A Fairly Marvelous Beginning

August 9, 2015 in Queens, NY

Marvelous Puroesu USA’s first event at the Queensboro Elk’s Lodge was presented with a lot of fanfare. Chigusa came out to start the show with a ceremony to introduce the core members of her roster: Penelope Ford, Renee Michelle, Davienne, and Takumi Iroha. She announced that they would all be traveling to Japan with her for shows / training and later returning to the US for more Marvelous Puroesu shows. Each of them then said a few words to the crowd, which was clearly unexpected as some fumbled a bit with what to say. It came off as genuine and endearing though and actually added to the casual, enjoyable atmosphere of the evening.

All three of the American core members faced Sumie Sakai, with Ford vs Sakai opening the card and Michelle and Davienne against Sakai and Willow Nightingale right after intermission.  Sumie’s antics are quite amusing and everyone in the ring with her seemed to benefit from her experience and got to show their own skills and potential.

The undercard was nicely varied in general, from heavy humor in Deonna Purrazzo & Brittany Blake vs Rick Cataldo & Eddy McQueen, to a hard hitting tag match in DJ Hyde & Rory Gulak vs Nate Carter & David McCall, to a three-way spotfest in Lio Rush vs Patrick Clark vs David Starr, etc. Some wrestlers clearly need more polish (and there was an obviously blown finish in one match), but everyone showed great effort and there’s a lot of potential here.

A surprise appearance by the legendary Mick Foley added some amusement to the David vs Goliath battle of Cheeseburger vs Rex Lawless and gave a dose “anything can happen” to the show. The general feel of the card was one of fun and diversity, with a little something for everyone.

The main event was a great way to end the show. This is the second time I’ve seen Wantanabe live and he’s impressed on both occasions. Papadon was a suitable partner for Chigusa and both men did an excellent job making their exchanges with the woman believable.

Of course the true draw of the evening was getting to see Chigusa live, and she did not disappoint. She had some great strike exchanges with Wantanabe, much to the crowd’s delight. It was a treat watching her wrestle Iroha, who held her own against the veteran and is certainly one to watch going forward.

Overall Marvelous Puroesu USA’s first show should be considered a solid success. The venue was pretty full (three sides of the ring with seats, with two rows on two sides and 5 on the third), the matches were varied and entertaining, and the whole thing was just all around fun. Looking forward to the future of this promotion, particularly the opportunity to see more of Chigusa and Iroha in the US.