Marvelous (24/11/23) Review
The High Spurt 600 Tournament Begins
Front Matter
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With their title still being held hostage in enemy territory by that awful (although not for the reasons people claim on Twitter) Mayumi Ozaki, it was time for Marvelous to decide who would be tasked with getting it back for them. Will Mio Momono get another chance? Or perhaps Tomoko Watanabe or Unagi Sayaka will step up to the plate? Then there’s the Marvelous irregulars, Veny and Yuu. All five would compete in the bizarrely named High Spurt 600, a tournament that ran through this show and will culminate with the final at Korakuen on December 10th. That is a pretty great hook for a Friday night in Shinkiba.
Mio Momono defeated Veny in the High Spurt 600 First Round
Fuuuck! This ruled. Veny and Mio are a near-perfect combo, as it jams together one of the scene’s meanest bullies and one of its finest underdogs. They leaned into that hard as Veny went violent from the start, leaping from the second rope to dropkick Mio before she’d even finished her entrance. As she dragged her around ringside, launching her through rows of chairs before throwing them after her, Takumi had to give chase so she could peel streamers off Momono as they went. Mio was fighting an upward battle before the bell had even rang.
And yet, as they got deeper into the match, there was a sense that Mio wanted this more. Veny was always in control, getting a close two-count off a vicious powerbomb, but she couldn’t resist interacting with the crowd, smiling away as she dismantled her much smaller opponent. In contrast, Mio didn’t waste any of the precious seconds she got. At every opportunity, she’d power through the pain, responding to a hard Veny slap with one of her own, kipping up after being yanked down from the second rope and later no-selling a German. When she wasn’t getting beaten up, she was coming forward, a relentless force of buzzing energy who refused to die even as Veny made sure that everything looked like it hurt.
They culminated with a sprint of a final act as Mio dived into flash pin after flash pin, inching closer and closer to the three. Those sequences can often feel contrived, but Momono is one of the best at it, and Veny did an impressive job of selling her disorientation as the pest refused to stop bundling her up. When the three came, it was a cathartic release of joy, but it also felt right, like Mio was reaping the reward of never stopping.
It’s a result that feels big regardless of the tournament structure. Veny doesn’t lose many matches, and Mio, historically, has stumbled against the bigger names. The second these two were drawn together, I’d mentally marked it down as a draw, but no, Momono pulled it off. She took a beating, but with the Marvelous fans behind her (Shinkiba was hot for her throughout), she battled and snuck her way into the next round. It was a hell of the start of the tournament and an outstanding match in its own right.
Verdict: Brilliant
Tomoko Watanabe defeated Unagi Sayaka in the High Spurt 600 Semi-Final
Context is something that I think we often neglect to mention when reviewing wrestling. If you snip a match out and watch it in isolation, you’re only really getting a part of the story, as what happens around it can often be vital to helping it make sense. Sadly, for this match, the context did it no favours. After a fast, hard-hitting and dynamic battle between Mio and Veny, Tomoko vs Unagi felt slow and plodding. Take it away from the opener and show it to me by itself, and I’d probably think it was fine. After the excitement of what had come before, it struggled to grab my attention.
If you were being kind, you would describe it as workmanlike, as while Tomoko can raise her game on the right day, this was one of those where she looked like a 51-year-old taking it easy. It’s something I can’t hold against her, as she’s put her body through a lot over the years, but as she exchanged uninspiring blows with Unagi in the centre of the ring, it was hard to get too excited. Plus, while The Eel has many talents, dragging a wrestler to a great match isn’t one of them.
Still, they got where they needed to, and maybe in a month or two, I’ll come back and watch this by itself to see what I think (there is little to no chance of me doing that). As it stands, this was a nice cooldown after the opener, but not something you need to pay a whole lot of attention to. It’s a chance to let your mind wander.
Verdict: A Drop In Quality
Alpha Zo defeated Vinnie Massaro and Leo Isaka in a three-way
Considering who was involved, this probably isn’t surprising, but this token men’s match felt like something you’d see on an American indie show. Not something great either. It was more a middle-of-the-card affair that you would see in your local school gym deal. The pacing and the structure appeared to be heavily influenced by Massaro and Alpha Zo’s presence, and I can’t pretend it was what I tuned into Marvelous to see.
And my problem with that style is that so much of it is just stuff happening for seemingly no reason. Early on, Zo set themselves up as the heel by refusing to play along with Vinnie’s shtick (which has gotten surprisingly over), only to do nothing with that throughout the rest of the match. Massaro was the one who later betrayed homegrown hero Leo, convincing him to go for a big dive to the outside, only to cut him off as he teed up for it. The worst of this stuff feels like a group of people coming together to tick all their boxes, and while I wouldn’t say this was the very worst, there was a hint of that.
