To start our first show review on this website, we looking towards the start of a new promotion, Dream Star Fighting Marigold, and their PPV Marigold Fields Forever which eminated from a 1,500 strong Korakuen Hall on the 20th May 2024.
Some background on Marigold - they were formed in April after Rossy Ogawa was kicked out of the promotion he founded, STARDOM, for allegedly trying to poach talent for another company. Given Rossy Ogawa has been seen on WWE TV now I have a feeling what company this could be. Rossy announced his new promotion and a press conference and announced the signings of some top Joshi names, notably Utami Hayashishita and WWE-bound Guilia. Thankfully we didn’t see a Pro Wrestling NOAH styled mass exodus from STARDOM to Marigold which is good news for the Joshi world, and there has been a fair bit of hype towards this PPV considering the ramifications Marigold has on the Joshi scene.
Onto the show then:
We start off with a big video package about the formation of Marigold with words from the founding members of the promotion, we then cut to the ring and out come the roster to thank the crowd. Notably, Victoria Yuzuki comes out first and Guilia comes out last which replicates the order they will come out on the show itself. Utami utters the first words in Marigold and thanks the fans for the full house and to enjoy the show.
We get graphics for tonight's card, and then Rossy Ogawa is in the ring and presents the Red belt, the World Championship, and the White belt, The National Championship.
Victoria Yuzuki vs Nanae Takahashi
It’s opening match time, and it’s the rookie Victoria Yuzuki taking on the veteran Nanae Takahashi. Victoria Yuzuki is out first and she came out adorned in all yellow, the colour of Marigold, and got a great reception from the crowd. Considering she is the first person to make an entrance in this promotion, and also because she’s a rookie facing off against a long-time veteran in Takahashi, I have a strong feeling this is who they’ll be building the company around for a while.
Given that Yuzuki only debuted in November, and hasn’t wrestled in the past two months before this, I think she put on a good debut against Takahashi, although there is certainly some room for improvement on Yuzuki’s end. The crowd was also super hot for everything on this show which helped lift all the matches. The story of this match is Takahashi overpowering Yuzuki but Yuzuki tries her best to fight back and make valiant babyface comebacks.
There is a section in the match where I think Yuzuki botches a step up top rope move but Nanae immediately hits a leg drop on Yuzuki to make the spot look as good as it could. Props to Nanae here as well for making Yuzuki look great in defeat, she wins by hitting the Reizoku Bakudan, a body splash from the top rope, for the three count. Really fun opener, I haven’t gone into too much detail here but there was some good stuff from both women and it was the correct choice to open the first ever Marigold PPV. After the match, Nanae offers a handshake but Yuzuki slaps her hand away, I doubt this will be the two’s last encounter.
3.25 stars
Nao Ishikawa vs Miku Aono
The story of this match is that Nao Ishikawa, one of the founding members of Marigold, is jealous that Miku Aono is gaining all the attention on social media, and so she wants to put her in her place. This match didn’t go very long but it did pack a lot of punch, the match starting very strong with some trading forearms back and forth. Miku and Nao both work on each others legs throughout this match. Miku uses a lot of striking offence, notably some great kicks which Nao sold very well. Nao meanwhile spent the match doing all kinds of different suplexes and powerbombs, and also had some great facial expressions throughout the match. The finish came from Miku reversing a snap dragon suplex attempt from Nao, which Miku counters into a lariat. Miku then gets Nao up and hits a Styles Clash?! (which popped me huge) for the win.
I did wish this match went longer, however the wrestling that it did provide was great and both women made it look really personal. The two stare at each other after the match ends, I really hope we get to see this match again.
3.5 stars
MIRAI vs CHIAKI
It’s the battle for who has the better uppercase name - I joke but uppercased-styling on a pole match would be a unique concept. MIRAI is one of Marigold’s big stars, with her having a big MIRAI banner draping over the balcony at Korakuen Hall. The match starts with the two trading some forearms back-and-forth for about a minute, a spot that I am a huge sucker for. CHIAKI was the big surprise in this match, holding up well to MIRAI. This match was really hard hitting and the fans enjoyed it, the finish came after MIRAI hit a very scary looking Death Valley Driver on CHIAKI which the crowd collectively winced to - MIRAI then ran off the ropes and hit a big lariat for the three.
MIRAI got a great showcase here as one of the top stars of Marigold, although CHIAKI put up her end of the bargain and delivered a great match. After the match, we got some product placement™ as MIRAI received a huge bag of Caramel Corn™ which she seemed very happy about.
