A terrific three-quarters of a match, with some minor issues during the home stretch. Takehiro Murahama is having one of the better debut years in recent memory, and up against Black Buffalo, you have a neat dynamic of the babyfaced shooter against the gruff brawler trying to take it to the mat. First and foremost, Murahama’s tights are incredible – peak 90’s aesthetic circa 2000. Buffalo’s takedowns aren’t pretty but they’re effective as he takes more of a smothering approach on the canvas. Murahama’s still able to sneak out a leglock through Buffalo’s aggression and when he’s back on his feet, he pops Buffalo with a kick to the hamstring, to which Buffalo smartly rolls away from Murahama. Murahama’s spunky on the mat, running through a number of holds almost as a routine (see above) before settling on an armbar. I loved his leglock counter to the hip toss. Buffalo doesn’t hold back with the open hands and short-arm lariats, and of course, he brings the chair into play. At one point, he’s standing on Murahama’s head while he’s on the ropes and then drops a leg across the back of his neck onto the ropes. Nasty. Just as Murahama starts heating back up, he kicks the ring post, which leads to Buffalo targeting the leg with a chair and figure-four leglocks. Good in-the-moment selling from Murahama but once he pops back up to his feet and starts flinging kicks at Buffalo, he blows off the legwork and then it’s business as usual as they run through their offense to what seemed like a botched finish. A bit of a jarring transition but still, a real good match worth checking out.
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