Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shun Skywalker

[2.0] "** A bad match. I don't know anything about Shun Skywalker, but what a terrible way to be introduced to him. It's actually quite difficult to have a bad match with Konosuke Takeshita, yet he managed to do it. The match isn't worth watching; it's the perfect embodiment of what the NJPW Television Championship represents--it's an embarrassment. The belt itself is ugly--so ugly, in fact, that Takeshita wouldn't even show it on AEW programming, and it was barely ever mentioned (unlike the NEVER or World Heavyweight titles). The only interesting takeaway is that Takeshita is finally rid of that dead weight, which has now been passed on to Shun. The match is poor because of how generic it is; Shun's performance is abysmal--he comes across as so bland that it's impossible to connect with him or understand what he's all about. Instead of improving toward the finish, the match gets even worse with interference from House of Torture. Then, in the closing sequence, Shun takes control and finally busts out some moves with a bit more personality--but his finisher is horrendous and poorly executed. The first time he hits it, it lacks any real impact--it doesn't even feel like a significant move--yet it's the same move that secures him the win. It's a terrible finisher; it relies far too heavily on the opponent to do all the work, which makes the whole thing look awful. Sometimes, you don't need to be "innovative" to stand out, and this move is proof of that"

[5.0] "I'm just so disappointed in this match. Shun is really cool looks sick. I just don't think that this match hit the mark that it needed to for whatever reason. (***)"

[5.0] "Always like the weirdos like Skywalker. especially if they can really pull off the "mind games" aspect of their gimmick. I dont like Skyfall as a finish because it looks like he's the one taking the bump. Would have had more interference or less of a decisive loss for Takeshita ideally. 2.75."

[7.0] "These 2 have a banger in them but this match was held back by its short run time and layout. The actual work was solid from both and Skywalker is being built as someone who's strong at reversals. The big moves came fairly quickly but I'm not the biggest fan of Shun's finish. 3.25*."

[5.0] "Yeah I mean your standard Takeshita match. The man's selling is so bad. Like he literally was on the ground like he had a major injury and then 30 seconds later he was forgetting to sell it, like wtf, his matches have no logic just a bunch of moves being hit. Shun looked substantially better but I'm not really sure this match did either of them anything good. The HoT shenanigans were the cake on top for this match. Narita seemed like he didn't even care and the first spot was just bad, at least the old guy that came out seemed like he wanted to be there but the whole thing didn't make sense. Then Toru Yano comes out and clears 6 mean just clear the ring in fear, yeah cause that's logical. This wasn't good."

[6.0] "This is my first time ever seeing Shun Skywalker wrestle. He seems fine. A great fit for HoT character-wise, that's for sure. TAKESHITA is weirdly insanely motivated, wrestling with more speed and intensity than he usually does. It helps the match a lot, but it still never breaks about being just 'good'."

[6.0] "I mean Takeshita's pretty pointless TV reign where all he has been given is defences against Midcard guys finally comes to an end. First time i have ever seen a match from Shun and i thought he was pretty good and has a great level of moves in his locker. Loved the kick when Take rushed him in the corner. They worked it pretty well that i feel watching live you wouldn't of been able to tell who was going to win which was pretty good to see. But my two gripes for this match are more HoT Bullshit stopping Take from winning. Also my god Skyfall may be the ugliest finisher i think i have seen in wrestling like it literally makes no sense as it looks like it should damage Shun as much as it does to whoever he is hitting hit on please use anything else. So yeah it was a pretty solid match with some nice bits from both guys glad Takeshita is now free of belts ahead of C2 season as well. (***)"

[8.0] "I get that we are hating on HoT, and I agree that they are mostly terrible (when they are too high up the card at least), but I find this match pretty underrated. The Narita and Togo run in was irritating yes, but the in ring work was very good before and after ! And I found Shun really entertaining as a heel, getting good heat without cheating too blatantly. I'm looking forward to seeing Shun's reign, it could go wrong but I'm decently optimistic"

[4.0] "It's like this entire TV title reign was just a rib on Takeshita. Forced to try and carry so many below mid talents, and he loses cause of house of torture nonsense. Pretty average moves match here. They put so little effort in."

[4.0] "Konosuke's disappointing NJPW Television reign comes to a close. Neither happy nor sad, just disappointed. Konosuke, one of the best wrestlers in the world with work rate to boot, has maybe one of the worst championships reigns so far this year. Facing mostly only House Of Torture in these seven months, besides one draw with Umino, the reign ends to... A HOUSE OF TORTURE MEMBER. Listen, I love Shun Skywalker and it makes perfect sense that he is in this stable, but it just has lead him be just another House Of Torture member, nothing different, nothing special. This match was mostly a nothing burger, with moments of Takeshita getting the crowd going and getting his orbital bone kicked straight off his face, only to end at the ten-minute mark. Just another blemish on the NJPW record this year. Get Takeshita back into the main event scene sooner rather than later or else you are leaving so many great matches off the table."

