The 8th of August is a pivotal date in Marvelous lore. Not only was it when the promotion started, but it was the date Chigusa Nagayo debuted in 1980, a mighty 44 years ago. With that in mind, Marvelous loaded this one up. Takumi Iroha became the latest person to step up and try to take back the AAAW Title from Mayumi Ozaki, Team 200kg challenged Magenta for the Tag Titles, and Chi Chi faced off with Nagayo in a Barbie Showdown. What is that last one? Who knows, but you’re in the right place to find out.
Mio Momono, Sandra Moone, Sara Leon & Jessy Jackson defeated Chikayo Nagashima, Itsuki Aoki, Unagi Sayaka & Ai Houzan in an elimination match
If I were booking this show, a get-everyone-on-the-card-opener is not what I would have planned for Mio Momono and Ai Houzan. Wee Ai has been on a roll recently, cementing herself as a battling underdog against a series of more experienced figures. I was hoping the plan was to build a match where she’d spring the upset at Korakuen, finally getting over the wall that she’s been smashing herself against for well over a year now. Houzan would, with the help of Chikayo Nagashima, end up pinning Jessy Jackson, but while she was joyfully bouncing up and down afterwards, it wasn’t the cathartic release that a singles victory would bring. As for Mio, well, she’s Mio. If you can find something for her to do, you should. Christ, if all else fails, shove her and Ai together – they’ve had exciting matches before.
Still, this is what we ended up with, and it was a classic wake-the-crowd-up Korakuen Hall opener. Momono’s team made their entrance to the Spice Girls, so unless they’ve got a bigger cultural footprint in Japan than I thought, that was presumably one of her partner’s ideas and didn’t lead to the latest Mio dance number. However, it set the tone for the opening minutes, as Momono worked the crowd with some silliness while setting the pace. From there, this was an easy watch, never finding a groove that was anything more than that but providing lots of light-hearted, enjoyable moments. Most importantly, they were smart enough to keep Mio at the centre of everything they did, which is nearly always the right call.
It was to the point where Momono probably worked harder than she had to. My bleating about Mio’s brilliance must be getting boring, but even in something as throwaway as this, she is impossible to ignore. With her team getting whittled down quickly, she was in her element, battling from underneath and throwing herself into the fray despite being at a disadvantage. It was hardly underdog Mio at her best, but with it being something I’ll be touching on later in this review, it’s worth noting that even when she could have taken the night off, she couldn’t help but put that little extra effort in. It’s why she’s one of the best, so even if this was a waste of her talents, she made sure to be the one everyone would be talking about.
Verdict: Mio Will Always Shine
Titus Alexander & JAC defeated Leo Isaka & Alan Angels
The problem with Marvelous’s quest to pair Leo Isaka up with as many random lads as possible is that when you bring over three people who predominantly work the American indie scene, they serve you an American indie match. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of great stuff has come out of that whole thing, but there is a style currently in vogue there that I can’t get on board with. I get why it’s the way it is. When you don’t have the structure of the Japanese wrestling scene, it’s all about making sure you stand out. However, that leads to matches like this, where the connective tissue seems to come second to all these guys doing shit that looks cool.
And there was some cool stuff here. JAC is a big lad, so he was throwing people around while Isaka and Titus Alexander are starting to build up some nice chemistry together. However, they also seemed to ignore their own story. At the start, Alan Angels was the only one heeling it up, which felt like a push towards establishing a fun dynamic. He was the prick, and with his partner Leo as the beloved babyface, there were some shenanigans to mine. Instead, Angels was instantly introduced to JAC, and while he did some entertaining floppy selling, it wasn’t the cathartic ending his shtick could have built to. On top of that, he and Leo seemed to get along just fine, his heel antics apparently not bothering the pure-hearted Marvelous lad.
Look, it was alright. I suspect Isaka and Alexander have a decent match in them somewhere down the road, and both JAC and Angels showed potential, but I found it hard to care too much. As Leo’s matches go, it was far from the worst, but it’s also not one of the ones I’ll remember.
Verdict: Fine
Chi Chi defeated Barbie Nagayo in a Barbie Showdown
When Tomoko Watanabe left Marvelous, I was a bit worried about who would take the position of the butt of every joke. Well, it turns out that Chigusa Nagayo can take it as well as give it, as she has stepped up to the podium with aplomb. Her walking into Korakuen in her Barbie outfit might be the moment of the year, and it got the pop it deserved in the process. Those same lasses who used to scream her on against Dump Matsumoto were now screaming in delight at seeing their hero clad in pink.
Does that mean this was all about the entrances? Yes. The balloon popping, coke downing and janken were fun, with Nagayo’s charisma doing a lot to anchor it all, but it was about the moment Chig walked through that curtain. It was about her calling in Ken Hirota before they did the Team Eccentric dance to ‘Barbie Girl’. Even Chi Chi made her arrival memorable, parading around Korakuen to find every person dressed like Barbie (many of whom were clearly old Chig fans) and sharing a moment with them. She went on so long that she ran out of Aqua, the song having to start again from the beginning. If you’re coming to this for great wrestling, you’re, quite frankly, an idiot.
I don’t mind that, though. Not only was everything about Chig here incredible, but this wasn’t really for us, the nerds at home yelling about the brilliance of Mio Momono. It was for those old Chig fans, some of whom have followed her for 44 years, and they were having the time of their lives. They loved this little bit of silliness involving their old hero, who they’ve grown up alongside and probably know well after attending so many shows over the years. They got to rejoice in her having a little bit of fun, and when it’s Chigusa Nagayo, one of the most charismatic and brilliant wrestlers of all time, doing it, that little bit gets amplified quite a lot. Moan about it all you want, but for the people who matter, this was a blast.
