[2001-02-12-ARSION] Ayako Hamada vs Azumi Hyuga

[ohtani's jacket]

This was a decent match but I wanted to see more of a statement from Hamada. You can tell while watching this how much easier it is to play the challenger role. Hyuga had a good match but she was wrestling the match she always wrestles because its a role she's been in for years. Hamada hadn't learned how to transition into the champion role yet. It's a hard thing to do and makes you appreciate all of the great champions in pro-wrestling. She worked hard and there was an element of the hunter becomes the hunted in the match layout but she was a bit too desperate and bit too relieved to get the final pin, so it was hard to have confidence in her as one of the new pillars of Joshi pro-wrestling. There were similar criticisms of Meiko Satomura at the time so perhaps Hamada's growing pains shouldn't come as a surprise.