[8.0] "I thought this was a very fun brawl. They had good chemistry, just not as good as their 2017-2018 matches. The countout victory did catch me off guard, but it continues the story of Kushida not being as good as he once was."
[6.0] "Surprising me out of nowhere, this was really fun. This was a normal type of match from KUSHIDA, where he keep the focus on the left arm's opponent, and a really normal type of match from Takahashi, where he development a important entertainment for everyone watching it while he goes outside. The scene outside of the arena with them fighting in the GRASS was peak wrestling, to be honest, so fun. The end was understandable, but I was a not a huge fan of it. It's KUSHIDA and Hiromu, they can produce a better match that really end up with a winner without being by count out :3"
[7.0] "This was incredibly fun. KUSHIDA dominates early with a variety of grappling skills and brutal attacks on Hiromu's arm. Hiromu's selling was great and made all of KUSHIDA's look properly damaging. Their exchanges were also crisp and well-timed, and the fight into the crowd was better than most other brawling we see in wrestling these days. The final few minutes were flawlessly executed. The finish of KUSHIDA catching Hiromu midair with an armbar and Hiromu powerbombing him on the floor for the count-out victory was so good. These two have never missed and never will whenever they're in the ring together. ***3/4"
[6.0] "Before I watched this, I'm pretty confused by the low rating, it's Kushida vs Hiromu, how can this pairing ever go below 8.0? They had one of my favorite jr. heavyweight match ever in 2017, and both are in the top 5 jr. heavyweight wrestlers discussion, so how was it possible they had a match that wasn't amazing? Well, they brawled outside the ring for like 10 minutes, then the finish was weird and kinda unsatisfying, as Hiromu powerbombed Kushida outside for the count-out win. All I can say is, I'll certainly tune in for their next meeting, hopefully they'll ditch this brawling formula and give us a proper banger. A weirdly unique match, worth a watch if you're into these two guys - ***."
[7.0] "Easily the 2023 BOSJ MOTT thus far, since it was just SO creative and compelling. They initially teased a slow grappling-based start, but then Kushida quickly began dominating Hiromu with a variety of great grappling skills, especially as he targeted Hiromu's arm. Hiromu's arm-selling and general real-time selling were both very strong, making each of Kushida's arm-targeting attacks look even more damaging and threatening. Hiromu probably could've been a bit more consistent with his arm-selling in the 2nd half, but for the most part he made sure that it was never forgotten about, plus Kushida's targeting was too consistent for Hiromu to even have the chance to fully abandon it anyways. It was always exciting whenever Hiromu fought back and began delivering some energetic and explosive offence after being dominated for so long. At the same time, though, it was probably even more exciting seeing Kushida return to going after the arm with his technical mastery. Both also hit some really exciting counters and evasions whenever either of them attempted to work at a faster pace. The extended segment where they brawled through the crowd to the outside was quite surprising but actually really enjoyable because they made each strike look damaging plus they had such generally aggressive and somewhat 'mad' attitudes to elevate the match's intensity. The ref/announcer waiting so long to begin counting them out was obviously pretty ridiculous, though I didn't mind that too much because that allowed us to get the wild visual of them both then briefly wrestling in the grass, plus Hiromu driving Kushida into the tour bus with a fireman's carry. Them concluding that segment by teasing a double count-out would also do well to build up to the eventual finish, which was smart. Their big strike trades back in the ring were very energetic and impactful, plus delivered with great timing. Kushida did some simply AWESOME stuff in that final 1/4th, like his own take on Hiromu's signature Sunset Flip Powerbomb over the ropes and to the outside, this time impressively doing it under the bottom rope, and then he also did his fantastic signature flying armbar counter as Hiromu jumped at him off the apron. It was at that point that I knew this match was better than the other 'really good' matches thus far in the tournament, but what sealed it was the creative finish where Hiromu countered Kushida's triangle choke with a powerbomb to earn a count-out victory due to Kushida too dazed to get back in the ring in time. Both guys deserve big props for executing everything in those final few minutes so flawlessly, since that definitely helped elevate the match beyond being just 'really' good. Would I have preferred a more direct technical-master-vs-explosive-daredevil approach like these two have given us before? Of course, but this obviously wasn't the stage/build for that sort of 'epic', and what they gave us in place of that was still very exciting. ***3/4"
[8.0] "Really fun. Yes the wrestling was good, but what made this match great was the psychology of the rivalry between these two and the originality of going out to be back and brawling, I've never seen that in NJPW before I don't think. ****"
[8.0] "One hell of a way to reignite a rivalry. It's been 5 years since these 2 fought one-on-one. Seeing them take it to the streets was just as amazing as it was unexpected. It reminded me of a DDT match. It also reminded me of the Falls Count Anywhere match on AEW Dynamite between Chris Jericho & Roderick Strong. A very interesting finish as well that one would not expect. A very interesting & unusual match from 2 of the best in the world."
