Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Santino Marella

[7.0] "Really good, really fun. Incredibly surprising matwork by Santino Marella, with some nice judo throws and good-looking submissions. Good job, too, achieving a submission near-fall that you actually can believe could happen. Saku is endlessly entertaining. Two spots I really like: Marella applying a leg-lock unsuccesfully while Saku is absentmindlessly chatting with the ref, before getting a mean submission of his own; and Saku taunting the Cobra and Santino slapping his hand, like trying to erase that image in favour of his more serious match now. If you like shoot-style or grappling-heavy matches, it is worth a watch."

[8.0] "[3.75*] Phenomenal match, my 2nd favorite from the night. I was in awe with Santinos performance. I knew he was good, but after years and years seeing him as just a comedy act, I popped so fucking much for his performance. Sakuraba is just awesome, everybody knows that. When Sakuraba did the snake to provoke him, man incredible mind-games. Loved the ending too, this is a match that is only getting better when I think more about it."

[7.0] "This match was very odd and surreal to see. I've only ever known Marella as WWE's resident comedy guy in an era of wrestling I loathed, so seeing him do a shoot style match here and actually being good at it was a sight to see. Sakuraba and Santino surprisingly worked very well together, though maybe less surprisingly to people familiar with Santino's background."

[8.0] "One of the most random combinations ever, when I first saw this match announced I really laughed, but sometimes it's the randomness that makes moments special, and this was super special, unbelievable, didn't knew Santino had that dawg in him, impressive, he produced a remarkable match here with the Gracie Hunter, the legend Sakuraba. The mat wrestling here was unreal, crazily good, and the charm of the match was that it could be over several times, Santino got 3 or 4 moments where the match could legitimately end and everyone was tense about it. Sakuraba doing the cobra is remarkable, it's like he was trying to tell Santino that he's a comedy wrestler, trying to get into his mind, emasculate him, show that he's less as a wrestler, this is psychology at its finest my friends! At the end of the match, Sakuraba showed why he's a master of the art, and outwrestled him to win the match - {***3/4}"

[7.0] "It is always a pleasure seeing Sakuraba and I forget Santino is quite good at shoot style. I liked Saku taking the piss too."

[8.0] "That was great! Fun little pokes at Santino from Sakuraba, and some of the most accessible grappling in terms of watchability. Loved the sense of struggle, and loved the focus on keeping in grounded. 4 Stars."

[8.0] "You have to love the insanity of this match on paper, and it's even better that it had some substance to it once the bell rang. There was a real struggle on the mat here, with Santino absolutely holding his own against the legend and getting him into a couple of surprise situations. Sakuraba toying with him using the Cobra during striking was a great bit too. Sakuraba gets the inevitable win via submission but with more effort than he or the crowd would've expected and that worked really well. ***3/4"

[6.0] "Way more competition than you'd expect from Marella, he really legitimized himself before the match ends. Very technically sound, but not as many wow moments as I'd hope for."

[9.0] "Their grappling exchanges were unbelievably smooth and fluid, incredible submission wrestling by both."

[8.0] "A surprise for everyone! Santino Marella showed to the world that he can actually wrestle and isn't just a regular comedy wrestler, he probably was training some martial art because his takedowns and motion on the ground was full of technique [4*]"

[8.0] "For me, there's a fine line when it comes to grappling of this variety, balancing grit and struggle with flash and fluidity. On this show, I thought these two led the way on that front, navigating it neatly for a mostly engrossing affair. Marella's motivation is obvious, bringing his absolute best opposite a master of the genre. ***3/4"

[8.0] "What a mighty surprise this was. Santino Marella's background has always been known to me, but seeing it in practice and it leading to an awesome match is something else entirely. Santino has some great takedowns and submission holds. He was aggressive on top, constantly pushing with strength and skill while Sakuraba played the defensive game. It led to some fantastic wrestling with great false finish spots, like when Santino applied a baseball choke that Sakuraba struggled to escape. Sakuraba's counters were great. Very smooth and logical, escaping the arm choke by grabbing Santino's leg was great wrestling. And despite all the great wrestling, Sakuraba showcased his personality by mocking Santino's snake gimmick to throw him off. Sakuraba scores the double wrist lock to win this great match. ****"

[7.0] "Marella treated this like a bucket list match and it looked like he really wanted to leave no regrets in the ring and make it memorable. I'd say he did a good enough job, because he made Sakuraba care about trying to entertain the crowd as well, so he did something right even in that regard as well."

[6.0] "A lot of this was slow and plodding, but there was some real cool grappling, plus it is always fun to see Sakuraba use Mongolian chops and taunt his opponent in the middle of a bout. ***"

[8.0] "Blew away my low expectations, Sakuraba flowing lazily (or so it appeared) through the opening stretch of the match juxtaposed nicely with Santino going balls out from the opening bell and set up an excellent back half were Sakuraba really turned it up."

[9.0] "Never in a million years would I have guessed that Sakuraba and Santino Marella of all people would have the best match of the night. Lots of excellent submission wrestling with some good takedowns from Santino. Sakuraba started doing the Cobra pose at one point, which was hilarious. The Gracie Hunter got the win by transitioning from a double wristlock into a Kimura for the submission"