Tsubasa Kuragaki

Tsubasa Kuragaki
Kuragaki in August 2010
Birth nameYasuko Kuragaki[1][2]
Born (1975-12-07) December 7, 1975 (age 48)[1][2]
Kamagaya, Chiba[1][2][3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kuragaki Santa[4]
Tsubasa Haruyama[5]
Tsubasa Kuragaki[1]
Tsubasa Santa[6]
Yasuko Kuragaki[1]
Billed height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)[1][2]
Billed weight67 kg (148 lb)[1]
DebutJanuary 8, 1995[1][2]

Yasuko Kuragaki (倉垣　靖子, Kuragaki Yasuko, born December 7, 1975)[1][2] is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name Tsubasa Kuragaki (倉垣 翼, Kuragaki Tsubasa). For most of her career, Kuragaki has worked for JWP Joshi Puroresu, becoming a one-time JWP Junior and two-time JWP Openweight Champion as a singles wrestler. As a tag team wrestler, she is best known as one half of the "Harukura" tag team with Kayoko Haruyama, with whom she has held the Daily Sports Women's and JWP Tag Team Championships three times each. She quit JWP in October 2013 to become a freelancer. She is currently working most notably for Oz Academy, where she is a former one-time Oz Academy Openweight Champion and a one-time Oz Academy Tag Team Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Kuragaki was trained in professional wrestling at the JWP Joshi Puroresu dojo, where she trained alongside the likes of Azumi Hyuga, Carlos Amano, Kana Misaki and Ran Yu-Yu.[1] She made her debut under her real name on January 8, 1995, facing Tomomi Kobayashi at Korakuen Hall.[1] However, Kuragaki ended up quitting JWP and retiring from professional wrestling later that same year.[1] Kuragaki eventually returned to the ring and JWP on October 21, 1998, when she teamed with Kayoko Haruyama in a tag team match, where they faced Erika Watanabe and Tomiko Sai.[1] Kuragaki quickly started a rivalry with Haruyama over the JWP Junior Championship and eventually won it from her in September 2000.[7] Kuragaki remained with JWP for four years, before quitting the promotion and becoming a freelancer, adopting the ring name Tsubasa Kuragaki in the process.[1] She, however, returned to the promotion in 2003 and in December 2004 won the JWP Tag Team Championship for the first time, teaming with Akino.[1] The following September, Kuragaki defeated Azumi Hyuga to win JWP's top title, the JWP Openweight Championship for the first time.[1] During 2005, Kuragaki also won NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling's NEO Single and NWA Women's Pacific Championships.[8]

Following her Openweight Championship reign, Kuragaki formed the Harukura tag team with Kayoko Haruyama, with the two becoming multi-time JWP Tag Team Champions and the first-ever Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Champions together during the next years.[1] In early December 2011, Kuragaki made her American debut, when she took part in the three-day JoshiMania weekend, held by the Chikara promotion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[9][10][11] On December 23, 2011, Kuragaki defeated Hailey Hatred to regain the JWP Openweight Championship.[12] After a four-month reign, she lost the title to Haruyama.[13] In early 2012, Kuragaki began making regular appearances for the Oz Academy promotion, where she is one of the few wrestlers not representing any of the promotion's stables.[2] Kuragaki returned to Chikara in September 2012 to take part in the 2012 King of Trios in Easton, Pennsylvania. Kuragaki, Command Bolshoi and Kaori Yoneyama, representing JWP, made it to the second round of the tournament, before being eliminated by F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor, Icarus and Johnny Gargano).[14][15][16] In January 2013, Harukura started their third as both the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team and JWP Tag Team Champions with a win over the team of Arisa Nakajima and Command Bolshoi.[17] After a seven-month reign, they lost the titles to Heart Move (Hanako Nakamori and Morii).[18] On August 22, 2013, Kuragaki announced that she would be going freelance following October 14.[19][20][21] Kuragaki was defeated by Haruyama in her final match as a JWP wrestler.[22][23]

On August 10, 2014, Kuragaki made her debut for World Wonder Ring Stardom, teaming with Hatsuhinode Kamen and Kaori Yoneyama to defeat the Tawashis (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Mayu Iwatani and Miho Wakizawa) for the Artist of Stardom Championship.[24] On October 13, Kuragaki defeated Akino to win the Oz Academy Openweight Championship for the first time.[25][26] She lost the title back to Akino in her third defense on May 17, 2015.[27][28] On September 13, Kuragaki returned to JWP, reforming her tag team with Haruyama, who had recently announced her retirement from professional wrestling.[29] In October, Kuragaki and Haruyama made it to the finals of Pro Wrestling Wave's 2015 Dual Shock Wave tournament, contested for the Wave Tag Team Championship, but were defeated there by Ayako Hamada and Yuu Yamagata.[30] On December 13, Kuragaki and Kaori Yoneyama defeated Kagetsu and Kaho Kobayashi to win the Oz Academy Tag Team Championship.[31] On December 27, Kuragaki made another return to JWP to take part in her longtime tag team partner Kayoko Haruyama's retirement match, where Haruyama defeated Kuragaki.[32] On September 11, 2016, Kuragaki and Yoneyama lost the Oz Academy Tag Team Championship to Hikaru Shida and Syuri.[33] On April 2, 2017, Kuragaki returned to JWP to take part in the promotion's final event. In the main event, Kuragaki unsuccessfully challenged Hanako Nakamori for the JWP Openweight Championship in what marked the final match contested for the title.[34][35]

