großartig. Daher 8 Punkte von mir (****1/4)"

[8.0] "It was certainly not a 5 stars match, but still pretty good. Naito is great, as always, and Elgin is very talented and interesting, we'll see what the future holds for him and I hope he will be well booked at Impact."

[9.0] "This was an excellent match, and for once for a match involving Naito it didn't feature the dreaded LIJ nonsense. It goes over thirty minutes, but at no point does it drag or feel like it's overstaying its welcome."

[9.0] "Wirklich gutes Match mit einer unglaublichen Schlussphase. Das Match fing gut und interessant an und hat sich von da an gesteigert. Es gab einige sehr gute Moves und Sequenzen. Naitos selling war der Wahnsinn und die near falls zum Schluss waren mehr als nur spannend **** 1/2."

[9.0] "Naito und Elgin gehen direkt in die Vollen und das bei der anvisierten Matchlänge schon eine Aussage. Elgin fährt von Minute 1 seine Powermoves und verblüfft Naito ein ums andere Mal mit teils absurden Kontern. Naito findet auf seine Art natürlich dennoch Auswege, um seine Offensive ins Ziel zu bringen. Das harmoniert überraschend gut, da Naito in der kleinen Underdog-Rolle durchaus aufgeht und die Versuche, das Momentum zu verlagern, wirklich funktionieren. Es entwickelt sich ein starkes Hin und Her mit großen Konten und guten Dominanzphasen. Beide kämpfen aufopferungsvoll und führen das Match in eine packende Schlussphase, bei der Naito zwar immer wie der clevere Worker wirkt, der immer noch eine Antwort hat, aber die Spannung bleibt. Gutes Ding. (****œ)"

[8.0] "7. 9/10 ! I am sorry I just don't see what could have possibly made this match worth 5 stars. 5 Stars means perfect, like the absolute perfect, this match edged "great", that's really super, it edged GREAT ! But it is not anywhere near perfect... Not for me, I guess."

[9.0] "Extrem gutes und spannendes Titel Match! Elgin und Naito haben Gute Chemie und das beweisen sie hier deutlich. Exzellente Schlussphase und super Spots von Elgin. Schlussendlich gewinnt Naito mit dem Destino. Für das Match gebe ich ****3/4 Stenre!"

[10.0] "What a great main event. There isn't a whole lot to analyse, just a really fantastic match with some great limb work on Elgin and some crazy good spots. This is pretty much a 5* match but I don't feel like it was. I don't know what was missing but there was a little something that didn't push it up into that boundary. Incredible match, I'd go as far to say as it was better than Naito vs. Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom, but I can't give this match 5*, as good as it was. (****3/4)"

[9.0] "Tetsuya Naito (c) -vs- Michael Elgin – (IWGP Intercontinental Title) [**** 1/4] - Elgin is like an old school territory wrestler who can do all these modern moves with utmost professionalism. Like the potato (not just in looks), he can be used for a variety of ideas and works well with whatever dish the promoters want to serve its fans. Here he looked like a true challenge for their darling Naito. It’s his built which is Elgin’s charisma and which carries him looking credible, and his excellent execution make sure the fans take him seriously. This is the first big match I see of him and he won me over! A little slowly paced and losing it’s momentum a couple of times, but this was pure class at work, constructing it’s moments so well. The fans could barely believe how much of a threat the stocky Canadian was. He really wiped off that smirky grin Naito started the fight with!"

[7.0] "This was really good but went on far too long. With around 5 minutes left I kind of tuned out. Still, great work from both Elgin and Naito - particularly the former, who went all out."

[5.0] "On a re-watch this turned out to be pretty solid for me and it was all mostly due to Elgin's performance in the match. Elgin was solid with his strikes but his selling was extremely questionable as he sold it when not on offense but when on offense he completely no sold the leg work Naito did just to hit his power moves. Naito was his usual stoic self in trying to play the mind games especially the call-backs to their previous matches with the leg work and the KOPW tag bout by targeting the eye. The crowd was red hot for this one but I also felt this went too long and felt that at times Elgin was hell bent on just flat out killing Naito. Overall a solid matchup but definitely not a MOTYC in my book. **1/2"

