[10.0] "Honma Rules! Maybe not so much in his later career after his horrific injury but there's no shame in that I'd say, being a New Japan Dad is more of an honor than something to criticize. He was never gonna be a main event talent but he was great for the NEVER division and gave his heart and soul into it."
[6.0] "A decent worker before his injury even though I've never personally enjoyed his style. Quite painful to watch now but he knows his place so it is what it is."
[3.0] "Tomoaki Honma is painful to watch wrestle after his neck injury that almost paralyzed him for life. Hobbles to the ring and is a shell of his former self. Was great as an underdog guy and small NEVER title push with Tomohiro Ishii, but otherwise since then its been a question of who is more washed up between him and Togi Makabe in GHB."
[6.0] ""The most beloved underdog in NJPW! Honma is a competent wrestler in my opinion, and he has had some good matches, but his in-ring performance may get monotonous at times. It works occasionally and occasionally does not.""
[7.0] "I feel like Tomoaki Honma is a weird one to rate. He's had crazy longevity in wrestling, and he's really morphed throughout his career. Pre-injury I think he was a very solid undercard guy for NJPW. I'm not well versed enough to speak on his deathmatch career, but he was influential."
[6.0] "Tomoaki Honma isn't really that great of a wrestler, but his move set is great and some of his matches have made me laugh so much. I love his character, and seeing him deliver a diving headbutt to Tomohiro ishii from the top turnbuckle was terrifying and hilarious."
[5.0] "nowaday NJPW use him just a jobber, i wish i can see him more than jobber. maybe have a feud with 6 man never is gonna be a good idea for him now"
[6.0] "Honma fand ich schon immer einen netten und soliden Wrestler, mehr aber auch nicht. Ich kann aber den Hype schon bis zu einem gewissen Grad um ihn verstehen."
[9.0] "Here we have the Deathmatch wrestler who innovated the use of a light tube as a weapon within a wrestling match - resulting in about 90-95% of the bloodshed in BJW, CZW and IWA Mid South for years to come. After gaining that reputation in his early days, he left and went to AJPW in order to evolve into a traditional worker before going to NJPW. In the process, he went from a top Deathmatch guy to a very good but under appreciated mid-carder and tag wrestler. Something that played into his character as an underdog for the rest of his career. 2014/15 would go on to be his best years, and had he not received the neck injury (That paralysed his arms and legs temporarily and at the time looked like it had ended normal life, let alone his career), he would have been a good NEVER Openweight champion in time. Today he can be carried into good matches when placed in there with top performers who know his strengths and can bring them out (like Minoru Suzuki and Hiromu Takahashi). The 9 is for his prime, but today it would be lower than that."
[8.0] "This wrestler is pretty much a japanese version of Hulk Hogan. Blonde, tanned and ripped like bodybuilder. Famous from two things: extremely low voice and his destructive headbutts. And this guys has some creativity when we talk about delivering these. I've seen him doing Diving Headbutts from the top turnbuckle outside the ring. Insane. His deathmatch work is also worth mentioning. He did some crazy stuff in the beginning of his career. To sum up, guy with a great physique and very unique and funny wrestling style. He is a living legend."
[8.0] "Honma spent the early portion of his career hopping from promotion to promotion. His most notable work being for AJPW and BJW. Probably the most important thing you can say about Honma in the early years of his career was that while in BJW, a deathmatch promotion, Honma was one of the first guys to use lightube in a match and now that shit is a staple in Deathmatch wrestling. Honma joined NJPW in the late 2000s and ever since it has become his main promotion to work for. Honma was involved in a major angle for the company, when the entire of the Great Heel Bash stable defected from Togi Makabe to join Shinsuke Nakamura and form the CHAOS faction but Honma was the only member of G. H. B. to stick with Makabe and in turn he gained a loyal ally for the rest of his career. The peak of Honma's career was in the years 2014-2015, Honma entered the G1 for the first time in 2014 being an alternate for an injured Kota Ibushi, Honma went winless the entire tournament but by the end the crowd absolutely loved him as an underdog, Honma's feud with Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER title which spanned 2015 was the highlight of "Honmania" despite Honma not actually winning the belt. Honma biggest victory of his career came at Wrestle Kingdom 10, where on the biggest show in NJPW's calendar year, Honma won the IWGP tag belts with his long time friend Togi Makabe."
