[6.0] "This was pretty good overall, but it never reached to the next level. They had some nice spots but the flow overall was incoherent. Also, the ending was disrupted and sudden. Clearly not the best work from Andrade in 2026 so far. But still not too bad."
[7.0] "Good work, but strangely lacking for what has turned out to be Gabe's last match in the company. Obviously understandable that it got overshadowed given the departures of the longer tenured Hiromu/Finlay, but all this amounts to is "solid Dynamite match" rather than emotional farewell to a dojo graduate. Andrade cool though."
[6.0] "This match peaked at the beginning and then went downhill with every passing minute. It wasn't bad or boring, it was just ok. Absolutely nothing special and nothing that made me want to wait for the main event of New Beginnig in USA."
[5.0] "This match never kicked off for me. The energy and atmosphere never got into a second gear most Andrade and Gabe Kidd matches do. I enjoyed the in-ring but that is only half the performance. Gabe Kidd needs to find something after the "F*** AEW" phase has left the building. Andrade was the absolute correct winner though. I look forward to Andrade maybe getting back a white belt."
[7.0] "Gabe's presentation hasn't evolved much since the last time I checked in on him.I want to like him more than I do, but there's a roughness that remains more off-putting than charming. He does some barking at a couple points in this that receive varied crowd response. This was a decent match, I was a little suprised Andrade won."
[6.0] "This was not as excessive as Gabe Kidd's usual PPV bouts but still suffered from the problem of being too contrived to be a compelling brawl and too clunky for it to be good lucha. Gabe Kidd's schtick is starting to get a little stale for my liking; Andrade was far and away the better worker of the two in this one, both in terms of move execution and emoting. Gabe needs to tone it down a couple notches. He's turning into Kenny Omega (pejorative)."
[6.0] "A decent match, but one that never reached the heights of a truly high-level clash. Andrade was good, but predictable, and Gabe Kidd hasn't had a great match in months now (from what I've seen, at least). In-ring quality: 1.25/4. Stakes: 1/2. Justification: 1/1. Card placement: 1/1. Suspense: 0.75/1. Positive/negative points: None. Total: 6/10. Match watched on NJPW World."
[6.0] "[***] It was solid, with some great work from Kidd (who seems to be in his way out) but Andrade's usual cocky self was on full display. I expected it to be better, I can't lie, but it was still enjoyable. Kidd was exceptionally good, with some hard hitting bumps. All around solid, as Andrade challenges Tsuji at NJPW NBinUSA"
[4.0] "I'm a little surprised by the high enough score for these two, which seems to be due simply to the fact that there are "good ones" in the opinion of the majority in the match. Although even in the comments with praise, I didn't see what I couldn't find in the match on my own - the meaning. Both wrestlers simply held receptions without any desire, involvement, or emotion. They didn't offer an interesting structure, outstanding athleticism, straightforward brutality, nothing. Wrestlers were just doing their moves, not trying to do anything else. Kidd has never been a really good wrestler, and Andrade has been working for a long time, not performing. He came in and earned money without any fire in his eyes and got a title match to boot."
[7.0] "This match was really good. Both had shockingly good chemistry here. Gabe did a perfectly timed powerboat counter to Andrade. I loved that counter. The strikes they were giving each other were really stiff sounded & looked brutal. Some looked good and some looked weak."
[4.0] "Pure tedium. Both are effortlessly fine at the physical part but this struggled for any energy or excitement. There was no hook and failed to get out of first gear. Kidd showed why he has to ridicule himself with barking and embarrassing cringe character work, because there is nothing beneath it all. **1/4"
[6.0] "[2.75*] Good, solid match. Atmosphere here wasn't very good for what was almost an AEW vs AEW match, crowd really didn't seem to care that much. Chemistry was ok and they did some cool stuff. The thing they did where Andrade hit the Naito pose and Gabe did the Shibata pose was nice. Finish was super well executed and got the biggest reaction of the whole match. Kinda disappointing but yeah, good enough."
[5.0] "***1/2 An interesting match, it didn't quite meet my minimum expectations. The chemistry was interesting, although they struggled a bit at the beginning, and given the match's length, it felt like they could have given much more. There were some interesting sequences, nothing spectacular, but there was an effort to create some excitement at the end. The pace was normal, though I felt the pacing was a bit odd, as it seemed like they were heading for over 20 minutes, but the ending came very rushed. The finish was standard, very rushed, and somewhat simplistic. Andrade will go after Yota in the US, and I would have preferred a draw with Gabe to see a 3-Way match and allow Yota to lose the Global title without any issues"
[5.0] "[2.5 Stars] This is a match that should have been great but it just... wasn't? It felt so weirdly structured. Not only did Andrade have the upper hand throughout but it never felt like it got out of first gear. Poor pacing, No big moments - this one missed the mark."
