It is super refreshing to see a straight up technical match in a New Japan ring again. Ever since KOR left, KUSHIDA hasn’t had anyone up to par on his technical level, but thankfully he had Scurll to be up against (even if the latter was still more goofy than usual). It wasn’t all chaining any ground work though as both guys got very physical. There was some great arm work from Scurll on KUSHIDA’s arm too with the latter selling really well. A little anticlimactic with the finish, but still a great match, ****1/4.

This was absolutely beautiful. Fantastic, super compelling chain wrestling & when Marty eventually got the upperhand, he was simply awesome working the crap out of KUSHIDA, all around. KUSHIDA was a rockin' babyface as usual - one of my favorite moments of the match was when he got that comeback going, he sold the exhaustion of being worked all over by Marty so, so, SO well. KUSHIDA gets some of that vintage arm work of his in as well & as always it's pretty fantastic - I loved the sequence where he got Marty stunned on the top turnbuckle, he goes after the arm again (once again selling the fatique perfectly), which leads to Marty doing the finger spot of his, which then resulted in KUSHIDA not being able to lock the Kimura. Fantastic stuff, fantastic performances by both - especially KUSHIDA & an overall fantastic match that had a real unique feel to it. ****1/4

Pretty much agreed on all counts. This is my first KUSHIDA singles match and he certainly impressed, showing those little nuances and moments of selling that separate him from the rest of the pack. Great match.

 

****1/4

Started off slow but really progressed and escalated into something really good. Marty isn't great on the ground so the mat work wasn't the most engaging, but they did a great job of upping the violence the longer the match went on and the finish of KUSHIDA not having the finger strength to do the Hoverboard Lock and settling for Back to the Future was great.

 

Serious Marty is >>>>>>>>> goofy Marty. ***3/4.