[9.0] "Great hardcore wrestler in BJW and CZW but possibly the greatest and most charismatic underdog in pro-wrestling's history, something a third rate Hulk Hogan impersonator with a silly finisher has no business being. This man has been literally giving me goosebumps when in the ring: those crazy matches with people like Ishii and Shibata may not be technical masterpieces but are in another level as far as emotional investment go. Kinda like Mick Foley one of those workers who make wallowing through all the junk worthwhile."
[9.0] "Ich nenne ihn Mr. Eisenschädel und nicht Mr. Kokeshi denn dann würde er übersetzt den Namen eines japanischen, charakteristisches traditionellen, kunsthandwerklich hergestellten Spielzeug haben. Die vergangen Jahre wurde er immer beliebter und ist inzwischen bei NJPW ein großer Publikumsliebling. Er hat kein sehr großes Moveset verwendet dafür das was er kann richtig klasse. Edit 15. 06. 2017: Erstmal ich bin froh das er wieder gehen kann und noch lebt. Dieser DDT von Jado an ihm war unfassbar brutal. Tomoaki konnte nach über 3 Monaten das Krankenhaus verlassen und ist nun im NJPW Büro aufgetaucht. Ehrlich man erkennt ihn nicht mehr wieder. Wird noch dauern bis er in den Ring zurückkommt aber er kommt sicher wieder zurück. Edit 23. 04. 2020 Längst wieder im Ring aber man sieht in nur noch in Tag Team Matches. Sicher auch Grund der damaligen Verletzungen."
[7.0] "Hier bewerte ich mal so. Der ehemalige Honma und der Honma in den letzten 5 Jahren. Der "ehemalige" Honma bekommt von mir 8 Punkte. Heute In- Ring (3/10); Charisma (7/10); Ausstrahlung (5/10) und Gesamteindruck (5, 5/10). Insgesamt 5, 13/10 Punkten 8 +5, 13 /20 Punkten ? 6, 56/10 ? 7 Punkte."
[8.0] "Tomoaki Honma at the peak of his popularity in the mid 2010s was an extremely charismatic lovable loser-type wrestler whose ability to elicit emotion from the fans was second to none, but in 2017, he suffered a tragic spinal injury that could very well have left him paralyzed let alone ending his career. Not to be deterred, Honma worked hard towards a return, eventually returning to the ring nearly 15 months later, although at this stage of his career his work is sluggish and wooden, newer NJPW fans would be robbing themselves of the magic that is Honmania if they didn't at least check out his work pre-injury, I highly recommend watching his matches with the likes of Ishii or Shibata."
[8.0] "After moving up from the garbage style, Tomoaki Honma developed into a pretty good worker and one of New Japan's cult favourites. Not many can get sympathy and support like Honma can."
[7.0] "Enjoyable wrestler who thrives as the underdog, but struggles when portrayed otherwise. Hopefully returns soon to give us more of that crazy headbutt goodness."
[10.0] "From being a deathmatch wrestler and the innovator of using light tubes in that style, to being an incredibly solid and highly charismatic wrestler for NJPW, Honma has been one of the greatest underdogs in puroesu over the past few decades. Just look at his performance in the G1 24, he lost every single match but just got more and more popular. Watch his match with Ishii from New Beginning in 2015 over the NEVER Openweight title if you don't think he can go in the ring, still one of my favorite matches ever and was ranked 5 stars by Dave Meltzer. But yeah, Honma is one of my favorite wrestlers around, always puts a smile on my face, and I hope he fights through his current injury and finally wins the singles title he deserves."
[7.0] "Immer sympathisch, immer gut aufgelegt, als gewöhnlicher New-Japan-Midcarder und Makabe-Partner ist Honma momentan allerdings doch überraschend farblos und austauschbar. Noch vor ein, zwei Jahren wäre die Bewertung höher ausgefallen. Die Rolle des ewigen Underdogs mit mehr Kämpferherz als Blick für die eigene Gesundheit war ihm auf den Leib geschrieben. Je öfter er ohne großes Brimborium gewinnt, desto mehr Charme geht verloren."
