Marvelous (16/6/23) Review
Checkov's Wee Ladder, Watanabe Delivers A Lecture & Mio's Bleeding Again
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It’s been nearly a month since we last saw a Marvelous show, as, after a hectic first third of the year, they’ve slowed things down a tad. Not that the roster has been slacking off. During the down period, Mio and Takumi took a trip to Oz Academy, where they received the traditional Ozaki welcome, chains and all. Still, they’ve patched themselves up, and it’s time to return to the day job.
Maya Yukihi defeated Ai Houzan
As a fan of a rookie vs veteran match (and perhaps an even bigger one of Ai Houzan), the odds of me disliking this were long. Ai and Yukihi still looked to wrap that enjoyment up, though, throwing in a couple of lovely little touches that almost felt designed to appeal to me. First was Ai choosing to continue a tactic she and Chikayo Nagashima stumbled into on the last Marvelous show by going after Yukihi’s thigh. Back then, it helped Ai hold out to get a draw against Maya and Itsuki Aoki, so it made perfect sense that she’d return to it, especially when Yuki was so clearly unhappy for it to continue. She grew increasingly frustrated by this wee rookie slapping her exposed leg, eventually getting petty and resorting to returning the favour.
The second was the presence of Mio and Takumi at ringside, who were taking their role as Ai’s personal cheer section very seriously. It wasn’t just their voices they used to support Marvelous’s youngest generation either, as they spent some time making sure Tommy was distracted, giving Houzan longer to twist Yuki’s leg in the rope. It might not seem like the biggest deal, but there is something inherently likeable about a roster looking out for each other like that. Sure, it’s technically cheating, but it did nothing to dampen my support of Houzan.
When you throw in Yukihi being reliably good and selling Ai’s firey comeback brilliantly (in particular, the initial shrugging off of her strikes before being caught off-guard by a headbutt), this was great fun. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but if it’s good enough, that quickly stops being an issue.
Verdict: A Strong Opener
Leo Isaka defeated Naka Shuma
Naka Shuma is a 2AW wrestler who (according to Cagematch) has been around for a few years, but like most Leo opponents, I knew fuck all about him coming in. Still, he came out carrying a wee ladder, which was at least intriguing.
Sadly, this match then committed the cardinal sin of introducing Checkov’s wee ladder and never delivering on it. It’s not like it’s a normal thing to carry around, so I think I’m justified in expecting to see something come of it. However, I was left sorely disappointed, as, despite Shuma showing some signs of being a bit of a weirdo, it remained in its spot in the corner.
Those complaints aside, it was a decent match. I enjoyed some of Naka’s antics as he continually lured Leo in, only to poke him in the eyes, and came away impressed by the cool pop-up spin kick he hit. If anything, I would have liked to see him impart more of his personality on the match, as Leo tends to excel when confronted with things he’s not used to. Still, what we got was enjoyable enough and certainly not one of the lesser Leo outings.
Verdict: If You Introduce A Wee Ladder, You Should Really Use It
Itsuki Aoki & Unagi Sayaka defeated Tomoko Watanabe & Maria
Unagi is starting to stumble into the Miyacoco role of turning up in promotions and being, at best, treated with total indifference and, at worst, pure hate. Even when she’s on the same team as people, they tend not to be a fan, as she and Itsuki spent most of the early portion of this match sniping at each other. Eventually, Tomoko had enough, sitting them down and delivering a lecture on what I presume was the power of friendship. I like to imagine that as they used her teachings against her, she had a smile on her face.
And this is the role I want to see Unagi in. She’s done well in the big spots Marvelous have given her, but she’s an innately silly human, and watching her mess around is always fun. Plus, she still gets opportunities to play at being a ‘serious’ wrestler, trading blows with Maria and indulging in all that nonsense. It’s just that none of it is as good as the more out-there stuff.
Her interactions with Maria certainly weren’t as good as Itsuki’s, which took up the final act and saw them hitting a groove. It positioned Maria as the underdog, firing up to meet Aoki on the top rope and go after her arm in an attempt to set up for the big win. Sadly, she didn’t pull it off, but it was clear that Aoki was clinging on by the end, slipping out of Excalibur to bundle her up, and continuing the trend of Maria being on the cusp of breaking through but struggling to find what she needs to take the final step.
