Marvelous’s second show of the year saw them make the trip to Nagoya. They were down a couple of members of the extended Marvelous family – as Titus Alexander and Alpha Zo headed home. However, after missing the first show of the year with illness, Takumi Iroha is back. As much as I enjoyed Zo and Titus, that probably goes down as a net positive because, well, Takumi is Takumi. Anyway, on with the show.
Gigi Rey defeated Ai Houzan
After calling for Ai to embrace her inner pest on the last show, I was delighted to see her bundle Gigi Rey up from the opening handshake. Her best moments in this match were when she refused to give Rey a second to think, cutting her off with a peppering of dropkicks or a quick roll-up. I might think it’s time for Marvelous to let Houzan loose, giving her the freedom to do more in the ring, but you can’t deny that she’s good at the rookie repertoire. She commits full-heartedly to everything she does, and it’s hard not to get wrapped up in her feral wrestling child ways.
Unfortunately, I thought Rey was fine at best. After a strong performance against Veny on the last show, it felt like she stuck to the script a bit too tightly, never sprinkling any real personality into the action. Wrestling rookies is an art form in itself, as you know what you’re going to get from them, so you have to bounce off it, usually either by beating the shit out of them or having them catch you off guard (although there are other ways). It felt like Gigi took the safe route here, never really laying anything on thick and producing something a tad unremarkable.
It made for a match that was okay, with Ai’s pest ways being the highlight. As I have argued in the past, there is nothing wrong with disposable wrestling, as not everything should strive to be an immortal epic. However, there are levels in that. There are the matches you won’t remember in a week but enjoyed while they were on, and there are those you start to forget even as you’re watching them. This strayed towards the latter.
Verdict: Meh, Ai Was Decent
Vinnie Massaro defeated Takaya Shibayama and Leo Isaka in a three-way
I’ve said it before, but you’ve got to respect Vinnie Massaro’s hustle. He’s come over to Japan, figured out they enjoy the stereotypical Italian American shtick and milked it for all its worth. He was getting into Ikemen’s level with the length of his entrance and even went back for round two, forcing Shibayama to hurry him to the ring before he started making the rounds again. I’m not going to pretend he’s become my favourite wrestler, but I can’t deny what he’s pulled off.
As for the match, it was at its best when everyone was messing around. Vinnie’s entrance shenanigans (including dragging Ai into a wee dance) and blowing up as he delivered multiple clotheslines brought a nice light tone to proceedings that suited them. When things got a bit more serious, I quickly lost interest, as Leo was tasked with providing most of the movement for the two veterans. There were some stiff chops and a few sprinklings of cool, but nothing we hadn’t seen before.
It all meant that (much like the opener) this settled into decent at best territory. Rather than Ai being a pest, we had a few chuckles, but the result was the same. Ask me about this match in a week, and I’ll probably struggle to remember who was in it, never mind what they did.
Verdict: I Chuckled A Couple Of Times
Unagi Sayaka & Promise Braxton defeated Tomoka Inaba & Chie Ozora
Chigusa Nagayo has always found Unagi Sayaka hilarious (there’s a reason Marvelous has almost become her home promotion), but she finds people trying to take that Ironman title off the Eel particularly funny. Chig was having a ball at ringside, throwing things at Unagi and yelling away, desperate for someone to bundle her up and steal that title. It seems Unagi is getting to hold onto it for a while, so they may have other plans, but they should really alter them to have Nagayo be the one to take it off her. She gave it a go towards the end of the match, but Unagi got lucky and snuck away. Next time, if I had my way, Chig would be getting her hands on a belt for the first time since 2018.
It also brought an element of chaos that this show needed. Things had been plodding along at okay, but Unagi turning up woke everyone up, and this match had a spark the others were lacking. I can’t pretend she’s my favourite wrestler in the world, but she’s impossible to deny, as she walks into a room and people can’t help but get invested. Of course, that’s not to say she was the only one to deliver here. I rave about both Inabas whenever they turn up in Marvelous, but that won’t stop me from doing it again, as Tomoka was great. I think there is a decent argument that she was the best pure wrestler in that ring, and watching her lay those kicks in on Unagi was a joy. She’s what a Juria Nagano who was able to give her all to wrestling could have been.
Inaba and Unagi may have taken centre stage, their talent and charisma shining through, but everyone involved put in a decent showing. Chie and Braxton got the closing stretch, and they had a pretty exciting back-and-forth that felt like it could legitimately go either way. There was a bit of miscommunication between Unagi and Braxton in there that I think saw Promise take a crack to the side of the head, but she was with it enough to try and nick that title off her one more time before heading to the back, so it can’t have been too bad. Anyway, it was a good match! The best on the show so far.
Verdict: A Lot Of Fun
Mio Momono, Chikayo Nagashima & Maria fought Takumi Iroha, Tomoko Watanabe & Riko Kawahata to a time-limit draw
With Marvelous’s three main tag teams split between these two trios, this match quickly took on the traits of an extended jam. I can’t imagine for a second that these six actually went out and improvised this whole thing, but there was a sense of freedom running through it. Moments like Takumi and Tomoko discovering it was fun to swing their opponents back and forth before throwing them across the ring felt like they were off the cuff, and if they weren’t, they did a fantastic job presenting them that way. You can only get matches like this when the people involved have been in the ring together countless times.
The problem with a jam, as anyone who has been to enough gigs will tell you, is that not everyone is good at them. For every extended moment that wraps itself around you, drawing you along, there’s some self-impressed noodling which draws the phones from the pockets of everyone in the room. That’s true of wrestling, too. Whether this was meticulously planned or not, the tone they were going for could have easily slipped into self-indulgence and, with it, boredom, as that loose feeling removed any need to invest. Thankfully, these six know how to keep you engaged. They never exactly got serious, but they knew when to knuckle down, focusing on a pairing like Takumi vs Chikayo before letting the chaos blossom once more.
It all meant that while they went for the full half hour, it never dragged. There was too much happening, too many fun mini-arcs built around chaotic performances. Of course, Mio was brilliant, charging around the place, yelling and swinging at everyone who came close, but she wasn’t alone. You had Riko and Maria going back to their roots by laying into each other, Tomoko taking the opportunity to get a few digs in at her very demanding partner and Takumi showing little to no ill effects from her recent absence. Everyone turned up ready to deliver, and the whole thing was a pleasure to watch. Jam session or not, it’s one you should be checking out.
Verdict: Fantastic
I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on afterwards, but we still seem to be building to Mio and Tomoko challenging Magenta, even with the match against Aniki and Kato booked. We also got some violence and hugs between the various teams, with slaps and shin kicks being exchanged (Tomoko and Mio were the ones who went for the shins) alongside some cuddles. It’s becoming something of a regular occurrence, and while I’m still not quite sure what inspired this trend, it is entertaining.
Overall Show
Honestly, you only need the main event on this show. The tag underneath it was fun, and I enjoyed watching Unagi try to cling to her Ironman title, but it was still pretty throwaway. That main event, however, was fantastic, balancing the line between chaos and brilliance perfectly. Marvelous might not have the biggest roster in the world, but those they do have can be trusted to go out and bring the house down together, which is exactly what they did.
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