She’s back!
There is joy in watching Mio Momono wrestle. The grin on her face when she kipped up for the first time, the way she slapped Mirai across the face before standing toe-to-toe with her or even the affectionate chuckle with which Chigusa Nagayo calls her Chuckie on commentary, the love bursting through for her wee menace of a pupil. There are a lot of great wrestlers in the world, and I am fond of many of them, but there are none that make me feel as alive as Mio Momono does. In that, she stands alone.
Not that I want to get too carried away. This was still Momono’s return from injury, so she wasn’t 100% there yet. You can often tell where she is physically by how she gets up the turnbuckle before the match. Here, there was no agile, hands free dance up the ropes, but a more careful grabbing of them to propel herself upwards. There was some ring rust in this performance, but not much of it. It’s long been clear that Mio is incapable of holding back (which is perhaps why she’s had so many injuries), and with her return match being her entry into the cross-promotional feud with Marigold, she went for it. Both opponents went after that injured arm, and Mio never looked like she was scared to use it. On top of that, it was a physical and gruelling showdown, but see appeared to relish in it, not only matching the bigger and stronger Mirai, but often besting her.
It was also a chance to appreciate her chemistry with Senka. There was a touch of the large adult daughter to that pairing, as Akatsuki played the muscle for Mio, charging in to hit a lariat or slam someone. She’s often been the centre of attention in her matches, but did well to step back and let Momono’s shine here while also making it clear a battle between her and Mirai could be exciting. As for the Marigold pair, I guess I owe them some begrudging praise. I haven’t seen much of Mirai since she left TJPW, and while I resent her morphing into a stock Stardom/Marigold wrestler, she was good here. It must be tempting to hold back when presented with an opponent who you don’t know well coming off five months out, but she did nothing of the sort, stepping up to Momono’s physicality. Tanaka also gave one of the better performances I’ve seen from her since she left WAVE (admittedly, that’s a limited sample size). Despite the tape on her back, she didn’t appear as banged up, and her attacks on Momono’s arm were focused and looked good.
It was all about Mio, though. Our wee Chuckie, who so clearly loves wrestling more than anything else. When she’s in that ring, the world is a slightly better place, and it’s unfair when it’s taken away from her. Thankfully, none of that spark has been lost to the pain, as she set up the finish to this match with a hellish slap to Tanaka before dishing out headbutts for all and closing things out with a Nagayo-esque German suplex. It was so good that Chig officially bequeathed it to her in the aftermath, handing it down with her blessing. Momono’s used Germans before, but it seems like she’s putting it front and centre on her return, and I can’t wait to see her drop a few more Marigold scrubs on their head with it.
In the here and now, though, this is about celebrating Mio Momono, the best wrestler in the world, being back where she belongs. There is no one else like her.
Marvelous have a Nico channel where you can watch older shows and a YouTube Membership where they (might) upload videos. You can also buy access to live streams here and find shows on Wrestle Universe.
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