Pantoja’s Marigold Rising Spirit Review 5.4.25

Marigold Rising Spirit

May 4^th, 2025 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,210

Mayu Iwatani closed out her incredible STARDOM career with an all-time great match and here she is, about a week later, debuting in Marigold for her old boss Rossy Ogawa.

Hummingbird, Komomo Minami and Rea Seto vs. Minami Yuuki, Nagisa Tachibana and Ryoko Sakimura

I haven’t followed Marigold for a while so forgive me if I’m not fully versed in a lot of what’s going on. That said, I do remember being impressed by Komomo and Rea, while Hummingbird was someone who botched a lot. I don’t know the other team but apparently they’re all rookies. That was pretty evident from the start as a lot of what happened here didn’t look too smoothly. You know how these matches go. They put in a lot of effort but their lack of polish and such meant that it was sloppy at points and kind of got worse as it went along. I did really like Komomo’s spinning Fisherman Buster that ended this in 7:29. [**]

Erina Yamanaka vs. Nao Ishikawa vs. Riara

Again, I don’t know much about Erina and Riara but Nao is someone I’m relatively familiar with. While the previous match was mostly rookies, these are all veterans in their 30s. Riara and Erina did a lot of teaming up on Nao. Maybe it’s because they were wearing black while Nao had colorful gear on. As is often the case in a match like this, that partnership didn’t last long and things broke down into a more traditional triple threat situation. Despite these ladies having more experience than those in the opener, it never really got above that level in terms of quality. Nao secured the win with the N.A.O. at the 7:09  mark and the crowd popped because she’s kind of a favorite. [**]

Chanyota, Chika Goto and Natsumi Showzuki vs. CHIAKI, Megaton and Nagisa Nozaki

Now we’re getting somewhere with people I know (at least for the most part). This is one of those matches where you could tell who the heels and faces were just by looking at the teams. I liked the heels (Nagisa’s side) taking advantage without using the “pre-match attack” trope that most villains use in Japan. It was a small change as a distraction allowed them to get in a cheap shot but I’ll take any twist on a TIRED formula. The brawling outside was decent enough and the faces weren’t in trouble for too long. Chanyota did take a short heat segment though the spot leading to the hot tag was awkward due to a botched slam and a weird roll. The tag to Chika Goto worked well enough as she’s a solid, likable babyface who impressed in the GP last year. Natsumi also got a run before Chika beat Megaton with a sitting abdominal stretch in 9:31. That was pretty good. Nothing special but pretty good. [**½]

After the match, Chika Goto issued a challenge to her former partner, Kouki Amarei, who is returning from injury soon. Kouki was an absolute star on the rise in 2024 so I’ll be happy to have her back.

Kizuna Tanaka vs. Miku Aono

Young, second-generation wrestler Kizuna against the former United National Champion, veteran Miku. That meant it was time for a step up in quality on this show. Miku played the wily veteran here, teaching a lesson with some stiff shots and tight submissions. I’ve always liked this match style as the rookie comeback filled with fire is often just as fun as the veteran beating them up. Indeed that was the case here, with Kiuna letting out a roar as she fired off shots to a grounded Miku. She went toe to toe with Miku as they exchanged kicks in the middle of the ring.  You could see Miku trying to bring out the best in Kizuna and it worked. Kizuna’s best shot came with an armbar submission and a flash pin soon after but Miku survived that and won with the Styles Clash in 11:52. Like I said, I love this kind of story in a match because it’s simple and effective. Add in that the quality of the action was good and you’ve got a winner. [***¼]

Marigold United National Championship: Mai Sakurai [c] vs. Misa Matsui

Though I haven’t watched Marigold in a while, it looks like Mai Sakurai still holds this title. She’s one of Margiold’s biggest success stories because she looks like a star here. I recall Misa being a good but sometimes inconsistent member of this roster. They opened with some quality back and forth exchanges before things got a bit more physical as the fight spiled outside. Misa took control out there, even being gleeful as she lazily tossed chairs on top of the champion. She also emptied a bottle of water on Mai’s head. That helped set the stage for Mai to make the babyface comeback and there’s a lot of fire in it when she does that. It makes you wonder why STARDOM didn’t give her that role more consistently. Mai’s elbow off the top has Becky Lynch leg drop levels of gravity under it. They began trading chops and big moves as you could tell the end was near. They both had close calls until Mai used a modified Kimura to win via submission in 16:42. Very good match here though I don’t think I’ll remember much about it in a day or two. [***½]

Post-match, Michiko Omukai got in the ring and announced that she’ll be debuting against Mai later this month. She’s 16.

MIRAI and Seri Yamaoka vs. Utami Hayashishita and Victoria Yuzuki

Last time I watched Marigold, Seri Yamaoka had an outstanding debut and string of early matches. She’s just 18 and is one half of the tag champs. Meanwhile, Utami holds the World Title and Yuzuki is the Super Fly Champ. Then there’s MIRAI, who holds no title but has a shot at Utami later this month. MIRAI started against Utami and it was a pretty even battle, not wanting to give too much away ahead of the big match. Although they mixed things up often here, I liked the idea of two top girls battling it out while the two young upstarts also collided. Sera and Yuzuki are very interesting too because they’re both very impressive for their age but in such different ways. Their exchanges were full of energy and excitement, while Utami and MIRAI were engaged in a war to prove their superiority. The Seri Spear right into Yuzuki superkicking her and both falling out came off very well. Then, Utami started laying into MIRAI and nearly had it won but Seri bumped the ref to break up a pin. Utami threw a brutal lariat at MIRAI that got a pop and won soon after with her finisher at the 15:55 mark. So Utami gets a pin back on MIRAI, capping a very good semi-main. [***¾]

Mayu Iwatani vs. Nanae Takahashi

The GOAT has arrived. Fresh off her final match with STARDOM, here’s Mayu Iwatani to debut in Marigold. Two Joshi legends (Mayu is even dubbed an Icon here) and their final chance to meet since Nanae is set to retire. Lots of emotion for Mayu’s entrance. Right off the bat, I loved the way this was laid out. Nanae is the tough veteran and often acts as a bully, meaning that Mayu had to play the underdog fighting from beneath. As such a major star in STARDOM, she hasn’t really portrayed that role in a long time. That made this feel fresh in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Nanae was beating the hell out of Mayu, stomping her out in the corner and wearing her down. There were even looks of doubt on Mayu’s face as she regrouped outside. The battle went outside and up the Korakuen steps where they traded shots. Nanae seemed to be, as is often the case with her, trying to bring out the very best in her opponent. Mayu was so into this that she even took a bump down the stairs, tumbling like John Wick. Nanae had them sit across from each other to trade shots and they didn’t overdo it here, allowing it to work. That’s not a spot I always dig. Mayu survived whatever Nanae threw at her and fought back despite clearly being on the verge of exhaustion. The closing stretch was a thing of beauty but my one major gripe came with the finish. Mayu snapping off a rana for something of a surprise win is fine but it came off rather slow and the count was especially slow, so it felt less like a shock and missed the mark because of it. Still, this was a spectacular 26:19 of wrestling. Mayu has arrived in Marigold and already reminded everyone why she’s the best. [****½]

After the match, Victoria Yuzuki came out and challenged Mayu, putting her Super Fly Title on the line when the time comes. I’m intrigued at Mayu not going right after the top title.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Those last three or four matches brought the quality of show significantly up. It started a bit slow but that’s to be expected. While Marigold has talent, it’s not the deepest of rosters so you’re going to get undercards like this. The top girls showed out though.