Atsushi Aoki & Jun Akiyama vs. Daisuke Harada & Takashi Sugiura

[8.0] "This is an inter-promotional match between NOAH & All Japan, although that's kind of a stretch since Akiyama was one of the original members of the NOAH roster and Aoki started wrestling in NOAH, but they were tearing it up in All Japan at this time so it still counts. Wasn't too wowed by this but I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole thirty minute run-time. Not that I found it mediocre, there was a lot to like about this with hard strikes and slams, the story telling of Sugiura & Harada beating the hell out of Akiyama, and it was a good showcase to see what type of wrestler Atsushi Aoki grew into, which judging by this match is a very stampede/80s technician style like Bret Hart or Curt Hennig. I think this match doesn't really grow into a frenetic pace near the end, it always feels like it's in second gear, but it never veers towards boring, and even then the final act is still real good. Those knees from Akiyama to Sugiura's chin, hot damn. I think the whole match is great but I wouldn't say more than that. Four Stars out of Five."

[7.0] "A good match for sure, though I thought it felt too long like many big matches in Japan. Still, everyone played their role well. RIP to Aoki."

[6.0] "The match was physical and solid, and it had some nice spots. But it was fairly unremarkable in most respects, so the praise it's getting is totally misplaced."

[9.0] "Akiyama and Aoki make their way back to NOAH in over 5 years. This was a bitterness fueld match as Sugiura and Harada quickly let their feelings towards the All Japan outsiders be known very early in the match. This was very physical with lots of signature stuff from both teams. The closing stretch with Sugiura and Akiyama was great, and I hope it leads to a big singles match soon, ****1/2."

[9.0] "Loads of animosity between Sugiura and Akiyama stemming from Akiyama and others walking out on NOAH in 2013. And it showed. Sugiura and Akiyama, two grumpy old men, beat the heck out of each other. They didn? t hold back. Stiff knees, stiff elbows, stiff everything. Harada? s role was an interesting one, he played the babyface here which he hasn? t done in a while, not backing down from the larger Akiyama, determined to take it to him. He had good chemistry with Aoki as well who is far better without the mask. Don? t ask me how (I don? t know), he has far better performances without the match. An Akiyama vs Sugiura match would be most welcome. ****Œ"

[8.0] "Fucking great. Interactions between Jun and Sugi were amazing and I want Jun in global league. You get 2 of the grumpiest men in all of wrestling and let them try to murder each other. Shocked at how good Harada was when he went up against jun as well. He never backed down against the legend despite getting his shit beat most of the time. Watch this, ****1/2"

[8.0] "A very good match that had a ton of history behind it with the owner and jr booker of ajpw on one side and the noah world champ and board member and jr champ on the other. The trade offs in the opening were gripping. They lost a bit of steam in the middle of the match as they seemed to be trying to make it last the 30 mins but the final ten mins were incredibly hot again and left me wanting more in terms of singles matches. ***3/4"