Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Marvelous’s second show of the year saw them make the trip to Nagoya. They were down a couple of members of the extended Marvelous family – as Titus Alexander and Alpha Zo headed home. However, after missing the first show of the year with illness, Takumi Iroha is back. As much as I enjoyed Zo and Titus, that probably goes down as a net positive because, well, Takumi is Takumi. Anyway, on with the show.
Continue reading “Marvelous Nagoya (20/1/24) Review”
The first Marvelous show of the year had them making the short jaunt to Yokohama. However, it’s already been a somewhat busy year for the roster, with the big news being that Mio Momono finally struck a blow against Oz Academy, defeating AKINO to win their big belt. The feud won’t be over until the AAAW title comes home, but it’s a start, and when you win a shiny new accessory in your first match of the year, you can probably leap into the rest of it feeling pretty confident. In less happy news, Takumi Iroha missed this show due to illness, so the card had to be tweaked. Hopefully, she’ll be back on her feet sooner rather than later.
Continue reading “Marvelous in Yokohama (14/1/24) Review”
Marvelous’s final Korakuen of the year had two biggies at the top of the card. First, Mio Momono and Tomoko Watanabe battled to decide who would get the first shot at reclaiming the AAAW Title from the villainous Mayumi Ozaki. Then, Magenta challenged for the AAAW Tag Titles for the second time, as they hoped to wrest the belts from the seemingly unbeatable pairing of Takumi Iroha and Chikayo Nagashima. It was all exciting on paper, so let’s see how reality lived up to it.
Continue reading “Marvelous (10/12/23) Review”
Somehow, we’ve made it through another year, and while I think it’s safe to say all is not well in the world, the wrestling has at least been very good. 2022 was a year of change in the world of joshi, a lot of which was quite anxiety-inducing for someone who takes comfort from this nonsense, but I think we’ve come out the other end of it all with the scene in strong and (more importantly) interesting health. There have also been a lot of incredible matches, and this is my list of the ones that aren’t quite my match of the year but which, on a different day, may well be so. Enjoy!
Quick note: I sorta cheated this year and snuck an extra match in by writing about it elsewhere. The brilliant and lovely Flupke (FlupkeDiFlupke on Twitter) invited me to write about the wonderful Ice Ribbon gauntlet of gauntlets as part of his newsletter. You can find my thoughts (alongside his much better ones) on that here. Then, once you’ve read that, you should also read the rest of his end-of-year stuff, which is equally great.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2022: The Best Of The Rest”
Marvelous’s final show of the year had them putting on a show on Christmas day, and yes, I ditched my family for a bit to watch it. Was it worth it? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “Marvelous (25/12/22) Review”
For Marvelous’s penultimate show of the year, they gave Queen Aminata a shot at the big one as she went up against the new AAAW champion Chikayo Nagashima. Even in the relatively modest confines of Shinkiba, that’s a decent opportunity to impress and a chance for her to come away from this Japan trip with a standout performance under her belt. Let’s see how she did.
Continue reading “Marvelous (15/12/22) Review”
Marvelous’s last Korakuen of the year wasn’t supposed to look like this, but after an injury to Takumi Iroha, they had no other choice. Not only would this show see Chigusa Nagayo return to the ring, but it would have a one-day tournament to crown the new AAAW champion. Who would earn that honour? If you’re reading this, you probably already know, but let’s find out!
Continue reading “Marvelous AAAW Title Tournament (4/12/22) Review”
I don’t tend to do previews, but with Marvelous gearing up for a one-day tournament to crown a new AAAW champion on the 4th of December, it felt like it was time to brush off my prediction skills. Who do I think is going to pick up that belt and take the place of the injured Takumi Iroha? Read on to find out.
If you want to buy the show, you can do so here:
Continue reading “Marvelous AAAW One-Day Tournament Preview”
It’s the last one before the biggie, as Marvelous popped down to Hakata for their final show before the one-night AAAW Title tournament. Currently, it doesn’t feel like there is a clear favourite for the belt (although I might be influenced by my belief that Mio shouldn’t win it right now), so while I’m sure this show was a fun trip, it was also the last chance for people to pick up some momentum. Let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “Marvelous Hakata (27/11/22) Review”
After a weekend in which I got to witness a Marvelous match in person before drunkenly deciding that I needed to talk to Chigusa Nagayo about Team Eccentric and dogs, we’re back in the somewhat more familiar (and much soberer) surroundings of Shin-Kiba. It might not be as exciting as a trip to the UK (for them, being in the UK is an everyday hell for me), but big things are brewing in Japan, as we’re building towards a one-day tournament on December 4th where we will crown a new AAAW champion. Who is it going to be? Perhaps we’ll get a hint or two on this show.
Continue reading “Marvelous (17/11/22) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 