I hate reviewing one-day tournaments. The nature of the beast is that you end up with a bunch of short, simple matches that don’t necessarily lend themselves to my usual ramblings. I could, of course, cut it all back, but I don’t really see the point. Writing a 100 words that don’t say anything isn’t quite as mind-numbingly stupid as describing a match move-for-move, but it’s equally valueless. However, there was still stuff I wanted to talk about on this show, so I’m not going to skip it entirely. Instead of the usual shtick, here’s some semi-organised ramblings about Marvelous’s latest trip to Korakuen.
Two Big Wins
We start with the big guns.
In the last few weeks, Marvelous has been getting an uncharacteristic amount of buzz among Western fans, as Senka Akatsuki’s match with Aja Kong burst out of the bubble and grabbed the attention of the always somewhat irritating wrestling Twitter intelligentsia (I promise you all that you have better things to do than quote tweet teenagers to laugh at their uninformed opinions. You always come out of that looking worse than the kids you’re mocking). It’s well deserved, too. She’s young in her career, but Senka has already figured out the benefits of making things look difficult, and her turning shoot-pins into a significant part of her offence has been a joy to watch. Even more importantly, it turns out she’s not just the golden girl she initially appeared to be, as her tendency to rip off tracksuits to reveal she’s wearing her gear underneath has shown that there is a weirdo hiding away under that chosen one aesthetic.
However, as regular readers will know, she’s not my favourite. Ai Houzan and Sora Ayame are, and while the world has been focusing on Akatsuki, Chig has been making plans for all three. Sora picking up the win in the opening match was one of my favourite moments of the year so far. I had an inkling coming in that Magenta might lose, what with them just coming off a title shot, but the structure of this match brushed that away. The rookies had all the plans, attempting to use the fact that the countout had been brought down to a ten rather than the usual twenty to get the win early, before falling back on their ever-evolving shoot-pin talents. However, when Kawahata was left alone in the ring with Ayame, it all seemed a touch inevitable. She might be my favourite, but there’s no denying Sora was the weak link in the rookie pairing, and Riko isolating her to unleash those kicks felt like the moment the lion catches sight of the limping gazelle. It was only a matter of time until she was brought down.
It all served to make Ayame bundling Kawahata up all the more cathartic. As Tommy’s trademark pause before the three tantalisingly hung in the air, I was anticipating the Riko kickout, but it never came. Instead, the hand hit the mat, and we got our first upset in match one of the tournament. The look of shock and joy on Ayame’s face sold it perfectly, and, in a lovely moment, Korakuen was right behind her, proving that I’m not the only one who has noticed she’s more than just Senka’s sidekick. There were people on their feet in the aftermath, and it was well deserved, as while the match wasn’t quite long enough to go down as a classic, the rookies pulled off their heist perfectly. (And a shoutout to Magenta, too, who we’ll talk about more later.)
In contrast, I didn’t particularly enjoy match number two. There was a lot of Veny and Sadie Gibbs showing off, and while I can appreciate their athleticism, the connective tissue wasn’t there. What I did enjoy, though, was wee Ai getting another moment in the sun. For years, she’s been battering her head against the door, struggling to get people’s attention, but something is starting to change. While I still didn’t love the inherent cruelty of that shoot-pin match with Senka, I can’t deny that it has sparked something in Houzan, and she’s being rewarded for it. She was the best thing about this match, as her stubborn scrappiness stood out when surrounded by larger foreigners and the effortless cool of Veny, and her catching Gibbs with a La Magistral felt like another big moment for her. You’re never going to see her do the things that a Sadie Gibbs can, but she wears her heart on her sleeve, as she’s incapable of hiding how much she cares. When you combine that with her innate vulnerability, I can’t help but root for her. I really hope these recent wins are the start of something more.
Hibiscus Mii is Back
As she and Ranmaru made their way to the ring, accompanied by the subtle notes of Bon Jovi, I couldn’t stop grinning at the prospect of having Hibiscus Mii back. No Marvelous show is ever completely nonsense-free, but they have been significantly more po-faced without Mii around to prick the egos of all involved, and I’ve missed her a lot. Truthfully, there wasn’t a whole lot to their match, although it was fun to see Big Hash get a chance to piss around with Mii and Ranmaru, but there also didn’t need to be. It was a short comedic break in the constant action, and while it didn’t give us a great insight into new face Amira, it did prove that she’s willing to exchange slipper slaps if the moment calls for it. That’s the perfect introduction as far as I’m concerned. Welcome back, Mii!
