Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee vs. Jushin Liger & Naoki Sano
Unreal to think that this is Liger's last match ever. What a legend that man is. One of the very best pro-wrestlers we have ever had. This was a wonderful sendoff for him -- he got to play the hits & the youngsters in the opposing team, especially Hiromu, fired him the F up, making him showcase some of that vintage nasty-side of his. Thunder Forever! ***3/4
El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Roppongi 3K
Thought this was totally great. Classic tag match structure w/ the babyfaces getting a nice lil' shine in the beginning & then the heels taking over, leading into them working one helluva heat segment vs. SHO -- Ishimori & especially Phantasmo were SUCH compelling, athletic assholes there. The rest of the match is good too w/ the eventual YOH hot tag & the whole finishing stretch, but that whole SHO FIP segment was the easy highlight, because of the awesomely charismatic & compelling work by El Phantasmo & Ishimori. ****
SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Far from their best match against one another, but still a good one. They did the "usual", and what I mean with that is that the match was filled with smooth, competitive "technical" wrasslin' from start to finish. I can appreciate that, and the lads usually always make it somewhat interesting when they are facing off, so yea! Good match. ***
Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson
This was pretty heated; Moxley & Juice definitely put over their history from 2019 w/ the emotion shown here, and I really liked that. They sure beat the crap out of each other, too, and in very compelling fashion, at that! ***3/4
Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA
My pick for the best match of the night. As you'd expect, every strike looks & sounds pretty damn hellacious, and the overall dynamic of KENTA doing most of the work on top while Goto fought from underneath worked extremely well, I thought. Both guys definitely delivered in their roles. ****
Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi
These two had the best NJPW match of 2019, and while this, their 2nd singles meeting, was nowhere near that level, it was still VERY good. Simple & true, pure heel vs. pure babyface dynamic that works -- White was very good w/ his work on top & Ibushi was Ibushi; he took some mad bumps (unsurprisingly) & of course delivered on the offense. Will always love him entering THE ZONE. The highlight of the entire match was when he did that here & just straight up bullied young Switchblade. ***3/4
Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
A rock-solid match between two veterans. Both guys have some presence for sure, and most of the match it was fun watching them play off of their charisma & personalities. ***
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito
Wasn't feeling the first 10 to 15 minutes or so, but once the shit got going, it sure GOT GOING. Okada being a dick w/ his facial expressions & going after Naito's worked over knee was all kinds of awesome, and it made Naito's big nearfalls feel all the more bigger. On the same level as their previous Dome main event. ***3/4
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