Mio Momono’s Glorious Failure

She always goes down fighting. Credit: sya_tyo

Yes, I’m going to talk about Mio Momono again. No, I won’t apologise about it. If any other wrestlers ever get that good, I promise to go on about them incessantly, too.

I’m sad to admit it, but Mio is making glorious failure her trademark. Even when she succeeds, it’s inevitably followed by a crushing fall. As a fan of the Scottish football team, it’s all painfully familiar, and as I’ve firmly attached myself to the Momono express, I feel like I’ve cursed myself to spend even more time with my head in my hands dreaming about what could have been. I can’t help it. Mio makes me care, and it doesn’t matter if I try to sit back to watch from a position of detached cool – she always succeeds at drawing me in.

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Nao Kakuta vs Mizuki, Nao Kakuta Graduation Commemorative (25/7/24), TJPW Review

Tokyo Joshi’s treasure. Credit: TJPW

It is sometimes easy to forget during these emotional wrestling goodbyes that the person leaving isn’t dying or even retiring in the traditional sense. Nao Kakuta is 37. She is young enough to live a whole other life – two if she fancies it. By the time actual retirement comes around, wrestling will be something she used to do. A part of her time on this planet that people she talks to in pubs don’t believe happened. Yet, even knowing all of that, the emotion is so real. Solid, dependable Nao, who makes every TJPW undercard match at least 20% better, is vanishing from the world through which we interact with her. Sure, she might pop up now and then, but the (hopefully healthy) parasocial relationship we’ve established with her is dead, and that’s always going to be a sad thing.

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Marvelous Mio Momono’s Birthday (30/5/24) Review

The birthday girl got her cake. Credit: Here

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.

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Marigold Fields Forever (20/5/24) Review

Sareee found a big pal. Credit: Marigold

We’ve got a new company on our hands. From the ashes of Rossy Ogawa’s Stardom career is born Marigold, a collection of Rossy’s old allies, some Stardom wrestlers who followed him out the door and a few people he pinched from elsewhere. Rossy gonna Rossy! Jokes aside, a sizeable new company will always be worth talking about, and with a roster bursting with potential, I am intrigued to see where this goes.

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Mio Momono vs Mayumi Ozaki, Battle Big Bonus (28/4/24), Oz Academy

She did get to kick her in the head a bit. Credit: Here

I can’t remember the last match to leave me as unsure of my feelings as this one. 

On a basic level, I hated it. I hated it because it wasn’t supposed to end like this. Over eight months after Mio Momono lost the AAAW Title to Mayumi Ozaki, she walked into enemy territory, carrying Oz’s belt on her shoulder, aiming to bring it home. I woke up early on Sunday morning with butterflies fluttering in my stomach, excited to watch it live because that was what I wanted to see. My hero, the wrestler I will argue till I’m blue in the face is the best in the world, was going to right the wrong of that night and reclaim what was rightfully hers. 

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Sendai Girls (14/4/24) Review

The title is finally on the line. Credit: Here

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.

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Marvelous (8/3/24) Review

Mio had a good time. Credit: Here

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.

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