Some New Faces
Talking about new faces, we had a fresh batch of imports on this show. Some of them are familiar, as both Sadie Gibbs and Titus Alexander have been around before, but there were also a few fresh faces who, thanks to my pitiful knowledge of American indie wrestling, were, as far as I was concerned, complete unknowns.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. I am aware of Johnnie Robbie from a brief WrestleMania weekend sighting when (through no fault of her own) she became part of a running joke among the people I was watching the show with. That is making it somewhat hard for me to take her seriously, but I’ll work on that, and I honestly didn’t see enough of her here to form an opinion. On the flip side, Amira didn’t only catch my attention when she was smacking Mii with a shoe. While standing next to Big Hash hid it slightly, she seems to be a bit of a powerhouse, and there were hints that she could be a fun attention to the Marvelous roster. Her two matches combined only reached ten minutes, and most of the first one was nonsense, so I won’t go to bat for her yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with the rest of her tour.
On the male side of things, Ryan Clancy’s somewhat old-school gimmick got a good reception from Korakuen, especially when he was messing around with Titus and Tommy. Alexander has quietly got himself over with the Marvelous crowd (I think, primarily, by coming across like a nice lad), and Robert Martyr and Clancy both benefited from that when playing heel. Clancy shoving Titus off the top rope, causing him to bounce off the apron on his way down to the floor, was an eye-catching big moment, but they probably could have done more to milk it. The gasps it got from the crowd deserved more than Alexander breaking up the next pin attempt.
Still, I thought both of them performed admirably. Clancy stood out more than Martyr, but I try not to judge people too harshly on their first matches in Japan. There is a lot to get used to very quickly, and that’s before you even touch on the fact that it took place in bloody Korakuen Hall. I’d probably lock myself in the toilet and refuse to come out. In that sense, they all did well.
The Aces Win, But Ai Steals The Show
The second Iroha and Sareee were announced for this tournament, you had to know how it was ending.
As long-term readers will know, I’m more of a journey than a destination person. However, as someone who is probably not as high on Iroha and Sareee as most (which is not to say I don’t think they’re talented), I found the sense of inevitability around this match a touch deflating. Sure, watching Veny and Sareee lay into each other is fun, but it wasn’t enough to add the sense of stakes I want from a tournament final. The second Iroha and Sareee got past Big Hash, the finish was etched into stone.
Thankfully, there was one upside to it all, and that was wee Ai again. She was great. Sympathetic and driven, she was presented with two mountains to overcome and stubbornly threw herself at them. While I never believed she’d get the win, I enjoyed watching her try, and that’s 95% of the battle. Plus, the La Magistral getting a three earlier in the show meant Korakuen got caught on its hook a couple of times, which added a lot to the excitement as this match reached its climax. It’s not a lot, but Veny being the one to take the pin also felt like a very deliberate decision. Sure, it’s putting Takumi over strong, but it’s also making sure the final image of the tournament isn’t Houzan being beaten.
It meant this was probably my second favourite match on the show (after the opener), but I’ll always struggle to get too excited about the big names winning again. I get why it happens, and even agree it’s the obvious way for companies to book, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it. If I had my way, Ai would hold all the belts, and while it might not be much use for Marvelous’s ticket sales, it would make me very happy.
Magenta Go Goth
Okay, I know I just had a wee whine about Marvelous’s booking, but Magenta losing to rookies and turning into goths combined with Ai and Ayame going over does make me think they’re keeping an eye on my opinion. Was this designed to appeal to me?
Jokes aside, I am cautiously intrigued about it all. I found the gothification of Starlight Kid incredibly cringe when that was all going on. I have spent a significant part of my life hanging out with people like that, and Kid’s attempt to channel her inner darkness was more reminiscent of what folk I knew were up to at the age of 15 on MySpace and Bebo than anything actually dangerous. I’m not saying that you can’t do that kind of thing, I love a goth, me, but it’s very easy to slip over into being an embarrassing edgy teen version of yourself, and I’m not entirely convinced Magenta will be able to stop that happening. The one saving grace is that Chig is around, and having spent most of her career benefitting from being stabbed in the head by Dump Matsumoto and co, I have faith she’ll be able to point them in the right direction. If you’re going to do this, do it properly.
In the moment, I’m down for it. Yes, when you consider the kayfabe of it all, it doesn’t really make sense. How long after Kawahata was pinned did they decide the next course of action was to shave off their eyebrows and wear black? Did they have to go out to buy the clothes? But I’m not boring enough to worry about that stuff for too long. If this is done right, we could be about to add a heel edge that hasn’t existed in Marvelous since Hibiki was around. With two new rookies wearing the red and blue already on call, that could be very exciting. If it’s not, well, we’ll be able to laugh about the time Magenta went goth for a bit.
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Ramblings About Wrestling 
Now I know why magenta looked so different on the last marigold show compared to the one in April. Thanks
Seeing the explosive reaction to the Sora pin was amazing. I haven’t seen that kind of joyous natural reaction in quite some time. Joshi seems to have a lot of high potential young talent at the moment and Marvelous is no exception.