Marvelous (3/2/23) Review
Placing Pieces On The Board
Front Matter
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Marvelous are starting putting pieces into place for what is to come in 2023, setting up the stories that will run through the year. Takumi’s return from injury and Mio’s quest for the belt is a strong start, but throw in Unagi causing trouble, Magenta’s rise and Tomoko's destruction of Mio on the last show, and we’ve got a lot of stuff on our hands. Let’s see if any of it progressed on their latest trip to Shinkiba.
Hibiscus Mii defeated YuuRI
Having been put through the wringer by Maria in her last Marvelous appearance, YuuRI had a somewhat different challenge on her hands this time, as she had to deal with Hibiscus Mii’s nonsense. It didn’t have to be this way, though! She had this won in under ten seconds, reversing Mii’s attempt to sneakily catch her in a Jackknife pin into one of her own and getting a quick three. In a nice twist on the formula, though, she begged Mii to return to the ring and restart the match, claiming (among other things that I couldn’t understand) that she’d been really looking forward to it.
When round two got going, YuuRI put in an impressive shift in the nonsense mines. Whether it was putting up with Mii pulling slippers out of the bum bag she wore for most of the action or an extended running strike exchange that saw them both get so tired they were essentially walking across the ring to pat each other on the chest, she more than held her own. The same thing that makes her an incredibly loveable babyface, her ability to sell every emotion, came to the fore when delving into Mii’s bizarre world, as she threw herself into the gags.
Sadly, she couldn’t repeat her earlier upset as a late attempt to trick Mii into another Jackknife ended with YuuRI getting rolled up instead. Still, defeat or not, YuuRI is a delightful guest whenever she appears in Marvelous and proved herself a fitting partner for Mii’s usual nonsense.
Verdict: Strong Nonsense
Leo Isaka defeated Tomoki Hatano
Tomoki Hatano is one of TAMURA’s boys, as he debuted with Heat Up in April of last year. Yup, we had a rookie on our hands, and you could tell. There were a few classic signs, like the slightly awkward selling, as if he was still having to think about what he was doing, and the tendency to go a bit blank while waiting for things to happen, forgetting to respond to them as they did. It was nothing dramatically awful, but it did mark Tomoki out as someone early in his career.
However, if you’re willing to forgive that (and you should be), I thought this was a solid wee bout. Where Hatano was awkward in the earlier, slower moments, he relaxed a bit when things sped up, moving around the ring smoothly. While nothing they were doing was mind-blowing or particularly notable, they hit a good pace, and it never looked like Leo was dragging his less experienced opponent along. Considering Isaka is five years deep and a decent wrestler, that’s impressive.
And as someone who has a soft spot for rookies, I enjoyed this. It’s not a must-watch, but if, like me, you enjoy seeing people figuring themselves out, it probably counts as a solid curio.
Verdict: Solid Rookie Performance
Chikayo Nagashima & Mio Momono defeated Cosmic Angels (Unagi Sayaka & Rina Amikura)
Rina Amikura was the wildcard in this match, invited because of her Cosmic Angels connection with Unagi rather than any involvement in the wider story. However, she didn’t act like someone who was along for the ride. Amikura provided a welcome contrast to everyone else involved, her power standing out amongst a group of smaller, faster wrestlers. She meshed particularly well with Momono, the two of them putting together some of those great goblin Mio sequences and having a lot of fun playing off their clash in styles. It wasn’t quite a match-stealing performance (when Mio is in this form, no one’s stealing anything), but she made an impact even if this wasn’t about her.
It was about Mio and Chikayo’s interactions with Unagi, which made it clear that they have little to no time for her. The Marvelous pair brought a touch of heelish arrogance to proceedings, acting like they’d planned to go out and put her in her place. In their own promotion, no one treated it as such, but in front of a different crowd, there is every chance they would have drawn boos. However, that attitude played to Unagi’s strength. With all the goodwill in the world, she’s not keeping up with someone like Mio in a straight sprint, but she is a great scrappy underdog, lashing out at those around her, and they did a fantastic job teasing the upset. When she hit the Fisherman Buster on Chikayo, I bought it as the finish, thinking they were pulling the trigger on giving her a huge win.