Championships and accomplishments

Kuragaki as one half of the Oz Academy Tag Team Champions in May 2016

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 倉垣翼. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. January 1, 2011. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 倉垣翼. Oz Academy (in Japanese). January 1, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  3. ^ "Tsubasa Kuragaki". Chikara. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  4. ^ (結果)12月23日（日）ＪＷＰ道場マッチ. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. December 24, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  5. ^ (結果)3月9日（日）ＪＷＰ道場マッチ. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  6. ^ "(結果)12月23日（水・祝）JWP道場マッチ". JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. December 24, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  7. ^ "JWP Junior Title". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c ＮＷＡ認定女子パシフィック＆ＮＥＯ認定シングル選手権. NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 13, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  9. ^ Martin, Adam (December 3, 2011). "12/2 Chikara JoshiMania Night #1 results". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on December 6, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Martin, Adam (December 4, 2011). "12/3 Chikara JoshiMania Night #2 results". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on December 6, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  11. ^ Radican, Sean (January 6, 2012). "Radican's Chikara DVD Review Series: "JoshiMania: Night 3" 12/4 - Del Rey vs. Hamada, Ozaki vs. Yoneyma, Toyota-Kong six-person tag". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  12. ^ (結果)１２月２３日（金）東京・後楽園ホール. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. December 24, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  13. ^ (結果)4月22日（日） 後楽園ホール 12時. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. April 23, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  14. ^ Namako, Jason (September 15, 2012). "9/15 Chikara "King of Trios: Night 2" Results: Easton, PA". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  15. ^ Meltzer, Dave (September 16, 2012). "Sun update: Previewing tonight's PPV, Tonight's announcers, Ticket sales, Lawler, Sytch, Lazenby must-read article, TUF in U.K., Edits on WWE show, King of Trios, Best decade for wrestling". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  16. ^ Radican, Sean (October 27, 2012). "Radican's Chikara DVD Review Series: "King of Trios 2012 Night Two" 9/15 - Team ROH vs. Extreme Trio, Kingston vs. Tadasuke". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  17. ^ (結果)１月６日（日）板橋グリーンホール. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. January 7, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  18. ^ (結果)８月１８日（日）後楽園ホール. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  19. ^ 倉垣が退団発表、勝が華名の王座に挑戦／ＪＷＰ記者会見. Ringstars (in Japanese). Ameba. August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  20. ^ 倉垣翼退団のお知らせ. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  21. ^ 倉垣翼が１０月にＪＷＰ退団へ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  22. ^ 2013.10.14 新宿Face 試合. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  23. ^ 【結果】ＪＷＰ10・14新宿. Ringstars (in Japanese). Ameba. October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  24. ^ a b 2014年8月10日 Stardom × Stardom2014. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). August 10, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  25. ^ 【結果】Ozアカデミー10・13後楽園. Ringstars (in Japanese). Ameba. October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  26. ^ a b 2014/10/13(月) 12:00～ 「 No Answer 」. Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  27. ^ 2015/05/17(日) 18:00～ 「 Reincarnation 」. Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  28. ^ 【結果】Ozアカデミー5・17新宿. Ringstars (in Japanese). Ameba. May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  29. ^ 【レポート】9月13日（日）板橋グリーンホール17時「リキャプチャ」. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). September 15, 2015. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  30. ^ "Rt 10-Happy Halloween Wave". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  31. ^ a b 2015/12/13(日) 12:00～ Oz 2015年最終興行「 Loaded 」. Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  32. ^ 【試合結果】１２月２７日（日）後楽園ホール 12:00. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). December 27, 2015. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  33. ^ "2016/09/11（日) 12:00～ 「～The Dynamite～」". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  34. ^ ＪＷＰが２５周年大会で日本最古の歴史に幕 Ｃ鈴木、Ｄ関西、福岡晶らＯＧ集結. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  35. ^ 「ＪＷＰ」２５年の歴史に幕 尾崎魔弓らＯＧも別れ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  36. ^ (結果)3月6日（日）東京キネマ倶楽部. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. March 6, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  37. ^ (結果)８月１４日（日）東京キネマ倶楽部. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. August 15, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  38. ^ 2007年ＪＷＰ各賞受賞者. JWP Joshi Puroresu (in Japanese). FC2. December 29, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  39. ^ "Osaka Pro-Wrestling Results: 2002". Purolove (in German). Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  40. ^ "Best Wizard". Oz Academy (in Japanese). Ameba. January 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2015.