[10.0] "Yep. I'd say this is the greatest match Elgin has had up to this point. One of my favorites from the year so far. Great selling and offence from Big Mike, his selling of the leg was pretty good IMO, and Naito's character work was flawless as usual, he may possibly be my favorite on the roster as of right now. The final 10 minutes of this match were just pure intensity with Naito constantly trying for Destino and Big Mike Elgin bombing Naito into oblivion. Good spots and psychology here. *****"

[9.0] "The best encounter between these two thus far! This was a fantastic match and surely proves to the naysayers once and for all how compelling and exciting of a performer Elgin is. Naito played his usual mindtricks early on - wasting time and avoiding actually locking-up and facing Elgin, but Elgin soon straightened him out with some great strikes and power moves to set the tone and remind Naito he would have to take Elgin seriously. Elgin's strength and (surprising) agility was a great sight to behold. Naito sold Elgin's offence with world-class ability. Naito's work on Elgin's leg was nice and aggressive and Elgin's selling of it was quite good as he knew when to display pain and strain as well as when to communicate that he was relying on adrenaline to momentarily ignore the pain. I also liked the extra touch of Naito targeting the orbital bone of Elgin's that Naito damaged late last year. These two put together a large number of great sequences and spots as the match progressed. I especially loved Elgin surviving Naito’s Destino and then countering the attempted second one into a Death Valley Driver in the corner. There was so many convincing teases for an Elgin win here. The end did feel a bit too much like two guys trading big moves and near falls but they were all executed with incredible technique that I was able to ignore that minor annoyance. ****1/4"

[9.0] "I am very surprised at the extremely high rating for this match. It's a pretty great match, don't get me wrong, but it's longer than it needs to be and goes more than a little overboard with the big bomb kickouts at the end. Still, I can't deny the action is this match is very good, from two very talented guys."

[9.0] "Nach dem spotreichen und sehr starken Jr Titel Match kam dann der Main Event und der hat dann noch alles weggeblasen. Match fängt gewohnt langsam an, steigert sich durch MoveAbtausch und geht in die Schlussphase. Die Anfangsphase gefällt mir ehrlich gesagt überhaupt nicht. Naito probiert zwar sein alltägliches LegWork, aber das Selling von Elgin ist äußerst skurril und wirkt weder authentisch noch irgendwie gut. Die Mittelphase lebt von sehr vielen schönen Moves; Ich finde Elgin fokussiert sich ein bisschen zu sehr auf die Kraftmoves als auf ein vernünftiges Storytelling aber wie auch immer. In der Schlussphase geht der Shit dann richtig los, Wahnsinn's schnelle Konter beider Akteure, die 3 Powerbombs von Elgin sind wunderbar anzusehen sowohl auch Naito's Torture Reck into Destino Konter. Naito beendet das Match via SecondRope Destino gefolgt von noch einem. Match super intensiv, spannend, actionreich und wäre es nicht für Elgin's Beinselling gewesen könnte das auf 5 kommen. Props an Naito für eine wunderbare Performance, Mimik, Gestik, InRing hat alles geklappt (****3/4)"

[7.0] "A typical Michael Elgin match, full of power moves and inconsistent selling. Elgin relies on too many power moves, he needs to show better selling when he attempts to lift his opponents, yet again in this match with Naito, he showed struggle in patches but the majority of the time he no sold. Same applies when he goes up high, he never shows struggle when he climbs the turnbuckle. He did produce good psychology though in his offense, using his other leg instead of his bad one. I'm a big fan of Naito but his offense in this match bored me at times, I did like his dastardly side when he targeted Elgin's eye. All in all I don't get the high marks for this match, you know what to expet from Elgin, I don't rate him as a performer, his inconsistent selling always let's his matches down. Overall rating - ***3/4"

[10.0] "If you like lots of counters and reversals (like I do), this is your match. There has to be hundreds of them in this one. Fantastic match by both men, by far Elgin's best career performance, and Naito's 3rd best match (in my opinion). Definitely a MOTYC and a must-watch"

[10.0] "This match started slow but when Naito hit that top rope frankienstiener it hit a second gear that turned it into an absolute classic. The nearfalls had me on the edge of my seat and had the crowd going ballistic as well. Elgin had the best match of his career and this was about in Naito's top 5."

