The hype was high for this match, so in that regard it disappointed a bit, but I still thought it was a pretty great match. Now the first 10-15 minutes or so are pretty slow as is in typical DDT main events, but those last 10 minutes are a pretty wild ride. This was not the glorious triumph that we expected Irie to have after finally beating HARASHIMA, but it was still a struggle from start to finish which fit the narrative fine. The last minute surprise challenge from Sammy after the match was cool too, ****1/4.

The DDT main event scene has been pretty dry this year, and this match was no exception. I honestly don't really have much else to say about it other than I started the year super into DDT and at this point can't care about any of their major matches.