On June 24, Marvelous Women’s Pro Wrestling and the Joshi world will officially welcome Mio Momono back to professional wrestling as she makes her in-ring return from injury. Momono has been out of action since September 20, 2021, when she and Rin Kadokura lost the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship to Manami and Mika Iwata. The injury resulted in it being the end of her 2021, a year where she not only broke out but showed everyone she is one of the absolute best in the world today. Whether it was her part in the feud between Marvelous and Sendai Girls in the build to GAEAISM or the impressive outings against the likes of Miyuki Takase and AZM throughout the year, Momono always managed to give it her all and provide some of the best matches of the year.

After touting Momono as “the best wrestler you didn’t see enough of in 2021” at the end of last year, the return of the talented Marvelous star was one of the moments I have been looking forward to the most. There are few better in making a fan invest in their matches than Momono. With what she accomplished in 2021 alone, the future remains as bright as can be for the 24-year-old.

In an exclusive interview with Mio Momono, I was able to ask six questions regarding her comeback which included the help that Takumi Iroha offered during her rehabilitation, if she was planning to change her style, challenging for gold, and a potential matchup with Stardom’s AZM.

Here’s what Momono had to say:

Q: Do you plan to change your wrestling style following rehabilitation?

Mio: いえ！！全く考えていません！！！
もちろん怪我によって出来なくなった事はありますが
1つや2つ出来なくなったことがあっても
桃野美桜スタイルは崩れないでしょう🔥🔥🔥

Translation: Absolutely not!!! I’ve never thought of changing my fighting style! It’s true that there are some movements I couldn’t do at present owing to my injury. But even so, Mio style will never change.

Q: What did you miss most about wrestling during rehabilitation?

Mio: プロレス全てが恋しかったです
ベルト戦線だったり
みんなが前に進んでいる中自分だけが
止まっていると感じました

Translation: Everything. Everything related to pro-wrestling. The fact I couldn’t join the fight for the belts. It seemed that everyone around me is walking ahead while I was just standing there doing nothing.

Takumi Iroha, much like Momono, missed eight months of action after injuring her knee in October 2020. Iroha worked hard to get back from such a difficult injury and has become someone for Momono to model herself after as she returns from her own injury. It was only right to ask about how Iroha’s influence has been through this experience and it resulted in a challenge from Momono to Marvelous’ ace as well despite a ton of appreciation for her help along the way.

Q: How has Takumi Iroha helped you through the rehabilitation process?

Mio: 匠さんの存在そのものがモチベーションでした
復帰したらAAAWのベルトを取りに行く気持ちだったり
他団体で評価される事はあっても
自団体で何かを残せたことはあまりなくて
だから
女子プロレスのトップでもある匠さんと
マーベラスでプロレスの歴史にのこる試合をする。
その気持ちが自分を奮い立たせてくれていました

Translation: The existence of Takumi Iroha itself was my great motivation. The strong feeling to challenge for her belt ( AAAW single). I left some results fighting on other promotions’ rings but did almost nothing on our ring.
So what I really long to do is to fight with Takumi san, one of the top wrestlers at present, and hope that fight will remain in the history of pro wrestling.
And that feeling gave me the power and motivation to fight back from my injury.

It was on Jan. 10 that saw Takumi Iroha win the AAAW Championship, defeating Sendai Girls’ Chihiro Hashimoto and reintroducing both the AAAW singles and tag team titles to wrestling. This was a journey that started at GAEAISM, where Momono and the Marvelous team were defeated in the main event by Hashimoto and Sendai Girls. It had been Momono’s goal to bring those titles to Marvelous and while she was unable to herself, Iroha and Marvelous were able to obtain them when she was away. There was no doubt that once Momono was cleared, she’d have her eyes on the prize.

Q: Do you want to challenge for the AAAW Championship?

Mio: 当たり前にもちろん!!!!!!
シングルもタッグもどっちも獲る
欠場中だろうと
他の人が巻いていようと、
AAAWのベルトに対する気持ちは
誰にも劣っていないとずっと思っています

Translation: Without a doubt!!!!!!
Not only single but also tag. I will be the champ of those belts soon. No matter who holds the belt now or me, missing the chances of challenging the belts these days, I’m sure my love to those belts is second to none.

When Mio Momono announced her return, many wrestlers in the Joshi world responded with their sights seemingly on facing her in the future. Perhaps the most interesting name was AZM, who she competed against just two months before her injury took her out of action. It was in that match where we saw the high-speed greatness they can share together when Momono and Starlight Kid defeated AZM and Mei Hoshizuki. As AZM now holds the High-Speed Championship and responded to Momono’s return, it was only right to ask her about a potential match against Stardom’s top high-speed wrestler.

Q: Would you like to wrestle Stardom’s AZM in a singles match after talking on Twitter?

Mio: この発言を見る前からしたいと思っている!!
理由はハイスピードのチャンピオンベルト
美桜に似合うと思うから🔥
でも組むのも楽しそう🔥

Translation: I was looking forward to fighting with Azumi even before I read her words.
The reason? The High-Speed Championship.
I think that belt fits me well. Yet it may be interesting to form a tag team with her.

Q: Who would you like to wrestle against following your return?

Mio: 誰とでも試合がしたい🔥
それは常に思っていることです🔥
もちろんまだ知らない海外のレスラー達も！！！！！

Translation: I’d like to fight with everyone. Not only Japanese but attractive wrestlers from all over the world. That’s MY style.

Mio Momono returns to Marvelous on June 24. If you haven’t seen her perform inside the squared circle, there will be no better time than now to do so. She has clear ambitions for when she returns and it will be a journey you’re going to want to follow. The AAAW Championship, AAAW Tag Team Championship, High-Speed Championship, and so much more are in her future. With the determination to show her style and who she was as a pro wrestler before the injury, this means the best has yet to come!

Here are some matches from Momono’s career that you can check out for free on YouTube:

International fans can order the June 24 Marvelous show which features the in-ring return of Mio Momono here: https://marvelous.zaiko.io/item/349241

Thank you to @suzuki_mar for helping make this happen (as well as translations), Mio Momono for giving me a chance to interview her ahead of her return, and Marvelous for working with me on this project.

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