Ayumi Kurihara To Retire

I mentioned Ayumi Kurihara several months ago in a post about Joshi wrestlers here in the US.
Since then (on Match 28th, 2013) she announced that due to all the injuries she has suffered during her career, she will be retiring from professional wrestling on August 4th.

It's sad but Ayumi has had a great career since she first debuted in 2005.
She has held world championship titles in promotions like Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Dramatic Dream Team, NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling, Oz Academy, Pro Wrestling Wave, Shimmer Women Athletes and Xtreme Latin American Wrestling.

Joshi Puroresu in the USA

You know a lot of us have always had to rely on YouTube and other internet sources to see joshi puroresu.
But thanks to Shimmer Women Athletes, ROH and Chikara, we are actually getting to see female Japanese wrestlers here in the US in action.

If you can make it to the Berwyn Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois (just outside Chicago), on Saturday and Sunday, March 26th and 27th, 2011 you'll get to see Ayako Hamada, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Misaki Ohata, Ayumi Kurihara and Tomoka Nakagawa
More info here: http://shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com/

If you can get to Ring of Honor's "Honor Takes Center Stage" on April 2nd, 2011 at the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, you will get to see Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ayumi Kurihara and Tomoka Nakagawa there as well.
More info here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/atlanta-ga-april-2nd/

And on April 15,16 and 17th, if you can get to The Asylum Arena in South Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, you'll get to see joshi legend Manami Toyota team up with Mike Quakenbush and Jigsaw at Chikara's King of Trios 2011 tournament.
More info here: http://www.chikarapro.com/events.php

I havent said anything about the tragedy in Japan here, but I have been praying for the people there.
I am also glad to hear that just about all the wrestlers I have spoken with in the past are okay.
The hard times arent over in Japan yet people.
If you can help out, here's the Red Cross website:
https://american.redcross.org/
And if you cant afford it (I know times are tough), there's no price tag on prayers, positive energy and well wishes.

Ayumi Kurihara Vs Mai Ichii - Japanese Wrestling

Here is a match between Mai Ichii and Ayumi Kurihara, posted on Veoh

Ayumi Kurihara was born on July 13th, 1984 in Tokyo, Japan and was trained by Mariko Yoshida, AKINO, Michiko Ohmukai and GAMI.
She made her pro wrestling debut on April 24, 2005 and has worked for wrestling promotions like AtoZ, M's Style, NEO, JWP, Jd', Ibuki and Pro Wrestling SUN.

Mai Ichii was born on March 21st, 1980 in Saitama, Japan.
Besides being a wrestler, she is a MMA fighter with a 4-4-0 record.

This match starts off with Ayumi taking the offensive with a series of drop kicks that some of which I swear look pretty "stiff" to me.

After pummeling the fool out of Mai, Ayumi straddles her and clamps on a camel clutch.

Mai manages to bite her way out of it....yes...bite.
Undaunted, Ayumi turns and clamps on a double toe hold which Mai tries to unsuccessfully bite her way out of.

Failing the biting escape, Mai makes the ropes and opens up with a few dropkicks of her own.
Getting Ayumi down, she goes for a leg lock which Ayumi reverses.

Mai escapes, there’s another flurry of moves and Ayumi comes out on top with a headlock.


Watch Ayumi Kurihara vs. Mai Ichii (2/3/06) in Sports | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Eight Woman Tag Team Match - Japanese Women Wrestling

Here is a eight woman tag team match posted by kapengmabula on YouTube.
It's Japanese women wrestlers Ayumi Kurihara, Mio Shirai, Io Shirai and Makoto taking on Mima Shimoda, Kyoko Kimura, Atsuko Emoto and Tomoka Nakagawa at a NEO event.

First we have a little video background leading up to the match, then Mima, Kyoko, Atsuko and Tomoka come to the ring already armed with folding chairs and chains.

Then Ayumi, Mio, Io and Makoto come in...unarmed.

The intros start but never finish as it immediately turns into what "Good Ole JR" would call a pier six brawl.

The action comes back into the ring and normalcy is restored for a moment and it looks like the match will go on like a normal contest.
But not for long...

