Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
The 8th of August is a special day in Marvelous canon, as it’s when Chigusa Nagayo debuted as a wrestler. In recent years, it has been reserved for Korakuen, and with the feud with Marigold only getting hotter, the roster was out to defend their honour on the anniversary of the start of their boss’s career. Let’s see if they did a good job.
Continue reading “Marvelous (8/8/25) Review”
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.
Continue reading “Mio Momono & Senka Akatsuki vs Mirai & Kizuna Tanaka, Marvelous (13/7/25)”
In many ways, the heel turn is the easy bit. You throw a tag team partner through a window, whack someone with a chair or shave off your eyebrows and don some black leather. It’s what comes next that most people struggle with. Especially if, like Maria and Riko Kawahata, you’ve spent most of your career working as an underdog babyface. Suddenly, you’re having to readjust everything you do in the ring, switching to being the one in control and setting other people up for the flurries that you once benefited from. It’s understandable that it would take a while to put that shtick together, but this match, on the typically light-hearted Marvelous tour of Hokkaido, might be the best example of Magenta doing so yet.
Continue reading “Magenta (Maria & Riko Kawahata) vs Takumi Iroha & Ai Houzan, Marvelous (31/5/25)”
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.
Continue reading “Marvelous 9th Anniversary (5/5/25) Ramblings”
There was a lot of stuff going down over WrestleMania weekend, and while it would be easy for me to be comically dismissive of it, there was actually a decent amount that caught me eye. Thanks to TJPW putting together a Korakuen-level card and a host of my favourites making the journey to Las Vegas, there were nuggets of gold to be found amongst the usual troupe of interchangeable white men (I swear the same guy came out about twenty times during the Clusterfuck). And yet, out of all the wrestling that was happening, the match that stood out to me was a standard rookie vs legend showdown, the type you can see on nearly any card in Japan most weekends. Why? Senka Akatsuki, that’s why.
Continue reading “Aja Kong vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous (17/4/25)”
Takumi Iroha frustrates me. She has all the tools required to be an incredible Ace, but all too often, it feels like she’s holding back. It’s most evident in her tendency to slap her thigh rather than really punish people with those kicks, but it also shows elsewhere. She’s too cool (and protected) to convincingly play the underdog, but she also never seems to dominate people quite like I’d hope. I suspect it’s why my favourite matches of hers are often against other Marvelous wrestlers. Facing off with a Mio Momono or even an Ai Houzan, she feels comfortable enough to unleash. Yet, when you put her up against Mayumi Ozaki, setting her up to avenge Marvelous’s beatings, she doesn’t have the grit to make it feel definitive. Sadly for Sora Ayame, she had no such qualms when facing her.
Continue reading “Takumi Iroha vs Sora Ayame, Marvelous (6/4/24)”
After they battled to a time-limit draw on January 4th, Marvelous announced that this rematch between Ai Houzan and Senka Akatzuki would be under AJW shoot-pin rules. If you watch any old AJW rookie match (and a few involving more experienced heads), you’ll see the wrestlers properly grappling to get each other’s shoulders down for the three, and my understanding (although I’m far from the expert on this) is that’s because they were. They’re still wrestling (Ai started this match with a dropkick attempt), but there’s a touch of real competition in there.
Continue reading “Ai Houzan vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous (12/1/25), Marvelous”
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.
Continue reading “Mio Momono vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous (22/11/24) Review”
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.
Continue reading “Marvelous 8th Anniversary (8/8/24) Review”
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.
Continue reading “Tomoko Watanabe & Mio Momono vs Takumi Iroha & Ai Houzan, Marvelous (28/7/24) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 