[4.0] "Hikuleo is nowhere near of being a great wrestler, but he's been improving year by year and it's now a credible powerhouse, I enjoy some of his works. His tag with ELP works, he's the muscle and El Phantasmo the agility and moves, they combine well, and I think he's a stiff wrestler with good power moves, but still absolutely not suitable to higher spots."
[6.0] "Do I want to see him in big spots? Lord no. However as a big man who gets the hot tag in a multi man he can be plenty of fun. That is a perfectly fine spot to have. He is already better than his cousin and has shown noticeable improvement during the years he has been in new japan."
[6.0] "Hikuleo has developed into a decent big man, certainly not setting the world on fire but not stinking out the joint either anymore. He is slowly showing improvements, even having his best ever singles matches in the 2023 G1 Climax against Sanada and Tetsuya Naito."
[6.0] "Hikuleo was really one of the things that I really disliked about NJPW but look at him in 2023, he improved a lot in my opinion (still a looooooong way for him to be very good) but he was very watchable and made me chnage my opinion on him. Thanks for the had work"
[7.0] "I like hikuelo, a solid, reliable big man who has improved since his matches with Jay White, He moves pretty well for a man of his size and has a few good matches in him. No charisma however, and works well with standing behind his older brothers and looking big. Good, but don't give him a title run with any belt except for maybe tag."
[6.0] "Nothing outstanding, nothing just terrible. Bland in ring work, lacks charisma, not a great talker. His height is his main asset but also has a lean frame that doesn't help with his overall look. Edit 2023 - bumping up my Hikuleo rating a bit because I feel he has shown measurable improvement in the past year. He is moving with more confidence, is smoother, and does some surprising bumps for a man his size."
[6.0] "Ja, am Anfang seiner Karriere war er wirklich lange nicht gut und Young Lions die eigentlich weniger Ringerfahrung hatten waren sogar finde ich besser. Aber viel Zeit ist vergangen und seit 2022 bis jetzt hat Hikuleo sich wirklich viel verbessert. So eine derart niedrige Wertung hier verdient er nicht."
[6.0] "4 years ago, Hikuleo was terribly dull inside the ring and was boring as a heel but since his match against Jay White, he has shownd so much improvement both inside the ring and though he's the most interesting character standpoint, he's way better as a babyface. If you want good evidences about his progress, check it out his G1 Climax 33 and you will easily see his progress. He lacks charisma though but i'am sure he's going to improve it sooner than later."
[7.0] "Hikuleo, for the majority of his career, didn't show much. Seemed like he was just a generic big man with not much going for him. Then, he had that match with Jay White, and he showed signs of being a hell of a lot better - signs that would come to fruition during the G1 Climax 33. Hikuleo had several great matches in that G1, against people like Kaito Kiyomiya, SANADA, Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino, and Tetsuya Naito. While some may call these carryjobs, most of those people aren't particularly known/are too inexperienced for them to be carryjobs, and all of them carry the control variable of Hikuleo. Essentially, the guy's improved a lot and has a ton of potential to be truly great in the future. I am looking forward to the continued success and growth of Hikuleo."
[7.0] "I feel he is very underrated just because he is a very tall guy. He's a very solid wrestler and has shown in this G1 33 that he is playing a good role as the giant foreigner. He improved a lot and is still not in his prime, could gain some charisma but there's a lot of potential here."
[6.0] "My image of Hikuleo improved greatly after G1 Climax 33, maybe the best four matches of his career took place there, and because by the end of the tournament he seemed way more comfortable in the ring and his offensive way more devastating. Still, he has a long road ahead in order to become the giant NJPW expects of him."
[6.0] "Hikuleo has improved greatly. He looks like he is more comfortable in his own skin. His Bullet Club run was... not handled well. He was supposed to be the big guy to take over for Bad Luck Fale, that never happened. He then stayed with BC instead of joining his brothers, but he wasn't used as often as he should have been. Currently, running with his family in Guerrillas of Destiny, he's doing better. Maybe a little too much to fast, but decent. He is still learning and you see him learning."
[8.0] "The new monster gaijin of New Japan who is doing well and growing into his role with each major outing he has. His recent matches with Shota Umino, Jay White, Yota Tsuji, and Tetsuya Naito were all great and got the crowd to give him a major reaction each time. I dont believe he deserves such a low rating on here. Hes improved and its shown. Hikuleo has proven he can hold his own with the right opponent and at just 32 hes likely only going to improve more. Once he can figure out to exude more of an aura in the ring things will really start to pick up for him. Hes also got my favorite Chokeslam on the scene right now and his various counters/transitions with it have been cool and refreshing."
