[6.0] "Solid match. Jericho looked fine and Eddie was was pretty captivating but the action felt dull at times. There were a couple of nice spots and a solid sequence but the majority of the action in this match felt slow"
[6.0] "This match was very solid. Jericho did his role well here, but Eddie Kingston pissed me off at some points. One was where he almost made Jericho land on the top of his head, which was in the first few minutes of the match, and another moment was when he did those stupid infinite chops, that moves looks terrible and even he makes it worse. That suplex on the floor was incredible. This match can so from being solid to being sloppy. Still don't get why people love Eddie Kingstons in-ring work, I like his mic work 'sometimes, ' but he's a sloppy wrestler half of the time."
[6.0] "This was a fine match, i cant rlly buy into eddies chops as most have no sound and look terrible, Jericho plays the heel well here and even draws ire form the ref which leads to kingston being able to comeback and win the match. getting revenge on jericho"
[8.0] "This is a wonderful pro-wrestling match which goes at some pace you may not associate with these two. Hard strikes in the old school Japanese style, a hot crowd and a near perfect PPV opener. Whilst the very loose refereeing will always annoy me (multiple eye gouges, illegal blows and even a push on the ref) that's only enough to push it down to a ****"
[10.0] "A really fantastic match between both men with real fantastic and hard hitting in ring action and psychology between each other, they gave fantastic performances in their storytelling and it was a massive win for Eddie."
[6.0] "Kingston is awesome but you would never expect him to bring out the best work of this era of Jericho. But once you see it in practice you'd release that this actually makes quite alot of sense. Jericho can't really most good wrestlers to carry him, he'd only make them look bad if they were going super fast and he had to slow them down (see his match with Mistico in 2024). But with someone like Kingston, much more hard hitting, much more attention to detail and a very good feud going on, this match could exceed and be enjoyable."
[9.0] "A wonderful end to Eddies self doubting arc thus far. For him to be taunted by Jericho about being a loser and doubting whether or not he can secure wins like this, the perfect finish here was to make Jericho tap out to him and thank god thats what they went with. Thought the match itself looked brilliant and brutal, Im not gonna pretend to know anything about AJPW but I adored how stiff and strike focused this match was. Also the best work Jericho has done in years. Great stuff, perfect way to kick off the show."
[9.0] "Christ man, I don't like Chris Jericho, nor do I really like Eddie Kingston. But fuck me, some of you are blind. This is classic pro wrestling. It's focused, the bumps are wicked, the strikes are hard, everything is wonderfully sold, and the crowd is hot. You don't even have to have watched AJPW to understand what Eddie's going for, and If you've watched 3 matches of any kind of good quality you should get what Jericho is going for too. Hell, Excalibur buts in a fucking shift on commentary here, really selling what both men are going for. If you thought this was "just some other match" or "bad" in any way, why are you watching wrestling? This rocked and still does, even w/ the current standing of Jericho. 4.5 Stars."
[5.0] "I strongly disagree with the majority of other reviewers here who commented how they enjoyed the brutality of this match. Starting before the in-ring action, I didn't enjoy the build to this match. It felt like Eddie and Jericho were thrown into this rivalry to serve larger storyline purposes, and I thought Jericho's promo about Eddie being a lifelong loser on the go-home show fell flat considering that there were no stakes to this match. Jericho is not the "big one" of AEW, as he repeatedly stated. As a result of not enjoying the build, I was less than primed for the match itself. For two longtime veterans, I didn't enjoy the in-ring psychology, and both wrestlers looked too slow for the pace they wanted to hit. Finally, Eddie's submission finish looked lame."
[5.0] "I just cannot stand AEW version of Chris Jericho, something about him just feels so off. Kingston is fine here and I enjoyed some of the intensity, but overall I just found the match to be fine. I feel that the immediate neck bump right as the match started just threw the entire thing off"
[0.0] "Every Jericho match since the match with Cody has been awful. Jericho has continued to refuse to accept his time is up and is rapidly destroying the legacy he built up. He has taken the Hogan and Flair route of staying so far beyond his welcome I can't put him in a top 30 all-time. Eddie Kingston looks more like a mechanical than a pro wrestler and the next good Eddie Kingston match I see will be the first."
