[2017-04-29-NJPW] Tetsuya Naito vs Juice Robinson

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Impressive performance by Juice in his first big time real main event opportunity. He looked very good & his selling of the leg was very strong throughout the whole match - I was actually afraid he would totally no sell it when Naito started to attack it right away, but he sold it really well from start to finish. ***3/4

[KawadaSmile]

Juice's selling of the leg was very good throughout the whole match. His comebacks also never felt forced, nor they overstayed their welcome.

 

His two big spots looked downright murderous - the avalanche powerbomb and the apron spinebuster, that is - and they were a nice balance for someone who had limited mobility.

 

*** 3/4 feels right. Juice's year is turning out to be very fucking great, really.

[soup23]

We have consensus on this one. Naito's attack on Juice's leg was well done and varied and Juice sold it throughout. Juice really throws himself into his big moves and makes those really pop with impact. Basic spots like his senton into the corner have extra pop with the way Juice recklessly goes in. This had just a smidge too much slop for me to call it great but it was still the best match of Juice's life up to this point. ***3/4

[superkix]

Yeah, this felt like a really solid TV show main event. Juice looks/acts like a dweeb, so it's hard for me to take him too seriously, but he plays a good, wild-eyed babyface with fiery comebacks. His offense was the most impactful I've seen from him but he also had a great dance partner in Naito, who played the pooper to Juice's party, exploiting the injured leg whenever he could. I love Naito's nonchalant legwork and Juice does a good job selling it -- that leg clip spot looked especially nasty. I liked the finish too, with Naito having Juice's finisher scouted and thwarting each attempt. The best Juice Robinson match yet.

[puropotsy]

I thought Juice did a good job on working underneath but thought he should have taken more of the match to come off as a credible contender. I enjoyed Naito's leg submission work and Juice sold it well. ***1/2