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| Photo Credit: Gregory Davis/DDS |
As one SHIMMER stalwart in Madison Eagles makes her return to the company next week at WrestleCon, another will be making her final appearance. Former Tag Team Champion and joshi favorite Ayumi Kurihara will be retiring from professional wrestling on August 4th with a final match and retirement show at Korauken Hall. She will be unable to make the next weekend of tapings in Berwyn, so her final SHIMMER appearance will be at WrestleCon for Vol. 53. Kurihara is retiring because of nagging injuries that she didn't properly recover from.
Speaking as a fan, I'm bummed by this announcement. Kurihara was always a bright spot on SHIMMER DVDs I'd purchase, and her run of Tag Title defenses with Ayako Hamada on Vols. 45-48 was nothing short of goddamn outstanding. But as a person, man, if she's too hurt to compete, I'm glad she's hanging them up now instead of continuing on into a path that would put her into a wheelchair when she was in her 40s or 50s. As with any wrestling retirement, this is bittersweet, but hey, at least we get one more show.