[9.0] "There's definitely an argument to be made for this being the best modern deathmatch ever. While this is packed with a ton of wild plunder spots and a ton of blood, what really makes this match special is the context and the story going in. Despe, a wrestler with very limited deathmatch experience, looks to step outside his comfort zone and challenge himself by seeking out a match with hardcore legend, Jun Kasai. It starts off fairly respectful between the two, but once weapons start being introduced, its clear Despe is in way over his head. He gets brutalized by Jun, getting his masked ripped open and his face bloodied all in a matter of minutes. He tries fighting back but Jun is far too experienced, taking advantage with low blows and weapon shots and continuing to put Despe through the ringer. It's only when Despe starts using Jun's own tactics against him that he's able to buy himself a little space and start getting some shots in of his own. Even then, Jun continues to shrug him off. almost as if he's built up a resistance to all of this after years of wrestling this kind of match. He starts really taking it to Despe here putting him through varying kinds of boards with sharp objects poking out of them, including hitting him with a top rope destroyer through a board of forks in the spot of the match. Even after all this though, through sheer will and determination to push himself, Despe continues to kick out and eventually he starts fighting back. He stands toe to toe with Jun trading blows with him and nailing some sick headbutts just as Jun did to him earlier in the match. Jun remains strong and continues to fight but Despe is able to muster up the strength to hit him with his own double underhook piledriver followed by a pinche loco to overcome the odds and win the match. On the surface this may be a bunch of crazy spots but i thought these two did a fantastic job of telling an extremely compelling story outside of that. After the match, Despe cuts a promo about the fragility of life and how he wanted to take this match in order to push himself and step outside of his comfort zone as he really only has one life and he might as well live it to its fullest. This adds so much more context to why Despe continued to fight no matter how hard Jun pushed him and i think that really turns this match into something special. Its still a great watch without the context but with it, there's so much emotion and heart behind everything Despe does here and that's what sets this apart from other deathmatches in the same vain. While there are a few problems i have with this, like a few of the spots being a little too overly set up for my tastes, i still think this is absolutely phenomenal and easily the best match ive seen out of both men. Outstanding performances from both guys here and a true all timer from Despe in particular. ****3/4"
[9.0] "(4.5*) Watched their match in June 2025 and that was such a fun experienced, and now i had to look back at this match and yup its still good, i may even say it has gotten better, while i dont think its 5 stars, i think this match had its emotional stories and brutal action in it."
[8.0] "****3/4 Very great match, I like it a lot more than this year's (and this one was a MOTY Contender although due to the mistakes I would hardly have it in a top 25) although it has its ugly mistakes mainly from Kasai, very great chemistry already known, very great spots, most of them were received by Despe and that helped make them feel brutal because of Despe's selling master class in each spot he received and applied, he left everything in each spot making them even better than they were, and Kasai unfortunately ruined some with his strange and illogical way of looking tough, like that terrible moment where after applying an avalanche tiger destroyer on a damn bed of forks he is not interested in selling even a little bit of his impact damage and looks for the pin too fast. Despe kicks out and stays on the ground selling the damage, and then Kasai lowers the price again on the newly applied spot by taking a fork and sticking it in his head just because and without selling it at all, after that He makes Despe look bad by brutally selling the chopsticks that Kasai had stuck in his head, the ending is great, the kick-outs at the count of 1 of both were great because they did not recover instantly, and Kasai's kick-out to Pinche Loco was very good because I felt that by giving Despe a walk he could not lose easily, then Despe finishes with an Underhook Piledriver followed by another Pinche Loco to win, Despe's resistance was very good although somewhat exaggerated towards the end"
[7.0] "Great match, but I don't think it's as good as people say it is, especially when compared to their future matches. Had some great matches and wasn't nearly as brutal as I had hoped (granted, El Desperado didn't work much in the deathmatch scene at this point). Despe's mask also gets ripped off super early which isn't my favorite but makes sense as, with it on, it makes a lot of deathmatch spots not possible and makes a crimson mask impossible. Loved the razorblade board, but the lights in the venue nearly made the blades undetectable. A pretty bland table spot happens too. However, Jun Kasai's signature style still shines in this with a lot of raw brutality and great spots such as with the barbed wire cross and knife board. Seeing Despe never give up despite Kasai's brutality was also fun to watch. Good match, good finish, very cool that Despe got the win."
