I am asked all the time by fans who fondly remember FMW hardcore joshi matches from the 90s who don't really follow joshi puroresu if those kind of matches are still done in Japan. For the most part, the answer is no. A few years back, Kyoko Kimura got a rep for doing hardcore matches. She doesn't do them anymore. Yumiko Hotta does them once in a blue moon. The only wrestler who does hardcore street fights regularly is OZ Academy owner Mayumi Ozaki. This match is from the Apr. 24 Korakuen Hall OZ Academy show. The set up is that Ayumi Kurihara is tired of getting the crap beat out of her by Ozaki and The Ozaki Army. So she challenges Ozaki to a street fight. With Ayumi retiring in August, I guess this was a match on her bucket list. Of course there are the usual weapons like chairs, chains and barbed wire boards. Ozaki even has an umbrella. And there is also The Ozaki Army of Police, Mika Nishio, Yumi Ohka and Mio Shirai. Kurihara brings her own army of Manami Toyota, AKINO, Dynamite Kansai and Sonoko Kato. Typically, Kurihara gets clobbered and bleeds. I thought Ozaki would take Kurihara to the Korakuen Hall balcony but she actually takes her downstairs into a hallway. Kurihara gets her revenge but the attraction of this match is watching someone like Kurihara who doesn't usually do these kind of matches. Ozaki usually wins these matches. There's another match video on Daily Motion of Ozaki initiating Ice Ribbon actress turned wrestler Hikaru Shida into her hardcore world that is typical. In this one, Ozaki gets the upper hand when she spits Kurihara's face with red mist a la The Great Muta. But then Police hits Ozaki by mistake and Kurihara spits blue mist in Ozaki's face. I thought that was a nice touch. And then Kurihara wins. As tends to happen when a Police mistake costs Ozaki a match, they show her beating him up backstage. I'm not a big hardcore match fan. But I don't mind it once in a while and this one is very entertaining. Enjoy the video!
04. Ayumi Kurihara vs Mayumi Ozaki - (OZ 04/24/13) by SenorLARIATO
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