[2000-03-25-Osaka Pro] Takehiro Murahama vs Naohiro Hoshikawa

[Loss]

Well, this definitely came out of nowhere and blew me away. The story here is that Murahama is an outsider in Osaka Pro, pushed as a shooter in a pro wrestling world (I'm guessing it's a minor league attempt to copy Hashimoto-Ogawa), and this is a match on the road to Delphin-Murahama, which comes this summer. The match is fought on Murahama's terms -- in rounds, in something that vaguely resembles shoot style but that I wouldn't quite label that way. It borrows from it liberally, but it's even more of a smorgasbord than BattlARTS. They rip off the technique from UWFI and RINGS, but they rip off the dramatic aspects from pro wrestling. Now, RINGS and UWFI did that too -- through and through, in fact -- but the difference is that this match makes zero attempt to be covert about what it's doing. These aren't guys trying to convince you that what they are doing is real so much as it is guys putting on a hell of a performance. I don't quite know how to describe it, but I do know we'll see more of Murahama and I'm curious where exactly his style will take him. He wears boxing gloves and throws rapid fire punches, and Hoshikawa stays with him stylistically, but we also see things mixed in like the Otani-style comeback when he thinks he's won a match and hasn't. I guess it's kind of a match that goes full blown cafeteria wrestling, taking what it wants from every style, and leaving the rest. A 15-minute jaw dropper in so many ways -- technically, Murahama is phenomenal, but he is also better at using the goofy-but-generally-accepted aspects of dramatic pro wrestling than most guys who don't even have shooter gimmicks. Pretty close to a masterpiece here, and something that really broke the mold. ****3/4

[WingedEagle]

Always incredible to see something unheralded receive such acclaim like this. Very much looking forward to catching up on all of my chronological viewings and see what happens here.

[soup23]

Damn, glad I didn't go ahead and read the thread beforehand. I thought this was tremendous also although not quite at the level of Charles. Still this was all action for 15 minutes and never let up. I did think the little things that prevented me from having it at MOTYC level and with the absolute top tier of shoot style matches was that Murahama was still trying to find himself ever so slightly. Still, I can't wait for his upcoming matches as this adds the wrinkle to Osaka Pro that makes it instantly one of the most exciting promotions we cover. The teased finish from the cross arm breaker in the waning moments of this match is one of the better false shoot style submission finishes I have ever seen. Incredible find here. ****1/4

[paul sosnowski]

I was looking for this match online and can't find it anywhere. Is there a link?

[El-P]

Always incredible to see something unheralded receive such acclaim like this.

 

Not to play the "old fucker" gimmick again, but really, that match was talked about when it happened back in 2000 in the little circles of Japanese indy sleaze fans. Glad to see this stuff being dug up, but this is not something that flew under the radar back then.

[WingedEagle]

 

Always incredible to see something unheralded receive such acclaim like this.

 

Not to play the "old fucker" gimmick again, but really, that match was talked about when it happened back in 2000 in the little circles of Japanese indy sleaze fans. Glad to see this stuff being dug up, but this is not something that flew under the radar back then.

 

 

I don't doubt it. My world then was exclusively domestic TV and the Observer and doubt there's any way it would've popped up on my radar -- limited as it may have been.

[Microstatistics]

Lovely match. Great matwork, super intense and dramatic stand-up strike exchanges and awesome character based storytelling. Murahama comes in as the cocky yet tenacious shooter and never loses that edge even when Naohiro's size and strength advantage has him in trouble for significant periods of time, and that ends up being the deciding factor.

[AstroBoy]

Holy shit this was wild.

 

These guys were really laying into each other. The way it built to the moment with Hoshikawa finally ripping Murahama from the ropes and slowly but surely planting him with the German Suplex was pure mastery and that led directly into the amazing cross armbreaker near submission. Murahama has been vicious and cocky the entire match and it gives the moment of him almost succumbing such weight and drama.

 

Final round sees both guys throwing the kitchen sink at each other and they really do not hold back at all. Briefly it looks like Hoshikawa will hulk up but one more toe to toe showdown leads to his knockout and I am instantly hooked to see what comes next from Murahama and his run in Osaka Pro. Really glad I took the time to check this out.

 

****1/4 maybe leaning up a bit. Excellent excellent match.

[Tim Evans]

It's crazy that this match happens in Osaka pro of all places. You would think it would happen in BattlARTS or one of the shoot style promotions. Anyways, this was really good. Lots of stiff shots and told a good story. Isn't Hoshikawa the guy that almost died from taking a bad bump?

[Robert S]

Isn't Hoshikawa the guy that almost died from taking a bad bump?

Hoshikawa suffered a severe brain injury in a cage match against Takaiwa in Zero-One. According to Wikipedia the injury was a sum of the cage match and multiple untreated concussions.

 

I have never heard of this match before. It is not surprising that it is very good considering Murahama was hyped as a super-rookie back then and Hoshikawa was a hugely underrated guy, but the extend of how much this ruled still surprised me. Though reading about the concussions makes me feel a bit bad considering how hard Murahama was laying it in here at the finish.

