[2002-01-25-JWP] Azumi Hyuga vs Tsubasa Kuragaki

[Jetlag]

This was a good match that could have been a lot better. First of all, Kuragaki rules on offense. Her flippy shit looks really graceful, and she was just launching Hyuga around with her power moves and lariats. Those back suplexes were all kind of crazy. Hyuga did a really good job working as the ace and preventing Kuragaki from attacking her bandaged leg, including just stomping on her face when she went for a kneebar. I also dig the out of nowhere knee attacks. On the other hand there were some awkward/blown spots and I disliked Hyuga's lazy no selling transitions during the finishing stretch. Kuragaki hit a brutal shoot headbutt, and Hyuga would act unphased and just continue her offense. This had a really good layout opening with some nice matwork and the leg story, so it has that going for it.

[ohtani's jacket]

This was really good. Actually, I think this was the best Hyuga performance I've seen from 2002. I love Ran Yu Yu, but Kuragaki was a better match up. I didn't expect Kuragaki's offense to be so good. Never judge a worker by their appearance, or their ugly ass tights. She could do elaborate flip sequences and throw killer suplexes, in the same breath. There were some iffy transitions, and I didn't like the way Hyuga sold the suplexes, but it was a strong fight. I dug the submission at the end, but after the effort she put in, Kuragaki deserved a more spectacular downfall. Still, an excellent fight considering they wrestled in front of maybe 50 people.