Koji Kanemoto vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW, 5/27/00)

This ruled. Stiff strikes, focused legwork from Kanemoto with some uncharacteristically great selling from Takaiwa, neat little nuances here and there, and a few bombs for good measure. Even with a couple of minutes missing, we got the complete story. Kanemoto promptly shotguns him with a kick to the left leg and Takaiwa sells hard for it, before he starts trying to clobber his way to the driver's seat. The lariats into the guardrail were great but then he gets caught with the overhead suplex on the floor and Kanemoto goes to town on the leg. Fun stuff like Takaiwa grabbing the ref's shirt while in the figure-four or Kanemoto backhanding him in the face after he drops down with the spinning toehold. I love that when Takaiwa tries for his own figure-four, it's immediately reversed and he's put on the rocks. Then Kanemoto pulls off the knee pad and starts punching the bandaged knee. Takaiwa is able to work around the bum knee and throw some bombs, including a sweet Death Valley Bomb hold off a tiger suplex attempt. His double powerbomb is obviously weakened because of the leg and he knows it so he pulls Kanemoto up instead of pinning him and clubs him with a lariat. The finish was cool, too, with Kanemoto rolling through his own frankensteiner into an ankle hold to submit Takaiwa. Everything I want out of a sub-15:00 junior heavyweight match.