HENARE vs. Shingo Takagi

[6.0] "I'm so so tired of these two. Shingo is a legend but HENARE's bad habits rub off on Shingo a lot here, countless no selling, kick outs at 1, constant shouting, etc. HENARE is truly a one trick pony and while others may say that about Ishii, Ishii brings a sense of authenticity to his work while HENARE just feels cartoonish to me. ***"

[5.0] "I thought this was a slow and clunky version of a puro hoss fight with smaller guys. I think these two doing the spots slower and with less power, but selling it the same as the big match guys kind of exposes the style a little bit. So much of the style is built on buy in that the guys are really hurting a bit and that there may be long term consequences from the beatings. This match detracted from that IMO. However, there's a high floor on this style **3/4"

[7.0] "Apparently a pretty polarizing match but one I really enjoyed and thought was the best on the card. A good mix of strike exchanges with both guy getting their big moves in throughout, usually as a counter against the others attack."

[5.0] "Another match with the same stuff that always happens in those fighting spirit bouts, a bunch of headbutts, no-sells, and kickouts at 1, things that I currently hate in pro-wrestling, so of course this match has a very low value for me, but it wasn't terrible, it had some good moments, some stiff moves, moments that I liked, but overall I just can't give a very high rating on a match that was predicated by every thing that I don't like about modern wrestling - {**1/4}"

"Overrated as hell. They had better matches and even their best matches had some of the same old tired spots that you see everytime in these matches now. This style became way too stereotypical, you can always expect bullshit spots like the kickout at 1 now. It was truly a soulless match and booking this again after the draw just one week before that is a very uninspired choice. The finish felt especially anticlimactic because they took the habit of no selling all of these crazy power moves but somehow Shingo just loses on some very badly done headbutt ? *3/4"

[3.0] "I was not a fan of this match, I am fairly new to watching Henare's matches but if they are all like this then I can say I am not a fan. Follows the same formula of headbutts and then lying on ground for a few seconds to get up and do more headbutts. Relies heavily on the Japanese wrestling trope of giving a strike/headbutt and then sticking your chest out and letting the opponent attack you. It is so fake looking that I can not stand it."

[6.0] "It's a shame, but I wasn't feeling this match as much as their previous encounter that ended in double KO. They really should have just had this result originally because they ended up splitting one really good match into two decent, but kinda disappointing matches in my opinion."

[7.0] "A fine match, but I feel like this pairing has maybe done all it can. I'll be curious about who both guys get paired up with next."

[7.0] "****1/4 a great match, they far surpassed their Dominion match, but it is still inferior to the G1 Climax and the Road To Sakura matches"

[8.0] "Another excellent physical match between HENARE and Takagi right here, I could see these two guys beating the crap out of each other every day without any problem and I'd never get bored. Their last two matches don't seem to appeal here, but I liked them a lot, and this one was even better than their Dominion one. Exhaustive, brutal and simply excellent. Very happy for HENARE, who deserve this title."

[8.0] "it was good, but this matchup is really hitting that fatigue rn even as a HENARE fan speaking here. Their chemistry peaked at the ultimate triad match and now they are jumping straight to the headbutts and no sells, which felt a little too out of place without any buildup (it's like it needs buildup but i guess that's what a stale feud is essentially). Especially after a disappointing finish out of nowhere, this match is nothing but that match's flow. sure there were some spots mirroring last match and the triad match but it lacks the freshness to propel this match further. Thankfully HENARE finish his chase for a singles title here so that's lovely to see."

[8.0] "The finish kinda came out of nowhere, but I didn't hate it. I'm glad Henare is getting a chance to shine, as he's improved so much within the last year and a half alone, combined with the cage match injuries that he's fought back from. Shingo can hopefully go on a great run in the g1 and the Owen Hart Tournament here soon."

[7.0] "I enjoyed this match more than most people it seems but it definitely wasnt as good as their earlier encounters. The Dominion match had the excuse of being part of the build-up to this match. Going into it, they were 2-2-1 against one another. I think HENARE had improved a lot and Shingo is one of the best in the world, but this match was lacking the intensity of their earlier matches. I like the idea of the finish, but it was obvious HENARE hit Shingo on the shoulder and it wouldve worked better had these two gone the distance with a longer match and played up the exhaustion. After roughly 9 years in the company, HENARE finally won a title! Im a not a fan of his outside of wrestling but his improvement inside the ring deserved to be rewarded. He offers a lot of fresh match-ups and hopefully this means bigger things for Shingo."

[4.0] "The same with their most recent match, I felt this was flat and quite boring. I think there is something with Henare that will never click with me, outside of a few select occasions. This felt like two guys having a very typical NJPW match, and then Henare won with a weird shoulder headbutt"

[10.0] "What an incredible hard hitting match. After the first half when they started to no sell this turned in a literal battle for their lives featuring incredible Headbutts and obviously the kick-outs at one which never get old. Ending could have been better but other than that this was absolutely killer bone smashing Strong Style. ****3/4"

[7.0] "Two fighters who never give up, you can expect a war! It was fun, worth watching but I didn't really like the way the fight ended, great victory for Henare's career, congratulations, this is the NEVER style match"

[7.0] "I don't think I enjoyed this as much as the Dominion match but it was still well within style and expectations. Henare's developed nicely into the heir apparent to the sort of style the NEVER is associated with."

[5.0] "Had low expectations for this due to their previous bouts really not clicking for me, this started similar with just basic strikes for the sake of it. On one hand this was probably better than their dominion bout, on the other hand it was still shockingly boring. I could have probably predicted what happened move by move with about 80% accuracy. Henare got the win with his weird looking Headbutt to the shoulder which looked really weak. I just did not care much about this and think it is a shame I now have to see more of Henare in NJPW again."

[9.0] "You know you're in Sapporo when the fans are this reserved for this match. In front of basically any other crowd, this could have had the makings of a 5 star classic. Even so, it was real awesome, as Takagi and Henare had a fantastic brawl without even the slightest of mis-timed moments or errors. As expected, they teased a second double knockout draw, but of course they kept going, showing everyone the heights their last match would have reached. The finish did come off as somewhat flat without the crowd heat this deserved, but these two did everything in their power to steal the show, and they succeeded. ****1/2"