It’s always fascinating to see where some of the most notable wrestlers in the world started, and Mayu Iwatani—and to a lesser extent Arisa Hoshiki—are no different.

As one might expect from something where both a promotion and the majority of wrestlers are making their debuts, there’s nothing of real quality to note here. The hardcam looks like it isn’t even on a balanced tripod, there seems to be one singular off-centered light lighting the ring, and as for Mayu and Arisa—both sport pretty shotty looking ring gear and a at-best intermediate understanding of the most basic fundamentals. Naturally, by typical standards, the match is bad. Not detestable in the slightest though, much more fascinating than anything else, and for something one could say is doomed to fail (all things considered), it’s manages to be a passable seven minutes.

What you will notice is that generally stuff looks poor. No weight behind anything, robotic and stiff, and pre orchestrated. This is clear off that bat, as the early arm drags and tie-up look so unnatural it’s as if you can physically see both women think, which worsens later, as anytime there’s space between them, the awkwardness, lack of stamina, and nerves shine through. There is a nice little tidbit early on that did catch my eye though, as after Mayu hits a dropkick to separate the two, there’s a little struggle on the ropes before the referee separates them. It lasts all of 10 seconds, but for me, it’s the highlight of the match, and the best instincts either show. From there, they get into maximizing their capabilities, as a couple more of your typical trainees moves—headlock takeover into a pin, a standing switch, and waist lock — all get rushed through in that awkward matter, and in the end, doesn’t serve to add anything to the match, and gasses the youngsters out further. As this thing begins to wrap up, the notable lowlight turns its ugly head, with both women throwing some awful looking forearms, though it’s worth mentioning it’s Mayu who stands out with her selling of the strikes in comparison to Arisa. I’d say that’s the second and final reasonable positive takeaway, though things do keep moving, with Arisa mixing in a few kicks and Mayu hitting a handful of running bulldogs before the get to the finish. There’s lots of slaps, none of which really seem to have the desperation or grit that can make that cliche exchange interesting, a few creative (but sloppy) pin attempts, before Arisa hits a Brazilian Kick to win.

At seven minutes, Mayu Iwatani’s first match is in the books.

You can pry and poke at the tiniest things here and form them into things that they aren’t if you want, but there’s no overcoming the fact that there’s nothing here that would suggest Mayu Iwatani would become a star. She’s nervous, awkward, and most of all, bland. Her opponent, while there’s nothing that’ll blow you out of the water, at least has some decent kicks and much clearer dose of confidence. I get the circumstances that demand a new promotion show off something new are here and how that damns these two to go a bit further than they were likely comfortable with, but in terms of the mythos of Mayu Iwatani, view this as nothing more as the first step on the climb. Fascinating, yes, but necessary? No chance. So, yeah, you can talk about whatever narrative you want to conjure up from that, I guess.

For me though, a good reminder that everyone has to start somewhere.

Rating: Bad