[6.0] "This was Jericho's best match since his match with Cody in 2019, and probably the best he's looked since wrestling Omega at Wrestle Kingdom. Jericho went for a more traditional heel performance of his which was perfect against Kingston's fiery babyface work. Immediately, Kingston suplexes Jericho right on his head getting the crowd hot and setting the tone for the match. There was a lot of aggression and they worked a good pace. Some of the strikes weren't great, but nearly all the big moves were. There were some neat suplexes all match long. I'm not a fan of Kingston doing every AJPW tribute in the book because it feels like that only appeals to 'smart' marks and it's just too excessive. But a good match here. ***1/4"
[6.0] "This was nothing more than an average match to open the show, Jericho attempted to do his heel shtick after Kingston got to the ropes after the liontamer but it was rather cringe and it went a little long for what it wanted to do. Kingston works better in shorter matches, especially in a regular singles"
[8.0] "Awesome opener between these two! Very intense and hard-hitting match with some awesome exchanges, some crazy bumps and brutal strikes. Great win for Eddie on Pay-Per-View and Jericho despite the loss looked very good and seems to be back to high levels again. 8/10 - 4.25*/5*"
[6.0] "I wanted to like this more, love Eddie and have been almost completely turned off by Jericho up to this point but I couldn't get into this as much as other people did. Liked the intense physical approach, lots of suplexes and everything and it wasn't a bad way to kick things off most importantly the right guy won!"
[4.0] "It was okay, Kingston doesn't have the moves, look, or athleticism to pull off anything great, but for a match of his, it was pretty good. Fans of his will like this more because it's his biggest win to date, but I don't think it will age well due to nothing standing out, and the fact that Kingston doesn't appeal to a mass audience. Anyone who hasn't watched AEW and giving it a shot will likely wonder why Jericho is being pinned by a fat, homeless-looking man"
[9.0] "Best match on the card was just the opening and also Jericho's best singles match in AEW, I really enjoyed this match a lot and it started Chris' heel turn (little did I know this feud would last so long), and a great win for Eddie (****3/4)"
[8.0] "This was a great opener. Kingston dropping Jericho on his head pretty much immediately was an awesome way to start the match. This was very intense and fun from start to finish. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Best match of Chris Jericho's career? I don't think so. Best match of Chris Jericho's AEW career? Very likely. This was an explosive brawl with very nasty hits (I loved the chop battle). I never would have expected so much intensity"
[9.0] "These two's rivalry went on a bit too long, but if they kept having matches like this I wouldn't have minded. A total King's Road tribute with all the neck bumps you can shake a stick at. Kingston is HOF-tier from his promos but this made me have some ultimate respect for him for his in-ring work as well."
[7.0] "Why TF this match gets 4.75 stars from Dave? It was a good match don't get me wrong but had nothing special and too short in length to be rated that high."
[5.0] "I don't get why this match is beloved. The action was mediocre, there were no memorable spots or moments and the storytelling was basic. A slight disappointment after a good build up leading to this. **1/2."
"I love this match! Eddie is the best thing in AEW that is a autobiographical character, love Keith Lee being limitless, love Hangman being a cowboy, but Eddie Kingston is just Eddie Kingston and that's enough."
[9.0] "The best Jericho match over the past 2 years. The feud with Eddie has only brought great things, and I frankly really enjoyed this match. Love a match where the outcome is unpredictable, which is rare in AEW."
[8.0] "I think this was a very good match, not close to five stars by any means though. But slow at times but yet very physical. Chris could've been injured badly on that half abd half suplex. There were great moments in this match but some felt slow. Strong match regardless. ***3/4"
[8.0] "Kingston wasted no time here, immediately dumping Jericho right on his head once the bell sounded. This ultimately became the key factor of the bout, as Kingston repeatedly dropped Y2J on his head/neck every time he got the chance to do so. Jericho tried targeting Eddie's back to set up the Walls, but Kingston was able to weather the storm, survived two Codebreakers, and ducked Jericho's Judas Effect to lock in the Stretch Plum for the win in what was a logical finish that paid off all the neck bumps earlier. This was an excellent, hard-hitting, '90s AJPW-inspired opener that didn't overstay its welcome and had a white-hot crowd to boot. Jericho's post-match subtle heel turn was perfect. [****]"
[8.0] "The best match that Chris Jericho has wrestled in AEW. Another instant classic on Pay-Per-View from Eddie Kingston. This was emotional, methodical, and a beautiful AEW version of Kings Road wrestling. All props to Jericho for wrestling a style that really is not his bread and butter, especially given how physically demanding it is. From the opening silo that looked like it may have ended Jericho on the spot to the final hold that brought the emotion full circle, this was everything I was hoping for and then some. Jericho told Kingston that he could not win the big one, and The Mad King channeled all of his heroes to prove otherwise. He went Kobashi. He went Saito. He went Akiyama. And, in the end, he went with his favorite wrestler in Toshiaki Kawada. And to his credit, Jericho got in the best shape of his AEW career and went move for move with his rival. 4.25 stars, 8.5 out of 10. This was brilliant."
[9.0] "I had no much expecations on this match, but wow that was awesome, physical match, remembering those days of the late 90s in Japan, an style that i like a lot personally. Also I have to remark the great shape that Jericho is in, in compare to a year ago or so. ****1/4"
[8.0] "Best Chris Jericho Match in AEW. I must say that Eddie Kingston is a magician as he made me care about this feud (Jericho was also unusually interesting in the lead up). However I didn't like how the ref ignored Jericho removing the top turnbuckle. Also this was an Eddie Kingston style match. Also also Jericho looked much slimmer and healthier than he has in a long time."
