Marvelous’s latest trip to Shinkiba was a time for goodbyes and hellos. Leaving us are Titus Alexander and Jiah Jewell, who are both returning to America. They will be replaced by Jessie Jackson and Sara Leon, who have become the latest members of the extended Marvelous family. How did they all get on? Let’s find out.
Tomoko Watanabe defeated Ai Houzan
There are two sides to Tomoko Watanabe. She opened this match on the run, scrambling away from Ai Houzan as she chased her around the ring, desperately throwing dropkicks. With that, we saw a glimpse of the cheerful, happy Tomoko who is always willing to be the punchline and mess around with the rookies. Then there’s the one who reared her head a few minutes later, dragging Ai to the outside, launching her through some chairs and whacking her with an umbrella. That side reminds you she’s been doing this for 34 years, and it’s not luck that she’s been as successful as she has. When she wants to, she will lariat your head off before dropping you on it, with there not being a whole lot you can do to stop her.
That second side of Tomoko also brought the best of Ai. She was at her pest best here, buzzing around Watanabe and embracing Momonoism with a series of double stomps. One of the advantages of jovial Watanabe is that it means the idea of Ai beating her isn’t that absurd. She’s taken falls to rookies before, and I’m sure she’ll do it again, so while Houzan ate a lot of big moves, those scrappy comebacks were believable. When she bundled Tomoko up, it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that she was going to escape with a three, especially as she kept kicking out of Watanabe’s big stuff. There was a sense that Ai lasted that little bit longer than she would have six months ago, and the more the minutes ticked away, the more the thrill of a potential upset came to life.
Of course, it wasn’t to be, but this was more proof that Ai is ready for that next step. She’s not perfect, as she’s still a bit messy at times, but this is the closest she’s come to that big win, and I was desperate for her to get over the line. With some new rookies hopefully on the way, it’s time for Houzan to graduate to the next stage of her career, and as long as she keeps having matches like this, she’s going to smash it.
Verdict: Another Great Ai Showing
Leo Isaka defeated Jiah Jewell
Jiah’s last match before he headed home saw him selling what can only be described as a busted arse. As Chigusa Nagayo so elegantly put it on commentary, ‘Mio kicked your arsehole’. The poor lad had even brought a seat to try and help him with it, although my experience of sitting on those Shinkiba chairs suggests it might do more harm than good. They’re not exactly comfortable.
And honestly, this might have been Jewell’s masterpiece. We started the match with him playing the goof, Hirotaing it up with plenty of arse-related shenanigans, only for the switch to reveal itself a few minutes in when he took advantage of a distracted Tommy to whack Leo with said chair. He never stopped being goofy, but he it interwove a heel element in there, and it was a delight. Between Leo’s inability to deal with him and his back-and-forths with Tommy, this was comedy wrestling done well, and it got a big reaction from both Chig and the fans. It became one of those matches where everyone seemed to be having the best time, and while I had fun at home, I imagine it was even better in the room.
It also convinced me that Jewell should join Titus and become a Marvelous regular. He gets it. It’s one thing to come to Japan and put on serious wrestling matches, but it’s a whole other to click into the culture well enough that you can essentially go out and do a Sakura Hirota match without Hirota. Get him back, put him in the ring with the master and let the arsehole shenanigans free. I suspect it could be brilliant.
Verdict: I Had A Lovely Time
Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) defeated Mio Momono & Jessie Jackson
Jessie Jackson is the latest person to reveal my pitiful knowledge of wrestling outside of my bubble. My saving grace is that she doesn’t have a Cagematch, so I assume I’m not the only one new to her. Whether she’s well-known or not, she got thrown in the deep end by being paired up with Menace Number 1, as Mio Momono was in what can only be described as a mischievous mood. She spent Magenta’s entrance doing forward rolls and cartwheels behind them as they danced, acting like an over-achieving child at a party who feels they haven’t had enough compliments today.
Despite dealing with all that, Jackson made a solid first impression. There were some moments of awkwardness, but she never felt like she was being dragged along behind the rest. She also made sure to express herself in the ring, doing lots of yelling and emoting to the point where she might have gone a bit overboard with it. However, with this being her Marvelous debut, I don’t think that’s something we should hold against her. She was finding her feet, and between some nice kicks to Riko’s head and a dropkick against the ropes, she brought a physicality that fit in nicely.
