Marvelous 7th Anniversary (3/5/23) Review
Mio Climbs The Mountain
Front Matter
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Marvelous’s first trip to Korakuen in 2023 was in celebration of their 7th Anniversary. On paper, number seven might not be one of the biggies, but with Mio Momono aiming to get her hands on her first piece of singles gold in the main event, this show had the potential to be something special. Was it? Let’s find out.
Ai Houzan defeated Aoi
The message to Ai Houzan coming into Korkauen was clear, it’s time to step up. Two years and change into her career, Houzan has put out some good performances, but she doesn’t have much to show for them. In fact, she’s never won a singles match in Marvelous, her only solo victory coming as part of the Young Block in 2021’s Catch The Wave tournament. Now, with the opportunity to face a peer from another company on a big show, it was time to prove she could get the job done.
Ai’s lack of victories explains why I realised halfway through this match that I’d never seen her control an opponent. She’s always wrestled from underneath, frantically firing off dropkicks and trying to wiggle her way out of scrapes. However, after weathering Aoi’s early offence, Ai took control, dictating the pace and working over her fellow rookie. She didn’t suddenly morph into an old-school grappler, and her offence was still dropkick-heavy, but she had the time to pick her moments, even climbing to aim one at the back of Aoi’s head.
Sadly, that same idea was responsible for the flaws in this match. I can’t claim to have seen much of Aoi’s career, but I assume she’s in a similar position to Houzan, and you could tell both had moments where they ran out of steam. A few ideas crumbled before they could get going, so they responded by falling back on the old-reliable (and so tired) forearm exchange. None of it was particularly egregious, but there were cracks in the structure.
Thankfully, I don’t give a single shit about any of that because Ai won, escaping from Aoi’s attempt to hit her finisher and catching her in a La Magistral, a moment that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I wasn’t alone either, as Chigusa Nagayo was wiping away the tears at ringside. Few things in wrestling are as cathartic as a rookie getting their first big singles victory, and when you have followed every beat of that journey, it becomes a magical thing. Houzan has worked her arse off over the last couple of years, and while there were more momentous things to come on this show, that doesn’t change how important this was for her. I’m happy to excuse a few flaws in the execution when the ending is that sweet.
Verdict: Yay, Ai!
Leo Isaka, Shoki Kitamura & James Thorne defeated Astro, Takumi Baba & Ryo Hoshino
James Thorne is a West Coast Pro guy (who Marvelous have a working relationship with) and joins the long list of American wrestlers I knew nothing about until they turned up in Japan. I’m more familiar with the ZERO1 lads, who are becoming a regular part of these Marvelous cards. Leo and Kitamura even seem to have formed a team, coming out with a joint entrance video that I can’t remember noticing the last time they were together (it’s entirely possible I missed it).
With the five Japanese wrestlers having worked together a lot, I expected this to be decent, and my confidence was well-placed. As is the norm in these matches, they played off the fans’ motherly affection towards Leo nicely, while Kitamura’s Otani-style face-washing got a big reaction. Thorne, meanwhile, looked solid, settling into the action as it went along. I can’t pretend I’ll be rushing out to watch any of his matches, but I wouldn’t be sad to see him again, and it must be tough to keep up with five people who know each other well and don’t speak the same language as you.
It all slotted nicely into the classic Leo slot, providing some solid wrestling without ever becoming anything more than that. If you have a particular affection towards anyone involved, you’ll probably enjoy it more than me, but even I had a decent enough time.
Verdict: Solid Stuff
Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe defeated Maya Yukihi & Itsuki Aoki
Maya Yukihi and Itsuki Aoki are still trying to figure out how to be a tag team. They’re getting there, and their individual talents have helped them pick up some decent results, but you always get the impression it could dissolve into bickering at any moment. With that in mind, what better team for them to learn from than perennial bickerers Tomoko and Ito? They’ve been having a go at each other since before Yuki and Aoki were born.
Said bickering became a vital part of this match, as it was built around their respective moments of miscommunication as much as their double teams. Friendly fire was littered throughout, be it an errant boot, misaimed double stomp, or Yukihi somehow contriving to break up an Itsuki pin (to be fair to her, she was trying to contend with Kaoru at the same time). It almost became a question of which pairing could survive each other rather than their opponents.
When you’re asking that question, you’ve got to remember that Tomoko and Ito have been doing this for a long-old time. At some point, you learn to shrug off those mistakes and get on with it, ignoring the fact your partner has just landed on top of you. Perhaps even more importantly, when they hit, they hit hard, peppering this match with some ferocious power moves. Yukihi and Aoki might have been younger and quicker, but that shit becomes irrelevant when you've been dropped on your heads a few times, and eventually, their bickering was silenced. If they're looking to replace the masters, they've got a lot to learn, but at least they’re doing it in a fun match.
Verdict: The Bickering Masters Retain Their Crown
Jaguar Yokota & Kyoko Inoue defeated Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata)
One of football’s great joys is watching an old centre-back dominate a game against a younger, quicker striker. The satisfaction of watching some pumped-up youngster who knows they have the edge in pace and fitness be repeatedly frustrated by some old codger with a few hundred games under their belt is untouchable. It’s not that they've somehow found the fountain of youth and a new pair of legs, but that they’ve got to the point in their career where they don’t have to run anymore. They simply know where they’re supposed to be.
That was Jaguar Yokota and Kyoku Inoue in this match. They didn’t spend it chasing after Magenta, trying to do the things they would have done thirty years ago. What would be the point? All these decades later, they know every trick in the book (and wrote a few fair of them), so they just had to sit back and wait for Riko and Maria to come to them. The youngsters were forced to chase this match, desperately trying to establish a foothold but constantly having it ripped away from them as their opponents danced a few steps ahead, laughing at the years between them.
