Dream Star Fighting Marigold: Grand Opening Wars June 16th 2024

Welcome back to more stupendous Dream Star Fighting Marigold action as we’ve got some tournaments cooking and actual stakes to some of these matches now. We have almost 700 people here for this show in Nagoya and they’re in that big conference hall I’ve seen a lot of wrestling shows in cause I have lived a weird life.

Giulia comes out with the wrist brace and she seems to be having an absolute blast interacting with the crowd and she’s her usual charisma explosion as she cuts a loud enthusiastic promo but I don’t understand Japanese so if she said anything actually important I wouldn’t know. Crowd is hyped though.

CHIAKI & Misa Matsui vs. Myla Grace & Zayda Steel

Background: We have a reunion of my favorite team that isn’t a team, DarkStar or SpeedWolf as we get the power brawler CHIAKI with the junior technician Misa Matsui against my least favorite team that isn’t a team, Two Annoying White Ladies. Both Myla and Zayda lost their Superfly Championship tournament matches and Misa even beat Myla so there is some heat here.

The Match: Myla does her hyped up entrance and in a funny moment, drags out Zayda to do the entrance with her. Them cutting off each others posing by getting in front of the camera got me to get a mild lip raise as well. Misa and Myla start and Grace actually gets control with slow deliberate technical stuff and Misa goes fast to get out of it but Myla bails after calling Misa a loser and doing the L hand thing. Zayda and CHIAKI in next and the Dark Wolf just rips the American to shreds and Grace cracks me up by yelling “ZAYDA, ARE YOU OKAY?” in what is way funnier than Steele never shutting up. CHIAKI gets a Boston Crab on Zayda next who eventually gets to the ropes but CHIAKI is still on her and she focuses on Zayda’s back with slams and shoulders. The cartwheel kneedrop misses though and that lets Zayda get some slow stomps in on the Japanese lady while the American remembers to sell her back at least. CHIAKI’s spear brings in Misa and we get more “torture the foreigner” from Misa. Steele eventually gets a desperation enzuiigiri and DDT and puts Misa in a tree of woe as she declares “I have an idea, I’m strong!” and then immediately whiffs on a corner charge and Misa gets the diving crossbody. Myla tags in and does a whole sequence with Misa while taunting CHIAKI on the outside and at least the gaijin ladies are trying to heel it up. A double low-bridge on Speed Wolf lets Myla get a contrived pescado but Misa just decides “nope” and gets a draping DDT and then the running low crossbody into the ropes and in comes CHIAKI to keep it going. Big side slam from CHIAKI but the white ladies cheat a bit and we get a Myla fisherman’s neckbreaker to put the Dark Wolf in some trouble. Myla gets the meteora and goes for a suplex next. It breaks down in Nagoya though and CHIAKI gets a scoop powerslam and the KOD for 3.

**

So Zayda and Myla were at least somewhat amusing with their heeling but the in-ring is just so rough from them. I do love CHIAKI enough to be okay with her clobbering people but this was not super great. Fine babyface win though.

Chika Goto vs. Victoria Yuzuki vs. Minami Komomo

Background: Three babyface rookies all trying to rise up the card. Chika is a charismatic giant with her big swing and LET’S GO! Victoria was the future ace from the company, an athletic high-flyer with a lot of heart. Komomo is a newcomer and she’s stood out as somebody with technical chops and a dark side she can bust out when pushed to the edge.

The Match: Chika immediately boots Yuzuki down, picks her up for a slam and then knocks her into Komomo. Victoria comes back with defiance though and slaps Chika down and gets some dropkicks and such to get control. Komomo gets tossed and we’re back to Chika and Victoria duking it out. Chika gets the butt blasts to regain control and then another giant swing and she might need more offense. Yuzuki with some bad flying stuff and Komomo interrupts and gets tossed outside and that gag is at least amusing. Chika with the atomic drop and the gutwrench powerslam and Komomo creeps into the ring again with some rollups and Chika reverses a schoolgirl for 3.

*

Yeah this was not good. Nobody should call matches yet of the three. Victoria is the most polished but she still doesn’t get why she should do things. Chika has charisma but doesn’t know what she’s doing or how to really wrestle size and Minami looked like she had zero confidence.

Post match we get a brawl. Why not.

Nao Ishikawa & Natsumi Showzuki vs. Kouki Amarei & Utami Hayashishita

Background: So this is two wrestlers from AWG who feel undervalued in Nao and Natsumi versus two stars that suck up a lot of oxygen in Kouki and Utami. Showzuki does have something as a bitter vet and also Nao is there. Utami and Kouki look like absolute superstars at least.