[2.0] "I just don't know with this one I didn't enjoy it as much as most do but I did sometimes ig, but as an overall match it's just not not for me, they exaggerates in this one Ik most if not all the death matches like that but still, it's have an interesting little story and I thought the story was interesting but I don't know it's 2 for me."
[9.0] "this was a crazy crazy match. genuinely uncomfortable at times and completely wonderful at ALL times. they gave everything in the ring and although there are things you could nit-pick if you wanted to, the overall match was insane. really really good"
[8.0] "Spectacular bout. Jun plays more of a heel here, but by the end he gains plenty of respect for Desperado. It's the story of the match and I think it's told really well. It's not super duper gorey, but it just makes Kasai prove further more he doesn't need furniture to create magic. He just likes using it. Jun Kasai beats the shit out of Desperado. He's such an underdog here. Ripping the mask off and making him bleed was a fantastic visual. It's that "cinema" that other promotions so rarely reach. As Desperado grows more resilient, Kasai gets increasingly worried. He tries to keep it cool, but he truly cannot believe it. In his comebacks, Kasai is also resilient again Desperado. It's not until near the end that Desperado truly starts to keep him down. They've got some killer spots here. Near the end, Kasai truly recognizes him as a legitimate threat, and his past doubts kind of lead to his loss here. Not to say Kasai wasn't trying, he did pull out good stops, especially near the end. It was just a lot of underestimation for awhile. A spot happens where Desperado does a movs onto a spiked board, and while it hits, Desperado spikes his own knee. It plays into the experience difference well, and why Kasai doesn't look at him the same. Now, for the bad, I thought way too many finishers got kicked out of at the end. I don't normally care, but here it was kind of egregious. I dislike finisher spam, and here it was kind of a lot. Additionally, I did think there were times Kasai could have stayed down longer. It's s bit of a nitpick, but Desperado in kayfabe seemed wildly outclassed. But, it's truly not that many negatives. And the negatives here don't bug me too too much. It ran a bit long, and did lose some steam at points, but damn, it is still great. I think that on another watch, I'll go even higher. Really stellar. [****]"
[3.0] "bad match in my books. they immediately bring the furniture out and dont tell a story in ring crazy that this is the highest rated match in JTO the gore was unnecessary and el desperado does actually look like a good wrestler but it doesnt show in this match, wish they did more in terms of actually wrestling, glad the people here who enjoyed it did but i didnt, (also 750 character limit is crazy can yall allow private accounts i just wanna track my fav / least fav matches dont care much for the public aspect if its gonna be so intrusive) Honestly, I don't have much more to say about this match, felt like gore for the sake of it and it didnt add to the match at all, i dont hate death matches but at least make it feel deserved it cheapens everything else otherwise."
[10.0] "This match was held in the JTO promotion, which is not that big of a promotion, but for this event and for this match, 1940 tickets were sold. This time, El Desperado was facing his own legend, Jun Kasai, and this was also well displayed in the match, as Desperado was learning from Kasai during the match and even hit him with a Harbor Splash sequence. Jun Kasai, as always, turned on his prime button and gave a great and very clean match and showed no mercy to Despere. Unlike many other death matches / no DQs in Indie Japan, this match had a great telling and from start to finish, the two wrestlers hit each other in every way, and I must say that El Desperado was giving matches without a mask from the very beginning, the last time he gave matches without a mask before this match was in the finals of Super Junior 2020 against Hiromu. The book of this match was so good that there were a lot of great twists and turns in this match, some of which were really unpredictable and the match could have ended at any moment, which made the ending even more beautiful. The atmosphere in the hall was also great and the audience left no stone unturned to cheer on both wrestlers."
[10.0] "One of the most engaging matches of the year. Jun Kasai is a madman and watching him brutalize Desperado who kept coming back for more was outstanding. These two went through absolute hell for this crowd and the crowd was outstanding in return. A must watch match in 2022, as the absolute best crowd in Japanese wrestling since before the pandemic. 5 stars"
[10.0] "One of the best matches of all time, with two of my favorite wrestlers in the world. Kasai's post-match speech to Despe is probably my favorite promo of all time. Absolutely unreal, beautiful stuff from everyone involved."
