wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s Marigold United National Title Tournament Review 6.16.24 & 6.23.24
Image Credit: Marigold
Loading...Marigold United National Title Tournament
June 16th, 2024 | Nagoya Congress Hall in Nagoya, Aichi | Attendance: 687
Man, between all the sports I’ve been watching lately and the sheer number of wrestling shows going on, it’s tough to keep up. With that said, instead of covering these events in full, I’m focusing on the important aspect which is the short tournament to set up the title match for the first United National Champion. This takes place across two shows for reasons you’ll find out later.
Marigold United National Title Tournament First Round: Bozilla vs. Nagisa Nozaki
Surprised to see Nagisa in here because she hasn’t been booked very strong so far and hasn’t impressed as well as some others on the roster. The idea of this match was simple as Bozilla continued to play the unstoppable monster and Nagisa had to overcome that. Bozilla was clearly having fun throwing her around and no selling most of what came her way. She still needs work on parts of her game but you could see Nagisa leading the way and she did well enough to follow. They didn’t reinvent the wheel or do anything special but it was all fine. Bozilla won with a piledriver in 7:32. That was solid enough. I do think Bozilla should use a more impactful finisher though. [**½]
Marigold United National Title Tournament First Round: Miku Aono vs. MIRAI
Things are interesting here because Miku has been very impressive and feels like she’ll be a top babyface here going forward. However, MIRAI is an established star and kind of the promotion’s ultimate good girl. The feeling out process here was meant to show that they were unfamiliar with each other. Neither woman wanted to make the first mistake and whatever advantage they did get was short lived because there wasn’t a big gap between them. I feel like that was the takeaway from this. While Miku isn’t as known, you better learn who she is. She targeted the leg which helped slow MIRAI down, and MIRAI sold the hell out of it. When MIRAI threw stiff forearms, Miku responded with kicks to the leg that stalled her momentum. They progressed to bigger moves that saw Miku hit a double underhook driver of sorts only for MIRAI to roll over into a pin of her own. However, the bell rang to signal the 15:00 time limit. This is a tournament though, so they opt for FIVE MORE MINUTES. Here is where they picked things up, which included Miku laying out MIRAI with a lariat, giving her a taste of her own medicine. In fact, Miku held serve for most of this overtime. MIRAI is one of those never say die wrestlers though, so she survived several submissions and rolled Miku into one of her own. When she saw that wouldn’t work, MIRAI broke the hold and went for bigger moves. She got a near fall but Miku countered her TKO and nailed a lariat for two just before the bell rang, giving us an official draw at 20:00. That started slow but really picked up down the stretch, especially after the 15 minute mark. [***¾]
June 23rd, 2024 | Shin-kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 289
With the draw, they ran the match back at this show. Can Miku and MIRAI top it?
Marigold United National Title Tournament First Round: Miku Aono vs. MIRAI
Let’s try this again. This go around, the opening wasn’t as subdued. They knew each other a bit more, so they were ready and didn’t have to go through a long feeling out process. There was also a heightened sense of aggression, like Miku just laying into MIRA with some boots in the opening minutes. That allowed this to have a different feel than the previous encounter. Miku kept it up with some stiff kicks that had MIRAI reeling and in a lot of pain. The long Miku control session was not where I expected this match to go but I liked it. Throw me for a loop sometimes. MIRAI tripped Miku on the apron to turn the tide and targeted the knee going forward. I liked the spot where they traded forearms only for MIRAI to change course and dropkick the knee instead. They started battling over leg submissions before MIRAI got two on a Death Valley Driver. She added a lariat just as time expired at the 15:00 mark. Just like last time, we are given five more minutes to figure out who can advance to face Bozilla. MIRAI pounced, attacking before the official bell of the additional five minutes, showing more aggression than I’m used to. They wailed on each other with forearms and ran into each other with clotheslines outside. MIRAI started in with bigger moves until she ran into a spinning slam but neither woman could keep the other down. Again, time expired after 20:00 and we still don’t have a winner. I know some people won’t like the result and I get that but I respect the idea. Two draws with MIRAI has firmly established Miku as a legitimate contender. If they do a third match and MIRAI wins to advance, that’s okay because Miku has kind of been made here and when she gets that big win, it’ll feel earned. A fantastic match too. [****]