The Match: Nao and Kouki start. Kouki goes for a test of strength but Nao unloads with some strikes before cranking on a headlock. Kouki slips out and boots Nao down and starts stomping on her in the corner and then Utami comes in. Basic control on Nao other than Ishikawa putting on her merch shirt so I think she maybe blew her gear out. Kouki back in to do the “toss them into the ropes and rebound” spot but Nao comes back with a running crossbody and a big slam to let Natsumi tag in and we have Showzuki doing her rapidfire kicks and then the slingshot kneedrop into an armbar. Utami comes in to break it up and after some double-teams Kouki gets the standing splash, some running boots, and a Samoan drop. Kouki’s dominator is countered with a sunset flip by Natsumi but Kouki gets the tag anyway. Utami abuses Natsumi, even countering a crucifix into an Air Raid Crash and overall is abusing the smaller worker. A desperation rollup from Natsumi sets up a high kick, a jumping DDT, and some running knees to put Utami in peril. Nao tags in and does the spitfire stuff with a jumping clothesline and some forearms and then they trade shoulderblocks to send Nao flying. I mean, it’s a bit weird to go for that this late in a match but Nao’s thing is being this sorta delusional rookie with a chip on her shoulder. Anyway a Natsumi kick breaks up Utami’s roperunning and we get Nao with a big slam. Awkward sequence follows as Utami and Nao just trade forearms for a while. Nao gets a big slam and goes up but Kouki cuts her off and Utami gets the rack drop only for Natsumi to break up the pin. 2.999 on Nao gettins an awkward cartwheel headscissors. Kouki and Utami get the stereo missile dropkick/180 splash deal and Utami’s Air Raid Crash only gets 2.9 as Nao bridges out with power, Ishikawa spams some pinning combos but the bridging German finally shuts down the rook.

**

Look, I like Utami a lot and Kouki is fine when working with Utami, but there’s only so much Nao I can handle when her execution of moves is this rough. I get not having her try stuff she can’t do and trying to do simple power moves cause she’s got a big head and thinks that’s her, but her opponents just getting easily slammed by her is goofy, and if you’re only going to do forearms make sure they look good. She’s got a long road to go. Natsumi remains pretty solid and I would have liked to have seen more of her and Utami.

Sareee vs. Mai Sakurai

Background: So this is the person that wants to clobber Giulia really bad versus Giulia’s lil buddy. They also drew their last tag-match so we’ll see if Mai can keep that momentum going.

The Match: Mai does not silly stuff on her way to the ring and plays it totally straight, and we get the hot start as Sakurai ambushes Sareee. Sareee ain’t selling shit from this bum though so just immediately stomps on Mai in the corner. Sareee next with a crab, then a deathlock. Mai makes the ropes and Sareee continues to stomp on her. Back to the deathlock and we get the full Muta Lock this time. Mai breaks and fires back with a kick and a bulldog and then a STF. This has not been a thrilling match. Sareee has had enough and forearms Mai once then gets a missile dropkick. They reset to a slugfest and Sareee attempts a cazadora victory roll to limited success before going up and getting cut off with a boot, knocking Sareee outside and setting up Mai’s plancha. They do some weak brawling on the outside before Sakurai tosses Sareee back in to hit some more stuff. Now Sakurai goes up but she misses the elbow and Sareee gets a running stomp then a diving stomp for 2.9 as Mai is on fumes but still defiant. Ura-nage is blocked but we get a dropkick and a fisherman’s suplex to set up another diving stomp (this one off the tope rope) and Mai dodges that and gets a jump kick to set up…something that is botched but they recover into just a body press cover by Mai. Mai gets the gourdbuster and then the diving elbow but goes for a backdrop driver (?!) and Sareee slips out and hits a bad spin kick and then a forearm stiffer than 2 fingers of scotch. Mai’s head is near the ropes and we know what that means. Sareee picks her up even though she had 3 and we reset back to a slugfest…than Mai just nopes out of and goes for a whacky rollup and now we get the ura-nage from Sareee for 3.

**¼

Well that finishing sequence was a bit messy but I did like that Mai was serious and was trying to wrestle tough in anger against this jerk Sareee. That said, the execution of both of them was pretty weak, I’m okay with brawls being a bit sloppy but other than some stiffness, I didn’t really get much from Sareee and Mai is still just bad at doing moves even though I like her feel for wrestling.

Post-match Sareee talks more noise and we see Giulia chuckling at the comments. Sareee comes over and Giulia removes the wrist brace!!!

Nagisa Nozaki vs. Bozilla – United National Championship Inaugural Tournament Round One

Background: So we all love tournaments and now we’re doing a tournament for Marigold’s secondary title, the United National is going to be their white belt. Nagisa is a veteran brawler type and Bozilla is a young gaijin monster.