[9.0] "This is great in so many ways. The gore and violence steal the headlines, layering bloody visuals with a historic consistency. There's a substance to this though, a depth that comes with Desperado's arc, fighting through an absolute onslaught in pursuit of survival. The result is something magical, striking all the chords of a more conventional classic. Perhaps most impressively, this not only sustains its extended runtime but actively builds en route to the finish line, somehow escalating from one peak to another. As a result, the conclusion is incredibly satisfying, sporting a palpable gravity as Desperado powers his way home. ****1/2"
[10.0] "El Desperado is one of the greatest underdogs Japan has ever seen, enduring all the violence crazy monkey Jun Sakai is able to put him through and getting the win against one of the legends of puroresu. Great match that many won't tolerate because it has the death match label."
[10.0] "To those who argue that death matches don't tell stories and are just about grotesque violence, I would show them this match. This was an absolute masterclass of storytelling in a very violent form that worked perfectly. Such a great and amazing match with two super amazing and incredibly talented wrestlers. Go check this match out!"
[10.0] "This death match is a masterpiece. The action and spots throughout the match were bloody, brutal and over the top, the chemistry, psychology and storytelling between both men is absolute masterclass, both men had the match of their career's with Desperado fighting to a bloody pulp, despite being demasked and Kasai being the true master of the death and no DQ in general match stipulation and his post match promo about life and death is just god-tier and one of, if not, the best promos ever. Masterpiece in both violence and storytelling."
"I wanted to like this match but the longer it went, the more it devolved into a violence for the sake of violence deathmatch. It wasn't 'hack and slash' violence but more 'let's see how many ridiculously contrived weapons we can find under the ring to use' violence. Way too many kickouts and by the time the finish came, it fell flat because there were about a dozen other nearfalls that could have been more believable as the finish."
[10.0] "Brilliant, bloody, beautiful. These two put on a clinic in gnarly bumps, great psychology, and just overall good, fluid wrestling! The ending is incredible and the post match is just the cherry on top. Watch this!"
[9.0] "Full disclosure I am a huge fan of Despy. His evolution has been utterly fascinating so I'm strongly biased towards any of his matches. I've seen these two "wrestle" previously and enjoyed it but it took this match (and onr moment in particular I'll talk about in just a bit) to get me to really bite on the formula. As others have said, there is less wrestling and more violence in this match. That part probably should've been obvious when Jun Kasai was on the card, and even more so when he came out in a Clockwork Orange costume. I wasn't as bothered by it because Japan promotions seem to use the ultraviolence more sparingly so it feels more earned in a special bout like this one. I think the announcer team was taken off guard because, even as someone who speaks 0 words of Japanese, you could tell that they were struggling at times to comment. But what really put this match over with me was when Desperado kicked out of a pin at the one count. And this is deep into the match. Against Jun Kasai. After he's been bleeding for 20+ minutes. After seeing so many 2.99s in the G1, that kick out matched up with Kasai's face and the Japanese announcers being absolutely beside themselves was enough to sell me. And let's not forget the crowd. Cheering had still been barred at matches not even a month before this. Without that context, and the history leading up to it - I cannot imagine this resonating with someone watching for the first time. Don't let this be the first time you watch either of these two. That being said, for fans who've been invested, this match and the interactions between the two right after is such a rewarding watch and will easily be one of the most memorable fights at the end of 2022 - even without much actual wrestling technique on display."
"El Desperado spent the majority of this match with his mask dangling from his neck, as Kasai cut it apart in order to wrap barbed wire around his forehead. Not the bloodiest deathmatch youll ever see, but still has a number of brutal spots, chief among them being the top rope Canadian Destroyer through a table with upright forks. 9/10"
[10.0] "(*****) Top 5 match of all time and my 7th five star match ever. Most painful match I have seen, to the point that it was hard to watch. Kasai making Despy go through hell and then teaching him to cherish his life was fucking beautiful."
[10.0] "This is a match that transcends wrestling for me and you can take that how you want to, but this is a match that lives so fresh in my mind like no other is, im not really a death match fan but the matches that i love i really really love and this is the perfect example of that a brilliant piece of storytelling with the most perfect ending promo."
[3.0] "Desperado is fantastic whether brawling, working the mat, babyface or heel. I also appreciate a willing bleeder but this was mutilation for the sake thereof and an awful waste of a legitimate talent."