It all made for an enjoyable Marvelous mid-card tag. It’s not up with the best of these, which can be incredible, but everyone involved did an impressive job of shifting the tone from comedic to serious, and the homestretch was fantastic. I still think Maria could use picking up a few more wins, but you can’t have it all, can you?
Verdict: Nicely Handled
Mio Momono defeated Riko Kawahata
In the world of Marvelous, Mio Momono is the rightful AAAW champion. She’s earned that title ten times over, and no one is questioning that. Outside of Marvelous, that’s not quite the case. To the Aja Kongs and Mayumi Ozakis of the world, Takumi Iroha is the Ace, and Mio is an unproven nuisance holding a belt they helped create. Even Sareee mentioned Iroha but not Mio when talking about people she wanted to wrestle. Mio’s proven herself on one stage (and even in Marvelous, she won’t truly be at the top until she beats Takumi), but now she’s going out into the world and having to do it all over again on another.
All of which might seem like a slightly random introduction to this match, but this was Mio returning to her home turf and relishing being the boss again. Early on, there was a cockiness to how she went after Riko, hitting hard and no-selling one of her kicks by kipping straight back up again. Even when Kawahata fought her way into the action, there was never a sense that Momono was in trouble. That isn’t to say she ate Riko up, but you always believed the champ had another gear. Kawahata is talented, and she gave a good impression of herself in defeat, but she’s not on Mio’s level.
When you combine that with the incredibly badass moment towards the end where Mio’s cut (courtesy of Ozaki) opened up again, causing blood to start pouring down her face as she pinned Kawahata, this was a cracking wee match. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sending your champ out to get a dominant win over a talented young wrestler, and with these two having a lot of brilliance between them, the result never being in doubt wasn’t going to stop it from being worth a watch. However, if they ever are giving permission to have a straight banger, I suspect it would make this match feel unwatchable in comparison.
Verdict: Mio Asserts Her Dominance
Takumi Iroha & Chikayo Nagashima defeated Miyuki Takase & Ayame Sasamura
It’s been a while since Miyuki Takase was in Marvelous, and it’s safe to say she was a bit fired up to be back. And by a bit, I mean a lot. I suspect Takase bounds out of bed ready to throw lariats, so she’s on a different level when life provides something actually exciting. Of course, it’s not always to her benefit. At one point, she got into a forearm exchange with Takumi but seemingly kept forgetting to take her turn, repeatedly inviting Iroha to hit her instead. You can’t fault her enthusiasm, but you maybe can fault her intelligence.
Not that things were going much better for the tag champs. They have had a few matches together since Takumi’s return from injury, but they were always a tad chaotic, and the time apart hasn’t helped. There was at least one misaimed kick from Iroha that looked like a match-ender, and it was only a moment of inspiration from Chikayo at the end that meant they snuck out with the win. Early on, I thought this would follow the pattern of the Mio match, working as something of a warm-up for the champs, but it ended up being a classic example of the big team playing their way into trouble.
A situation I had no complaints about, as Takase and Sasamura were an incredibly likeable pairing. There is a version of this match in which the opponents were almost irrelevant, simply filling a gap around which Chikayo and Takumi worked out their bugs. Thankfully, they are too talented to let that happen. That combination of Takase’s mini-hoss determination and Sasamura’s scrappy powerful energy made for a hell of a combo, and when Sasamura was battling it out with Chikayo towards the end, I almost forgot that she had no chance of winning. It was the performance you’d want them to give, eye-catching enough to stand out without ever getting in the way of what needed to be done.
And yet, much like Mio and Riko, I still fully believe these four could do one better. There was enough chemistry to suggest that an unhindered version of this combination could blow the roof off. Still, that might be what we want, but it’s not always what we need, and this was an impressive main event.
Verdict: Great Stuff
During the post-match, Itsuki Aoki and Maya Yukihi laid down what I assume was their challenge for the tag belts. I couldn’t pick up everything that happened, but I’m pretty sure Takumi offered them a three-way with Chikayo in response, repeating the deal they gave Magenta (except it was Takumi who wrestled them). It appeared she didn’t consult Nagashima before making that decision, but I think they managed to work it all out.
Overall Show
That was an enjoyable Marvelous show. The ceiling of the last two matches was higher than what we got, but they were both selling a narrative, which is the price you have to pay sometimes. Plus, they were still really good, and the rest of the card was a lot of fun. Sadly, we’re not getting another Marvelous show till next month, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer for our next taste, but this should be enough to keep everyone happy for a while.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows. You can also buy access to live streams here.