The Match: Boz keeps teasing doing a test of strength before laughing it off and Nagisa finally has enough and lands a kick. Boz headbutt is kinda sold by Nagisa and then the Japanese wrestler gets a sleeper that Boz just shakes off and avalanches her. Nagisa ducks a second avalanche and we get the vet kind of demolishing Boz with strikes, even moving her around the ring easily (?!) to set up the whacky apron kick. Bozilla has enough and slams Nagisa down but gets caught going up while she reminds everybody she has things to do and Nagisa cuts her off with a kick and then a turnbuckle assisted electric chair suplex. Nagisa continues to just beat the daylight out of Boz who hits a desperation lariat to get a breather. Slugfest and Nagisa again takes down Bozilla with ease and this is just…why? Sleeper and Boz is forced to make the ropes and when on her knees Nagisa hits multiple running boots to keep the aggression up. Boz goes for the powerbomb and Nagisa reverses in an ugly sequence. Lariat, jumping neckbreaker, and then a scary looking ganso bomb “SIZE DOES MATTER!!!” and we’re thankfully out of here.

DUD

This wasn’t just a bad, boring match, it was actually destructive to one of their major talents and Bozilla looked weak and foolish as the vet just tore her apart with ease, and not just “oh she’s canny” Nagisa was portrayed as being able to move the bigger around without too much difficulty and just ate her up, total selfish vet stuff where she called the match and made Boz look like a fool.

Miku Aono vs. MIRAI – United National Championship Inaugural Tournament Round One

Background: Another round in this tournament of which we don’t know how many people are participating in. But Miku is the established ‘ace’ of AWG that Marigold poached from and MIRAI had been firmly established as white belt level in her stint in Stardom so they feel ‘even’. MIRAI I know is good and Miku I think is good and this is the first long singles match with stakes I’ll be seeing her in, so time for me to get judgemental!

The Match: Staredown to start and this does feel like a big deal with the crowd clapping and then we get the big lockup and we got to the mat early with MIRAI being portrayed as the superior grappler. They reset and do some standing grappling with Miku getting something going and then MIRAI using the ropes to reverse it. MIRAI keeps on the arm with some wrenches and neat little spots. Miku tries to pick up the pace with a whip but MIRAI grounds her with an armbar. MIRAI gets greedy and goes for a corner charge and Miku ducks and gets a few kicks as the match opens up. Aono follows that up with a kneebreaker and then a single-leg crab. Ropebreak and they roll outside to brawl and MIRAI sets up a fireman’s carry into something but Miku slips out and kicks MIRAI’s leg out of her leg. But then she crows about her intelligence and accidentally lariats the ring post. Back inside and we’re going full-on crippled masters here with the one-legged woman versus the one-armed woman as MIRAI hits her rolling flatliner and then an armbar. Ropebreak again and MIRAI tries a hopping rope-run but Miku snatches her out of the air and hits her spinning slam in agony and goes up for a missile dropkick and an underhook fisherman’s suplex. Miku can’t clasp the arms for the butterfly suplex though and they slug it up and both stumble around. But Aono remembers MIRAI’s leg and just whales on it with kicks. They both try to run the ropes and cut each other off Miku trips up MIRAI again and gets a punt to the ribs and MIRAI comes back with a big backdrop suplex. MIRAI ducks the short-arm lariat and gets one of her own and then hits the wheelbarrow slam but Miku cuts her off with a high kick to the head and then a kick to a kneeling MIRAI’s head. Butterfly suplex and time expires! Wow.

They’re still brawling and I guess they’ve decided the match is back on!

We get some running and strikes as Miku finally gets that lariat on MIRAI and puts her in the ropes to knock her around some more until MIRAI gets a flying armbar to build space. Headbutts from MIRAI into the corner and MIRAI stumbles around the ring to get a lariat, and uh, doesn’t stumble to hit a shoulderblock. MIRAI goes up but Miku kicks her and gets a big suplex off the top and sets up an awkward looking kneeling choke. Another sick lariat from Miku gets 2.9 and the crowd popped big at it, it sounded like a side of beef hitting concrete. MIRAI counters the Styles Clash into a kimura though and they roll around on the ring until MIRAI gets position with a headscissors and then a double arm-bar. Miku slips out but MIRAI’s backdrop driver sets up the Miramare Shock…and Miku slips out and gets ANOTHER lariat and time expires again.

**¾

Yeah it was long and the time limit draw is what it is but both worked very hard and they did some very good stuff. MIRAI having the advantage on the mat but Miku being able to beat her in open space was a nice touch and them selling their injuries was mostly very good. I do think that Natsumi might need to expand her offensive kit a bit as the long match had her going back to the well a bit too often but she was pretty impressive here.

Post-match they cut promos and I’m not sure what’s decided as far as the tournament is concerned.

Well that’s it folks, next up I’m going to have the Korakuen Hall show they put up like…today or something. See you soon!