[10.0] "this match is everything. i already love deathmatches so when this was announced i was very, very excited. theres this idea that deathmatches are just people throwing weapons at each other and nothing more, while sometimes that can be true, this match proved deathmatches can tell a story. on top of that, what a story it is. el desperado stated that he was willing to die to beat jun kasai after coming up short against him before, and he proved it. this match is brutal, its violent, and its definitely bloody. they use an insane amount of weapons such as chairs, barbed wire, razor blades on wood planks, guitars, cleavers, and a combo of cleavers on wood planks. jun cuts desperados mask with a cleaver and seeing the bloody face of desperado adds even more to this. even after the match ends, the story continues. after desperado finishes off kasai, kasai takes a microphone and cuts possibly the single most emotional and powerful promo ive ever heard. even if deathmatches arent your thing, please at least go watch the post match promo. they exchange roses to each other and the rose means everything as a rose was used in the challenge. after the promo, jun gets his young daughter and they leave, allowing desperado to get an incredible ovation. if i was allowed to rate one match an 11 out of 10, it would be this. this match is beautiful all around, words cant do it justice."
[10.0] "I'm having trouble putting into words what this match embodies to me. But I'll start here: I hate death matches. I've always thought they were excuses for violence, both for people to commit on each other, and people to "enjoy." They're often void of the fundamentals of wrestling, the typical skill of the performers, and the type of 'realism' that exists within the world of a wrestling match, all in exchange for blood. I still largely think that, but I now see maybe that's just what death matches have become. This match though, actually feels like a wrestling match, unlike other death matches, because IT IS a wrestling match with violence attached to it, not the other way around. Both Kasai and Despe built their match with the rose given to Despe all that time ago, and they start with the beautiful visual, walking out in all white gear in a brightly lit building, with a vocal audience behind them. It feels like a show. But soon after the bell rings, Kasai ditches the grappling, tearing Desperado's mask, using the weapons, and making him bleed. Every bump onto the wire, forks, chairs, and other weapons that Kasai gives Desperado does real, physical damage to him, and his real screams only add to the visual. But, as the story goes, Desperado is willing to die to win this match, and eventually, he pins Kasai after mounting a comeback for the ages. Now, both men covered in blood and the remains of their once white ring gear, are given microphones. And the promo the two men trade afterwards is the best I've ever heard, hands down. It's emotional, I found myself tearing up when Kasai was talking to Despe about life and death, and found myself smiling after Despe cracked a joke after giving Kasai the very same rose that spawned this match in the first place. Kasai leaves the ring, carrying his daughter with him to the back, which is an incredible bit of symbolism, as well as a jarring visual. As the commentator says: "Jun Kasai believes a death match doesnt end until you come home alive." And what a line that is, a perfect way to summarize what just went down in that JTO ring. And that's it. A 28 minute match that is by no means one of the best in-ring matches, followed by the most emotional promo I've ever seen. But in total, it's the most visually stunning and philosophically rich wrestling encounters ever. Everything this match did, it was flawless. Both grotesque and beautiful, and both happy and emotional. There will never be anything else like this, and despite this being by far my longest review on this website, I'm just barely scratching the surface. 5 stars."
[9.0] "All the spots were cool, the weapons were inventive and Desperado's look was cool, but what prevents me from finding this a perfect match was the ending during Desperado's victory which was very anticlimactic even because Kasai dictated the pace of the match and stole the spotlight (****3/4)"
[10.0] "As someone that mostly had not enjoyed deathmatches, this absolutely and completely blew me away. It might be the best death match wrestling match I've ever seen, and should have been a serious MOTY contender when it was done. The passion and heart Despy was able to show here is incredible."