Pretty soon everyone is back in the ring and going at it again.

Somewhat unusually.

Mima gets upset by a slow count....

...and finally a team turns on one of it's members.

You can see this video and more like it at kapengmabula's YouTube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/kapengmabula

Eight Woman Tag Team Match - Japanese Women Wrestling, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on September 26th, 2010

Kana wrestling Ayumi Kurihara

Here is a video posted by kapengmabula on YouTube of Kana taking on Ayumi Kurihara at Passion Red's "2PASSION" on May 3rd, 2009.
Although kapengmabula posted it, he gives credit to another well known name on this blog nagashimark, so it's still "all in the family".
If I understand correctly, Passion Red started off as a stable, but began to hold their own shows and joshi star Nanae Takahashi runs Passion Red.
And I also read that back in January, Kana left Passion Red and is now a freelancer and she will be heading up her own wrestling promotion, KANA PRO.
You can check out Puroresu Represetin' for more info on Kana.

Anyway, this is part one of a really great match that highlights the best in joshi.
It starts out with a brutal face off with chops, punches, slaps, forearms, then goes into some high flying, then they go to the mat for some MMA style submission grappling.

I tell you, Kana can get VERY innovative with punishment, as she puts poor Ayumi's legs through the wringer.

As part one ends though, it looks like Ayumi may be starting a comeback.

Like I said, this is just part one.
To see part two, you can go to kapengmabula's YouTube channel and see the end of this match and some more great action.



Kana wrestling Ayumi Kurihara, posted to http://joshipuroresu.blogspot.com/ on 4-9-2010

Ayumi Kurihara - Japanese Female Wrestling

Ring name(s) Ayumi Kurihara
Billed height 5'5" (164 cm)
Billed weight 126 lbs (57 kg)
Born July 13, 1984
Tokyo, Japan
Trained by Mariko Yoshida,,AKINO,,Michiko Ohmukai,,GAMI
Wrestling Debut April 24, 2005

Ayumi Kurihara is a joshi puroresu wrestler who grew up around pro wrestling, as her parent's Tokyo barbecue restaurant "The Three Treasures" was not only a place where wrestlers often ate, but is also a sponsor of pro wrestling events. Because of this involvement, Ayumi has had to work twice as hard training and in the ring to avoid the stigma of being a sponsor's daughter.

Ayumi played basketball in high school in Tokyo, and after high school went to work at her family's restaurant.

Ayumi entered training with the women's pro wrestling promotion M's Style, where she learned the craft from well-known Japanese female wrestlers Gami, Mariko Yoshida, AKINO, and Michiko Ohmukai. Ayumi debuted in 2005, at the age of 20. She is viewed as one of the future stars of joshi puroresu in Japan as she has a hunger and desire second to none in the younger class.

M's Style closed in the fall of 2006. The final match was a six-man tag match, pitting Tojuki LEON, Bullfight Sora and Ayumi against AKINO, Ohmukai and Yoshida. The younger generation won the match.

Since then, Ayumi has wrestled as a freelancer, in NEO, JWP, Jd', Ibuki and Pro Wrestling SUN.

Near the end of her tenure in M's Style, Ayumi incorporated a stronger finishing move to her moveset. Ohmukai was shown teaching her how to perform a uranage, which she then went on to use in a tag victory with Ohmukai against Ayako Hamada and Cherry.

In December of 2006, Ayumi wrestled Shuu Shibutani in a special show geared toward the upcoming generation of wrestlers. The fans voted the match the best of the night and both women received trophies.

Ayumi often hits numerous dropkicks during her matches, including missile dropkicks off the top turnbuckle. She's not afraid to hit hard and take hard hits, prompting American wrestler Steve Corino, who works for Pro Wrestling SUN and faced her in a mixed tag match, to call her "lil' Kawada girl." (Toshiaki Kawada is well known in Puroresu for his stiff strikes) This has led to Ayumi taking a beating from veterans like Nanae Takahashi and Dynamite Kansai in matches due to her hard-hitting work rate.