Marvelous Dojo Show on 4/26/20 Review

Marvelous Dojo Poster

Event: Marvelous Dojo Show
Date: April 26th, 2020
Location: Marvelous Dojo in Chiba, Japan
Announced Attendance: 0

During the coronavirus pandemic, wrestling promotions in Japan are handling it different ways. Some have stopped having shows altogether, while others are still running events but are not having any fans and are filming from their dojo. Marvelous is is doing the latter, by occasionally running quick events right from the Marvelous Dojo and posting them on their FRESH LIVE channel. This is a very short show, with only two matches, but its better than nothing! Here is the full card:

All the wrestlers on the event have profile so Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. The video is a little blurry at parts, but we are too excited for wrestling so we are going to let that slide. Onto the action!

Mikoto Shindo vs. Masha Slamovich
Masha Slamovich vs. Mikoto Shindo

The first of two matches features the young Mikoto Shindo against the gaijin wrestler Masha Slamovich. Masha Slamovich has been in Japan for much of the year, mostly wrestling in Marvelous and staying there during the pandemic. This is her second stint in Japan, as back in 2016 she wrestled for REINA and WAVE as “Skin Ripper,” an unusual name for an innocent-looking 18 year old. She is against Mikoto Shindo, who debuted in August of 2018 and is one of the many bright young stars in Marvelous.

They tie-up to start, Masha pushes Mikoto into the ropes and gives a clean break. Wristlock by Mikoto but Masha reverses it, Mikoto switches it back but Masha flips out of it and applies an armbar. Mikoto reverses that into a headscissors, waistlock by Masha but Mikoto gets out of it and goes off the ropes. Masha slows down Mikoto with an armdrag and keeps a hold of her arm on the mat, Mikoto struggles to her feet and the two get into a Test of Strength. Masha pushes Mikoto down to the mat while keeping the knuckles locked but Mikoto struggles back to her feet and hits an armdrag. Mikoto goes for a dropkick but Masha swats it away, Mikoto avoids Masha’s stomp attempt and both wrestlers return to their feet. Mikoto connects with a dropkick and then hits two more, cover but Mikoto but it gets a two count. Mikoto goes for a scoop slam but Masha blocks it, elbows by Mikoto but Masha levels her with a lariat for two. Masha slams Mikoto to the mat by her hair and covers her again, but Mikoto bridges out of it. Reverse chinlock by Masha but Mikoto gets into the ropes for the break, Masha picks up Mikoto and connects with a back elbow. Masha puts Mikoto in a Texas Cloverleaf but Mikoto grabs the bottom rope to force the break, stomps by Masha but Mikoto blocks the full nelson. Knee by Masha and she drops Mikoto with a gutwrench suplex, cover by Masha but Mikoto kicks out. Knees by Masha but Mikoto elbows her off, waistlock by Masha but Mikoto cradles her for two. A schoolboy by Mikoto gets another two count as does the backslide attempt, she goes off the ropes but Masha kicks her in the face and hits a footstomp for two. Masha picks up Mikoto and gets her on her shoulders, but Mikoto wiggles away and dropkicks Masha in the back, she then hits a dropkick from the front and covers Masha for two. Mikoto picks up Masha but Masha throws her into the corner, dragon suplex hold by Masha and she picks up the three count! Masha Slamovich wins the match.

This was simple match but nothing wrong with it. This is how you’d expect a full show to open, with the new gaijin taking on and defeating a young wrestler from the home promotion. Masha controlled the whole match with Mikoto just getting a few hope spots in, and she was never really presented as having a chance of winning as her best moments were just flash pins. Masha looked pretty good though and there weren’t any awkward moments or miscommunications, which is the main concern with matches like this. Nothing special but pretty solid.

Hibiki and Mei Hoshizuki vs. Maria and Takumi Iroha
Hibiki and Mei Hoshizuki vs. Maria and Takumi Iroha

The final match is a fun combination of Marvelous wrestlers. This is a fitting match to end a Dojo Show with, since I think it is safe to assume they pair up in such a way pretty often while in training. Takumi Iroha is the Ace of the promotion so she is teaming with the least experienced wrestler, however Mei debuted just a month before Maria so there isn’t much difference between the two. Hibiki has quite a bit more experience than Mei and Maria since she wrestled for several years as Meiko Tanaka, but since returning to wrestling in Marvelous she has been on their level. All four of these wrestlers are really good so if they try to put on a show this should be entertaining.

