[2000-01-04-Osaka Pro] Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Takehiro Murahama

[soup23]

This is Murahama's debut and that is pretty astounding. This didn't have the pace or intensity of his stuff a few months later, but as an intro to what he can bring to the table and the shoot style of the Osaka Pro matches overall, this was a good intro. Murahama is able to show how slowly but surely he was able to find openings and overwhelm Hoshikawa on his way to picking up the victory. *** (6.1 )

[Loss]

Well, this was a hell of a debut match for a wrestler. Maybe the GOAT debut match in wrestling history. To be fair, a lot of that can be credited to the gimmick, and this much grappling, kickpads, and gloves is always going to win over my heart a little, especially when it's executed so well. But I really liked how this built to the big moments so well, especially Murahama's first real strike that knocked Hoshikawa loopy, along with Murahama's failed attempt at a German, which Hoshikawa quickly responded to in his only really strong moment of the match. More than that, this was terrific at getting over Murahama as a force without squashing Hoshikawa -- he won, but not in a way where he comes across as a booker's pet or anything like that. The match was still competitive, and he still had to fight and earn that victory. Murahama has pretty unquestionably had the best rookie year I've ever seen in pro wrestling, right out of the gate. ****

[Zero]

Loss summed it up pretty great. I loved this, what a kickoff to Murahama's career. I loved the moment where he celebrated his backdrop, just for Hoshikawa's to pop up and hit a nice german on him.

[superkix]

What a trip seeing Matsui in there officiating. As far as debut matches go, I can’t think one much better than this. The progression of heated strikes from round to round was done really well, and while there were a couple of muddled exchanges, Murahama looks like a natural. The first round had some love taps but they really unload in the second round, with Murahama taking out Hoshikawa with a right hook and dumping him with a backdrop suplex. Like Zero mentioned, Hoshikawa sneaking in there with an immediate German suplex retaliation was awesome. Murahama looked really strong there in the end, pummeling Hoshikawa down and out. Can't wait to see this series play out.

[Edwin]

This was a different style fight and Murahama looks like he's coming for a Shoot boxing match with the long tights, the shin guards and the boxing gloves. A lot of the exchanges are also similar to what a less technical fixed Shoot boxing match would look like with the strike exchanges and throws.

 

The throws in the second round were on point -- Murahama's suplex seemed like a throw straight out of a Shoot boxing fight at Korakuen Hall. Hoshikawa grounding Murahama who's an experienced kickboxer with boxing gloves was smart as Murahama would struggle to grapple due to the boxing gloves and he would have to rely solely on rope breaks which would cost him a point in each round.

 

You can tell Murahama was holding back on his strikes, but it was still an excellent flurry and a neat finish.

 

***1/4

[Matt Franklin]

Yeah this was a great showing by Murahama. His hand speed was awesome and he moved around the ring with poise beyong his years. The whole sequence inthe second round from the straight right that knocked Hoshikawa down, to the side suplex that was immediately met with a sick released german by Hoshikawa and then a brutal high kick was so freaking cool. The finish was definitive, while not making Hoshikawa look weak Murahama was just an offensive whirlwind that couldnt be stopped. His celebration showed great passion and felt like a big deal.

 

Reading some of the reviews, I cant wait to see Murahama progress through 2000.

***1/2

[jiraffejustin]

From the get go I could tell that I was going to be into this. Murahama, apparently in his first match, looks like my favorite dude in the first four days of the year. I like the idea of him striking in bunches, but not necessarily putting all his power in his punches a la Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Just keeping touching the opponent until he wears down, then start unloading a little more. Also, leg kicks. One of my favorite things in all of combat sports is leg kicks. So, when people throw leg kicks, I am just going to enjoy it all the more for it. The story of Murahama making his debut and being a whirling dervish of kicks and punches is great, so it's even better in the match when he drops Hoshikawa and immediately celebrates as if he had been practicing that and couldn't wait to pull it off in a match. Then he is taught a lesson, he's a rookie,and rookies make rookie mistakes. He paid for with a nice German suplex. He's taken down a few times in the match and has enough defense to not let any kind of submission happen, knowing he'd be stood back up so he could do more damage. This felt like I was watching a young stud figuring things out as he went along. I really enjoyed it.

[klhare]

Cool debut match. You'd never really know that Murahama was a rookie, let alone in his first match, by watching. He unloaded some great strikes. I also really liked the prematch video, too. Excited to see more

 

***1/2

[ohtani's jacket]

 

So, the Osaka Pro run began here. It's a shame it lasted for only 11 months but it became one of my favourite promotional runs of all-time. Different style matches like this one were a huge part of the promotion's appeal -- the ability to blend lucha, shoot boxing and traditional pro-wrestling all on the same show and sometimes in the same match. They did hybrid wrestling better than BattlARTs and any promotion that's tried. Murahama was still working his shoot boxer gimmick here and would become more of a junior as the year wore on. I wouldn't call it this the best debut in wrestling history as it was worked under special rules. Rules that favored Murahama's background, And there was nowhere near as much work involved as there would be in a regular pro-wrestling match s it only lasted three rounds and mainly featured striking. Perhaps a more useful comparison would be shoot style debuts. Regardless of where it ranks, it was a good match and kickstarted one of the better things in 2000 wrestling: the rise of Osaka Pro-Wrestling.