"The usual" between these 2. They beat the crap out of each other, showcasing their MANLINESS. Goto & Ishii are also really good at doing the usual fighting spirit no-sell stuff while also selling the pain they're in. Really good, borderline great match. ***3/4

Usually these matches tap out in the very good but not great range for me. This one clicked on all cylinders. It was compact, brutal and didn't veer too far off into ridiculousness with the punishment and bombs that were thrown at each other. I think the little bits of fatigue selling went a long way to get across that these men were entrenched in a battle. The crowd also added a lot by having an electric atmosphere. Ishii leveling his forearm when Goto goes for the headbutt was excellent as was the collapsed bumps from the double clothesline. The finale was captivating with the machine gun forearms and big strikes. Again, them both taking a moment to regain their composure really helped add emphasis that while the fighting spirit is strong in both, they aren't invincible. Finally, Goto is able to land the final GTR knockout blow and secure the win in this great slugfest. ****1/4

The clunky brutecake pissing contest you've come to expect between these two, with tons of headbutts, elbows, and lariats throughout. I thought Goto looked good underneath when he was getting bullied by Ishii and while I'm sure a some of this stuff was retread territory, it felt fresh. The lariat stalemate was especially well-executed, the way they would lean into the lariats, trying to get the other to fall to no avail. When they finally hit that colliding lariat spot later in the match, it looked/sounded brutal. The elbow exchange was...well, long to say the least, but they sold the exhaustion well coming off of it. Really solid.

Enjoyed this a whole lot but took a while for it to kick into high gear for me. It's the usual hit-each-other-til-someone-drops Ishii/Goto match and in that it was fun enough. I do liked them taking each other down with the double lariat. After a while, it gets repetitive though.

 

***3/4

(this is clipped from my live notes): Goto/Ishii was brutal (not in a bad way), really like how Goto wrestles - he's great here. Ishii is less egregious than the Omega final, but he's still Super Ishii here and Goto sold much better here (until the end). I liked Goto flipping the script and using his own headbutt to lead into the finish. This just crept to **** for me.

From Ioan review at PTBN:

 

 

 

Both men charged at each other several times, Goto floored Ishii with an elbow, then Ishii floored Goto with a shoulder block. He maintained control with hard chops, brushed off Goto’s slaps, and landed a headbutt. Goto popped up after a suplex, though, and a rope-running sequence allowed him to hit a lariat and follow with a run of offence. They battled on the top-rope, with Goto looking for Shouten, but Ishii eventually landed the superplex for a two-count. Goto snapped Ishii across his knee in reply, but neither man would be downed by clotheslines until Goto’s finally did the job. Ushigoroshi for two. Enzuigiri from Ishii and a folding powerbomb for a near-fall! Sliding lariat – another two-count. Goto slipped out of the brainbuster and into a Sleeper, but the GTR was avoided and a series of lariats resulted in a double knockdown. Elbows now, over-and-over, with Goto fading a few times only to survive the onslaught and down Ishii with a headbutt. Lariat from Goto – one-count only! A big kick to the chest earned two, then Goto hit both the reverse and regular GTRs for an academic three-count. Another good match, though I didn’t feel it reached the level of their G1 encounter from a couple of years ago. Might’ve been better than I’m giving it credit for (I’ll rewatch it later), but even since last year I find it increasingly hard to invest in Goto’s matches. Strong work though and no exceptions made for the fact that they’re stablemates. ***3/4

I really enjoyed the first half or so of this where they're both trying to win and not just have a pissing contest. This is not to say that pissing contests in wrestling can't be good, and even during that stuff, the selling was pretty good, especially from Goto as he was trying to keep up while on the losing side of the first big exchange. Structurally, the whole "okay, let's loudly announce that we're going into the trading shots portion of the match, after which we'll go to the usual bombs and finish up" way this ends up just isn't my favorite thing, but the execution is solid for what it is. ***1/2

This was a blast. Ishii is so much fun to watch. I am hoping he gets a big win at some point to propel him into something meaningful. Goto always peaks during G1. The rope run xchange-ups are something that I think probably looks a lot easier to do than it is.

Free match on NJ YouTube this week. 

Choshu like percussive style wrestling. I could have done without the extended elbow trading because it really loses its effectiveness. However, we see Goto's mouth bleeding afterwards...and this leads into the finish where Goto essentially has to kill Ishii. Nice! ;P

"Repetitive" is a valid criticism though. One or two big hard hitting moves is much better than 50. Still, highly recommended because of the positive points made above by others.