Minoru Suzuki vs. Tetsuya Naito

[7.0] "Really good stuff from both Naito and Suzuki, but Suzuki ruled in this match and was clearly the bigger star. Some great hard hitting and some great reversals and near falls as they worked towards the finish, although Naito just getting up and flying around for the last minute was a little odd since Suzuki worked his knee the whole match. But the crowd was on fire of course and loved it, so it was fun and good. 4 stars"

[7.0] "***œ - I don't like that Naito ended up with the win, but the story and the both the attack and selling of the knee targeting was done very well"

[8.0] "Now you see, we don't need 40 minutes of match to have a great performance by both athletes or a majestic storytelling. This match lasted 16 minutes and it tells a great story, it has an excellent in-ring action AND the crowd was on fire the whole time. MiSu trying to murder Naito throughout the match was great, especially when Naito found an answer to everything that MiSu was doing. Also, the pop that the Osaka fans give right after the three count is just amazing and kind ironic. ****1/4"

[8.0] "Great match. Hard-hitting and very intense action. It's good to watch it now, when you can notice how much Naito has changed and what progress he's done."

[7.0] "This match was really entertaining, with Suzuki putting in a great heel performance. Naito wasn't too bad as a babyface."

[10.0] "Another fantastic match from tonight. It just got better and better as it went on. The early parts of the match were really good to me. The crowd was really loud which is always good. They have good chain grappling and the interactions between Naito and Suzuki were really good and I liked them. Naito starts slapping Suzuki in the face and they're just smiling at each other and it's great. Suzuki laughs it off and kicks Naito in the knee. Suzuki carries Naito over the ropes and then applies a knee bar over the top rope. Suzuki then continues to attack his knee on the outside using the guard rail and it's really nice. In general Suzuki's attack on Naito's knee is really good. It was enjoyable having Suzuki laying on the mat and taunting Naito. When suzuki has Naito in a knee bar again and he starts slapping Suzuki and they both start sticking their tongue out at each other was really excellent as well. When Suzuki is facing Naito and tells him to slap him, Naito lays in with some hard slaps and its awesome. Suzuki continues to work over Naito's knee and the crowd is chanting for Naito. Suzuki has Naito in a kneebar for a long time and the drama to see if Naito would tap was quite good and it almost seemed like it would be too much for Naito. Suzuki has Naito in a sleeper for a long time and again its seems as if Naito is about to lose and then Suzuki gets Naito into Gotch- style position but Naito stops it from happening. This point got me really excited. Naito fights back and finally finishes him off with his Stardust press. excellent match."

[8.0] "Loved this match. These two played off each other so well in this contest. With two different styles that these guys have, you wouldn't think this match would be as good as it was here. Suzuki was just relentless by just attacking and putting a hurting on Naito whenever he could and Naito put in one of his best babyface performances here against Suzuki. Showing off that unpredictable offense to catch Suzuki off guard as much as possible. It's a match thats wonderfully paced and brilliantly executed. ****1/4"

[8.0] "This was great. This was pre-traquillo naito so he was a bit silly at times. Suzuki was great here when he constantly targeted naito's right leg. However, naito's selling was very spotty here which took me out a bit and prevented this from being off the chart great. The action itself was very good with a lot of strikes and hot crowd. Had naito's selling been better, this would have been much better."

[9.0] "An underrated classic that is simple yet brutal. This was a legendary event with legendary matches so this match probably flew under many people's radar. The crowd was super hot for both men, especially Suzuki, but that would change around midway through the match. The first few minutes start off slow so both men can feel each other out, but Suzuki quickly took control and set the stage for next two thirds of the match. Suzuki laid out Naito constantly with submissions and locks to Naito's leg, and the poor guy tried his hardest to fight out of each one with slaps and strikes. I guess one of my main complaints about this match is Naito's selling of his leg, which Suzuki constantly attacked. The final few minutes of this match is just Naito finally getting the edge and laying out Suzuki with all his moves until he finally puts him down with the Stardust Press. A great night for wrestling featuring this hidden gem, ****1/2."

[9.0] "Meltzer's rating of a mere **** is criminal. Third-best match of the night, damn-near perfect. ****3/4"

[9.0] "This was a wrestling clinic! Suzuki has maintained some notoriety for his ability to deliver very compelling G1 Climax matches, and I believe that this was the first instance of which. Practically a must-see affair right here. ****1/2"

[9.0] "This time Naito followed through on the selling of his leg which allowed for a much better story to be told than in the Nagata match and Naito just throwing everything he had at Suzuki in the end in order to get the victory was phenomenal stuff."

[8.0] "the stiff work on the leg of Naito was great and Naito selling was great either. Suzuki is one of the best technical wrestlers today. Another great match in this amazing tournament. (***3/4)"

[7.0] "Guys had some fun there, can't say the same about myself. Yeah, it was good, but I expected more from them, not playing the ape."