[7.0] "This started off bland before a direction was found as Yoshitatsu countered Nomura's attack off the apron and gained control. He would look quite strong during this period, and Nomura would sell extremely well while showing heaps of fire as he gritted his teeth and did his absolute best to gain control despite his weakened state. He eventually did so, which was very cathartic after how long he had been dominated, but then Yoshitatsu regained control and started getting heaps of near falls which were made more exciting with Nomura's extra late kick-outs. Nomura's 2nd comeback was even more energetic and exciting, as he was totally fired up and kept coming close to putting Yoshitatsu away, though Yoshitatsu would always put up a decent fight. It was very cool watching both guys rag-doll each other with german suplexes to the point of collapse. Yoshitatsu deserved a lot of praise for how good his offence looked here. This was one of his matches where he luckily didn't look too awkward, and he instead looked quicker and more impactful than he usually is. The final few minutes consisted of big-bomb trading and more very dramatic near falls before Nomura finally hit the Maximum for the win. I didn't expect these guys to have such strong chemistry, nor to work such an exciting pace, but hey, they did it. I bet I was probably higher than average on this match simply for Nomura's fantastic babyface performance, but that's fair enough, because he was great here just as he always is. ***3/4"
[7.0] "As many matches in this Carnival, you may easily divide the match in half: in the first part, there were many basic transitions that did nothing to catch my attention; the second half was rather better, culminating in an excellent show of fighting spirit and German suplex. A fine match, in the end. ***1/2"
[4.0] "This was a fine match, one that was a lot better when Nomura was the one in control. Yoshitatsu still works too much WWE-style, and it hurts his matches as a result."
[7.0] "Pretty good, but nothing too special. Agree with NastyYaffa, Tatsu and Nomura could made a better match, but for me it still was enjoyable. At least it wasn`t slow and long unlike most of the main from the tournament"
[4.0] "Neither guy offered anything of note in their respective roles - Yoshitatsu with his basic, dull work on top & Nomura with his equally basic & uninteresting comebacks. It wasn't bad though, but low-key disappointing because this actually looked pretty intriguing on paper."
[9.0] "I think at this point it's easy to rank this as Yoshitatsu's best singles match since he landed in All Japan, even if he had some great matches against his pal Miyahara and his archenemy Suwama. Nomura keeps showing how far he is coming since he left the rookie phase of his career. Speaking of Nomura, I don't think he fought two matches in this Carnival that felt too similar to each other and he still killed it every time."
