Ninja Mack vs. Shuji Ishikawa

[7.0] "Very fun opener with a clear mismatch of size and skillset which I like to see. Shuji just destroyed Mack, Mack had to get even riskier to try and make up the difference, and he got destroyed even harder for it. Loved just hitting the ladder with a chair to get Mack to fall off. ***1/4"

[6.0] "I will preface by saying this is not my preferred style of wrestling, but I think it was executed well. There were some excellent spots including an awesome Piledriver from the ring apron, onto a table outside the ring. Ninja Mack did a very good job as an underdog and put Ishikawa over huge, with some great comebacks, often I consider him to be lacking in ring psychology but he seemed much more comfortable in this style of bout. Overall though it was the Ishikawa show, he looked amazing and will make a good champion going forward I think (depending on how much use the belt gets this time around). A largely very entertaining opener if not totally up my alley. Some odd pacing, a couple spots not totally landing properly and a lack of selling take away slightly from what is largely a very fun watch."

[6.0] "A decent opening where they mixed high-flying fast paced action with hardcore brawling type wrestling and it worked well here. Their wasn't really a story to be told here but it didn't matter. It was here to get people alive and it did just that. 6.5/10"

[6.0] "It was an enjoyable plunder match for sure. Ninja Mack has definitely done better in the short time I've been watching the promotion."

[6.0] "This was a styles clash of a match which could have produced a trainwreck or a really compelling David versus Goliath story...but really just ended up as a serviceable plunder match with the expected Mack high spots."

[7.0] "This was a really fun weapon based bout that saw Ninja Mack get thrown around till he couldn't get up. Not the most clever story here, but it did its job and made for an entertaining match."

[8.0] "Crazy spots and wild moves always work if they're done well and right, this match is a great reminder of that. Mack tried to win with one big move, but every time he made a mistake or didn't follow up well enough, Ishikawa punished him for it. Eventually Mack got thrown around too many times, so Ishikawa was able to decisively beat him with a Splash Mountain Powerbomb. ***3/4"

[7.0] "Great opener with some brutal spots taken by Ninja as he attempts to retain his gold. The ladder being broken when Mack was thrown through it was great, as was essentially fixing its bends when he was ppwerbombed on it."

[7.0] "I wish Mack could have retained the title despite his BOSJ run...it is not like the GHC Hardcore championship is prestigious and it could have invited future defenses in NOAH with a couple BOSJ loses. Regardless of the politics of the booking, the match was a fun opener. I was there live and the crowd was totally hot for Ninja Mack. Shuji is a legend and he is a great holder for the hardcore title but it is obvious he slept walk his way through this one."

[7.0] "A decent opener that continues to rehabilitate the once pointless Hardcore title. This is a weird one to rate, because the booking was always going to be tricky: NOAH has Mack going off to the Super Junior's tournament and there was something of an expectation that he'd take the Hardcore belt with him as an advertisement. Shuji Ishikawa, meanwhile, has not been defeated in a singles match in any promotion he's fluttered through this year, I don't believe, and he's... you know, Shuji freaking Ishikawa. Ultimately, this ended up being a great little David vs. Goliath match, where Mack, as he did in his feud with Alpha Wolf, gets more and more scrappy a desperate, doing things like tripping Ishikawa into the steel rail and tying his hands with his belt to lock him in place for chair shots. A valiant effort, but once Mack goes for one of his flippy spots, in a bit of poetry Mack's naysayers I'm sure will enjoy, it's over: Ishikawa catches him and drives him through a table with a gnarly Fire Thunder Driver. Mack still remains in it barely once he's rolled back into the ring, but some chair shots and one of the scariest powerbombs into a ladder I've seen in a while, and Mack's title reign comes to an end. Ninja Mack has been unquestionably the belt's greatest champion (thanks largely to his year long feud with Alpha Wolf being concluded in fire defense on last seasons Monday Night Magic) and while having only two successful title defenses with it (one not even in NOAH proper) might seem like a waste of the work he did with it, he did hold the thing for 158 days, the most of the modern era. Losing to the likes of Shuji Ishikawa is hardly a blight, and I honestly hope Mack continues to chase: under him, the belt has effectively become NOAH's most recognizable midcard worker title, I'd argue even more so than the Junior Heavyweight or National titles. I have no doubt that Ishikawa can continue to elevate it. It is, as with all things NOAH, the booking that remains to be seen. (I also want Mack to get one more shot at this just because this ended at a breezy 10 minutes and, given the barn burner 20 minute classic he put on with Alpha Wolf, I think we can get a meatier match out of these two.)"