That’s not to say Maria and Riko didn’t do great, they did, but they were fighting uphill against two of the masters. The moments where they succeeded came when they joined together, swarming their veteran opponents and sneaking into openings. However, even with Chigusa Nagayo in their corner (she handed her camera off to Aoi, choosing to coach them through the match rather than film), they could never keep control, the legends always finding a way to bring things back around.
It made for a match that genuinely felt like two wrestlers getting taken to school. It’s a phrase I throw out a lot, but I don’t think it’s ever been better suited to a situation than this. Maria and Riko came up against a challenge that was too big for them to tackle at this stage in their career, but they threw themselves at it anyway, desperately trying to overcome it. While they fell short, that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that they learnt a valuable lesson in how far they have to go.
Verdict: A Valuable (And Entertaining) Learning Experience
There was some chat in the aftermath about a trip to Korea that Maria and Riko had promised to take if they won. I think they might now be taking Jag and Kyoko with them, but I couldn’t quite figure it all out. Either way, Chig was having a lovely time egging it on.
Takumi Iroha defeated Unagi Sayaka
Takumi Iroha does not respect Sayaka Unagi. She came into this match determined to squash the annoying bug that hung around Marvelous while she was injured, waiting for her to return so she could conduct the assessment she promised when she walked into the promotion last year. To her mind, Unagi is all flash, no substance, and she wanted to prove that to the world.
All of this is the setup for a fairly classic underdog story, as everyone and their dog knew Unagi would win Iroha’s respect in this match. However, I must admit, the bits of it I liked the best centred around Takumi being a dick. Her spreading her arms to let Unagi hit her finisher before kicking out of it at one and decapitating The Eel with a kick was badass as hell, and I’d have quite happily watched a match that was purely that. Does that make me a sadist? The truth is, Unagi is all flash, but that’s part of what makes her great, and I think her getting booted around the ring could have worked.
However, this chose to hit the expected beats, and it was good! I still think Unagi struggles in that position, but the reaction from the fans in Korakuen suggested that I might be alone in that view, and I certainly don’t think she was outclassed. I never bought that she had a chance of beating Iroha, but she gave her a fight, and after praising Magenta for doing that in the previous match, it’s only fair to do the same here. Whatever she does next, Unagi has proven she can hang with the best, and this was a good match.
Verdict: Unagi Impresses
After a post-match chat where Unagi vowed to be Chig’s last disciple (which makes it sound a bit like she’s going to kill her), Mayumi Ozaki turned up to hit Iroha with a chain and stab her in the head a bunch. It looks like Takumi will have to step up and protect the homestead, and if she’s doing it against Oz Academy, then good luck to her.
Mio Momono defeated Chikayo Nagashima to win the AAAW Title
How do you even start to pull apart a match like this? One that was not only an incredible wrestling contest but which I was so emotionally invested in that when it finished, I promptly burst into tears. No art exists in a vacuum, and your investment or lack thereof is always going to alter how you see it (alongside countless other things), but sometimes you get something so big that it’s impossible to imagine how anyone could see it as anything other than perfect. Mio Momono winning the AAAW Title for the first time is one of those moments.
And yet, I’m still going to demand everyone watches this regardless of their emotional connection because fuck me, it ruled. Chikayo Nagashima may have been a stand-in champion, thrust into the spotlight because of Takumi Iroha’s injury, but she showed why she was chosen for that role, pulling out an incredible performance. Early on, she cut off every attempt of Mio’s to build momentum, continuing the theme of the show by using those years of experience to keep her grounded. It took Momono rolling the dice to change things up, pulling out a classic Korakuen Hall spot as she leapt from one of the entrances, crashing down onto Chikayo below.
That set up the Chikayo’s second act, which was perhaps even more impressive than the first, as she showed she still has what it takes to hang with a Mio Momono. Neither of these wrestlers held anything back as they stomped, elbowed and headbutted their way through each other, building to a final act that had me jumping up and down in my seat, constantly sure it was about to end. One Nagashima reversal, in particular, had me yelping in fear as she twisted Mio around with her feet to trap her in a pin. Not only was it a beautiful piece of counter-wrestling, worthy of prime World of Sport, but the timing was immaculate, the millisecond before Mio kicked out seeming to last forever.
It was Mio Momono’s day, though. Since Mio’s return from injury, she has been building to this moment, and she wasn’t going to let it slip away. As they entered the final act, Mio was like a woman possessed, kicking out time after time and firing back with everything she had as she threw Nagashima across the ring with Germans and risked it all to try and get the win. Momono’s greatest asset is her ability to treat wrestling like it’s real, and as she launched herself at Chikayo, you believed that this was a battle she couldn’t let herself lose.
Then she won. She won, and it was beautiful. Joshi fans probably know better than most that so many things in wrestling are uncertain. A super-rookie can appear on the scene looking like the world is their oyster, then a year later be gone, off to follow another path. The ideal career is to debut, work your way up and reach the top, but the reality is that the number of people who make it is tiny. So, when it does happen, it’s worth celebrating. Mio Momono is an incredible wrestler, one of the best, and she’s reached the top of her personal mountain. That fucking rules.
Verdict: Perfect
Overall Show
Fuck yes! This show opened and closed with people hitting huge personal milestones, and while Ai’s win might not get the attention that Mio’s did, both those moments captured the beauty of wrestling. Whether it’s a rookie getting their first win or the best wrestler in the world climbing the mountain, this stuff makes me feel all the feelings, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows and you can buy access to live streams here.