Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI

[9.0] "Incredible slug fest that showed how great Yoshi is. He can have good psychological matches with Naito and then have bangers like this with Ishii."

[4.0] "I dont know why this match was so terrible to me. I cant remember what about it I hated so much but I absolutely felt it wasnt up to standard for either man, possibly due to Tacos lackadaisical forearms somehow being able to trade with Ishii or how this exchange seemed to last forever, a forgettable match by both mens standards and one not worth checking out."

[6.0] "Tomohiro Ishii -vs- YOSHI-HASHI – (G1 Climax – Block A) [***] Even if embarrassing himself with that series of ridiculous Kawada-like short-kicks to the head, YOSHI-HASHI came out of this alright. Much to do with taking the beating the pitbull had to come with. For while YOSHI-HASHI was pretending to be a ass-kicker…. we all know that Ishii is!"

[6.0] "Proportionately speaking, Western fans of NJPW (often those who are ill of WWE schlock & want some reality in their wrestling, ) are bigger marks for Ishii than are the Japanese. To me this is a terrible irony because his artful stoicism is at the heart a many Japanese maxim whereas the less-demanding affability of people like the breezy lightweight Y- Hashi more easily grabs the crowd's interest because of his less-talented/classical though rootable younger brother vibe and that he's married to a former Joshi star. It's apparent these two are playing in different leagues, Premier to first division, but Ishii's complete lack of cuddle/sex-appeal makes it more difficult for Japanese fans to accept that his presentation, how he conducts his in-ring business as close to a fight NJPW pro-wrestling can ever be, legitimizes the entire enterprise. This was fine, and thankfully played to the rule of hierarchy, but what can ever be great about Y-Hashi outside playing (bi)annually the upstart... and even in that he's only good-to-very-good, never great like Ishii can be. ***"

[8.0] "Overall, this was put together really well, with YOSHI definitely holding his own here, and even willing to work Ishii’s style. It was a very good, brawl of a match between these two dudes. ****"

[7.0] "This was a fun match that was all about YOSHi-HASHI trying to match the hard hitting offensive beast that is Tomohiro Ishii - he got some nice stuff in & Ishii sold his ass off for him. Good match. ***"

[7.0] "Nice hard-hitting contest telling a similar story to Nagata/YOSHI-HASHI but with YOSHI-HASHI losing this one. He seems to be running out of steam quickly - not in-ring but in regards to his stamina and his character, perhaps showing that he is going too hard and too fast. I couldn't name one exact timeperiod where this match was best, the whole match had a similar feel to it, which was still good. (***3/4)"

[9.0] "Ishii is awesome! Really, who delivers better than this guy? You put him against ANYONE in the world and he will have a good match. You put him against a good wrestler and he will have a great match. You put him against a great wrestler and he will have a spectacular match. This bout against Y-H was everything it had to be. It had the physicality, the intensity, the toughness, everything. Both guys worked their asses hard here. Maybe the finisher could be a little better, but, at the end, I was really satisfied with what it was."