Austin Aries vs. KUSHIDA

[7.0] "It's been a minute since i last saw Austin, and i had to say he looked really good for his age! It's obvious that when you're in the ring with Kushida, it's easier to have a good match, and that's what they had, with a big focus on the technical side of the match. The japanese was great as always, but wasn't ready for having his eyes raked."

[9.0] "Aries' pre-match promo was about all the right things and straight to the point, it felt like such a breath of fresh air that it really brought thing into perspective about how frustrating majority of pro-wrestling is in 2025. After that promo he had to back up his strong words and deliver with his performance - he wrestled like that's exactly what he wanted to do and he was just so fucking good. The match had everything that I associate Aries' matches with - smart, logical layout, a lot of attention to small details and perfectly timed counters/cut-offs that kept me guessing about what's gonna happen next. With just one performance Aries made me invested about what he's gonna do next, I hope every aspiring for greatness young pro-wrestler watched this match and got inspired to make good shit happen. ****+"

[7.0] "I honestly thought Aries had knocked wrestling on the head 6 years ago so my mind was blown at how good he looked until I saw he has still been knocking around the lower level indies. Still, this was a really smartly wrestled match. His new gimmick is all sorts of cringe but I will live with it if it means we get enjoyable contests like this."

[7.0] "Crazy to see Aries still going strong at 47. He was great here and didn't seem to have lost much of a step since the last time I saw him. KUSHIDA was dependably good as always."

[7.0] "Aries fresh off a long break here. He surprised me by looking sharper than expected, both in his promo before the bell and in the ring itself. The two meshed well, trading smooth sequences. Could have been a classic years ago. It didn't quite reach that level but it was still a strong showing."

[7.0] "Good return to form for Austin Aries here against Kushida, nothing too crazy but he's clearly still about as good as his prime. Kushida is always a solid hand even if he probably doesn't try as much in MLW. Good action between these two and one of the better matches on the show"

[8.0] "A pretty great return match for Austin Aries, both men worked really well together and I thought this was a great main event."