Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuji Okabayashi

[7.0] "Much better paced than their tag match a few weeks before this and had more of a story. Shuji works over Yuji's ribs which starts with a crazy suplex into the apron and a double stomp from the apron to the floor. It doesn't change much of the match but it made Shuji's control segments a bit more focused. From there they hit all the big bombs and such, Yuji takes a tombstone on the apron and is back up pretty instantly to hit a powerslam on the floor which felt a bit off. Given everything Okabayashi went through, his win came a bit easily, especially when his finisher being a splash off the top uses his injured ribs but ah well. Spot of the match goes to Yuji blocking a headbutt by putting his hand on Shuji's face and hitting a lariat - ***1/2"

[10.0] "Two really big guys attempting to murder each other with beefy slaps, crushing knees, and all around craziness while throwing each other around. I could hardly ask for more, awesome stuff here."

[9.0] "I finally rewatched this match, and damn christ, is still good as the first time I watched. It's a stiff brawl where these two titans tries to kill each other to earn two points, and I love it. Also, that Apron Giant Driver was simply brutal! ****1/2"

[8.0] "Would be a contender for MOTY but for a few niggles. The strikes looked pretty flimsy on Shuji's part, and it's five minutes longer than it needs to (Yuji's first splash should have got the pin). But not being one of the greats does not, at all, imply badness. Au contraire, this was tres exceptional! A cerebral, heavy-hitting affair which mounted to its peaks gracefully. Both guys looked like champs and the reversals were genuinely surprising every single time. It was exceptionally worked and grabbed on to your attention without once relenting. Great stuff."

[7.0] "This was heaps of fun -- just two big monsters mashing away at each other for 20 minutes. It definitely felt a bit repetitive at times, and it didn't do anything revolutionary with the strike-vs-strike formula, but both guys still gave very good performances. Ishikawa was in control for a while with his great clobbering strikes and solid-looking holds, and it was awesome watching Okabayashi slowly fire up and become desperate to pay Ishikawa back. Ishikawa would constantly regain control whenever Okabayashi got momentum going, but that would just allow Okabayashi to continue showing off his fantastic babyface charisma which then built up his fiery comebacks once they finally came out. The timing and impact of his chops and lariats was perfect. Eventually both guys were trading power moves back and forth, and both guys did well to show their exhaustion while still demonstrating their intent to withstand the other's strikes. Ishikawa remained largely in control but Okabayashi would start to put together a bunch of consecutive attacks and eventually fulfilled his comeback as he hit the Golem Splash for the win. This was heaps of fun. Nothing groundbreaking, but very enjoyable. ***3/4"

[5.0] "Like it less as time's gone on. Nothing's actively bad but the match is every back-and-forth big boy trope they've done before, and done so much better. A very average match."

[6.0] "The good bits are quite good but this is at least 8 minutes too long. They pretty much just started ramping up the moment they should have been heading home."

[9.0] "Same formula but these 2 delivered as expected. A bit long and drag at some points but overall still highly recommended stuff. This is the usual big dudes hitting hard to each other. They traded suplexes, strikes, chops, threw more big bombs, which was great as always. The final part (about last 5-7 minutes) was really awesome with some high drama, great crowd reaction. Enjoy this a lot."

[7.0] "As usual with these two fellas, they brought the BEEFY stuff & it was very enjoyable from start to finish. Most of the match saw Shuji do the work on top while Yuji busted out some hard hitting, explosive comebacks. Good stuff. ***1/4"

[9.0] "Two BJW greats kicking each other's asses once again in the Champion Carnival. This was what you wanted from these two, which was just a meaty pounding of a match to get this tournament going. Cut maybe a few minutes from Shuji's control segment and this would've been even better, ****1/2."

[7.0] "This was a really good hard-hitting match, with Okabayashi and Ishikawa laying into each other with some blistering chops."

[10.0] "A fantastic hoss battle between two constantly feuding guys, which made the match even hotter and more intense. The fact it was the only Carnival match booked as a big match style main event made the match feel more special too. (Even though I believe Nomura vs Lee was even better than this fantastic all-out war)."

[8.0] "Pretty good match. Both guys from Violent Giants and Strong BJ respectively, feuding. Only right that this main evented. Totally delivered. Ishikawa actually being able to dominant large portions of the match, throwing Okabayashi around and brutally beating on the chest of Okabayashi. Okabayashi made his moments too. He was pretty good when making the comebacks and selling too. I did think the match felt clunky in parts, the pacing was off and it didn't all connect into each other, start to finish, like it should've. Awesome match though. ***3/4"