Joe Doering vs. Zeus

[9.0] "The legendary show me power match, Doering is pitch perfect emulating Stan Hansen as he goes after his challenger brutally with chops, lariats and elbow drops. The thing is that he's wrestling ZEUS who is never out of a fight, and has enough power to match the foreign champion blow for blow. When people talk about the best hoss fights this needs to be mentioned every time. 4.5 stars"

[10.0] "My favourite match of that year, a hoss clash of monumental proportions. Lariats, big bombs, intensity and meanness from both men. Zeus always impresses me with his ability and brutal moveset and Joe Doering is a goddamn bull riding, cancer surviving pro wrestling hero. Come on Motherfucker show me power!"

[9.0] "This one was fantastic. Awesome AJPW main event, like they always do for the Triple Crown title, it's a big men battle that I love. Doering and Zeus are throwing some awesome Powerbombs, Larriats and Chops. This never dragged, this always got a great rythm. Without too much storytelling, I can't put a 10 put this one is so great to start a year for a company. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Wow what a hoss fight, these two went at it big style. The lariets and chops were absolutely brutal to watch and both guys gave as good as they got. Your gonna struggle to find a better 20 minute slugfest than this"

[8.0] "Beefy hoss-fight here. The strikes were hard, and the selling was great, but went a little too long and lacked a sense of urgency. Still a great early main event for All Japan in 2018. (****)"

[10.0] "Absolutely one of the best matches of the year so far for me. In 80s All Japan fashion, it was pretty much an epic hoss match! 20 minutes of physical power was displayed by these two, a match where the suplex and lariat is key! This was very unique, it felt very realistic too. Great performance by Zeus and Joe Doering."

[10.0] "Fantastic match, arguably one of the best I've seen this year. Hard hitting and brutal, with truly jaw dropping offense at times, this one delivered on every level I wanted it to, and both guys completely made me buy into the style, which I don't always do with All Japan. Incredibly good, highly recommended!"

[9.0] "Total "hoss fight"-style match that I feel would fit in line with that violent, smash mouth, believable style that Jim Ross preaches when lamenting about the old Bill Watts/Mid-South territory, where everything done in the match had to look utterly believable. Stiff/snug struggle with lots of intense physicality. Really great."

[8.0] "Very Good Main event which shows a different type of heavyweight style that you can only get in AJPW. Just two bodies slamming into each other . They also have to be careful with Zeus constantly failing in his triple crown challenges , soon the well would run dry ."

[8.0] "Great hard hitting match! Doering really fits as TC champ. Zeus is a great challenger. This was exactly the type of match these 2 should have had. Lots of clobbering blows and hard strikes. ****1/8."

[7.0] "Joe Doering (c) -vs- Zeus - (Triple Crown Title) [*** 1/2] Apart from an embarrassing moment at around the 10-min mark when they were completely lost about a turnbuckle spot, this was pretty awesome! Two such different, yet similar, power fighters clashing hard in front of a hot crowd! This is what All Japan was good at last year. They being the direct heavyweight action without hesitation. Neither of these guys are that high on the radar of casual puroresu fans, yet as they prove here, they can bring as good as anyone when they want to and they sure wanted to on All Japan? s first show of 2018! Let? s hope it? ll be another strong year for AJPW. This show seemed motivated, and Doering and Zeus showed how much with their stiff shots!"

[6.0] "I never felt like this was something epic. Doering was the bigger man who beating the crap out of Zeus and he did comebacks to the match. It would work better if crowd wasn't fully on the Doering's side. This match was full of clotheslines and when they want to do it little bit interesting they started doing dives. The finish sequence felt pretty dull because they do move after move. Zeus's White Noise - Kickout - Joe's Jumping Clothsline - Kickout - Joe's Piledriver - Kickout - Joe's Spinning Sit-Out Powerbomb - The End. **3/4"

[8.0] "All Japan kicks off 2018 beautifully with this fantastic main event. As has been said already, this was a big strong style scuffle with lots of big meaty chops and lariats. It wasn't any ordinary strong style match though, as there was a clear distinction in the roles of both wrestlers. Joe was an absolute monster, easily dominating Zeus from the very early stages and pretty much for the majority of the match. Even though Zeus had some devastating chops and lariats Joe was simply too big to be worn down, and by contrast his own arms were so massive that they were extremely effective in knocking Zeus down and winding him. Joe also just carried himself like a monster with that evil scowl as he flared his nostrils and set his eyes slightly crooked. He looked like a real monster swatting Zeus away like a fly. To contrast this, Zeus was a fantastic babyface. He has fantastic natural charisma that comes from him appearing at first to be a superficial bodybuilder but once in the ring revealing himself to have great endurance and a strong passion that constantly drives him to prove himself. He did his absolute best to stand up to Joe, to prove he could hang with the Triple Crown champ, but he was easily outmatched the majority of the time. Near the end of the match Zeus ended up finding some success after all his flurry attacks and got some amazing near falls, especially after he hit his Jackhammer. He really had me believing that he could win, and it was extremely hyped up whenever Joe would miraculously kick out of one of Zeus' super impactful moves. These two just destroyed each other for the entire 20 minutes and there was a very real sense of urgency for the entire second half of the match where it felt like any next big strike could be the decisive blow. Both men played their roles fantastically and produced a rather unique take on the traditional strong style chop and lariat fest which can often so easily fall into a bland formula. Never a dull moment. ****"

[9.0] "Great beefy big guy match. They both go in there throwing big strikes and gritty holds. They show some great struggle between the big stuff. Zeus is a great babyface which is not a position he finds himself in very often. Joe is a great top guy throwing out some horrific hops in this. The crowd was very hot and they manage to have this match without falling into the boring tropes that can fill any modern 'hoss' fights of endless bad strike exchanges or rolling brought German suplexes. Here they don't bother the strikes are regular but are never in parity exchanges. Just great big lad wrestling all around and match of the year so far ****1/4. The selling of fatuige was outstanding was it legit tiredness? Who cares it gave some great drama."

[1.0] "This started off in awesome, big boy explosive fashion. After a couple of minutes though, it all went downhill. The match started to drag & drag & drag - it felt like the definition of a match going too long just because it has the company's main title involved. The 20 minutes felt like 50. No sense of urgency whatsoever. It's a shame too, because Big Joe & Zeus could've had an AWESOME bombfest sprint, I am sure of that. Oh well. *"

[9.0] ""Show me power motherfucker! " is one of the best lines I have ever heard in a wrestling match, and was really the story of the match. Joe towered over Zeus, but the latter wouldn't be intimidated as he had the juice to level the fight down to size. Joe's work on top was more old school than a modern fan would expect, but I couldn't really tell by the end if he was gassed out or just an amazing seller; maybe both. An explosive powerhouse brawl to bring in the new year, ****1/2."

[9.0] "Great big boy action. I wasn't too hyped for it, but they definitely surpassed my expectations. Zeus was a great underdog here, showing all his fire and power against the bigger Doering. Big bombs, lariats, rough match, everything you would expect from these two. The best Joe singles match since the Shuji one back in october. Awesome. ****1/4"