Ryuki Honda vs. Yuma Anzai

[4.0] "Another high effort but unmemorable big puro match, for me. It's not, like, terrible or anything but when I compare this to some underrated matches in a style I like more, it's hard for me to fully understand the appeal of a match like this. If your spirit is always fighting, then how can we tell the difference? Just the same kind of match I've seen praised so many times, it works for those who like it but for me it's just not particularly interesting anymore, and I didn't even think this was a tremendously good example."

[7.0] "[3.25*] This match is pretty well wrestled, every suplex, bomb and strike looked great, but it was pretty bland and non-charismatic in my opinion. Of course we are talking about two under 26y old wrestlers, so they have at least 2 more decades in them, but they just do not have the flavor that guys like Kento have. This is why I find Kiyomiya so impressive for his age. It felt like they were just trying to do all the Puro Main Event schticks, but without any connection or antecipation. The kick-out at 1 spot was pretty bad (despite the good crowd reaction) and the no-selling spots were just there. The moves itself were very good and greatly executed, so was the selling (as both guys are highly talented), but every single thing they tried to reach the last gear felt forced and unnatural."

[8.0] "I loved this, it delivered just what I wanted. Sure it used a couple of cliché spots here and there but when done well I can live with them. A little highlight was Honda and his shit eating grin when he was pretending to be hurt to lure Anzai in. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This was a fantastic and explosive match towards the end. I was extremely impressed by both men in this match as they both showed great promise and a great presence now."

[7.0] "This match shows great promise, more than it was an excellent match. Yuma is fantastic, but incomplete, and that shone through in this match. He shines working underneath against verterans, whom he can out-grind and resist. Honda is on his level, so the match requires them to be on more equal footing, with a solid back and forth momentum. That wasn't really achieved here. Honda had some nice control segments, showing more seriousness than usual. He has not established himself as a bully yet, though, so it was a bit hollow at times. Yuma has not developed a strong control game, and tends to just sell-sell-sell and then go to bomb throwing. This match was a very fun watch, but will be much better in a year or two, Also, both of these guys need to take some striking lessons."

[4.0] "The Triple Crown champions of my younger years would have beaten the everliving piss out of Ryuki Honda and his 'I go to the gym, but I also like pies' jobber-looking ass. To be fair to the lad, what's left of the All Japan audience clearly loves his mischievous pluck and middle-aged British grandma dye-job. Anyway, this match was massively derivative and not particularly good. They unleashed some soft-looking forearms, went to the slap-the-canvas no-sell well waaay too often and reached straight for the fighting spirit German & one-count kickout cheat codes rather than trying something fresh or earned. Must admit I'm growing very tired of this type of shit **"

[8.0] "The lads emptied the tank here for their first TC match which I think was the right call (rather than save stuff for the many rematches down the road a la Kento Vs Yuma in 2019.) AJPW needed to give the audience an opportunity to go crazy for Honda seeing as he is presented as the 'next guy' in succession without previously having much to justify that. He pulled off a spectacular 'playing possum' spot in which he gave a sly wink and a nod to the crowd and caught Anzai's jumping knee in mid air. Honda got over big in a loss which was the most important thing coming out of this match."

[9.0] "Great title match here. Anzai and Honda, at 25 and 24 years old respectively, showed why they are the future of All Japan. Anzai continues to impress but Honda delivered an excellent performance here. The crowd seemed into him too. I like the rope count spot. He had so much fire and just kept coming back time and time again before Anzai was eventually able to put him down for the three count. Excellent bout."

[10.0] "Incredible match that I'm so glad I got to see in person. Amazing atmosphere in Korakuen that night and the match itself was super good. Honda plays a great just absolute bastard heel and Anzai is such a natural babyface champion. The thing I love most though is Anzai's rising knee strike that's got its lineage going back to guys like Akiyama and Tsuruta, although when he does it, the move just looks totally wild and out of control which adds a lot to it. Anzai's young but he's already got the makings of a legend."

[9.0] "Another great match from Yuma Anzai, one of the best rookies in recent memory, Honda and Anzai are really the future main feud of AJPW"

[10.0] "This was the greatest match either of those have ever had. This proves they are top tier workers. *****"