[8.0] "Hikuleo has levelled up big time during the 2023 G1 Climax. He finally put all the pieces together, and showed why NJPW gave him the big victory over Jay White earlier this year. If he's able to stay at this level in the future, we will only see him rise to the top of the card - and have earned his spot. There was a lot of time to get to this point, but he's finally arrived."
[4.0] "Not as horrible as most big men in terms of athleticism but so far behind in terms of charisma. We've been waiting what seems like forever for him to become a dominant big man and it looks increasingly like that will never happen."
[6.0] "6 making a premise. He is getting better day by day. But early in his career, it was one of the worst things to ever happen to the sport. Driven by the name, however, he has been able to work and improve himself and now you can look at him as a real wrestler. An honest big guy."
[3.0] "Very limited in the ring and not much charisma. I feel like he might benefit from an extra 20-30lbs and a change of look to really be taken seriously as a big enforcer and then his limitations in the ring won't be as noticeable."
[5.0] "Am Anfang echt mies und einfach zu früh ins kalte Wasser geworfen. Mittlerweile aber echt okay und für einen 2-Meter-Mann recht athletisch unterwegs. Sein Chokeslam macht Spaß und ihn Geeks vermöbeln zu sehen ebenso, daher auch eine ordentliche Wertung. Hätte ich noch vor 2 Jahren nicht gedacht!"
[5.0] "He is improving but he is wayyyyyyyyyyy far from being at his peak. I hope he can really turn into something in this current New Japan mainland run."
[4.0] "Not awful in the ring and has some good big man presence but unfortunately that might be what holds him back. His size is about the only thing going for him that's special. That being said he's alright in a tag match and can do ok singles matches. Just nothing with any flavor to it. Still pretty young so he can still definitely get better, but for now he's sitting at a 4"
[4.0] "Hikuleo has improved and isn't bad. He seems impressive on the surface but is actually very limited and very basic. He doesn't have the look to make him dangerous."
[0.0] "Hikuleo is a strong candidate for the worst wrestler of the year in all honesty and for the second year in a row, last year when he appeared on NJPW Strong and delivered boring matches I thought it was only the beginning and that he would surely improve by dint of working with very good workers every week but nothing did, one year later the observation is still the same or even worse. Even if he faced a lot of great wrestlers since last year, Hikuleo never showed anything good in singles action. All his matches are a total bore, he has no charisma, he has no talent between the ropes and his potential is close to nothing. At this point I'm thinking he's being promoted for everything but his wrestling abilities which are more than zero, a bad wrestler all around who don't deserve his actual spot in NJPW and IMPACT."
[2.0] "Er ist noch nicht ewig dabei, aber es ist schon beachtlich, wie wenig er mit seiner Physis anfangen kann. Er hat nichts Bedrohliches und seine Moves sehen auch nicht entsprechend aus. Bisher lebt er von seinem Stammbaum, da muss mehr kommen."
[3.0] "Great look, he just looks amazing, but once you get past that there's really not much left. Yes, he's pretty much a rookie, but he's had excellent teachers, the opportunity to gain experience in several promotions and he still looks so... weak? For a guy so huge it's worse than being bad and making plenty of mistakes. I think NJPW wants to make him Fale's replacement but do we really need such a thing?"
[3.0] "Apparently he's finally on excursion in RevPro where he will hopefully improve. For now, all I can do is rate his performance so far which hasn't been good."
[3.0] "Mal schauen was sich aus dem Kenny Omega Ersatz der Road To Destruction Shows noch ergeben wird. Leo Tonga, der dritte im Haku Sohnemann Bund und direkt auch im Bullet Club hat bis jetzt 20 Matches seit seinem "Debüt" gehabt. Man merkt schon, dass er noch am lernen ist, die Transitions klappen nicht immer und wirklich representative Moves hat er nicht. Versteht mich nicht falsch, aber ich wage zu behaupten, dass er seine aktuelle Rolle in der sitztiefen Under Card in näherer Zukunft auch nicht abgeben wird. Man kann ihm hier keine 0 oder 1 geben, aber wirklich "ausreichend" wirkt er in der Ausführung und Rolle eigentlich auch nicht. 3/10"