[8.0] "Bewertung vom 16. 10. 2010: Ist wirklich ein Guter, der sich leider wirklich, ähnlich einem Masato Tanaka, durch seine Hardcore- und Death Match-Vergangenheit, woran sein Oberkörper stets erinnert, eine größere Karriere im Mainstream-Bereich verbaut hat, ansonsten bringt er (inzwischen) alles mit was ein guter Wrestler braucht. Ich gebe ihn nicht auf, mit dem Mann muss man (hoffentlich) in der Zukunft noch rechnen. Bewertung vom 23. 10. 2016: Verdiente Aufwertung von sieben auf acht Punkte. Großer Sympathieträger, hat sich die letzten sechs Jahre zigfach bewiesen und seine Klasse untermauert, Everybody's Favorite Underdog!"
[5.0] "Tomoaki Honma ist ein solider Wrestler, keine Frage.... aber das gilt für viele japanische Wrestler. Und aus irgendeinem Grund lieben ihn die Zuschauer. Bei mir persönlich will der Funke aber einfach nicht überspringen, was aber auch akut mit seinen Headbutts zu tun hat (einer der unglaubwürdigsten Moves im gesamten Wrestling). Zwar schafft er es auch gelegentlich, wirklich gute Matches zu fabrizieren (wie zB gegen Tomohiro Ishii), aber das liegt meist an seinem Konterpart und nicht an ihm selbst. Dennoch ein netter farbiger Tupfer, welchen man sich in Maßen ansehen kann.... mehr aber auch nicht."
[6.0] "NJPW's most popular underdog! I think Honma is pretty good in the ring, and he sure has had some quality matches, but there are times when his in-ring work feels a bit repetitive. Some times it works, some times it doesn't."
[10.0] "Honma ist wohl der liebenswerteste Wrestler aller Zeiten. Spätestens seit dem G1 Climax 2014, wo jedes Match ein Drama war und zu dem er eigentlich gar nicht eingeladen war, ist er ein Star und DER Publikumsliebling bei NJPW. Der Kampf, doch noch einen Sieg zu erringen, war einfach klasse. Er ist ein relativ guter Wrestler mit einem eher dünnen Moveset, aber trotzdem muss man ihn einfach mögen."
[7.0] "Er ist vor dem Japanischen Publikum verdammt over! In-Ring technisch auch warlich kein schlechter, aber ich persönlich kann mit ihm nicht so viel anfangen wie mit einem Ishii oder Goto."
[8.0] "This guy is so unbelievably over. Proof that wins, losses and titles aren't everything. His headbutt is easily the most over move in New Japan and the way his character plays the underdog is tremendous."
[10.0] "Having spent the last 11 years in New Japan, without a doubt Honma is a legend. A man with few accolades, but the respect of his peers, and a style that can put on a great match with anyone."
[9.0] "In my opinion THE most underrated performer in Puroresu history. Great style in the ring, he is a very reliable worker and he can easily deliver a good/great match with any kind of opponent."
[9.0] "Unglaublich schade, wie man Ihn verjobbt. Ich hoffe wirklich, dass er irgendwann mal noch ein Titel gewinnt, denn das hat sich Honma definitiv verdient. Kann extrem viel aushalen, wrestelt gut. Auch mit Waffen -> 9 Punkte."
[7.0] "Das Prädikat "underrated" trifft auf diesen Wrestler wirklich zu. Die Fähigkeiten im Ring sind ohne Zweifel vorhanden und werden vovn Honma auch immer wieder präsentiert, doch die Hardcore Vergangenheit ist leider etwas, was ihn nie über die Midcard hinaus kommen lassen wird."
[6.0] "Für seine Deathmatch Zeit wären 10 Punkte sicherlich angebracht, auf Grund seines Werdegangs aber muss hier stark nach unten korrigiert werden. So langsam scheint der Zug auch abzufahren und als Edel-jobber von GBH möchte ich ihn auch nicht umbedingt sehen. Schade, schade..."
[6.0] "Honma ist wirklich ein verdammt guter Wrestler. Er hat bei BJW die Death Match Szene gerockt, bei All Japan immer einen guten Job gemacht und darf selbiges mittlerweile bei New Japan. Leider muss ich aber auch sein Standing in meine Wertung einbeziehen. Gerade aufgrund seiner Death Match Vergangenheit ist er nämlich bei den "Main Stream" Fans verschrien. Entsprechend sehen die großen Ligen in ihm auch nicht mehr als einen ewigen Jobber. Das ist verdammt schade, denn dieser Mann könnte wirklich zu den absoluten Spitzenwrestlern unserer Zeit gehören. So kann ich mir aber nicht mehr als ein "befriedigend" abringen."