[8.0] "Best Jericho match in a long time, Kingston always knows how to bring the best out of his opponents and they had a great 90s Japanese style match. Very hard hitting and a great way to start the show."
[10.0] "Perfect opener, great crowd, brutal match, perhaps the best on the card. Personally, it was the best match Chris Jericho has had in AEW and it was great to see Eddie Kingston finally win a big match on a big event."
[7.0] "A good outing for both men as they delivered an intense opener. One of the better matches of the night with great chemistry and surprising maneuvers. And of course, it was nice to see Kingston finally pick up that W."
[8.0] "This was the best Jericho match since he lost the world title two years ago, at least. Eddie Kingston keeps delivering on the big stage, for the third ppv straight he takes part in one of the best matches: I can definetely see a future in which he holds some kind of gold. He just needs a more impactful finisher, probably."
[8.0] "They gave the one with just a bump, and a nasty one. Jericho took it hard. They went to war as this was a crazy opener. Kingston is a people's hero and Jericho is jealous of his popularity. He didn't take him seriously until he hitted him hard. Superb story and quite a strong finish."
[7.0] "Needless to say, this was unexpected. Jericho goes out and has an 90s All Japan inspired sprint. Nothing as good as the original can give you but the effort from Jericho and Kingston is always admirable. Immediately Jericho gets dropped on his head, sending the match into its second guy right away. Unfortunately, Jericho? s strikes in the strike exchange were awful but he had some of the better suplexes of the match. Kingston clearly put this together although Jericho has the stand out spots of the match. So it? s a good combined effort. Kingston? s Stretch Plum was bad though. ***1/4"
[8.0] "A good openning slobber knocker. Jericho got back into shape and delievering best of him we seen in a year. And Eddie, as always, spitting fire on PPVs."
[9.0] "I didn't have huge expectations for this going in, but it blew me away, and ended up being possibly my match of the night. A hard-hitting, fast paced slugfest in an AJPW style, with some brutal suplexes, stiff strikes, and plenty of nods to other Japanese legends (e.g. Plum Mariko with the Stretch Plum finish, Akira Hokuto with the attempted Northern Lights Bomb etc.). Was impressed with Jericho's high-flying too (the Lionsault and that top rope frankensteiner), and he executed his heel turn perfectly. Eddie Kingston is a star. My only minor criticism would be that the finish came out of nowhere, as Eddie hasn't really built the Stretch Plum up as a finisher too much, so the crowd wasn't really buying it as a possible conclusion to the match. But that's a minor complaint: it was still fantastic."
[9.0] "An emotionally intense, passion filled slugfest. It was exactly as expected: these two destroying each other with stiff and brutal shots. I was a bit surprised by how great Jericho was; It's been a long time since I saw him wrestle at this level. The crowd absolutely loved it and they were going crazy from beginning to end. Easily Jericho's best singles match in AEW. ****1/2"
[9.0] "First of all, it's great to see that Jericho has recovered his good physical appearance, makes him see more proffesional. It's always good too to sing along him his entrance theme. The match was as I expected, two brutal guys hitting each other bodies very very heart and showing us how much they have a mutual hate. Jericho showed us why he can continue to be a top player in proffesional wrestling. Very solid match. [****1/2]"
[5.0] "This was a little bit better than expected. They had the crowd reacting loudly from start to finish. Kingston hit several suplexes and other impactful moves. The performance Jericho gave was one of the better ones he has given in quite a while. During the final minutes, they kinda lost momentum."
[8.0] "This wasn't a pretty match, this was a brutal fight between two men who wanted to beat each other up. Kingston does a great job of bringing a big fight feel and making the match and storyline blur between fiction and reality. Crowd were really behind Eddie and turned pretty quickly on Jericho once they'd finished singing his theme. Hard chops and stiff strikes. Jericho was surprisingly over in this and the crowd went crazy when he locked in the walls. The finish felt a bit weak as we'd never seen Eddie use that type of submission hold and it felt a little random. Great match to start the ppv"
[9.0] "Red-hot crowd, Kingston being Kingston, and Jericho going all out on having such a stiff match made this probably best PPV opener that I've ever seen. Kingston feels a little too much like an All Japan tribute act at times (always cringe a little listening to Excalibur namedropping Kobashi, Kawada, Tenryu, etc. every time to JR's obvious apathy), but if he's going to wear his influences on his sleeve, at least they're great influences. Plus, both guys took the suplexes like pros. Jericho deserves a lot of credit given how committed he was to the style Kingston wanted to wrestle."
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