Free Match Friday is a weekly feature from Diva Dirt. Every Friday, we’ll spotlight a great indie match available to watch for free online. Some of the best wrestling in the world is happening in high school gyms and sports bars and even, occasionally, in an appropriate venue for a wrestling match. This week, our free match is a rich, technical Warriors of Wrestling Women’s Championship match between Nyla Rose and Takumi Iroha at Marvelous.
Nyla Rose kicked off a recent tour of Japan with this stunning title defense against Takumi Iroha. Rose is known and admired for size and strength – it’s not for nothing she’s called the American Kaiju – and many other matches feature these qualities, such as her clash with Jessicka Havok or her cage match against Nikki Addams. But this grueling title defense against Iroha gives her the chance to prove she’s more than just a powerhouse. Her technical ability shines, and she shows a huge range, moving fluidly between several styles, matching Iroha at every turn.
But Iroha is the real star of this match, to little surprise. One of the biggest stars of the Marvelous roster, Iroha left Stardom to become the hand-picked protege of Marvelous founder and joshi legend Chigusa Nagayo. Nagayo previously trained fellow joshi legend Meiko Satomura, and if Iroha is not yet in Satomura’s league, it’s only a matter of time. She moves like an athlete, her strikes are stiff as all hell, and she sells like a champ.
I love this match because of the versatility it permits both performers. Outside women’s promotions, female wrestlers are very often indulged far less in a show’s runtime. Some six-man tag match with no stakes and indistinguishable competitors will get a full half hour while a women’s title defenses is done and dusted in ten or less. But Nyla Rose and Takumi Iroha both get tons of breathing room here, and both are able to really show off their prowess.
Check back in with Diva Dirt next week for another great free match from the world of independent women’s wrestling.
