Hamada vs Kurihara (16:35)
http://youtu.be/h27lDJh9A4E pt1
http://youtu.be/Ln7VBDZdYQA pt2
http://youtu.be/YqCihtrboI8 pt3
Here is another that i wanted to draft in the all time but couldnt. This is one of my favourite modern SHIMMER matches which happened last year. The backstory is that Hamada is the older generation trained by Aja Kong and really one of the few Japanese women to really break out in the rest of the world with a few really brutal matches against Amazing Kong worth trying to find (which i couldnt when looking for some reason but i know they are out there) and she is facing Kurihara, one of the real up and coming stars of this generation who thanks to SHIMMER is starting to break out in America too. The two hadnt faced each other in singles competition in 3 years which in terms of Kurihara's career is a lifetime (she is 27 now).
The match was very much in the Joshi style, they really go at it basically beating each other almost shoot style and they really emphasise both the hard hitting but also the ability to take hits just as male wrestlers do. These are certainly not the bella twins putting on a 2minute clothesline, clothesline, tag, hair throw finisher match. They tell a very very clear story, its paced really well and its clear not only is Hamada truly the master as she leads the match but that Kurihara is a huge star getting ready to break out within the niche that womens wrestling unfortunately is.
Its not been released yet but in a volume that was filmed in the back end of 2011 after this match the two of them formed a tag team off the back of their performances in this match with Hamada being shown as really impressed and they went on to win the SHIMMER tag team title - which for context is ridiculously valuable compared to womens titles in TNA and WWE. I suspect they will be really huge within the niche as they seem to be set to hold that title for a couple years defending it all over the world as between the Canadian NINJAs and them the title was put on two paper champion teams (in terms of SHIMMER, which means a title reign of 6 months, lol).
Last edited by [Phill]; 02-23-2012 at 01:03 PM.