[9.0] "This felt like a violent VHS gem from the '90s with the disembodied mask, reckless bloodshed & rabid crowd. Despe was out of his depth & got murdered over & over but kept on scrapping. Definitely one of the more memorable matches of 2022 ****1/2"
[10.0] "On any other night, half of what transpired would have put El Desperado away. But on this night, there was simply too much to lose. Jun Kasai dominated El Desperado for a vast majority of this brutal and remorseless Death Match. He dissected his opponent as only he can with methods of offense that turned my stomach as much as they made me cheer. From start to finish, an absolute clinic in storytelling through a stipulation that I admittedly not as ingrained in. And I call it a clinic because it took me little time to follow and appreciate this violent art form. I sat on this rating for about 24 hours because I did not know where to go, and I admit to being less initiated in the Death Match scene than others. But this story was absolutely marvelous and El Desperado proved once more why he is one of the best storytellers in the world today. Jun Kasai is a legend for a reason, as well, which made this as compelling as can be. A true test of Despy and his ability to endure as he looks to prove that he can thrive in the Death Match world by enduring the onslaught of someone who I have seen called a GOAT-level Death Match wrestler. Throw in an absolutely incredible crowd that created a remarkable atmosphere before the bell even rang and I absolutely agree with the Match of the Year level praise. 5 stars, 10 out of 10. My stomach turned and my eyes were opened."
[10.0] "A deathmatch about the joy of life. For El Desperado this is largely unfamiliar territory, and he treats the match as a titanic struggle, his torn mask hanging like a garland around his neck and his white gear stained with blood. For Kasai, this is normal shit, and he's having an amazing time torturing this guy who has stepped into his world. After the match (while presenting Kasai with a dried flower), Despy says he felt miserable coming into it, that he didn't care if he lived or died, an attitude Kasai admonishes him for - life may well be meaningless, but you can still find freedom and joy in that meaninglessness, and that joy might even be throwing your opponent onto a board of forks."
[10.0] "I'm really mad at myself for not rating this match until now. This was a top five match from 2022 and easily one of the best deathmatches I have ever seen. An absolutely intense masterpiece that I love that made me a fan of Jun Kasai. A must watch for fans of hardcore/deathmatch wrestling. (*****)"
[10.0] "One of if not the best deathmatches I've ever seen. Kasai was in top form and brutalized Desperado, really making him earn that win. I've been a big fan of Desperado for a while but I think this may have been the best performance of his career."
[10.0] "Do I think this is one of the greatest matches of all time? No, not really. However, is it an extremely good match worthy of a 10 and some good recognition? Well, I have to say yes to that. It was brutal but treated the brutality with respect, told a story, and both guys were fully into their roles. Jun Kasai looked like a monster from hell and Despe looked as great as he could ever hope to."
[10.0] "Legit one of the greatest matches I've ever seen and without a doubt in my holy trinity of deathmatches (along with Onita/Hayabusa and Cogar/Colon). It has everything that makes a fantastic match: Psychology, emotion, technique, creativity, brutality, and two wrestlers with some unbelievable chemistry. While I'm typically not a fan of ripping off masks mid-match, that moment did wonders for this match. Desperado is unbelievably expressive and finally getting to show that elevated this match to heights I couldn't even imagine stepping into this. Ending this off with both Desperado and Kasai bowing to each other was one of the most emotional moments I've seen outside of long-term feuds. This was literally everything that makes wrestling - especially deathmatch wrestling - as great as it can be without any of the drawbacks. Honestly the second match i can think of that genuinely earned a 6 star rating in my book."
[10.0] "This Is the best wrestling match ever. I thinked that Ospreay/Okada at the climax was the MOTY 2022 and their match at the WK at the seconde Place. After that I 'va watched this and I understood that I was wrong. This had violence, psychology, narration, everythink you can think about. My God, they were able to move me so deply. When Iwatched Okada Omega IV I said "this can't be 7 stars, max 6.25". Now I know what a 7 stars match is. But Is probably all "hardcore bullshit", right Cornette? ******* (7*)"
[10.0] "I hold this true for wrestling as a whole, but rating a match like this on a bell-to-bell basis would be doing such an injustice. Very rarely is wresting as profound as this, let alone deathmatch wrestling. I generally stray from viewing wrestling in a literary scope, but the story of this match demands it. Despe and Jun create a genuinely touching moral tale of life, death and appreciating what's around you. It's on the pulse of the current Japanese wrestling scene, with this being one of the few big main events with a cheering crowd since you-know-what. You'd have to have a heart of stone to watch this match and the post-match promos and not feel something. Bell-to-bell though? Still brilliant. Uncomfortable, brutal, and a ton of fun. Cannot emphasise enough just how much an engaged crowd brings to a wrestling match, and the imagery of Despe and his torn mask is just awesome. I'm not sure I'll see something like this in wrestling again."