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a fun fight. It reminded me of Kingdom but there were also elements of UWF-i and the New Japan feud. Murahama was clearly dominant in the stand-up portions. Hoshikawa slowly figured out that he stood more of a chance by using his wrestling skills and there were some great near falls on the mat until the bell saved Murahama's bacon. He came out blazing in the 5th and deciding round and scored the knockout but both men looked good in the finish. Not the most polished or best shoot style you'll see but it ticked all the boxes in terms of excitement and drama.

[Jetlag]

This was less of a great shootstyle match and more of a great balls to the walls fight. I didn't notice any great mat work and the rounds seemed to be interrupting the flow a bit, but they knew when to throw down and how to use their charisma. The little prick heel superior striker vs. larger wrestler was a unique story and they used it to good effect. Murahama did these disdainful stomps, not breaking in the ropes, complaining about a foul. I'm mostly familiar with Hoshikawa as a mediocre BattlARTS guy, and while he looked good here it's hard not to see Murahama as a really great foil for him. Last two rounds were pretty great and Murahama's combos looked just amazing.

[Seabs]

I skimmed through the thread before watching this so I was prepared for something great quality wise but I wasn't prepared for this type of match. Starts off slow but it's never dull. It's always building and you can feel it building. Murahama throwing in the pro wrestling shtick really helped put this over the top. I agree that the timing of the rounds hurt the flow of the match a little but not to the point that I'd call it a fault. The final 2 rounds though were awesome. They did an awesome job of creating the magic of an epic stand and bang slugfest in MMA. I just wish that they'd gone a little longer with the stand and bang at the end because it was that type of magic that is so hard to create. Great match.

[drew wardlaw]

Whoa this was very strange tonally. As others have said, this wasnt quite shoot style but it was reminiscent of it. The setting being Osaka Pro makes this even more wonky but infinitely more interesting. If this had taken place in BattlArts I dont think it would have stood out as much. This reminds me a little bit of some of the Toba singles matches from DDT. I may need to watch this again to really collect my thoughts on it.

[superkix]

Murahama's a terrific little shitkicker, already showing so much fire and ego three months into his pro-wrestling career. He's so much more aggressive out of the gate and he doesn't hold back nearly as much as his debut match against Hoshikawa. The only real offense. The only real offense Hoshikawa's able to get in the first round is a series of freakout slaps to a grounded Murahama. The second and third rounds are mostly defensive, with some strikes exchanged and groundwork that doesn't go anywhere, but the fourth round really picks, with Hoshikawa looking to best Murahama on the mat. The German suplex off the ropes with Murahama struggling to hang on was awesome...and when Murahama delivers his own German, Hoshikawa is able to grab an arm upon impact, nearly scoring the submission before the round ends. Murahama's relentless in the final round and Hoshikawa definitely gets brutalized, despite getting a few shots in, before he goes down hard. Pretty awesome stuff.

[Edwin]

For us, this is round two between. Back in January they had a similar different style fight in what was Murahama's debut which was very good. This takes place two months later and it's far better than their previous match.

 

Murahama has found his spot on the Osaka Pro roster and he's decided he does not want to affiliate himself with the Osaka Pro Sekigun and he wants to do his own thing and let them battle the heels LOV. Hoshikawa decides he wants to step in and defend the honor of Osaka Pro and takes up the challenge.

 

In the stand up department, Murahama is clearly the better man as he has previous kickboxing experience and on the ground he's competent, but Hoshikawa has the upper hand. These guys exchange wildly on the feet where Murahama drops Hoshikawa and even opens him up and Hoshikawa gets a close false finish by also tapping out Murahama before he's saved by the bell.

 

Unbelievable stuff. Definite must watch MOTYC so far for the U.S. or Japanese indys.

 

****3/4

[Chess Knight]

Well holy shit this was pretty nuts. Murahama looks like he treats every exchange here like he’s shooting. He’s bouncing around at all times and throwing little jabs every approach. He’s got a great outsider energy to him and even a level of disrespectful attitude toward the early rounds when he ignores some rope breaks, babyfacing Hoshikawa in the process (to me anyway, who is unfamiliar with any of this). Hoshikawa later says fuck it I’m not breaking either and - likely because Murahama had his guard down expecting the break – delivered a hell of a couple of Germans. Murahama trying his own German only to have Hoshikawa ride the wave and latch onto the arm so he could get a keylock was badass as hell and it especially put over the theme of Hoshikawa knowing holds better. He did almost choke Murahama out a few times on the mat in earlier rounds to. The drama created by the keylock into the cross armbreaker was an incredible uptick and it sounded like the audience actually booed the round ending a bit, probably because they were sure Hoshikawa had it in the bag. The last round has Murahama showing he’s the quicker, more prolific striker and he just fucking WAILS on Hoshikawa and turns up the heat by stomping on him during a down count. I was slightly feeling like the rounds throughout the match were hurting the flow a little but I think it was worth it to get that last one. This really could have been a usual grappler vs. strike match but managed to something that felt unique and captivating.