Atsushi Kotoge & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi

[9.0] "If you look at the match face value, there isn't much story to it. It's mostly 4 men hitting each other really hard for 30 minutes; it was awesome. What was the story however was Kotoge holding his own against the heavyweights (after only moving up from the Juniors) which was a nice story to tell even if it's not much to go on. Kotoge put in a performance of a life time against Shiozaki, splitting him out with his famous headbutts. Taniguchi and Marufuji had some great moments including the chops on the outside. Overall, it's really good match with a simple structure. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This match was 30 minutes of four guys beating the crap out of each other. Shiozaki almost chopped the skin of the chest of Kotoge. The near falls were timed well and the headbutt spot was insane. Nice finish as well with the bloody Shiozaki standing tall. ****"

[6.0] "Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi -vs- Naomichi Marufuji & Atsushi Kotoge – (GHC Tag Title) [** 3/4] - Feels a little like NOAH when I watched it 6 years ago. Doing random stuff for 30 minutes. General beating the crap out of each other, which isn’t a bad thing. But it’s not like everything magically turns amazing if you reach the 30 minute mark, which is what the NOAH masters seems to think. Still, they beat each other to bloods, so love it for that."

[8.0] "Damn, what a match. Everyone looked great here, and there was a fantastic story being told. I really enjoyed Shiozaki and Tanguchi working over Kotoge so heavily, giving him a brutal introduction to the heavyweight scene. Kotoge held his own quite well though, and proved he had legitimate reason to consider himself ready for the weight-class transition. Watching him endure so much suffering felt very admirable. His junior-based high flying and agility also added another interesting layer to the mostly strong-style based match of heavy strikes. Shiozaki’s chops were fantastic as always, and his expressions made him a compelling character as always too. He expresses every emotion so perfectly and sells his offence and his opponents' offence beautifully. Marufuji’s chops were also fantastic, and his general agile style was very exciting. Taniguchi did a good job with his power moves and strikes, and still impressed quite moderately despite being the weakest member of the match. It was awesome watching all 4 tear each other apart and test each others’ durability and pain tolerance. I loved the teamwork from both teams, especially when it came to breaking up pin-attempts or preventing pin break-ups. The near-falls in the second half of the match were all very convincing and exciting. Kotoge’s headbutt spot, though incredibly dangerous, was awesome and heightened the match tension straight away. Shiozaki all bloodied and standing strong at the end was an awesome visual. ****"