Verdict: The Entrance Was The MOTY
Team 200KG (Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu) defeated Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) to win the AAAW Tag Titles
As the smoke cleared in the aftermath of this match, my first thought was that it felt like chapter one. Magenta got thrown up against the scene’s powerhouses, and while they gave it a hell of a good try, they were found lacking. They’d climbed to the top of the mountain, winning the tag titles, only for a higher peak to emerge from the fog, one that was steeper and scarier than anything they’d mastered before. The finish, which was ultimately quite decisive, made it clear that they aren’t on Big Hash and Yuu’s level, so it’s time for them to ask what they have to do to get there.
There were hints in this match of the route they could take to reach that peak. Magenta struggled in the opening act, finding themselves on the back foot from the bell, but as they moved into the second, things started to click. Suddenly, they were in control, as they succeeded in cutting Hashimoto off from Yuu. While they were never going to beat these two in a straight battle, Maria and Riko’s teamwork is always something they’ve been able to rely on, and through a combination of Kawahata’s kick and Maria repeatedly going after Big Hash’s arm, they were beginning to chip away at her. It built to Maria getting a long two off Excalibur, with only a diving Yuu preventing Magenta from retaining the belts. A team like 200kg can feel unbeatable, but at that moment, there was a hint that it could be done.
Sadly, Magenta couldn’t keep control, and when Hash and Yuu came roaring back into the action, the finish felt inevitable. Team 200kg are too big and too powerful. When they get rolling, more experienced teams than Magenta have found themselves being crushed underneath the onslaught. It was a sobering defeat but one that feels pivotal. Magenta have already come a long way in a short time, with Kawahata, in particular, having come on leaps and bounds since she joined Marvelous. Now, having stood at the top of the company, they’ve been sent tumbling to the bottom. If they can dust themselves off and start the climb again, they’ve got the potential to do something special. It was a good match, but I have a feeling chapter two, and hopefully three, will be even better.
Verdict: A Very Good Part 1
Before Magenta can start the climb, Team 200kg will have to see off a couple of foreigners as Sandra Moone and Jessy Jackson made the first challenge. That will happen in Osaka at the start of September, and if this match felt like a bit of a foregone conclusion, I’m happy to pen in the result for that one already.
Takumi Iroha defeated Mayumi Ozaki to win the AAAW Title
A year after Mayumi Ozaki left a bloody, tearful Mio Momono in the ring, Takumi Iroha stepped up and did what Momono couldn’t. I think I occasionally underestimate Iroha, but as she made her entrance, accompanied to the ring by a blaring electric guitar and flanked by people waving the Marvelous’ standards, it’s easy to remember why she’s the person Chigusa Nagayo chose to build a company around. Iroha is an Ace to her core.
And as an Ace, Iroha knew she was responsible for dishing out a lot of emotional catharsis in this match. It was a task she was up to, driving a chair into Ozaki’s skull, wrapping her own chain around her neck and ultimately putting her away with Chigusa Nagayo’s move, the Running Three. It was Iroha putting to bed a year of Ozaki and Oz Academy tormenting the Marvelous roster, and while she took a hell of a beating in the process, including being busted open, it was so satisfying to watch her lay those kicks in. In that sense, this was a total success, and the reaction to the three count shows how much it meant to the Marvelous fans in attendance.
Where it fell apart was, unfortunately, where the Mio matches shone. Iroha has more talent than most, but she’s not an underdog babyface on the level of Momono. Who is? Ozaki’s heat sections didn’t have the fizzle of her dragging a bloodied Mio around Korakuen, as Iroha is almost too big of a presence. I never really doubted her ability to get back into the match, whereas with Mio, there was always a sense that she was scrambling to stay in the action. Sadly, she also proved to not be the bleeder Mio is, which isn’t entirely her fault, but with the wound drying up quickly, we were denied the sight of her lightened hair and gear turning red. On top of all that, while I’m not desperate to be tormented by POLICE’s company, Ozaki arrived sans minions, removing the chaos from ringside that is a signature of her best matches. Without that constant distraction, some of the seams crept into view, as you were reminded that despite seeming immortal, Ozaki is 55 and can’t keep the pace up like she once did.
On the flip side, despite my griping when Momono didn’t win the belt back, I think this result is the most intriguing route for her going forward. Ozaki was always a distraction. Momono’s challenge isn’t to overcome her but to surpass Takumi, and Iroha achieving what she couldn’t adds a festering resentment to their relationship. We haven’t seen Momono vs Iroha much, but it is still the match that Marvelous is quietly built around, and this adds that little bit more fuel to the fire. It is one more reason that Mio has to prove herself.
Perhaps my biggest complaint is the least fair one. I don’t want the Marvelous vs Oz Academy feud to end. Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki works, as whether in GAEA or Marvelous, they find magic together. I would have happily watched this for another year, building and building to that big win. It probably was time to pay it off, and ultimately, I think Iroha was the right choice, even if the match wasn’t perfect. I just wish I could have more.
Verdict: Flawed, But I Think They Ultimately Nailed It
Afterwards, Mio, Maria and Kawahata threw down the gauntlet to be the next challenger, so they set up a round-robin match for the next show. That’s a touch confusing, seeing as Momono vs Iroha is booked for the big show in October, but I’m sure it will all work out. Plus, that could be brilliant.
Overall Show
That was a damn good Korakuen. I don’t think there was a match-of-the-year performance on it, but everything was either fun or building for the future. Plus, we will always have Nagayo Barbie, a moment that will live with me for a long time.
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