[8.0] "Interesting match between Hiromu and KUSHIDA right here who offered us a match totally different from what we could imagine I think, and I like to be surprised when I watch wrestling so I say obviously that positively and I really think that this ending is only the beginning of a rivalry between the two, no way it ends this way and I'm all in for a feud. As for the action, it was very good between two legends of the Junior division, everything was on point and very cool to see."
[6.0] "Very cool and different, but the actual in-ring action is nothing special. KUSHIDA does some great arm work, but Hiromu always stops selling it entirely whenever its time for him to go on offense."
[7.0] "These two deserve a ton of credit for bringing something different & distinctive to the tournament. However, the very quiet crowd drained the bout of any intensity & only really came alive for the unorthodox, but well executed finish ***1/2"
[8.0] "Man, I missed watching these two going at each other. This reminds me of six years ago, when their rilvary was just on the beginning, and that's a great feeling to have in times like these. Both KUSHIDA and Hiromu Takahashi were great here, their performances were outstanding and they showed that their chemistry and rivalry are both still on fucking fire, delivering another great match for us. The battle outside the arena was really fun and even made me laugh, and that Death Valley Driver on the truck was just insanely brutal! Also, I'm not a big fan of count out finishes, especially in a match like this, but I'll let it pass because it was very clever and it made so much sense, making me actually like the way they ended the match here. ****1/4"
[7.0] "Enjoyable and some good excitement throughout. Kushidas return to njpw has been strange but maybe this match will get him back on track. Was the finish needed though?"
[8.0] "Refreshing stuff from both guys as always, every Hiromu vs KUSHIDA is different. This match was fun and the count out finish is a good choice to remind fans that it can happen and also keeping both guys strong. Surely not their last match against each other."
[6.0] "I absolutely didn't expect such a match between Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA, and I have to say that even if I'm not the biggest fan of this match, it was refreshing. It was completely out of the norm compared to the rest of this BOSJ so it was atleast interesting, but in the whole I don't feel like the match has advanced anything for both characters or for the booking of either Hiromu or KUSHIDA. At the end of the day it's just a match among the others in this show, but with a fun segment outside of the arena. ***1/4"
[9.0] "Excellent match. A lot of OMG Moments like the overlock outside the arena or the armbar from outtanowhere at the end of this. This was in the way to be a five stars match but teh count end was awful. ****1/2"
[8.0] "One of the best matches of the night. Cool wrestling, nice combinations, Hiromu's arm work from KUSHIDA and of course fighting outside the arena. Final of the match was unexpected, but booked not bad, saving booking for both of them. **** from me"
[8.0] "Awesome match, match of the night for sure. All of their exchanges felt pretty crisp and really enjoyed Kushidas arm work. The finish was also unexpected but worked quite well. 7.5/10"
[6.0] "No, Hiromu is booked in a really wrong way, Kushida treated like a semi young lion, Knight is doing better then him only to say. The match was really strange and the selling went wrong for the most of the time, the outside segment was really not needed."
[10.0] "Wow this match was amazing! Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida perfectly gelled in the ring. There is perfect chemistry between them I think I saw many tweets of the people who watched the game at the venue, they said the match was a blast!"
[9.0] "This definitely might not have worked for me with any other pair in the tournament, but thats the nature of this sport. KUSHIDA and Hiromu just have a really special connection, and while I wish this had a more satisfying conclusion, I trust that this is the perfect story beat as they continue one of wrestlings great rivalries. The brawl into the grass was a welcome surprise. They really took the whole of the match in unexpected directions, while still tying in awesome call backs to their 2017 matches. As far as countout finishes go, this is about as good as it gets."
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