Pantoja’s Marigold Fields Forever Review

Marigold Fields Forever

May 20^th, 2024 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,535

With the news that IYO SKY will be facing Utami Hayashishita in July, I figured I’d give Marigold a shot. I wanted to anyway but it’s hard to find time. I’ll do my best to keep up. Also, I want to note ahead of time that I am very unfamiliar with most of the wrestlers in the company. I’ll be reviewing this show and the 6/11 show with the IYO announcement.

After an opening video package, we got to see the members of the roster walk out individually, introducing them to the world. Surprised to see English commentary on this but I like it.

Nanae Takahashi vs. Victoria Yuzuki

I know both from STARDOM. Nanae is a big, tough veteran and Yuzuki (with new blonde hair) is an incredibly promising rookie that I’m sure STARDOM is sad to see go. The idea behind this match was simple. Yuzuki wants to be the Marigold Ace but she’s only less than a year into her career so she must step up against the longtime wrestler that is Nanae. She brought everything she had here yet Nanae could send her back with something powerful. Nanae challenged her to bring out even more, daring her to hit harder, yet always making sure to kick her ass. The crowd was MOLTEN for all of this, rallying behind Yuzuki as she took a beating and kept coming back for more. It’s the kind of story that has been told thousands of times in wrestling and it’s because it works when done right. The hope spots were done well since Nanae would snuff them out, forcing the crowd to rally once again behind Yuzuki. When Yuzuki slammed Nanae, the crowd gave her a big hand. Nanae withstood her rally and hit a bunch of moves that Yuzuki survived until a big splash finished her in 14:15. A very good way to start the show. Like I said, it’s a story that works and though Yuzuki was off on a few spots, it was fantastic for someone who has only been working since November and had a few months off to set up this show. [***½]

Nanae offered a handshake that Yuzuki slapped aggressively, so Nanae laid in a few boots before leaving.

 Miku Aono vs. Nao Ishikawa

Okay, I’m going in blind here with no knowledge of either woman. Miku might’ve established herself as the heel early by getting in a cheap kick when Nao wanted a test of strength. Part of the story here was that Nao was one of the original 7 introduced to start Marigold while Miku was part of a group that showed up at the press conference from Actwres girl’Z and that gave this a more bitter feel than other bouts on the card. They were going right after each other and traded offense throughout, with neither gaining a clear upper hand. Then they just started trading strikes and slaps with some extra animosity behind each shot. Nao threw out a very impressive suplex variation down the stretch but it was Miku who won here by delivering the Styles Clash at the 8:55 mark. You know what? I really enjoyed that. It was hard hitting, straight to the point, and both ladies are wrestlers I want to see more of. [***½]

CHIAKI vs. MIRAI

This time, I’m familiar with MIRAI but know nothing of CHIAKI. Similar to Yuzuki, I dig the new look for MIRAI but it was more than that. She had a new swagger about her, like she was more confident and comfortable in her element. She also got a ton of streamers from the crowd. CHIAKI apparently wants to be the company’s main “rudo” and she showed why with some underhanded tactics. That made her a great foil for MIRAI, who wants to be the top hero of the promotion. Sometimes, wrestling is that simple. A face against a heel in a quality match. They hit each other pretty hard for the most part, though I will say that CHIAKI hit a spear that looked very weak. It was out of place with the rest of the offense thrown. MIRAI countered her into a submission that turned the tide a bit though neither had an overly long control segment. From there, MIRAI started laying into CHIAKI and put her down with a stiff lariat in 11:30. Okay, I feel like a broken record here but that’s 3-3 in very good matches and it was another case of keeping things simple. [***½]

Mai Sakurai and Zayda Steel vs. Myla Grace and Nagisa Nozaki

The only person I’m familiar with here is Mai Sakurai. Nagisa has a title from somewhere, Myla was kind of just there for now, and at first glance, Zayda gives me Chelsea Green vibes. The issue with this match was clear early on. These weren’t the most polished workers (at least on this night, I don’t know enough to definitively say that). Things looked sloppy at points when it was Myla and Zayda in there. Mai and Nagisa handled most of the action due to that but as this kept going, I could tell it was going to last too long and from what I remember about Mai, she isn’t the ring general you’d call upon in this situation. On top of that, Mai and Nagisa didn’t really click when they were in there. That meant a lot of this was pretty messy. The capper is that it culminated in a 15:00 time limit draw and I question the booking here. This group clearly wasn’t to work a draw like this. Maybe they should’ve given them 10:00. [*¾]

Chika Goto and Kouki Amarei vs. Misa Matsui and Natsumi Showzuki

The smoke used for entrances here looked cool. I am unfamiliar with all four women here and apparently, they’re from Actwres. You could tell almost immediately that the level of quality was up from the last match as the exchanges here were quite crisp. I came away with a few thoughts as this progressed. One was that Misa feels like she has a load of potential as a top babyface for Marigold. There’s an energy about her as an underdog that is hard to match. I loved the spot where she kept popping up with double stomps after repeated kickouts. Natsumi came across as a veteran who knows and plays to her strengths and the two worked well together. Chika was kind of just there but Kouki looked very impressive. She sort of took over late and pulled out a surprising victory with a twisting splash off the top in 12:30. That was pretty damn good and I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store in the future. [***¼]

Bozilla and Saree vs. Giulia and Utami Hayashishita

The big money main event. Giulia and Utami are both incredible wrestlers and while I didn’t like Saree in NXT, I was blown away by her appearances in STARDOM. Bozilla is new to me and apparently, she’s only 20. I believe she’s German and she was listed as the “biggest kaiju” in a video package. Right off the bat, Bozilla impressed. She might be young but she absolutely understands who she is and what she brings to the table. She is a big, immovable powerhouse and uses that. While everyone interacted, the focus seemed to be on building the Giulia/Saree match and on Utami trying to overcome the force that is Bozilla. The fight spilled outside, with Giulia getting thrown around by Bozilla but never backing down. I also really liked when Utami and Saree mixed it up. Every interaction in this match had something going for it and each was a big different from the rest. Like MIRAI earlier, I got the sense that Utami felt a bit more free and loose here. She showed off bits of personality that I hadn’t seen before. Meanwhile, Giulia was bringing her A game, which wasn’t always the case down the stretch in STARDOM. Her and Saree were waging war. This kept getting progressively better, with the final few minutes being something special. The near falls and late drama were so well done while never going overboard, which is a hard line to toe. Then Bozilla hit a moonsault and I was like “with some time, she could be a Vader like monster.” Saree then dropped Giulia on her head with a vicious suplex and scored the win in 28:06. An outstanding main event that only got better. I’m now excited for the singles matches to stem from this, interested in more from Bozilla, and saw greatness from the other three. [****¼]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A hell of a start from Marigold. The only lame match is the time limit draw. Other than that, you have three very good bouts to start the show, a solid semi-main event, and a spectacular main event.