In the end, that wasn’t to be, as Nagashima returned the favour and finished the job, but this match massively over-delivered. Rina and Unagi avoided being blown away by two incredible wrestlers, and by the end, you had Momono dumping Amikura on her head with Germans. It felt like they were determined to go that little harder than they needed to, and it made for one of those midcard matches where everything seemed to click. That also made this the first match on this show that you should go out of your way to see.
Verdict: Brilliant Stuff
There was a lot of post-match chatter, and I couldn’t keep up with the stuff involving Unagi. I did, however, make out that Mio asked for a five-match trial series, with Chigusa Nagayo choosing Kaoru Ito as her first opponent, a match that will happen on the 12th of February. If they’re planning to build Mio up to win the belt, that seems a perfect way to start.
Tomoko Watanabe defeated Ai Houzan
Mio Momono accidently drew out Tomoko Watanabe’s violent side on the previous show, so I was intrigued to see what version of her we would get here. Would she be back to amicable, jolly veteran Tomoko? Or has she had enough?
Sadly for Ai, it was very much the latter. This match was a squash, Houzan firing off a succession of dropkicks and Wanatabe walking through them, popping up quickly whenever she did bump and then making short work of the rookie. There is not a lot to say about it apart from the fact that Tomoko looked badass and seemed to be ramping up the mean, as even the post-match promo addressing Ai (which I couldn't follow) didn’t exactly sound like an encouraging pat on the back.
It leaves me fairly confident that we’re getting a title challenge from Watanabe in the future, a move which makes sense. She's a steady pair of hands who I'd trust to have a decent showing with Nagashima but who loses nothing in defeat. Plus, if she takes this badass attitude into it, then there’s a good chance it will rule.
Verdict: Poor Ai
Maya Yukihi & Itsuki Aoki fought Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) to a time-limit draw
Our main event came about after Maya and Itsuki won a three-way elimination tag on the last show, leading to Yukihi throwing their name in the bowl for a tag title shot. The only issue was that she hadn’t consulted with Aoki beforehand, who was weirdly reticent about the idea. I couldn’t figure out exactly what her issue with teaming with Maya was, but I’m choosing to believe it’s because she’s still sad Rin left. Aoki’s feelings aside, Magenta also feel like they deserve a shot at the belts, so we got this match to figure out who was more worthy.
And the thread of Aoki and Yukihi’s strained relationship ran all the way through this. Early on, they were incapable of getting on the same page, their attempts to pair up repeatedly backfiring, usually with Aoki taking the brunt of the fallout. It was a fun, nicely done piece of storytelling, as they didn’t beat you over the head with it but allowed it to become a recurring theme, leaving Magenta (who are on the same page) to take control of the action. Plus, it gave you a natural payoff as they began to find common ground and slowly gell as the match continued.
Unfortunately, the action suffered when it became obvious around the halfway point that it was going to be a draw. The pacing wasn’t great, with the middle feeling a lot like they were filling for time, the action slowing down around them. It was never awful, and the final sequences between Riko and Itsuki were brilliant, Kawahata really laying into her with those kicks, but there was too much of this where they lost me. I get why they decided to go the distance, as it played into the story of Itsuki and Maya's growing bond without forcing Magenta to take a loss, but it would have been a better match with some minutes shaved off.
Still, sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to link a beginning to an end, and this was far from awful. You had four very talented wrestlers, all of whom delivered some exciting moments. I just came out the other end feeling like they could have an even better showing if the circumstances were different.
Verdict: Good, But Not Great
As usual, I couldn’t figure out everything that was said in the aftermath, but the outcome was fairly clear, as Itsuki and Maya decided to continue as a tag team in Marvelous. Even if I had issues with the main event, I am delighted to see that, as they have the potential to be a fantastic pairing.
Overall Show
Marvelous put a lot of pieces into place on this show, be it setting up Mio’s trial series, having Tomoko running roughshod over Ai or the main event, which is exciting for the future. However, with the latter two of those, it did require storytelling to take over from match quality. Still, Mio and Chikayo vs Cosmic Angels ruled, and there was a lot of good to be found throughout the rest of the card. Plus, I suspect it will all pay off down the line, so it will probably be worth it.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows and you can buy access to live streams here.