Marvelous MidSummer Korakuen Preview

Mio Momono faces her toughest test

This Monday, Marvelous will hold its MidSummer show from Korakuen Hall. Here’s a look at the six-match card!

Ai Houzan vs. Aoi

The opening contest looks to be a really good one as Ai Houzan welcomes another intriguing opponent as she goes up against JUST TAP OUT’s Aoi.

If you’re not aware of Aoi’s work, just know she’s one of a kind. Her break dancer background has led to her unconventional yet welcoming style in the ring. She brings some hard-hitting chops in her game to go along with an exciting overall delivery that you have to watch to appreciate.

Houzan continues to climb the ladder and gets better with every challenge. With what they’ve been able to do as competitors this year alone, this match is more important than you may realize. They’re both trying to grow and a win over the other gives them the edge in that department.

Expect a fast pace opener.

Itsuki Aoki & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Leo Isaka & Tomoko Watanabe

Itsuki Aoki and Ikuto Hidaka are the reigning Pro Wrestling WAVE Tag Team Champions, setting up a real test for Leo Isaka and Tomoko Watanabe in this one. It’s always interesting to see the different challenges that Isaka has on these big Korakuen Hall shows with this being one of his most important ones yet.

Who knows, if Watanabe and Isaka can get the win, maybe they’ll be challenging for the titles soon enough. This should favor the champions but is a good preliminary battle for the show.

Unagi Sayaka vs. Sakura Hirota

The wild and crazy Sakura Hirota will go one-on-one with Unagi Sayaka and you have to know that this match will be like nothing else on the card. So much so that everyone should expect to laugh plenty as we wait to see how Sayaka attempts to match Hirota on the craziness scale.

Sayaka has been on a mission to improve since jumping to Marvelous last year so a win over a veteran like Hirota could do just the trick. Prepare to have a fun time.

Mika Iwata, Tomoka Inaba & Azusa Inaba vs. Maria, Riko Kawahata & Sandra Moone

Sandra Moone will make her way over from America to make her Marvelous debut as she teams up with Magenta to face the outsider trio of Sendai Girls’ Mika Iwata and JUST TAP OUT’s Tomoka Inaba and Azusa Inaba.

Moone will be spending some time in Marvelous moving forward so this will be the first chance to make an impression — one that is likely to be tough seeing who her opponents are. Magenta should be able to help her out as both Maria and Riko Kawahata have had breakout years dating back to the summer of 2022. As a duo, they only find more and more confidence. They just got a win at West Coast Pro’s Cruel Summer, so the momentum is there for them.

With Iwata and the two Inabas, expect a lot of devastating offense via their bone-crushing kicks. Those kicks are going to be the difference-maker in this match when it’s all said and done. If Magenta and Moone can limit them, they’ll walk away with the victory but once Iwata and the Inabas get going, there will be no stopping them.

If you’re looking for a darkhorse match of the night, this once certainly can be that!

Yuu & Nightshade vs. Takumi Iroha & Chikayo Nagashima

Nightshade arrives from Pro Wrestling EVE to team with fellow EVE wrestler and reigning EVE International Champion, Yuu. They’ll face a major test as they go against the AAAW Tag Team Champions, Takumi Iroha and Chikayo Nagashima.

Iroha and Nagashima are coming up on a year of holding those championships and while they haven’t defended them in a long time, they’ve remained dominant any time that they have teamed up. If Nightshade is looking to make an impact in her arrival here then she can do so with getting a win alongside Yuu. Considering Yuu’s track record as a tag team wrestler, it’s certainly possible that they can pull off the upset in this match.

All that’s to say that the champions aren’t going to roll over in this one and it should be an incredibly competitive semi-main event.

AAAW Championship: Mio Momono (c) vs. Mayumi Ozaki

Mio Momono will face the toughest test of her career on Monday.

In her first defense since winning the AAAW Championship, Momono puts the title on the line against OZ Academy’s Mayumi Ozaki.

Ozaki is a legend of the business and is a former AAAW Champion in her own right dating back to 2001. Since that reign, she’s held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship on three different occasions as well as the JWP Openweight Championship.

She’s a winner and she’s going to do everything in her power to do exactly that — win. That’s what Momono has to be prepared for.

If you saw Momono defeat Chikayo Nagashima for the AAAW Championship, you know a lot about her journey and how she got to that moment. She knows she’s an underdog but she’s also a fighter. The resiliency in Momono is what makes her special. It’s what makes her a champion.

Ozaki is going to do everything in her power to take Momono’s title away from her. That may involve her signature chain, it may involve throwing Momono around, and it may involve any other form of cheating to get ahead. All Momono has to do is fight. If she can fight, she can win.

This is going to be a physical and emotional main event. There’s no predicting who will walk out of this as the winner because of how chaotic can be. If you’re a Momono fan, you just have to hope she can overcome the living legend.

It’s going to be an incredible title fight.