I’m going to get this out of the way early: the video quality, framerate and audio on this show weren’t fantastic. I’m assuming the Wi-Fi in the venue couldn’t handle the stream. Still, I am a Marvelous completionist, so I trundled on regardless, but that might make you think twice about doing so yourself.
Tomoko Watanabe defeated Yuina
Yuina came through in Reina and, according to Cagematch, largely vanished from the scene when they shut down. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn she’s been working smaller shows outside the Tokyo scene that don’t make their way onto the Inmates’ radar. That would certainly explain her popping up on a Marvelous show in Kariya.
I can’t claim to have seen any of Yuina’s work before, so I don’t know if she’s always hypnotised people with her stomach, but that was part of her shtick here. It enticed everyone at ringside, including Chig and her camera, into the ring, which was quite the sight. As anyone who has read my reviews before will know, I am down with the nonsense, but even I found that one a little bit strange.
Still, it provided the right amount of silly for a Marvelous opener in which Watanabe gave Yunia a decent amount before putting her away. I don’t think you need to go out of your way to see it unless hypnotic stomachs are your deal, but if you do (and can deal with the technical difficulties), you’ll have a pleasant time.
Verdict: A Fun Opener
Hibiscus Mii defeated Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru
Originally, this was meant to be a showdown between Hibiscus Mii and her maybe love Leo Isaka. Unfortunately, Leo had a fever (fingers crossed he’s okay) and had to drop out, so we got this nonsense fest instead.
And as stated above, I am a fan of the nonsense and Hibiscus Mii’s brand in particular. There was some solid wrestling in this match, most of which these two veterans could do in their sleep. However, we also got Hibiscus Mii crying, Ranmaru freezing her in place and the now customary top rope chat. A lot of the Mii stuff was her usual shtick, but I love that shtick, and Ranmaru brought enough new things to the table to ensure it didn’t get stale.
There was also a lot of Japanese chatter that I couldn’t keep up with, but Chigusa was having a lovely time with it, so I assume it was funny too. Look, by this point, I imagine everyone knows the deal with Mii. Some of you will hate it, and some of you will love it. The ones who love it are those in the right, but I ain’t going to tell you what to do with your life.
Verdict: A Lot Of Giggles
Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) defeated Mio Momono & Ai Houzan
Marvelous teaming Mio up with Ai in her second match back is like they are reading my mind. The only way it could have been better was Mio and another vs Mystic Young Fox.
As excited about that as I was, the interactions that stood out were Mio vs another young Marvelous wrestler. Maria was in full snotty punk mode, wanting a piece of Momono and perhaps getting more than she bargained for. At one point, Mio stood on her hair, a massive grin on her face, before pulling her feet apart to rip as many of them out of her skull as possible. It was like Maria’s big sister had come home from uni and was delighting in slapping her back into place.
It was also further proof that Mio hasn’t missed a step. Whether it was double teams with Ai, tormenting Maria or bumping for Kawahata, there wasn’t a touch of rust on her. She didn’t even look tired as she spent a decent chunk of the action tagged in, only getting out of there to unleash Ai and her flurries of dropkicks on Kawahata. There have been hints that this injury was bad enough to have her wondering if she was going to return, but you would never guess from watching her do her thing.
Away from Mio (I will eventually stop spending every match she’s in raving solely about her), this was a damn good tag. Maria and Kawahata improve as a pairing with every outing, and I can’t fail to love Ai Houzan. However, even in defeat, Mio’s return and the joy I’m getting out of watching her is dominating these matches.
Verdict: Brilliant
Takumi Iroha & Itsuki Aoki defeated Rin Kadokura & Chikayo Nagashima
Splitting up the tag champions but still having New TRA on separate sides of the ring is a cruel move, Marvelous. However, it did unleash the fun of Itsuki and Takumi teaming together, who were not on the same page. Then again, with Takumi having spent time with Hibiscus Mii recently, she’s used to dealing with eccentric tag team partners.
And if you were worrying the tag champs would take it easy on each other, Rin soon put pay to that. When she tagged in, she made it her mission to wind Aoki up, repeatedly slapping her across the face. It wasn’t long till she achieved her goal, Itsuki hitting her so hard in response that she walked off holding her hand and promptly tagged out. There was even less reticence between her and her New TRA partner, as she and Takumi worked a lot of the action together, looking great in the process.
It all added up to a really good main event. I don’t think there was anything incredible here, and it did have the feel of a fun time match for a crowd who don’t get many Marvelous shows, but that’s fine. These four are great wrestlers, so even if they aren’t giving 100%, you’re still going to see Takumi boot someone in the chest or Nagashima slip into a bit of incredible High Speed wrestling. Plus, Iroha pinned one of the tag champions, so she’ll presumably be challenging for the belts with Itsuki. Wait…
Verdict: A Really Good Match
Takumi did actually challenge for the tag titles, but Itsuki isn’t going to have to be in two places at once. Chikayo stepped up to be her partner for what I’m sure will be a great match.
Overall Show
As I mentioned at the top, a lot of people will bounce off this show because of technical difficulties. However, when I got into it, I quickly grew used to the issues and had a good time. However, if you can’t face it, you’ve presumably already read my review, so you know what happened. Isn’t that nice? Maybe you should now click the link below and give me some money (please only do that if you have money to spare and have given the rest to all the actually important causes).
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