Ayumi Kurihara

Infobox Wrestler
name= Ayumi Kurihara
names=Ayumi Kurihara
height=5'5" (164 cm)
weight=126 lbs (57 kg)
birth_date=Birth date and age|1984|7|13|mf=y
birth_place =Tokyo, Japan
trainer=Mariko Yoshida,
AKINO,
Michiko Ohmukai,
GAMI
debut=April 24, 2005|

Nihongo|Ayumi Kurihara|栗原 あゆみ|Kurihara Ayumi is a " joshi puroresu " wrestler who grew up around pro wrestling. Her parent's Tokyo yakiniku (焼肉) barbecue restaurant, ""The Three Treasures of Buddha"" (三宝) 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.

Career

Ayumi entered training with the women's pro wrestling promotion AtoZ and then transferred to 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-person 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 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.

On July 16, 2007 at the Pro Wrestling NEO "Summer Stampede '07" show in Korakuen Hall, while teaming alongside Shu Shibutani versus Aoi Kizuki and Nagisa Nozaki, Ayumi broke her clavicle receiving a hard "flying clothesline" by Kizuki. Ayumi finished the match, hitting three more "missile dropkicks" before scoring the pinfall. This injury caused her to miss the remainder of July and all of August 2007.

Presently, Kurihara is still out from her injury last summer. She came back to compete in the main event tag match in Ohmukai's retirement show, but reaggrivated her injury. She underwent surgery to repair and strengthen her collarbone and has been given the okay to resume light training.

Finishing/Signature Moves

Exploder suplex

Dropkick

Missile Dropkick

Uranage

Crucifix armbar

Fujiwara armbar

Boston crab

Entrance Music

"希望峰" ("Kibouhou") by Strawberry JAM

Accomplishments and Milestones

*M's Style (4/24/05):* Wrestling Debut - 1st Pinfall Victory of Career - In a "1 Day Tournament" Kurihara had her pro debut and defeated GAMI in her debut match in 9:08 when she reversed a pin attempt into a roll-up. She then lost her following tournament match in 6:54 when Toshie Uematsu beat her with a flying body press.

*THE WOMAN/M's Style (9/29/06):*Second Pinfall Victory of Career - At the joint THE WOMAN/M's STYLE "SHUFFLE" show on September 29,2006 at Tokyo Shin Kiba 1st Ring. Michiko Ohmukai & Ayumi Kurihara defeated Ayako Hamada & Cherry (13:44) when Kurihara pinned Cherry with a unrinage.
*NEO 4th Jr. All Stars (12/31/06):* Best Bout of the Night - At the Pro Wrestling NEO produced 4th Junior All Stars - "The Dream & Future" show on December 31, 2006 in Tokyo Korakuen Hall, the Ayumi Kurihara vs. Shu Shibutani match received the honor of Best Bout. Both Kurihara and Shibutani were presented with trophies for their victory.

External links

* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/ayumi-kurihara/ Ayumi Kurhara's Official Website] site is in Japanese
* [http://www.alfoo.org/diary2/kuriayu/ Ayumi Kurhara's blog] is in Japanese