[8.0] "Good match, but a little too slow with not enough payoff. Didn't like the segments of the match where Naito and Elgin would hit eachother with moves, then just stand in stunned grogginess because it just felt a little bit lazy. Excellent selling my Naito, made it look like Elgin was really killing him. The burning hammer into the Destino was great. Naito really elevated the match. I believe it would've benefitted from trimming a ton of time off. ****"

[9.0] "Starker Main Event der sehr ausgeglichen gestaltet wurde. Im Spotbereich kann das Match zwar nicht mit dem Junior Heavyweight mithalten, aber dafür ist das Match in Sachen Dramatik einfach besser. Die letzten 10 Minuten sind einfach Weltklasse und reißen einen wirklich mit. Elgin darf wirklich eine Menge zeigen und ist mehrfach nah am Sieg, aber am Ende verteidigt Naito. Das Publikum ist auch voll dabei und so ist das Match von vorne bis hinten sehr unterhaltsam. Klasse Main Event!"

[10.0] "First off, some criticisms, although very slight. I thought it was a little long and I think they peaked at the powerbomb Elgin did where Naito kicked out. Shorten it by maybe 5-8 minutes and I would have probably had no faults at all. That being said, this was amazing. Natio is such a prick and a dick that I love it, yet he’s still a likeable antihero. The constant work done to the eye of Elgin, his cocky mannerisms, all of it is done so well. The knee work done to Elgin by Naito was great heat initially, and Elgin did a hell of a job selling this throughout the entire match, especially how it curbed a lot of his power moves initially. The last 15 minutes of this was amazingly fun, with Elgin breaking out a lot of great moves, a great babyface in peril spot with his in a knee submission, and Naito just selling his ass off. Also loved the burning hammer tease while he never hit it, so that could mean something in the end. Speaking of Elgin, man… I love this dude. He’s a big bad huge monster of a dude who happens to be a great babyface (his striking is also great). I was upset he didn’t win, but Naito having to use his finisher 3 times (surprising they did that) definitely helped to protect Elgin. Excellent, wonderfully done main event. ****3/4"

[10.0] "Trotz Elgins lächerlichem Selling war dies wohl das beste Match, das beide jemals abgeliefert haben. Leider hat der falsche Mann gewonnen."

[9.0] "Excellent match , Elgins power moves and stiff shots on Naito where nasty , felt Elgins selling of his knee was a little bit inconsistent , but all in all a fantastic match i would recommend any wrestling fan watches."

[10.0] "A classic. Some brutal spots, a amazing finishing stretch, great selling of the leg by Elgin and a crazy pace and intensity. Amazing story of Elgin trying to get his revenge on Naito and almost killing him. Once again, the IC bout delivers. I absolutely loved this. *****"

[10.0] "Naito vs. Elgin war von vorne bis hinten einfach phänomenal. Die Schlussphase war extrem episch und göttlich, der Kontrast der beiden wurde im Ring perfekt dargestellt und so erzählten sie eine gute Story. Hätte Elgins Bein gegen Ende hin eine größere Rolle gespielt, wäre es ein 5* Match gewesen, dennoch war das hier einfach phänomenal (****Ÿ)!"

[10.0] "Sehr guter Main Event der Osaka Show. Beide zeigen hier ein tolles Match mit tollem Selling seitens Elgin und einer gut erzählten Story. Für meinen Geschmack etwas zu lang gestreckt und an manchen stellen langwierig, aber insgesamt trotzdem sehr gut. **** 1/2"

[9.0] "Auch der Main Event war sau stark und hat mir sehr, sehr gefallen. Fantastisches Match Michael ist auch bei NJPW einfach Top was er hier wieder zeigte war einfach nur klasse. Tetsuya wie man ihn kennt es hat hier so viel gestimmt und gepasst (****1/2)."

[10.0] "Wow. Elgin and Naito KILLED it. Talk about great ring psychology, incredible counters and a story told brilliantly! These two guys have fantastic chemistry together. IMO, their best match together (**** 3/4)."

[9.0] "A finale to a heated rivalry done right. Elgin threw Naito around like a ragdoll, and Naito worked the knee and previously injured eye to keep wearing Elgin down until he could put him away with the Destino. Fantastic pacing, selling, and storytelling, with some incredible spots as well."

[1.0] "Didn't really like this one. Started really slow and boring, after that Naito did some work on Elgin's leg, but Elgin's selling was spotty at best. Very bad selling performance by him. Than they did the usual big move finishing sequence formula, which I certainly didn't enjoy. Overall not a match for my taste."

