[7.0] "Stardom's senior referee. He does a great job and clearly cares for the safety of the wrestlers but I feel he communicates information too obviously to them. The covid mask situation has seems to have tempted him to do this even more. If my Japanese was better I am sure a lot would be audible to me. The other Stardom refs maintain much more subtle or even non-existence non-kayfabe communication and so I always find this to be a bit weird."
[9.0] "He is one of the most attentive refs out there, Japan or otherwise. He takes great care of the wrestlers, making sure everything is going OK with selling, and talks the greener workers through their spots. He's a big reason why so many of Stardom's matches with rookies are still ** stars minimum. He can be a bit intrusive at times, but that's the nature of his task as more than "just a ref". I'd prefer if he was less intrusive during submission attempts though. It gets old rather quickly, him hopping around screaming as they try to sell and make a rope break. Again, he's just trying to get the most out of the spot, but sometimes it's a bit much, and not all the wrestlers need it. I won't talk about the bad psychology with cheating and distractions and whatnot, as that's not really the fault of the ref himself. The booker needs to address that stuff."
[5.0] "It's definitely not entirely his fault, but the officiating is easily my least favorite part about watching Stardom matches and he is the face of it. It's been especially egregious to me during Oedo Tai matches where it feels like every match people are running in and attacking, often with weapons, with no penalty or consequences. The ref will get bumped multiple times in a match and nothing will come out of it. As a viewer I dont like feeling that he has little to no authority over his matches outside of deciding falls, so it leaves me with a very bad taste in a promotion i otherwise greatly enjoy watching. He does have a unique, fun pinfall counting style, so i can give him points for that."
[5.0] "I have watched dozens of Stardom matches and never has any referee stood out to me as especially good or bad. I'm sure he's a fine referee but this rating is overboard."
[10.0] "While Red Shoes will probably always be my favorite referee, Daichi is probably my second. He easily sticks out as one of the industry's best."
[10.0] "Most of the time, we don't focus our attention on the referee. In fact, that's his job - the wrestlers are the ones we should look at, not the ref. However, Daichi cannot be invisible. His style, looks and work ethics are incredible. There is no referee who does his job so professional and serious. I am amazed everytime I see him inside the ring. The way he walks, he protects the wrestlers and keeps paying attention on what's going on in the ring, outside the ring, how are the ropes etc. And these crazy pinfall counts! I don't think there will ever be another referee like Daichi Murayama. He is absolutely THE BEST."
[10.0] "Murayama is absolutely a 10/10 referee. He is very professional and very experienced. He is less of a pushover than the average wrestling ref, and has thereby carved out a bit of a persona of his own. He even effectively plays the straight-man in comedy scenarios with acts like Kagetsu's water spit and Oedo Tai in general. Lastly, his count has all 3 main points I look for in a referee's count; it is consistent, it is visually active (makes it easy to follow the count even if your audio is low or muted), and it is satisfying to look at and hear."
