Francesco Akira

[8.0] "Accomplished in the ring but just kinda hovers at being "good". (Still an achievement of course) His current work in UE and heeling it up gives him a good persona to work with and hopefully that gets him to do bigger and better things. But if I come back here any time soon to give his rating a boost, I'll be surprised."

[6.0] "Francesco Akira is one of those workers who is solid but doesn't have enough of an excess of one thing or deficiency of another to be a gripping performer. For the longest time he was "the really young guy" but you can only be "the really young guy" for a certain number of years before you age out of the gimmick. He's starting to come into his prime so the question remains if he's gonna move up the card or if the NJPW Junior Tag scene is gonna be where he plateaus."

[8.0] "As an Italian it's quite exciting to see an Italian wrestler having the success of Francesco Akira. He is a decent wrestler and I hope to see him on the top of NJPW or other companies real soon"

[8.0] "I think honestly this is the osprey replacement that njpw has been looking for if not I'd call him an improvement on certain aspects such as facial expressions. I love him on the mic he can speak both English, Italian and Japanese and to me he has allot of appel."

[9.0] "Definitely on route to becoming one of the top Jr heavyweights in NJPW. His match against Desperado in BOSJ 2023 was a truly star making performance, as was their rematch at the 2025 anniversary event. He and TJP helped reinvent the Jr tag division and he truly is amazing."

[9.0] "What a bundle of energy. Francesco Akira needs to get a run at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. It is baffling he hasn't got that yet. Love his tag team partnership with TJP, but really believe he will be a great singles wrestler. Amazing he is only 25!"

"An excellent wrestler, instantly mesmerising and engaging. I'd love to see him do a lot more in the US."

[9.0] "Franceso Akira is one my favourite wrestler in all of NJPW. He is a great blue eyed babyface who you want to see succeed. He just keeps on improving and improving. He is crisp and smooth in ring. He has the flair of ospreay but he isn't just an ospreay clone, he is his own man. I hope to see become Jr Heavyweight champion some day. FORZA AKIRA"

[7.0] "Still very young and a talented junior wrestler but needs to improve in pretty much every area. Sometimes he's trying a little too hard with his acting and he has absolutely no charisma, I think in the whole New Japan roster right now he might be the less charismatic guy. There is something about him that makes him a little difficult to take seriously when he's trying to act like a tough guy, maybe because he's tiny and he doesn't look confident at all when he speaks. Can't deny the japanese fans seem to like him though, he's athletic and quick, makes a good underdog. I see him as a good hand, a good tag team wrestler, not sure about him being more than that but he may improve with time."

[9.0] "I'm proud that my nation is represented by Akira in New Japan despite in WWE they are continuing with the usual Santino-looking wrestler. He is perfect as a jr. but in a few years I would see him well in the heavyweights. Forza Akira! ****1/2"

"Incredibly talented young man, he is what we needed in Italy to breath some life into Wrestling in our country, he is making us proud and at 23 he still has an infinite amount of potential!"

[9.0] "A very talented man who also shined as the All Japan Pro Wrestling World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Since coming to New Japan, he has been demonstrating his ability and showing off his presence. In the future, I think he will become a symbol of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Junior."

[9.0] "Simply the best talent in the history of Italian pro wrestling. Young, humble and very very good. If he continues his journey with the same determination and passion, there is no limit to what he could do. He has written pages of the history of iitalian wrestling and AJPW, in my opinion, he can do it all over the world."

[7.0] "He's still on the rise right now, but I see a ton of potential in Akira. He's at the forefront of this intriguing rise in wrestling in Italy, and I can't wait to see how he progresses in All Japan!"

[8.0] "The italian "Ospreay". Extremely talented and with the hard yet brave decision to move to Japan, and not in the US like D3 or Mambo Italiano. The italian scene is growing."

[8.0] "The real "italian scene"-made child prodigy. He started out as soon as he surpassed the minimum limit age to enroll in ICW (15 years) and I have followed his growth since his impressive debut against Mr. Excellent, through his debut in AJPW and now scaling up the rankings. Great high flyer, good technician skills, physique and he is livin' up his potential."

[9.0] "He's already one of the best italian wrestlers ever, he's just amazing, for everyone: keep an eye on him."

[6.0] "Very impressive high flyer: I saw him live and he struck me as a younger Will Ospreay minus the theatrics. He is presently working on developing both his in-ring skills and his character by travelling around the world: I am very happy to see him work in AJPW, albeit I feel Dragon Gate would be the perfect environment for him. My rating reflects merely the fact he's so new to the business and that he's still working to develop his own style: as he continues improving and maturing I will be happy to keep on increasing my rating."