[9.0] "I'm aware people aren't particularly fond of HoT shenanigans. Really I don't mind, and I think with Skywalker's wrestling prowess, it doesn't take too much away. This was to the wall action the whole time, and incredibly entertaining to me. Skywalker looked fantastic here, and we know Takeshita can work a good match. Skywalker had an incredible moveset, and I think his shenanigans among the HoT crew work perfectly for his character. This was great. Absolutely worth the watch"

[5.0] "Le match est bien jusqu'à l'intervention de la maison de la torture, après ça il part en cacahouète. Takeshita est déborder et shun en profite. Je comprends que c'est pour protéger Takeshita mais est ce qu'on ait dans arriver jusque là? Et Yano qui fait le save c'est trop bizarre?"

[7.0] "not a bad match as both opponents did what they could but shun's new finisher was a let down since it didn't look good, hence why im hoping he could bring back SSW"

[6.0] "(Grade:C/***) Takeshita reign as World TV Champion comes to an end by the hands of The Skywalker! It was an adequate match where Takeshita & Skywalker both worked well to where the result could've gone either way. However, House of Torture doing their usual shenanigans always brings a solid match down a notch. Takeshita's journey in NJPW has been interesting from G1 Winner to IWGP World Champion to NJPW World TV Champion he's steadily going down to totem pole and hopefully gets back upright as oppose to Skywalker in his debut single match becoming a champion has me hopefully for some momentum."

[6.0] "[3.25*] Fun match until HoT tries to get involved, then it take a slight dip. This was my first time watching Skywalker and I thought he was pretty good. Skywalker and Takeshita had good chemistry, hopefully they get a match against each other without the bs one day."

[5.0] "Shun and his character are going to be a huge hit with the New Japan crowd. However, they absolutely need to bring back the SSW, because the SKYFALL is just FUCKING HIDEOUS, WOW. A decent match, nothing more, but there's still some good chemistry between him and Takeshita. And then our good friends from HoT show up with their usual shenanigans to put a smile on our faces..."

[7.0] "It was nice to see Shun Skywalker wrestle without any of this stupid interventions by House of Torture. The chemistry with Konosuke Takeshita was really fine, just a bit sad of the stipulation, with the 15min limit due of the tv title. Just hope they will face again in the future, for a bigger and better occasion, because they are capable of having such a wonderful match, I just want to see that one day."

[8.0] "This was very fun. Short and sweet. Shun and Takeshita's chemistry here is great, the action being very dynamic. I love both, but i am very happy for Shun to win the title, HoT involvements or not, this time it wasn't actually bad. Hopefully the two of them will have longer matches in the future."

[6.0] "Another good match on the show, but I hate watching anything involving House of Torture. Their matches always have some terrible spots, and I can never get invested in them or take them seriously. Let's see what's next for the title after Takeshita's loss."

[5.0] "A decent match. You get the typical HOT interference towards the end. The match was solid until that. Skywalker hits two Skyfalls on Takeshita; neither looks great. HOT wasn't directly involved in the finish, so Skywalker gets a cleanish win over the former G1 and IWGP heavyweight champ. 2.5 stars"

[7.0] "Takeshita accidentally gets clocked in the orbital bone, gets visibly pissed, and the match starts to get insanely fun. It's a short sprint with a sprinkle of HoT, but it does what it needs to. Shun Skywalker is insanely talented and is so much fun to watch, and I'm super excited for his future in NJPW."

[8.0] "I honestly loved this. I was a little worried about how the match would turn out with the TV Title format, knowing it wouldn't go much longer than 10 minutes, but they absolutely made it work. It was way better than I expected. I figured Shun was going to win, and I'm really glad there wasn't a ton of House of Torture interference. Really fun match."

[3.0] "Fuck me. Shun's 'Skyfall' finisher suuuuucks. The two in this match were particularly bad, with Takeshita not being able to bump properly in time. Just looks like shit. Otherwise, a pretty typical Takeshita performance with Shun looking largely good when on offence. The boot up in the corner from Shun to Takeshita looked fucking gnarly and it's a big shame that this descended into interferences & shenanigans rather than ending it soon after that. I couldn't really take this seriously after that point, especially with Take initially selling the boot like his orbital got broken (which it might have, shit looked wild). *3/4."