Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuji Hino

[9.0] "Before analyzing the match, let me give a little explanation that the winner of this match will compete with Takeshita in the King of DDT finals. So they should choose the easiest way to win, but that's not the case. Why did I say DDT is great? In this match, you can see the best combination of hard hitting and powerhouse that both wrestlers presented. In their other matches, duels were played, but this one was something else. In a short time, I showed a great match."

[8.0] "Unlike the previous semi-final bout, these guys clicked and had fantastically fascinating chemistry. Three words to describe the quality of this match (short , simple and sweet). These guys put on one of the best brawls that can be in a time span of less than 15 minutes. They told a effective and entrancing story too with convincingly good ring psychology factor. The guys emphasized on physicality of this brawl and it paid dividends for them. The story portrayed here was the impression of a hard hitting and vicious slug fest as the stature and size of the competitors would suggest. The first few minutes were focused on showing that they had equal magnitude of power and strength as shown by moves such as the ferociousness of the elbow and collar tie up where one would corner the other to the ropes and the shoulder blocks as both were equally matched , oh the brain claw too. Then they initiated a very captivating and nasty chop fest with a bit of forearms. It successfully added a layer of viewer investment and engaging flavor to the bout. They would go back and forth as the chest of both would swell up. Hino looked bad ass here absorbing the blows and in the end getting the better of the exchanges. They also delivered devastatingly painful lariats to each other but Hino had the superiority in that move too. Higuchi knew that now he head to dig in deep and do something innovative and he would sometimes with a mon strous dropkick or deceiving a chop invite into a brain claw and much more but it would still not be enough and even when Hino would invite for a chop, he would show expressions of pain but it was like as if he were absorbing the pain and using it as fuel to motivate himself to fight even more which is scary. He turns it up a notch and takes off his shirt to increase the effectiveness of the blistering chops if they were not savage already. Hino's pain threshold was impeccable and even though the chops were more impactful, it was not good enough to lay down the beast and Higuchi at this point was too exhausted to fight and so Hino finished Higuchi's journey in the tournament soon after and that too with an arrogant pin by placing his hands on his chest. It was a high intensity and explosive battle. It had a high energy essence to it along with addition of bits of emotion too. Suspense factor was present too and the match had organic energy vibe to it. The pacing was excellent and the match overall had a amazingly well built structure. Great match content overall and that too in just 12 minutes. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This match was brutal. The exchange of chops were sick. Hard hitting from start to finish. Hino has been one of my favourite wrestlers to watch this year. He oozes charisma and it always makes his matches more fun to watch. And also Higuchi is awesome. 7.60/10"

[8.0] "A good hoss fight, as I had imagined. The amount of brutal exchanges here were beyond crazy. Daddy war with some the stiffest chops and forearms. Hino's removing his shirt tells how he treats Higuchi. A hell of brutal and stiff sprint, match of the night."

[9.0] "This match ruled and this perfectly encaspulates how to do empty arena wrestling with hitting as hard as you can in 15 mins or less. Highuchi chest looked like raw meat. I do hope see a big time main event match between these 2. The best Hino has looked in DDT"

[9.0] "Big boys slapping beef. What more do you want? No, seriously: If you're looking for pure meat on meat action, this is one of the best matches to get just that, and in high concentration. Hino and Higuchi played their respective characters incredibly well in this match. Truly, a great example of storytelling through body language alone."

[9.0] "The Match of The Night and the match I was looking forward to the most. Jeez... that chop exchange was absolutely brutal. Awesome fight. I highly recommend this one."

[8.0] "So happy Hino is back in DDT for matches like this, he and Higuchi beat the hell out of each other and I loved it. 4. 25"

[7.0] "7. 5 - In the immortal words of Big E: Big Meaty Men Slapping Meat. The strikes and power moves were very impressive. Higuchi's chest was destroyed by the end of it."

[7.0] "Great semi-final match, the chops were simple but so brutal and it didn't ever drag. Made Yuji look like a beast going into the final - ***3/4"

[8.0] "This was awesome! Let's Go! Both guys chopped each other like there was no tomorrow and in the end Higuchi's chest was raw meat. Another smart booking to keep Hino fresh just like Takeshita. Now I want to see these two in a 20+ min war. This was great! 8/10"

[7.0] "Bummer. Not because the match was bad. In fact it absolutely ruled but rather because I really wanted to see Higuchi in the finals. ***3/4"

[8.0] "An excellent match here, my favorite one of the show. Yuji Hino and Kazusada Higuchi obviously had a tremendous exchange of Chops during the match. It was so cool to watch, not very long but very interesting. The finish was very impressive too. ***3/4"