[10.0] "Dieses Match ist ein ***** Classic und das bisherige MOTY für mich. Ich war vor allem am Ende unglaublich gefesselt, als ich es live geschaut habe und dabei habe ich eigentlich fast gar nichts von dem Match erwartet. Im Gegensatz zu anderen finde ich, dass jede Sekunde zur Story beigetragen hat und somit habe ich mich auch nie gelangweilt, in Gegensatz zu Okada vs Omega von Wrestle Kingdom. Außerdem war Elgins Selling toll, wie zum Beispiel bei der einbeinigen Bridge nach dem German Suplex oder nach dem Diving Splash, als er beim Cover sein eigenes Bein einhakte. Naitos Heelwork war mal wieder grandios, dafür dass er so ziemlich der beliebteste im Roster ist, ist er bei seinen Heel-Aktionen trotzdem kräftig ausgebuht worden. Außerdem hat er mehrere Destinos benötigt, um Elgin zu bezwingen, so dass dieser kein bisschen schwach aussah, und die Finisher-Kickouts waren ebenso gut platziert."

[10.0] "What an incredible grudge match. Osaka is probably the hottest crowd that NJPW usually gets outside of Sumo Hall so they're always exciting to hear. The funny thing about the Osaka crowd is this is possibly the only crowd that is willing to boo Naito even though hes super over in almost every other place he goes; not that he didn't get many cheers as well, Osaka just has a weird relationship with Mr Tranquilo. Elgin on the other hand was also really over with mostly cheers and Naito really did a good job in getting Elgin more over than before. Anyways this match was probably the best the two men have had. Both men brought their own excellent storytelling with Naito using psychology by attacking Elgin's leg and eye that Naito injured, and Elgin kept to his word that he was gonna try and break Naito's jaw and boy did he try with those loud and brutal clotheslines, elbows and slaps. There were many callbacks to their previous matches together and even a callback to the Naito/Tana match from WK11 with the running Destino. The icing on the cake that made this match special in my eyes is there was zero interference in this match. I guess my only real flaw in this match is that Elgin didn't really sell the leg well at all, but I can forgive it since he made up for it with his brutal big spots. The booking of the winner and loser would've been positive either way but one thing is for sure that both men are headed to big things this year, ****3/4."

[10.0] "Too much false finishers for me, but still a awesome match, Naito and Elgin just kill eachother with some cool spots. (****1/2)."

[10.0] "I'm all for people having their opinions but giving this match a 1 just comes across as idiotic. A score of a 1 should be used for matches where they botched everything and couldn't even get into the ring without fucking something up. At worst if this match really wasn't for you you could go with a 6. They hit every move perfectly and the crowd was in the palm of their hands, that alone makes this not a 1. This match was phenomenal, one of the best of the year so far and maybe the best of both Naito and Elgin's careers."

[10.0] "Absolutely epic main event. Disregard the ignorant "1". The first 10 minutes were slow, but it wasn't Naito being Naito and setting up the leg work. The second half of this match was just insane. No dull moments for 20+ minutes. These guys went all out and put on a show. Both guys gave incredible performances and put on the best match of the New Beginnings imo ****3/4"

[9.0] "Another beutiful match beetwen this 2 guys, and it was very similar to the match of G1 Climax; early stages with Naito that destroys the Elginìs leg with strikes and submission, then the pace quickens, alternating hard knocks of the ex AAW champion in swift moves of the champion to the end which is a finisher succession and counter."

[10.0] "WHAT A MATCH. This was just so amazing, it reminded me of Omega vs Naito in the sense that you know it will be awesome, but then they get to the next gear and it turns out to be a classic. Elgin did an incredible job of selling the leg, the story was great, super heat and last 10-12 minutes were just unbelievable. ******."

[9.0] "Really great main event. I really like Naito and Elgin's chemistry. Some things happened that I didn't really like, like Naito kicking out of the Elgin bomb which happened after a powerbomb on the apron and then one to the steel barrier, but other than that, it was overall a great match. Somewhere between 4-4. 5 stars."

[1.0] "Typical New Japan main event 'epic'. The first half was completely forgettable, the work Naito did on Elgin's leg was sold very badly by Big Mike. The match only got interesting once they kicked into the finishing gear w/ them just throwing big bombs at each other, but even then, it wasn't very interesting. *"