Takumi and Hibiki start the match, they trade waistlocks and Takumi goes for a shoulderblock, but Hibiki stays up. Hibiki tries the same with the same result, they both go off the ropes and finally Takumi sends Hibiki to the mat. Hibiki quickly returns the favor, she throws Takumi into the corner but Takumi avoids her charge. Hibiki ducks Takumi’s kick attempt and tags Mei while Maria also tags in. Mei kicks Maria but Maria kicks her when she drops down before kicking her in the head. Armdrag by Mei but Maria hits one of her own, they trade trips and pins before reaching a stalemate. Maria quickly applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Mei wiggles to the ropes and makes it for the break. Maria gets Mei in the ropes and pulls on her own, she throws Mei into the corner and tags Takumi. Takumi stomps down Mei and kicks her in the corner, scoop slam by Takumi and she gets a bouncy ball, throwing it hard at Mei’s head. Cover by Takumi, but it gets a two count. Takumi tags Maria, stomps by Maria and she kicks Mei in her injured arm. Maria elbows Mei in the arm and tags Takumi back in, Takumi comes in with some exercise battering ram thing and drops it onto Mei’s chest. Cover by Takumi, but it gets two. Takumi kicks at Mei in the corner before she wraps her up in the ropes, Takumi goes out to the apron and kicks Mei in the chest. Takumi goes off the ropes but Mei trips her into them, she then goes to the apron and dropkicks Takumi. Back in the ring, another dropkick by Mei and she makes the tag to Hibiki. Hibiki shoulderblocks Takumi but Maria comes in to help, they Irish whip Hibiki but Hibiki spears both of them. Hibiki picks up Takumi and puts her in the corner, shoulder tackles by Hibiki and she covers Takumi for two. Hibiki picks up Takumi but Takumi slides away and kicks Hibiki repeatedly in the chest, PK by Takumi and she dropkicks Hibiki for a two count.

Hibiki and Mei Hoshizuki vs. Maria and Takumi IrohaVertical suplex by Takumi, she picks up Hibiki but Hibiki elbows her and the two trade blows. Takumi goes off the ropes but Mei kicks her from the apron, Takumi elbows Hibiki again but she keeps getting kicked by wrestlers at ringside. Everyone comes in to beat down Takumi (looks like Mio Momono and Rin Kadokura helping out), Takumi is thrown into the corner and she gets attacked by everyone (including her own partner). Takumi gets tired of this and hits back bodydrops on all the active wrestlers before Rin and Mio bail, Hibiki grabs Takumi from behind but Takumi gets away and kicks her in the head. Takumi tags Maria, dropkicks by Maria to Hibiki and she covers her for two. Maria goes for a slam but Hibiki blocks it, Maria gets Hibiki’s back and applies a sleeper but Hibiki rams back into the corner to get her off. Maria boots Hibiki when she charges back in, she picks her up but Hibiki headbutts her. Springboard headbutt by Hibiki and she levels Maria with a spear for a two count. Hibiki gets Maria on her shoulders but she slides off, Hibiki goes off the ropes but Maria dropkicks her. Hibiki fires back with another spear and she tags in Mei, Mei picks up Maria and delivers a dropkick. Another dropkick by Mei and she hits a third, she bounces Maria off the ropes before dropkicking her again for a two count. Hibiki comes in and hits a running senton, Mei gets on her shoulders and she jumps off with a double kneedrop. Cover, but Takumi breaks it up. Mei picks up Maria but Maria elbows her off as they trade strikes, front dropkick by Maria and she cradles Mei as they trade flash pins. Takumi runs in and dropkicks Mei, double Irish whip to Mei but Hibiki runs in and spears Takumi. Maria dropkicks both of them, cover by Maria to Mei but it gets two. Mei trips Maria and goes for a jackknife hold, Maria reverses it but Mei rolls through the reversal and holds down Maria for the three count! Hibiki and Mei Hoshizuki are the winners!

This was a pretty fun match. They kept it basic like the last match and didn’t take any major risks, so its definitely more of a ‘house show’ match than something they’d probably put on during a televised event. Course, this is also a Dojo Show so its always good to set realistic expectations. They worked together well though and the time flew by, and it was nice to see Mio and Rin get involved even though they are still on the shelf. Takumi didn’t act like she was ‘too good’ to be here and took as much offense as anyone, as the young wrestlers were giving a chance to shine. An easy watch with solid action, nothing really wrong with it aside from it just being generally simplistic.  Mildly Recommended

Final Thoughts:
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Obviously with a two match show that is taped in a promotion’s dojo, it would be unrealistic to expect a five star event. Still, during a time where there isn’t a lot of wrestling going on, it was fun to see the Marvelous wrestlers put on a quick event for us. A breezy viewing at under an hour, the video quality was an issue but the action was perfectly fine. There is probably better wrestling going on during the pandemic, but if you miss seeing the Marvelous crew then this will certainly scratch that itch.