Elsewhere, Mio vs Magenta is a reliable pairing. She’s incapable of getting in the ring with Maria and Riko without things getting a little bit testy, and while this was far from them going all out, there was still at least one vicious slap in there. Sadly, after being engaged for the first two matches, the fans did quiet down here, taking some of the sting out of the action when a hot crowd might have pushed them to that next level. Still, this was a decent match, if not one I’ll ever return to, and the newbie got through it in style.
Verdict: Good
ChikaTak (Takumi Iroha & Chikayo Nagashima) defeated Itsuki Aoki & Sara Leon
Thankfully, Itsuki Aoki’s time out with injury was relatively short, as she returned to a warm reception from the Marvelous fans (and Chigusa Nagayo). Aoki is one of those wrestlers I think we’re in danger of taking for granted. She may never be the star or the person you specifically tune in for (although I’m sure some people do), but she’s reliably good at everything, and a lot of companies would miss her if she were out for an extended period. Elsewhere, Sara Leon was our second newbie. I assume the Spaniard is the latest product of Marvelous’s relationship with RCW in Spain (Takumi is their women’s champion), but she’s also popped up in places like EVE and wXw.
And with a newbie and a returning Itsuki in the ring, ChikaTak decided this was the time to embrace Chigusa Nagayo’s recent booing of her Ace and dish out some bullying. For all her talent, Iroha is not a natural heel, but she seemed to enjoy getting the chance to be a bit mean, leaning on Leon as ChikaTak controlled the pacing of the match. While she never felt truly evil, the smile came a little bit too quickly and the boos never grew fierce enough, Nagashima made up for that. The veteran was more than willing to have a gnaw on the newbie. It all set Itsuki up for a few fun comebacks, revelling in the warmth from the fans as she did so.
Sadly, it also meant that Leon spent most of the match selling, but the snippets of offence we did see from her caught me off-guard. She’s not the biggest wrestler in the world, but when she went on the attack, it was a series of kicks, suplexes and chokes, all of which looked decent. It’s a brave wrestler who throws kicks at Takumi, but she did it, and while she wasn’t her equal, she wasn’t outclassed before being dispatched with the Running Three. I came away intrigued to see what she’ll do on this trip, even if the match was more remarkable for ChikaTak having some evil fun than anything else.
Verdict: A Decent Introduction
Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Titus Alexander
I’m not sure Chigusa Nagayo understands presents. They’re supposed to be nice. Instead of chocolates or flowers, she said goodbye to Titus Alexander by arranging for him to wrestle a human wall. He was probably grateful for the opportunity, but when Big Daisuke was chopping his chest raw, I imagine he was wishing she’d gone with something a little bit more traditional. Maybe a cool t-shirt?
Still, in what I assume was the first men’s match to headline a Marvelous show that didn’t feature Leo Isaka (I haven’t checked that), Titus did himself proud. After some fun early comedy in which he tried to offer Tommy his place before going for the animal approach of attempting to look as big as possible, he threw himself at that wall with everything he had. He ducked and dived around Sekimoto, trying to use his speed to get an opening, and with a Chaos Theory towards the end, came inches away from pulling off the upset. He was the perfect opponent for 2024 Sekimoto, providing all the energy and eating shit when it was time.
And while Daisuke isn’t the wrestler he was, he still brings so much to the table. The man’s aura is huge by itself, and while some of his control sections got a little bit plodding, he can still occasionally unleash a picture-perfect standing dropkick. While Titus has got over in Japan, clicking into the culture more than any of the other lads that have made the trip for Marvelous, the fans rallying behind him was also because of how good Sekimoto was here. He still holds himself like an impossible challenge, and when he starts throwing those lariats, you remember just how brilliant he’s been over the years.
Of course, Titus still has a few of those American indie flaws, and I think you should be banned from responding to a Sekimoto lariat with a superkick, but we can’t blame the lad for his upbringing. Hopefully, it’s the kind of thing he’ll grow out of. Plus, those issues were easy to forgive in a match that did the simple stuff brilliantly. We might have seen it a million times, but a scrappy, fired-up underdog trying to take a mountain of a man down is good-ass pro wrestling. They delivered that, plus more, and Titus can go home proud of a job well done.
Verdict: Damn Good Stuff
Overall Show
That was maybe the best in-ring Marvelous show since the Korakuen. The opener and the main event were the highlights, but Jiah vs Leo was a lot of fun, and the two tags were enjoyable action. They’ve had a busy year, and with new faces around and the August anniversary show creeping up on them, it looks unlikely to stop any time soon.
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