On the upside, Zo (who I had never seen or heard of) is a big lad who can move, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a one-on-one with Leo where he can chuck him about the place. His finish also looked pretty badass as he spun Leo through the air before suplexing him, drawing a big reaction from Nagayo on commentary. Of course, he then remembered he was supposed to be a heel, attacking Isaka after the bell. If he’d done a bit more of that during the match, I might have enjoyed it more.
Verdict: Meh
Takumi Iroha, Chikayo Nagashima & Ai Houzan defeated Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) & Miyuki Takase
Miyuki Takase and Magenta is a fun trio. Takase always brings a pure, unfiltered enthusiasm to everything she does, which merges nicely with Riko and Maria’s somewhat goofy cool. She bounced her way around the ring, even heroically hoisting her own leg up to join in with Magenta’s simultaneous axe kicks. Takase would be a perfect person to become a Marvelous regular, as that combination of fun and intensity would be right at home amongst the rest of the roster. Plus, more of her vs Mio would be no bad thing.
Outside of the guest, this was Magenta’s last chance to test themselves against the tag champs before they try to rip those belts away. They spent a decent chunk of the action isolating and controlling Ai, cutting off her wild flurries of dropkicks as they tagged in and out. Then, when Takumi and Chikayo got involved, the dynamic flipped on its head as they were pushed onto the back foot. However, the tale of this match seemed to be that they’re getting closer and closer to levelling things up. Not long ago, Iroha dispatched them both in a handicap match, but that gap has shrunk. Magenta repeatedly came agonisingly close to winning, including a sequence that rehashed their victory over Tomoko and Mio when Riko rolled up Iroha after a Chikayo misfire. They’re still going into the title match as the underdogs, but the feeling that they could spring an upset is growing, and if the champs make a mistake, they’ll be ready to pounce.
Away from the bigger picture, there were some excellent performances here. Ai was a constant source of energy, even when she was getting worked over. You can feel how desperate she is to prove herself, and while this was never about her, she made sure to barge her way in as often as possible. Kawahata, meanwhile, is kicking better than ever, standing and trading blows with Iroha. Those regular interactions with Takumi seem to have opened her up to lay into those strikes, which is no bad thing. On this day, though, Takumi got the last laugh, hitting what her Twitter suggests she’s dubbed the Go To Sugoi for a cool-as-hell victory. Magenta probably didn’t need something else to worry about ahead of Korakuen, but they’ve got it now.
It all added up to a match that worked as a preview for that title showdown but also a blast of a semi-main event, as they wrestled at a high pace with a lot of intensity. I was already looking forward to that Korakuen match, but this raised my expectations even higher, and I have no doubt they’ll meet them.
Verdict: A Really Good Match
Mio Momono defeated Yuu in the High Spurt 600 Semi-Final
Do you remember what I was saying about context? By itself, this falls short of being great. With it going a touch over six minutes, they didn’t have the time needed to get into anything complicated and told the simple story of Mio trying to find a way around the mountain that is Yuu. However, in the context of Momono coming off getting the shit kicked out of her by Veny, this was fantastic. As she made her entrance, foregoing her entrance gear and simply wrapping herself in the Marvelous flag, she knew she had a challenge in front of her, and watching her overcome it was all kinds of exciting.
Credit also has to go to Yuu, who has improved drastically over the last few years. That’s not to suggest she wasn’t good before (she was), but there’s a gravitas to her now that I don’t think she used to have. Some of her performances used to frustrate, as she perhaps didn’t use her size and strength to its full advantage, but as she barrelled her way through Mio, causing the entire ring to rock with a Cannonball, it felt like she’d turned all of it on her much smaller opponent. It was increasingly clear that the arc of this show was Mio overcoming overwhelming forces, but every time Yuu hit her, I found myself worrying I was wrong - that it would all end with her being swatted aside.
Yet Mio wouldn’t let that happen. There were moments when she could barely get her shoulders off the mat, but she still forced them up. She needs this. That title loss to Ozaki lays heavy on her heart, and she won’t let anyone stop her from lifting that weight. Meanwhile, outside of kayfabe, she’s too fucking good. Since returning from her latest injury, Mio has been building and building, putting all those little pieces together and right now, we’re seeing someone approaching the peak of their powers, both in terms of talent and confidence. Yuu was a mountain, but Mio was ready to climb it. With just Tomoko between her and that rematch, it is hard to see how anything could stop her.
Was it a perfect match? No. Was it a perfect sequel to Mio vs Veny? Yes.
Verdict: Mio Does It Again!
Overall Show
I can’t call this a perfect show, as there is a chunk you can quite happily skip. However, I would call it an essential watch. It was all about Mio Momono, as she bookended proceedings in a way that only she could. The High Spurt 600 might not be the best-named tournament in the world, but it does have one of the best wrestlers, so make sure and give it a watch.
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