The older I get and the more comfortable I become in my opinions, the more I realise how little appeal your big, main-event style matches have for me. That’s not to say they can’t be great and that there isn’t catharsis in those moments, but it’s not the stuff I naturally gravitate towards. My eye is much more likely to be caught by intrigue like this. A rookie (who has less than ten matches under their belt) vs the best wrestler in the world who, before the show, was openly relishing in the idea of being booed for bullying her.
Sadly, Mio Momono didn’t get her wish. The crowd in Shinkiba seemed unwilling to fully commit to treating her like the bad guy she wanted to be, even as she responded to Senka raising her arm for a test of strength by poking her in the eyes. Still, she was outstanding here. It’s almost unfair that someone who, at the peak of their powers, is one of the best underdog babyfaces of a generation is also this good at wrenching control of a match. She made Akatsuki work for every inch, attacking her arm and challenging the rookie to deal with it. Like all Marvelous youngsters, Senka works with the bare minimum, but Mio wouldn’t even give her the pleasure of those crumbs, cutting her off before she could build the slightest momentum.
And that is when wrestling is at its most interesting for me. Here’s this raw kid, who has a bit of height and power alongside a bag full of potential, being forced to battle and scrape to pull off even the most simple offence. She’s gone from running these drills until she can barely stand to having a wee menace across the ring from her who refuses to hit the beats. There are kayfabe milestones in any rookie’s career, which can be narratively fulfilling, but that’s not the interesting stuff. What’s exciting is seeing how they react the first time they take a proper beating or when they make a big mistake in the home stretch. Here, Senka was slapped in the face with the reality of someone better than her refusing to go down the easy route, and she never once looked like backing down, and that’s how you earn a fan’s love. It meant when she finally escaped from Momono’s clutches, the crowd who had refused to boo Mio delighted in roaring her on, dreaming of her pulling off an upset.
Which, to me, is what these matches are about. Everyone knows coming in that Akatsuki isn’t going to win. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t be that shocked if, by this time next year, she still hadn’t picked up a victory. It’s how it’s done, and while there are always exceptions to the rule, they are rare. However, I want to be fooled. I want, even if just for a second, to think that maybe she can do it. You create that illusion by wrestling like you believe it’s possible, and in that late flurry of offence, Senka brought all the urgency of someone who thought they had a chance. If she can continue to channel that, she’ll go far, even if she can’t rely on having someone as brilliant as Mio Momono across the ring from her every week.
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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