Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for February 2024

Celebrate the end of another month with Ram. Credit: Ram

I’m pleasantly surprised to report that the diversity of content in my matches of the month has at least made it to February. This roundup has more lucha, a touch of FREEDOMS and even some AEW. Sure, it’s a bit front-heavy, as I’ve been busy enough the last two weeks to put wrestling watching on the back burner, but there should still be more than enough here to satisfy you. However, if you do have a match you think I should have seen, throw it in the comments. I’m always happy to get recommendations.

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01/03/2024 1

Marvelous (27/2/24) Review

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!

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28/02/2024 0

Marvelous (2/2/24) Review

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.

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.

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06/02/2024 0

Marvelous in Yokohama (14/1/24) 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.

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15/01/2024 0

Marvelous (25/12/22) Review

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.

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26/12/2022 0

Marvelous (17/11/22) 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.

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18/11/2022 0

Marvelous (4/11/22) Review

Marvelous are in the midst of a streak of rotten luck. Just as Mio Momono gets fully back to fitness, Takumi Iroha picked up another injury, damaging her clavicle. Thankfully, it’s not as serious as the last one, but she’s still going to be out for three months, which is a right pain in the arse. Then, to make matters worse, Mio was ill for this show, as she was struggling with a headache (although they seemed to indicate on Twitter that the doctors said she’d be fine), and Rin had to miss it for personal reasons. Thankfully Marvelous have enough friends on speed dial that they can continue on even with a much-depleted roster.

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05/11/2022 0

Marvelous (25/10/22) Review

Marvelous’s latest trip to Shin-Kiba was a sneakily big show for them. With Unagi Sayaka making her debut for the company (having turned up at the last event to assess Takumi Iroha), there was every chance there would be a few new eyes on the product. Could they do enough to keep them around? Let’s find out.

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26/10/2022 0

Marvelous in Kariya (15/11/22) Review

After a cracking show the day before in Osaka, Marvelous headed to Kariya for another card that looked like it had the potential to deliver something exciting. Would it? Well, let’s find out.

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16/10/2022 0

Marvelous Osaka (14/10/22) Review

It’s worth mentioning at the start (mainly so I don’t have to keep repeating it throughout) that Marvelous had some technical problems on this show. That meant the video quality was a bit dodgy, and matches occasionally skipped ahead a few seconds or went into fast-forward as they tried to catch up. It wasn’t enough to make it unwatchable, at least for me, but your mileage may vary. Anyway, that aside, this looked like a stacked card on paper, so let’s see what went down.

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15/10/2022 0