3.75 stars
Zayda Steel & Mai Sakurai vs Nagisa Nozaki & Myla Grace
The story of this match is that Nagisa Nozaki wants to face off against Guilia, but Guilia’s buddy Mei Sakurai will not let her. With that story in mind, why the hell is this a tag match, and also why did it go to a 15-minute time limit draw. The crowd only wanted to see Sakurai & Nozaki face off and so did I - that’s not to discredit Zayda & Grace, but it seemed obvious who were the better wrestlers and the more over wrestlers in this match.
The match started okay but it really got into gear when Zayda hit a tope suicida midway through. The match really got going near the end with a good sequence from Nozaki and Sakurai, but the time-limit draw really deflated this match and the crowd, a result no-one wanted to see. Sakurai and Nozaki stared down after the match and you don’t need to be a genius to see where this will go. Really bizarre finish and a weird match in the first place by squeezing in Zayda and Grace into this.
2.75 stars
Kouki Amarei & Chika Goto vs Natsumi Showzuki & Misa Matsui
This match is a showcase between four women formerly of Actwres, which is a more character based Joshi promotion that trains actors to become wrestlers, a bit like TJPW. As the four of these women played different characters in Actwres, this is technically the four’s pro wrestling debut - granted a big stretch needed here.
Anyway, this match ruled. The crowd chanted GOCHIKA! when Chika Goto was announced, which is a nickname that seems destined to get over. A fun opening segment from the start of the match as the taller Kouki Amarei raises her arm up for a test of strength and Misa Matsui is trying her best to jump up and reach, she just kicks Kouki in the gut to get around Kouki’s height advantage. A great spot early on in the match comes from Matsui running into Kouki but Kouki grabbing Matsui and hitting a GIANT SWING - welcome back Claudio Castagnoli - the match features plenty of good tag team action and the finish comes from Kouki who goes to the top rope and hits the Ametist Butterfly, which is a spinning body splash, for the three count on Matsui.
Showzuki got the most action in this match but I also think Kouki Amarei benefited tremendously from this win and looked great throughout. I have to give credit to Rossy Ogawa for signing these Actwres girls because these four, and Miku Aono, look to be great additions to the roster. I’m excited to see what these four can get up to in future shows.
3.75 stars
Guilia & Utami Hayashishita vs Sareee & Bozilla
It’s main event time, and we have two biggest stars of Marigold, Guilia and Utami, taking on Seadlinnng Beyond the Sea Champion Sareee and 20-year-old, 205 lb, 5ft 11, Bozilla. This match is to build up a future clash between Guilia and Sareee on Marigold’s Sumo Hall show in July, however Bozilla’s impressive Marigold debut was the biggest takeaway from this match.
Bozilla looked incredibly strong throughout this match and was really impressive by being a wrestling giant that carries herself like a giant, which stands out when many big wrestlers tend to perform and carry themselves like everyone else. The match starts out as a big brawl as Bozilla throws Guilia around the arena and into chairs, whilst Sareee and Utami spend some time just throwing chairs at each other. Bozilla got a lot of offence in this match, managed to no-sell a lot of Utami’s and Guilia’s tag team offence, and carried herself like a beast. The other big story of the match was just Guilia and Sareee killing each other with hard hitting moves, with Guilia legitimately injuring her wrist late on in the match which might put her NXT debut at Heatwave at risk.
Utami felt like a bit of an afterthought in this match, with her spending most of her time holding back Bozilla whilst Guilia was wrestling Sareee, however Utami is a big star and I’m sure will get plenty of opportunities to be apart of some big programmes at Marigold in the future. The finish of the match came from Sareee just landing Guilia on her head three times in a row with Uranages, before letting Bozilla hit a MOONSAULT!! and Sareee getting the win after one more Uranage. Sareee and Guilia’s exchanges in this match make me very very excited for a future encounter between the two, and Bozilla got a huge reaction from the crowd throughout this match and looks to be a huge star in the making. Bozilla is far from the finished product, but if she is this good two years into her career, then I think Bozilla has a very bright future in wrestling.
4 stars
A solid opening show for Marigold, with little going wrong and some great wrestling throughout the card. With that being said, this show didn’t do anything particularly radical, but the hot crowd makes this worth the watch and I hope the future shows have some contests of more circumstance.
Marigold certainly isn't reinventing the wheel at all, but they are well positioned to be successful considering their potential connections with WWE and the mainstream wrestling coverage that comes with that. If you want a new Joshi promotion to watch, this show is a great starting point to the characters that are going to be featured going forward. And finally, #Bozilla4champ!
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