[9.0] "An amazing match to make you wince, Jun Kasai is terrifying, the way El Desperado took everything he was put through, covered in blood and screaming was amazing. Some amazing visuals in this match, unfortunately cameras missed some moments but what was caught was fantastic."
[9.0] "I adored this. There is something about watching a non death match guy going against the best around and showing the guts and desire to get through it whether they win, lose or draw. I thought Despy getting unmasked 5 minutes in was a bit premature but actually worked perfectly as we got to see his facial expressions. Great stuff. ****1/2"
[7.0] "On the rewatch I still think this is still a fantastic match but I'm not so sure if it'll end up on my MOTY list. The most important things that played a role in making this match so good was firstly how engaged the crowd was. They seemed to love every minute of this. The second of course, was Desperado being unmasked 5 minutes into the match. It played really well as we were able to see him express how much pain he was in throughout the match. I do think they got a little too cute with the kickouts and went overkill on big moves. Kasai hit Despy with everything he had but they went a bit too far with all the kickouts for my liking but the match was so intense throughout, I won't be that harsh on it. I'm also not the biggest fan of bystanders assisting the wrestlers with their spots, sure it's much safer but it doesn't come off as authentic and just doesn't look as cool as when wrestlers are doing everything on their own. All in all, this was great. The 30 minutes flew by even if there were a few things I wasn't a big fan of. Props to these two for taking all of those brutal bumps. Just Insane."
[10.0] "An absolute journey of a match this was. Desperado and Jun were beyond happy to try and kill each other and my god they did just that. The drama and emotion of the match was felt in every second and it was so gruesome at times. Despy being so hesitant to use the weapons in the match was sooooooo good and he paid for it as Jun did not give a single fuck. Tearing at his mask, blasting him with chairs, SLAMMING HIM INTO FORKS OF ALL FUCKING THINGS. God it just fucking ruled. The only gripe I could see anyone having with this is the overkill near the end but I didnt care. I was so into Despy fighting through whatever Jun threw at him that I lost myself in it. Amazing match that just needs to be seen. The crowds cheering and all the postmatch promo work hits home too. Will always love these 2 men. ****3/4"
[8.0] "Holy gosh, this was quite the match. Definitely not for those who are easily queasy. There are numerous spots involving these bizarre objects and weapons that could've caused serious damage if these guys didn't know what they were doing. This was the first Japanese death match I've seen, but it was brutal and ferocious all the way to the end. Well done Desperado and Kasai."
[10.0] "Aptly one of my favorite matches of the year. The most beautiful portion of this matchup, in-ring work aside, was the post match words from Kasai. Incredibly impactful, poetic, endearing and brought me to a very emotional place. Very special atmosphere overall, Desperado has had some great stipulation matches this year. There is no way to properly expound how this match made me feel, at least not right now."
[9.0] "Great match though not quite the classic for me that others seem to think it is. I found some of the deathmatch stuff a little tame, granted Despy isn't a deathmatch wrestler, but still it felt like an entry level deathmatch. Still very entertaining at times but missed a bit of shock factor for me. The wrestling was mostly very good but a bit piledriver heavy. ****1/2"
[10.0] "This was next level wow! Deathmatches aren't always on my list but they get mad respect when I watch them. They pulled out all the wild DIY props and the skewers spot will never not shock me. This match had me immersed awaiting the outcome and I don't think I ever rooted so hard for Despy to get the W. Jun was his usual psycho self and was the perfect opponent in this really good monster movie come to life. This match was meant to be! Bravo."
[8.0] "I think this match overstayed its welcome a little in the final few minutes and went a little too far into forced epic territory, but it was otherwise a lot of fun. Desperado has dipped his toes in the waters of deathmatch wrestling in the past with guys like Kasai and Moxley but never quite to this extent. This felt like a real Freedoms deathmatch. Both Kasai and Desperado are very likable, which is something a lot of deathmatch wrestlers lack. The spots don't mean so much when all you have is the tough guy act. I don't have it has a match of the year candidate, but it might be the best deathmatch of the year so far. A match like this and its aftermath aligns very well with Kasai's approach to deathmatch wrestling - the idea that these guys should be able to go through hell and get up and be okay on the other side of it so that the crowd can leave feeling energised and inspired. I think they accomplished that."
237x
114x
35x
7x
0x
0x
0x
2x
1x
0x
0x