Takehiro Murahama had a pretty damn great debut year in 2000 Osaka Pro and by the following year, he's challenging dreamy New Japan junior ace, Minoru Tanaka, for the the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. This was a really good match and a culmination of everything Murahama had picked up on during his rookie year. For the most part, the early goings were evenly-matched, with both dudes utilizing some neat takedowns and submission workarounds. Minoru has his working boots laced tight for this, with a little extra salsa thrown into his kicks. At one point, they are both struggling over a leglock, slapping each other in the face, until Murahama smartens up, ducks, and tries to take control of the leg but Minoru ends up taking him to the ropes. And then he proceeds to throw him with an awesomely scary Saito suplex.
When Murahama gets back into the ring, he looks like he's about to lock up with Minoru and then suddenly pops him upside the head with a high kick. His submission work looked good here, as he works through a double wristlock into an armbar, which Minoru tries to finagle his way out of. The crowd was super into the nearfalls in the backhalf of the match, which included a sweet snap German suplex by Murahama and Minoru surprisingly busting himself open off repeated headbutts. In the end, Minoru dumps with a release German and taps him with the armbar to retain. A great showing from Murahama and an impressive performance from Minoru.
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