[5.0] "Just as the quality was continuously going up, we get to the worst match on the show, unfortunately. I wouldn't consider this to be a "bad match, " but I wouldn't call it great either. It was the shortest match on the card, but it also wasn't really packed with a whole lot of fun action. It felt like Narita just, kind of got the win for himself & EVIL all of a sudden."
[1.0] "Absolutely no need for this tag match. What was its purpose? Just to get H.O.T. on the card? Getting paid a favor from NOAH for them having New Japan talent on their shows? Absolute dog shit of a match and a horrid start to the never-ending Hontai/House of Torture fued."
[4.0] "My introduction to House of Torture. Yeah no, I don't care for this faction, and the epitome of the problems of NJPW as of recently. A lot of good work in this but ultimately ruined by the bullshit that HoT was doing."
[3.0] "For sure the worst match of the event, it's a shame some talented guys were included in this... Shota Umino's entrance was great thought. This was the usual House of Torture match, it had an interference with five seconds, and the whole match was basically interferences and shenanigans, almost no ring work at all, very bad - {*1/2}"
[3.0] "[1.5*] This was literally the only match from the show I rated below 2* but it was still important because the japanese crowd loves to react for House of Torture and New Japan does not give a shit that the ocidental fanbase hates them (as they should not). The crowd reacts a lot for them."
[3.0] "This match was pretty bad, however I didn't expect much better from House of Torture. don't have much to say other that this match was just bad."
[2.0] "This match took place 2 days after the NJPW x Noah vs HOT match which was fine, yet this match felt more terrible as if it's from 2012 raw. Yeah HOT needed to get heat in the Tokyo dome(which evil was succesful in doing at the post match promo at the main event) yet this wasted the top star of Noah in terrible way possible, as if GEDO really wants to show "Noah is weak" things for Nth time. This already is hurting kaito's credibility which is being lost since his strays of defeats starting from okada in noah's Tokyo dome show last year"
[5.0] "The pure NJPW fans bickered a lot on HOT, but I'm completely fine with a bunch of blokes as a mid-card act that generates heel heat every time. Narita & Umino carried the newly minted betrayal story to a decent kickstart that was overshadowed by the underhand tactics of HOT. Aside from them, I'm unsure about the role of Kiyomiya in this match. One of the hottest acts from last year being treated in this way felt weird. 2.5 out of 5 stars!"
[4.0] "Westernised bullshit match. HOT are able to get heat from the crowd, but whenever their shenanigans starts, I loose all interest in whatever shit they are involved in and almost always, shenanigans follows every HOT match. At least Narita got a win, but seriously why HOT? What does Narita and the others have in common? Hopefully this is a phase. **"
[6.0] "I really enjoyed this. Kaito Kiyomiya and Shota Umino showed out with great offense that held off the numbers game for as long as it could. EVIL picked his spots perfectly and both took and delivered some perfect STOs. And Ren Narita had some great exchanges with his likely career-long rival. I get that House of Torture can be tiring, but this was fun and had some genuinely great moments. 3 stars, 6 out of 10."
[5.0] "This match did its job. Absolutely didn't need to be on a WK card but considering how awful HoT is this could have been far worse. Inoffensive but hardly made me desperate to see more of Narita vs Umino. **1/2"
[4.0] "Too all over the place for me. Im a fan of everyone involved actually but this felt more like a set up for something else. I also really wish Narita would get a different finish."
[3.0] "HoT continues to be one of the worst things in wrestling which sucks because EVIL and co are actually really good wrestlers. I just roll my eyes because i know how every match is going to go. At least they gave Narita his first win in the Tokyo Dome. **1/2"
[5.0] "They didn't get much time so it didn't lead to anything crazy but it was basically a match to build up to some other matches. We saw some of the House Of Torture schtick and they got heat for that but yeah, that went by quickly. They put over Narita with his new finisher. I guess this match did what he was supposed to do but we have seen better House Of Torture matches."
[6.0] "Harsh rating for this. I don't think it showcased Kaito or Umino too well which is an issue, but the fact Shota lost in the way he did tells you this is just the beginning. I am not a big HOT fan but they play their part, and the ring bell spot worked quite well here. It's a good spot for Ren right now and it allows him to show something else, which he desperately needs. I still don't see it just yet but this feud with Shota is a slow burn and I am excited for their eventual singles match payoff"
[3.0] "This was a low-level House of Torture match that didn't work or deserve to be on a show like this. The interference and cheating was constant in here as usual, but nothing new or creative that they haven't done a thousand times already on every single NJPW show of the last two years. Kiyomiya being on Wrestle Kingdom should be treated more like a big deal than this. *1/2"
[4.0] "Worst match of the night. House of Torture isn't entertaining at all, EVIL is boring to watch, and I hardly think Narita will evolve under his wing. (**1/4)."
[7.0] "Im assuming the negative reaction for this is because for the first time in a loooong time a new japan match feels like a wwe style clusterfk of a match. Which is just very interesting and I think creative to have at least one match on its card to go against the company grain. Nothing wrong with that and I think it served it's purpose well even if it was messy and wasnt full of wrestling moves and so on. I dont think there is anything wrong with doing a more american style mess like this once on a card every now and then"
[4.0] "Not it for me. Is this the best they can do for Kaito, Umino and Narita? Boring, makes the officials look dumb. However, it's just really inoffensive and the moves are alright (and Umino entrance was dope). A below average match, would not recommend."
