Marvelous (27/7/23) Review
Ai Controls A Match, Nightshade Is Introduced & Mio Is Being Bossy
Front Matter
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Marvelous are back from their jaunt around Japan, and with a Korakeun around the corner, they had one show left to warm up for it. It was a busy one. With a packed main event, Maria’s return from her weekend off with a back injury and Nightshade making her debut, there was potentially plenty to get your teeth into. Let’s find out if it delivered on that promise.
Ai Houzan defeated HisokA
Here’s something we haven’t seen often, Ai getting the chance to wrestle someone with even less experience than her. HisokA is a seventeen-year-old JTO rookie who has been relatively impressive in the handful of Ice Ribbon matches I’ve seen from her. She debuted in November last year, making Houzan the senior figure in this match.
Unfortunately, it felt like a meeting between two rookies who had never wrestled against each other before. It wasn’t a total disaster, and they weren’t fucking up every spot, but there was an awkwardness that almost forced them to play it safe. Every time someone took control, they would fall back on locking in a basic hold, and while that isn’t awful by itself, it never built to anything. There was a period where HisokA seemed to focus on Ai’s arm, but even that was quickly forgotten, Houzan selling the effect for a minute or so and then shrugging it off.
To pull out the positives, this followed the trend of recent Marvelous shows and had Ai working at a more deliberate pace. More importantly, though, she got an opportunity to control a match, something she might have never had before. Houzan didn’t quite nail it on the first attempt, but that’s easy to forgive, and the experience will still be valuable. As for HisokA, it perhaps wasn’t an eye-catching debut, but I think she did enough to be invited back, and I’m sure if these two get another go at it, they’d return with something a lot better.
Verdict: It’s Not There Yet
Leo Isaka defeated PSYCHO
PSYCHO is a grizzled veteran of the independents. He trained under Taka Michinoku and debuted in Kaentai Dojo over twenty years ago but now bounces about the place and may occasionally don another gimmick or two. I mainly know him for his Gatoh Move work, but odds are he’s popped up somewhere you watch at some point.
And he was playing that veteran role here, using every trick in the book to control Leo. At one point, he had him pinned to the floor outside the ring, flicking him in the forehead like he was tormenting a younger brother. It was all solid stuff, but it never paid off in a big Isaka comeback. In fact, the most impressive moment in the match came from PSYCHO, as he springboarded into a backflip before hitting a cool kick in the corner. It felt like we should have been seeing that kind of thing from our plucky babyface, not his tormentor.
Isaka got the final laugh, bundling PSYCHO up to get what has to go down as at least a minor upset. PSYCHO is hardly a pushed talent, but that experience means something, so it’s a decent result for young Leo. Sadly, the match was nothing special and is an easy skip if you’re in a rush.
Verdict: Fine
Nightshade & Unagi Sayaka defeated Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata)
With Nightshade set to wrestle Takumi Iroha at Korakuen, Nagayo tasked Maria and Riko Kawahata with introducing her to the Marvelous crowd in as impressive a fashion as possible. I can’t pretend it’s the role I’d put them in, as I think they’re far too good to be playing the sacrificial lambs, but here we are. At least they had the out of Maria missing the previous weekend’s shows with a bad back, as she spent the first half of this match wearing a brace (it got removed when Unagi and Nightshade started working her over).
Still, just because you dislike a booking decision doesn’t mean the work within it can’t be great, and Magenta did a fantastic job here. I have to admit, Nightshade isn’t someone who has ever particularly impressed me (although I haven’t seen a lot of her), but they made her look intimidating as hell. Nothing she did was particularly fancy, but it didn’t have to be, as they bumped their asses off, let her no-sell half their offence and ensured that when she did leave her feet, it felt earned.
Credit also has to go to Unagi, who was a clever choice for Nightshade’s partner. Not only is she incredibly over, helping some of that rub off on the newcomer, but there was fun to mine in seeing her react to having found herself a hard new pal. Unagi never lacks confidence, but she was brimming with it here, aware that if anything went wrong, Nightshade could probably figure it out. Although, occasionally, the thing that went wrong was Nightshade deploying her as a weapon, something they might want to work on if this is to continue.
It leaves this as a mixed bag, as I didn’t love the booking, but I can’t fault the action. At least Magenta put up a fight, and it wasn’t a total squash. Let’s hope their impressive work is rewarded somewhere down the line.
Verdict: Magenta Did Their Job Well
Mio Momono & Tomoko Watanabe defeated Takumi Iroha & Chikayo Nagashima and Maya Yukihi & Itsuki Aoki in a three-way elimination tag
Mio Momono treats teaming with Tomoko Watanabe like she’s been tasked with looking after a drunk aunty at a wedding. She’ll do it, and she’ll get her out of any scrapes she finds herself in, but she’s not happy about it. Sure, Tomoko has been wrestling for thirty-three years and has done it all, but as far as Momono is concerned, there is only one boss here.
And this match was everything you’d want a small show main event involving these three teams to be, as they delivered a combination of comedy, chaos and smashing wrestling. The elimination element added to the fun, leading to a series of enjoyable teases involving people going over the top rope, but also meaning Mio did the bulk of it solo after Watanabe was eliminated early. It was a savvy way of giving her some momentum heading into Korakuen, letting her best a host of big names without having to pin any of them.
Plus, and not to sound too repetitive, Momono was outstanding. I say it in every Marvelous review, but she is in sublime form and appears to be having a blast whenever she steps into the ring. It’s not just the bossing Tomoko around, but the general aura she gives off as she bounces around the place, making everything better. She and Yukihi were the final pairing, and while it was only a snippet, it left me hoping that’s one of the title matches we get somewhere down the line. However, I’ll happily watch Mio wrestle anyone, as I’m convinced she could drag me to a decent match.
It wasn’t just Mio, though. Everyone played their part in delivering the kind of wrestling you could watch all day. It was fast-paced, well-worked and constantly had something new and exciting happening. With that much talent in the ring, it’s probably not a surprise, but they all clicked into the same wavelength, making a long match fly by in the blink of an eye. It’s not up there at the best-of-the-year level, as it lacked the emotional hook to be that, but if you’re looking to have a lovely time, this is what you need.
Verdict: A Blast
In the aftermath, I think Mio hinted at challenging Iroha and Nagashima for the tag titles somewhere down the line. However, that will have to wait, as she’s got Ozaki next. Meanwhile, Chigusa Nagayo gave the current champs a bit of a dressing down before changing the Korakuen match from Takumi vs Nightshade to Takumi and Nagashima vs Nightshade and Yuu. That’s a smart move, as it takes away the pressure for Nightshade to deliver solo in a huge spot, and adding Yuu to your card is never going to be a bad thing.
Overall Show
The first half of this show was very skippable, but things picked up in the second. I still don’t love Magenta being used to put people over, but it is what it is, and they had perhaps the best Nightshade match I’ve ever seen. After that, the main event was an utter delight, delivering some beautiful chaos to send us home. So, if you’re picking one thing to watch, make it that.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows. You can also buy access to live streams here.