I’m not sure people appreciate how big a loss to Marvelous Tomoko Watanabe is. Okay, they’re not about to fall apart, but in a company with a small roster of primarily younger wrestlers, Watanabe’s role is vital. She’s the adult in the room, but an adult who is always willing to make herself the butt of the joke and put someone over. In the last few years, she’s done everything from being bundled up by Mystic Young Fox to being dubbed Totoro by Momoka Hanazono to being the final challenge Mio Momono had to overcome before winning the AAAW Title for the first time. Who else can do all that? The only person who comes close is Chikayo Nagashima, a wrestler who takes herself more seriously (which isn’t intended as a criticism) and isn’t a full-time roster member.
We saw all of those sides of Watanabe in her final match. There was the comedy of Iroha forcing her to run the ropes to exhaustion, the badassery of her lariating her way through the roster and the unselfishness of how much focus was on Ai Houzan in defeat. In her final showing, it would have been easy (and right) for her to hog the spotlight, but that’s not how Watanabe does things. Sure, she can still dump someone on their head when the time calls for it, but she’s centred the latter years of her career on helping Marvelous youngsters reach the next level. That the next rookies coming through won’t have that is a damn shame.
It’s also, and this is important, obvious that the roster all adore her. Watanabe isn’t retiring, never to be seen again. She’s going freelance, so the odds are they’ll all cross paths fairly regularly. Mio Momono even pointed out on Twitter that her house is close to the dojo and that she intends to continue turning up for dinner, so if Watanabe thought she was getting rid of the pest, she has another thing coming. Yet, the emotion at her leaving was real. Alongside Chigusa Nagayo, she’s clearly the mum of the group, and those kids look up to her. Houzan and Maria, in particular, seemed gutted that she’s leaving, as they struggled to hold back the tears. I can’t confirm this because of Cagematch’s lack of accuracy around Marvelous, but I would guess she’s been on more of their shows than anyone. If she hasn’t, she’s certainly in the top three. Watanabe is at the heart of that weird little family, and ripping that out will have an effect.
Yet, you’d be a bastard to begrudge Watanabe this move. Marvelous are only upping the schedule, and nearly thirty-five years into her career, everything must be hurting. She’s earned the right to see her life as a wrestler out as a freelancer, working when and where she wants to, and I’m sure when retirement calls, the Marvelous roster will be as involved as anyone. If there was ever any doubt that she was leaving with their blessing, then you only need to watch this match. Was it one of the best of the year? No, it wasn’t even particularly close, but it was one final chance for everyone to show their love. In that sense, it was a huge success. She left on a high, and while I hope it’s not the last time we see her in that ring, it wouldn’t be the worst way to do it if it is.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows and a YouTube Membership where they upload videos. You can also buy access to live streams here.
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