[5.0] "For a House of Torture match this was relatively inoffensive, but it would've been nice to see Shooter and Kaito in a real match with some time. Shooter looked great."
[3.0] "This match just wasnt it for me. Evil has never been a draw apart from when he was in a tag team with Sanada. Ive never quite understood why hes always getting pushed because its just never been good."
[6.0] "6.5 - Fun to enjoy a House of Torture match. The clingers didn't make too much of a nuisance of themselves. EVIL showed glimpses, and Narita bumped well on the apron DDT. Kaito threw himself around well, as did Shota. Shota's bump on Narita's finish was a nice gift."
[5.0] "I dont really know what to say about this, i suppose for a HOT match it was fine, I like HOT but I dont watch Japanese wrestling for constant shenanigans etc. Ren benefiting massively despite all this for defecting to HOT - I just hope when the eventual Shota v Ren singles happens they limit the interference as much as possible"
[2.0] "There's three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and House of Torture killing the momentum of a NJPW show. Shota Umino had an amazing 2023 (anyone that can make Will Ospreay sweat deserves all the respect) and Kaito Kiyomiya is a great wrestler too. They definitely didn't deserve to be fed to these clowns."
[2.0] "Everything about this match is awful. Two ascendant young aces on a tag team as some of the hottest acts in the puro world losing in an undercard tag match crippled by abhorrent interference spots, poor in ring work and Gedo stinking up his drawers led to one of the least enjoyable Wrestle Kingdom matches in recent memory."
[5.0] "A fine match with usual HoT shenanigans. Shota Umino carried most of the match for me, he looked way much bigger (in star power) than anyone else in the match."
[3.0] "[2.0*] What a horrible match, the beginning of the match was taken over by an invasion of the entire House of Torture to attack the babyfaces, a completely unnecessary overbooking, when the action in the ring started everything was rushed, more interference happened and the ending was super strange (Besides of the result being bad)."
[6.0] "Not really too sure why the rating is so low. The match was fine, helped continue the rivalry between Umino & Narita, and HoT got major heat. It's not a main event match, it's a sub-ten minute midcard match. It was a serviceable tag match which didn't outstay it's welcome."
[3.0] "The only really bad match on the show, this is pure HoT masturbation that shouldn't take place in even a Road to - Show but that actually happened at Wrestle fucking Kingdom. Not much to say, this bout should have been Narita vs Umino but it didn't happen and also, the Son if the Strong Style is just a generic EVIL guy now. *1/2"
[3.0] "If I could go without seeing HoT in a ring ever again, I would. The sequences between Narita & Shota were great, but I just can't with House of Torture's antics. 1.75/5"
[2.0] "The problem with this is that they pissed through every annoying HOT interferance/trick in the short bout, and Narita won with his dumb-looking new finisher. The only poor match on the card by a long shot, but to be clear, this was NOT Umino or Kiyomiya's fault. 1 star."
[4.0] "We start this match with the dastardly act of cutting up a t-shirt with scissors. Just sinister. Get some Dick-to-dick contact early on, lots of House of Torture antics. You know the score by the now. But this wasn't a total wash. Despite the uneven numbers, there's some decent offense here from the young guys, and I laughed out loud at Narita looking like Snidely Whiplash stumbling towards Shota with his hands up and a grin on his face."
"This is the one stain on an otherwise solid, mostly great show for me. It's been clear that House of Torture just isn't it but I guess EVIL and Company is still pretty highly rated if they can get a WK win over a tag team of two of the most over young talents in the nation with Shota and Kaito. All credit to Ren, he's amazing in his moments in the ring, but EVIL just existing made this not a good match for me to enjoy. 7 minutes felt like a 20 minute match so easily in this one, a shame. **1/2"
[2.0] "Hey, Shota seems to have gotten over since the Ospreay match and Kaito was always over. So let's have them lose to House of torture. Yup. That 100% worked guys. House of Torture matches are unwatchable even when they face opponents you don't care for. But it's even more frustrating when they do it with people that are actually over. House of Torture bullshit and nothing good about the wrestlng. Shame because there are 3 actual great wrestlers in the match. The only bad match on the show. At least it was short.*.2/10"
[4.0] "Hey guys, I've got a great idea! You know that young wrestler we have who struggled all of last year to get the crowd behind him but finally succeeded just a couple months ago? Let's team him up with the young outsider everyone says could be a top star if he gets a chance! Then, get this, let's have that team lose in seven minutes via bullshit to a bunch of geeks! .... Seriously, this was some awful booking. New Japan is obsessed with HoT because they get big heel reactions about twice a year in Osaka, the easiest city on Earth for New Japan wrestlers to get over. Fortunately, even with all the BS, EVIL and Ren Narita are great workers deep down, plus Kiyomiya and Umino rock, so this still had some redeeming in-ring work. **1/4"
[6.0] "This is not a great match, it has the usual House of Torture bullshit that is unbearable, but... Umino and Narita are really good together, and this is a clearly defined part of their story together. Narita is also really starting to show some personality since the heel turn, as most do. It will be interesting to see how he develops from here. Shota is going to be special, and I think they know it. The seeds are beautifully being laid for him to go to the next level, and it's going to be epic when he gets there. The rating is for how effective a chapter in their story it is, not the match itself."
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