[8.0] "I honestly liked this match quite a bit I'm not too sure why it isn't getting much love. The best match of the night up until this point for me, and I thought they showed pretty good chemistry here. Andrade vs Tsuji is going to be a great match as well. ****"
[8.0] "Very good back and forth slugfest that really shined light on just how good Andrade is, and that he can be more than just a meme. So far he's beaten Kenny Omega and Gabe Kidd, and not only is he facing Hangman Page on AEW, he's wrestling Yota Tsuji for the global title in the main event of NJPW's first USA show since May of 2025. As for Gabe, I wonder if we'll be seeing him back in New Japan every once in a while. He's gonna be missed if he does go fully to AEW."
[6.0] "Weird one here. Technically sound and some hard hitting offence but I just didn't feel anything. The crowd weren't into it and it all just felt a bit soulless. Andrade worked pretty hard but I felt Gabe was just going through the motions, especially given we've seen him pull out all the stops before and we know he likes to go at it. ***"
[7.0] "Probably my most anticipated match of the night, and while it did not quite live up to expectations, it was a lot of fun, Andrade is on an absolute tear currently and he backed that up here with Gabe Kidd. Both men threw a lot at each other, big strikes and engaging offence, that being said the crowd never got fully on board and sadly the match did not fully hit that top gear for long before it ended. At shy of 15 minutes it felt a bit short, but Andrade getting the win with The DM was a good call and should set up a really good title match in the US."
[6.0] "This was a good match though significantly held back by the fact that Andrade essentially had the upper hand throughout the entierty of the match. Logical booking in terms of making Andrade a very buyable threat to the NJPW faithful, though not necessarily the most riveting match as a viewer. It can be done though as we have seen very one sided 5 star matches, but this was not that. Crowd did not get super into this one."
[7.0] "two of my favorite workers today so I had high expectations for this match. This was good but definitely lacked some overall energy in the building. The work was just very solid though. I think it would be better received on a big AEW show as opposed to NJPW. I feel like they have a very good match with just a very flat atmosphere for some reason. I hot crowd could have elevated the rating but I cant fault the workers."
[8.0] "Andrade worked most of the match like a babyface but sold like a heel, while Gabe Kidd mostly wrestled as the heel yet sold like a babyface. That mismatch was the match's biggest and pretty much only problem. Kidd ended up selling too much for Andrade, who didn't return the favor, which made Kidd's offense come across as flat more often than it should have. I enjoyed the match a lot more when it was truly back and forth, when it felt like a genuine 50/50 struggle rather than an extended job for Andrade. The finish was also well set up and nicely executed."
[8.0] "Really really liked this match. They had a great chemistry that I really wasn't expecting. I wasn't sure how Andrade's lucha libre style would mesh with Gabe Kidd's hoss style, but it worked really well for the two. Gabe Kidd's new look is a 10/10 for me. Really reminds me of Hansen and Gordy. Andrade winning means we'll be getting Andrade vs. Tsuji, which I am stoked to see happen. Andrade is on a role. He's on track to having as incredible a 2026 as Bandido had a 2025."
[7.0] "This match was fine but it felt like every time they could've kicked into another gear, they pulled back again. The early portions of the bout were more about grandstanding than actual action. A good deal of it felt plodding and I didn't think it was a particularly strong showing for Kidd. One notable moment (of multiple) where the momentum was cut short was after Andrade hit the 3 amigos. Overall it was far from a bad match but the layout was almost created to temper excitement. I love Andrade's back elbow though. 3.25*"
[7.0] "Feels like the crowd didn't expect, nor see the buildup, to the finish. Andrade is on this world tour at the minute and it's not going to be consistent bangers, but he and Gabe had better-than-average chemistry. Andrade is a bit of a screen watcher though."
[5.0] "For better or for worse, these two decided to wrestle a very American-style match, focused on (rather choreographed) spot-to-spot work and 'big' strikes, which didn't quite hit the mark here. This is not a bad match but they went for a polished approach which really doesn't suit Kidd and the match suffered as a result. Just... a bit bland, and lacking grit. **3/4."
[6.0] "Interesting match, I was kinda expecting more, but it's nice to see Andrade wrestling in New Japan again, and the bout was definitely solid. He and Gabe shared a little moment at the beginning, with Andrade doing the Ingobernable pose, and Gabe sitting down like Shibata, an homage to their mentors, that was cool, and the match had some nice stiff moves. The ending stretch was very back and forth as expected, could've been better, the atmosphere wasn't so heated for the match, but they did well and Andrade's finishing move was very well executed - {**3/4}"
[7.0] "One of those matches that's built around the striking and big bumps, but neither of those things felt particularly great here. The work is still good, Andrade especially is really smooth, so the match is enjoyable. Just a little off, I guess. Good finish."
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