Before jetting off to Hokkaido for the weekend, Marvelous had a birthday party to throw as Mio Momono turned 26. The best wrestler in the world deserves the biggest party possible, but if money is tight, a fun day out at Shinkiba isn’t an awful second choice. Besides, it’s Mio – if you let her wrestle, she’s happy. Let’s see if she got what she wanted.
Managing to look that calm while falling through the air blows my mind. Credit: Here
Apologies to the one person who might have been waiting for a review of the Takumi anniversary show. Marvelous had some issues with the VOD, and it’s still not up (I’ve contacted them, and they said they’d look into it). However, there is no time to grumble as we move from one birthday celebration to the next. Marvelous entered their ninth year by marking the eight that came before at Korakuen Hall. What went down? Let’s find out.Â
Hanako might not have been delighted to see them return. Credit: Here
Arisa Nakajima is back! Let’s revel in that fact before we worry about the announcement made at the end of this show. Nakajima returned at Korakuen Hall in an all-star showdown that also included the start of a temporary return for Tsukasa Fujimoto. That sounds like a good time, doesn’t it? Let’s find out if it was.Â
Sendai Girls’ first Korakuen Hall of the year came after the news that they will now be appearing on WrestleUniverse. So far, we’ve only had one show (this one went out on PPV, and I’m not sure if it will be going up later), but making Sendai easier to watch can only be a good thing. In the here and now, Korakuen saw Iwata finally defend her title, Unagi taking a trip to DASH’s world, and Yurika Oka trying to take down the Sun God. Let’s see what went down.
The champs are getting ready for Korakuen. Credit: Here
With the AAAW Tag League behind us, Marvelous’s eyes now move to Korakuen as they start building towards their trip to that famous old venue with a visit to Shinkiba. So far, we only know about the tag title match, and the main event of this show saw Unagi and Itsuki try to gatecrash it. Would they succeed? Let’s find out.
With the bulk of the Marvelous roster having just returned from America, you’d think they’d all want to stay close to home. However, there’s no rest for the talented, as they got straight back on the road, heading down to Osaka for the latest matches in the AAAW Tag Tournament. What went down? Let’s find out.
Somehow, March is over and done with, making it time for another roundup of my favourite matches from the past thirty-one days. We’re entering the busy portion of my working year, so I haven’t seen everything I would have liked, and a show like Grand Princess happened a touch too late for it to make the list (although, keep an eye on the site for a full review), but there is still plenty to get your teeth into. Enjoy!
The build for this show wasn’t exactly ideal. First, Marvelous forgot to include Itsuki Aoki on the card, forcing them to sheepishly add her to one of the already-announced matches. Then, on the day, ZONES and Ai Houzan dropped out with injuries, so they had to cancel the two AAAW Tag League showdowns that were supposed to headline this thing and replace them with an all-star main event. It’s hardly ideal circumstances, but the show must go on, and often, these thrown-together cards are a lot of fun, so let’s see what went down.
The AAAW Tag League continues, as the second night of the tournament took place in Shinkiba on a show that doubled as a celebration of Tomoko Watanabe’s birthday. Perhaps as a treat to mark the day, Watanabe was spared Tag League duty, instead being set free to piss about in the opener. Although with how that went, it perhaps wasn’t as thoughtful a present as it appeared. More on that below!
It’s been one of those weeks where my rambling about a random Shinkiba show feels utterly pointless. The death of Asahi is unfair and horrible and something that I still don’t think I’ve entirely processed. Hopefully, somewhere down the line, I’ll feel up to writing about her short but brilliant career. That’s not today, though. However, it would have felt weird to publish this (which I wrote before we learnt about it) without at least mentioning it and sending all my love to those who knew her better than me. Considering the impact she had on those who only knew her through a screen or from a quick chat at a show, I can only imagine the one she had on those who knew her well was something special.
Credit: Marvelous
After spending January on the road, Marvelous kicked off February with their first trip of 2024 to Shinkiba. There will, of course, be many more in the months ahead, but it’s always good to get things started right. Let’s see what went down.