[8.0] "This was an awesome match as expected from these two. Shuji Ishikawa was good as always on offesne and HARASHIMA put on a great performance here with his selling and the way he displayed his fighting spirit. He showed great strength here too.The final minutes of the match were epic. Also HARASHIMA throwing HEADBUTTS was awesome. 8.30/10"
[9.0] "This match is just purely excellent. HARASHIMA and Ishikawa were two of the bests in the world in 2018, and they deliver an awesome final here. Wow. Ishikawa had some incredible strikes in this match, and HARASHIMA replied with some awesome kicks, like always. The selling is very good and the story is very well told. Nothing is a negative element in that match. ****1/2"
[10.0] "My God! It was tough. Ishikawa was a true Violent Giant. HARASHIMA at first tried to just survive, but then he simply used his whole fighting spirit. Unfortunately this did not save him."
[10.0] "Why is this match so underrated? I don't really get it. Ishikawa is the domination beast anytime, but not in this epic battle. Tough and a little bit agressive Harashima was the real demon here, and there weren't underdogs. Just two strong men fighting like gladiators. Their improvisation was incredible and made imperceptible the broken ropes. I enjoyed the storytelling and interaction between these two geniouses. The final minutes were insane. Harashima kicked out over and over again, like a real Ace, heart and soul of DDT, and that was fantastic and unbelievable. Very emotional match. Just great."
[10.0] "Holy crap, this is just an incredible match! The promo promised us a friendly and laid-back battle, but Harashima decided otherwise. A very competent match, sustained from the beginning to the very end. The incident with the ropes at the beginning did not stop them from showing the program, on the contrary, diversified the battle and showed the miracles of improvisation of two magnificent wrestlers. The last few minutes - a fucking epic and indescribable aesthetics of a big match. Harashima is one of the best wrestlers working according to this formula, all moves are magnificent and cause the desired effect. Underrated match (****3/4)."
[8.0] "Incredible way to close the tournament. HARASHIMA! He gave one of his strongest performances in a while, he was hitting those somatos whenever he had the chance. Shuji was an absolute beast, taking rough, stiff offense and giving it back. This was two established veterans doing what they do best. ****1/4"
[7.0] "This was a damn fine match between the companies star HARASHIMA and BJW Alumni Shuji Ishikawa in the finals of DDTS Grand Prix. It starts out relatively slow, with Hara outwrestling Shuji and making the big man fight from the bottom. He manages to get on top shortly after being whipped into a bunch of chairs on the outside after throwing a chair at an approaching Harashima that vaguely reminds me of Evil vs Okada. Ishikawa follows up with a double stomp onto the back of Harashima from a precarious spot which makes me glad neither got hurt. Shortly after making their way back into the ring the ring ropes come loose after Ishikawa hits the ropes, unintentional or not that was really memorable. There's a really nice segment later on on the outside between the two, where at one moment Harashima hops up on the apron and gets a dropkick in on Ishikawa, then shortly after hits a running double knee once again off the apron, almost winning the match via countout. The match continues to heat up, with Ishikawa hitting big time moves and Harashima destroying him with kicks to the head and kicking out of just about everything, including his Razors Edge or Splash Mountain (whatever you want to call it). Ishikawa eventually picks up the win after Harashima can't take anymore and becomes 2018s DDT Grand Prix winner. Its an excellent finish for the tournament. Not quite a classic, but damn close. The Openweight champ has a few words for the winner, which makes me assume there's going to be something between them in the future but I could be wrong. **** 1/4"
[7.0] "Shuji Ishikawa -vs- HARASHIMA - (D-Oh Grand Prix - Final) [*** 1/4] The anticipated D-Oh final got off to an odd start when the ropes came loose. Looked like they would have to rethink their game plan because the ropes were useless and dangerous. Thankfully they weren't broken so they managed to screw it tight again and they could continue in familiar fashion. First it was HARASHIMA who came with the surprise attacks to stun the giant, but as the match progressed it became more and more Ishikawa's game, landing all his finishers in brutal manner. Really great stuff."
[8.0] "Great tournament final, but I hoped for a little bit more. I expected this big tournament final to at least go past 20 minutes, but surprisingly that wasn't the outcome. Both guys put on an awesome performance though with HARASHIMA being dominated by Shuji's strength, but still having the will to go on. Ultimately Big Match/Dog Shuji puts another tournament win in his pocket, ****1/4."
[8.0] "Das Match hat mit dem Beginn im Ring und den anschließenden Brawl durch die Halle gut angefangen, doch knapp 10 Minuten im Match brachen die Ringseile worauf die beiden improvisieren mussten während die Seile wieder repariert wurden. Das störte den Matchfluss für mich ein wenig da beide selbst erst nicht wussten was sie nun machen sollten. Im Nachhinein haben sie das dann gut gelöst und auch wenn das Match im weiteren Verlauf bis hin in die Schlussphase richtig an Fahrt aufgenommen hat, so merkte man doch deutlich das da ohne die unfreiwillige Pause doch wohl deutlich mehr drin gewesen wäre."
