Eastern Lariat

This week, the Eastern Lariat dives into a possibly defining show for New Japan Pro Wrestling on 2/11: Tsuji remains champ, Jake Lee looked goofy and Tsuji called out Bushiroad – a lot to unwind for STRIGGA & Dylan! They also discuss the big question: where exactly do you go with Olympic gold medalist Aaron Wolf from here? Who's stepping up after Finlay and Hiromu being added to the list of departures? Maybe Callum Newman? The New Japan Cup may provide some answers. Dylan also plugs his obituary for Tadao Yasuda and STRIGGA is hyped for Katsuya Murashima moving to Europe. After 90 minutes of NJPW, the Lariat goes rapid fire with the Champion Carnival line up, NOAH's latest Korakuen, GLEAT, TJPW and of course Saya Kamitanis's tremendous performance on February 7!  

Welcome to the 2026 edition of the New Year Potpourri! After Wrestle Kingdom and the Year End Awards, this show looks back how the first month of the year went for some of the top companies in Japan. Of course STRIGGA & Dylan start off by breaking down EVIL leaving NJPW and reflecting his legacy with the company. Was he a true top guy? From there on, the Eastern Lariat talks about the identity of Hayabusa and his match on Monday Magic including some more developments in the new season of the show. Then, the show takes a closer look at DDT's busy January including the D GENERATIONS Cup and weird WCW vibes. The show adds in a stop for All Japan Pro Wrestling in Chiba, featuring Kento Miyahara vs. Talos and Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Seigo Tachibana before wrapping up with DRAGONGATE, spotlighting BIGBOSS Shimizu vs. Natural Vibes and possible directions for Yuki Yoshioka and Ryoya Tanaka heading towards Kobe World in the summer.

It's this time of the year again! This episode is all about celebrating the very best of the year 2025 in japanese Pro-Wrestling as STRIGGA & Dylan unveil the Eastern Lariat Year End Awards that you, the listeners, voted for! Across 12 categories, both hosts break down the winners, debate cases and tight races, spotlight moments, matches, and performers that defined the year. From MVP, Best Wrestler, Best Jr. Heavyweight over Best Bout, Most Improved and Best Foreigner, this show offers a synoptic look at a crucial year for puroresu!   Intro song: 「ANTI-FORMALISM」 by OBSESS HEDERA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIC0uRHmms0

The beginning of the new year is the endpoint of a career at the same time. It's not the endpoint of a regular career, but the endpoint of Hiroshi Tanahashi's career that shaped japanese pro wrestling over the past 26 years and helped change the balance of power in the business. So it's no exaggeration to say that fans witnessed the closing of the book of one of the most important careers not just in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but in modern professional wrestling as a whole. Besides the Tanahashi festivities and his tremendous final match against longtime rival Kazuchika Okada, STRIGGA & Dylan review the full card, talk about what worked, what didn't, and how New Japan presented its biggest show of the year. Above all though, the Eastern Lariat reflects on Tanahashi's legacy as the Ace, what his farewell meant in the context of the event, and where NJPW goes from here without the man who carried the company on his back and broke his own body doing so.

It's the yearly tradition back again. 2025 is in the books and now we go over the predictions from the fans. We got a ton and Dylan goes through every single one, determining if things are more likely or unlikely to happen and my thoughts on the possibility of them happening. Finally he throws out a few predictions of his own that he foresees for 2026. It's a new year! What will the future hold for us? The Eastern Lariat Family comes together to try to determine one aspect!   For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat    Follow us on Twitter/X:     https://www.twitter.com/easternlariat    https://www.twitter.com/strigga       https://www.twitter.com/viva_zero   Follow us on BlueSky: @easternlariat.bsky.social @vivazero.bsky.social @strigga.bksy.social   Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/easternlariat

For the final show of the year 2025, STRIGGA & Dylan Fox dive into their 25 under 25 list of the very best Japanese pro wrestling talent under the age of 25. From already main eventing standouts to promising prospects with seemingly limitless ceilings, they talk strengths, trajectories, and who's in line to define the next coming years of their respective promotion or maybe the entire scene. Join in, come up with your own list or learn about new talent that's about to put their stamp on the next decade.

Merry Christmas from the Eastern Lariat!   As a special gift to you, STRIGGA & Dylan go 25 years back in time and present their review of the Super J-Cup 3rd Stage hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling on the 1st & 9th of April 2000! This tournament featured a colorful cast of characters from New Japan's Jushin Thunder Liger over Michinoki Pro's Great Sasuke and WCW's Kaz Hayashi to Big Japan's MEN's Teioh and BattlArts representative Katsumi Usuda.   Join in as the Eastern Lariat travel back to a different world of professional wrestling!

This week on the Eastern Lariat, STRIGGA & Dylan kick things off by talking about one of their japanese pro-wrestling soft spots in ZERO1. As the company is "reborn", they took it to Korakuen Hall where the "reborn" Hayabusa faced Kaito Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya also recently faced "Mr. Smack Daddy" Yoshiki Inamura in the main event, so Pro Wrestling NOAH and their upcoming Budokan card is the next topic. From there, STRIGGA & Dylan take it to New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 20 card that is shaping up nicely. While ZERO1 always seems to be on its last legs, All Japan continues to have boom and bust cycles as currently, they're struggle both in-ring and behind the scenes, while over in DRAGONGATE, the King of Gate Final delivered huge with the most unlikely final. And finally, STRIGGA runs down Michinoku Pro's Great Space War Match and the lore behind this year's iteration.  

With the smoke clearing on the 2025 WON Hall of Fame ballots, we have a whopping 8 new inductees to discuss. With all 7 voted in being candidates voted on by returning guest from the Emerald Flowshow, Gerard di Trolio. We go over the inductees, near misses, surprising totals and the future of the ballots with new and returning candidates being announced, finally with picks suggested by us to big Dave himself that we feel should be on the ballot, belong and deserve a look in the future. It was a fun ride covering it once again in 2025 and for the first time we wrap it up with the results!   If you wanna hear more of Gerard and talking about modern NOAH, AJPW, occasionally GLEAT & BJW, check out the Emerald Flowshow!   twitter.com/emeraldflowshow   https://open.spotify.com/show/1sjbd84fZN0VC46hCnyc3V   For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat   

For the firs time in a long time STRIGGA & Dylan invest a lot of time into DRAGONGATE and analyze the current stable landscape of the promotion guiding you through the different camps and what their aspirations and goals are. In doing so, they also discuss the most recent Gate of Destiny and King of Gate events. From there, they take it to New Japan Pro Wrestling in November and on their road to the Tokyo Dome. This episode was taped before Tanahashi's opponent was announces, so part of this speculation is redundant – it's fun nonetheless! Finally, the Eastern Lariat reviews DDT's Ultimate Party from November 3rd – a very long, yet fun show.

It's time for the Hall of Fame! Dylan is joined by the Emerald Flowshow and WON Hall of Fame voter Gerard di Trolio to discuss this year's ballot, with particular spotlight on the new candidates on this year. Every single region is covered as he reveals his ballot, with perhaps one Dylan swaying him on somewhat? Buckle up and check out our look at a wrestling history perspective for over 3 hours, with a couple of tangents on the Blue Jays, Gerard showing up to Sweet Daddy Siki's karaoke nights, and who could be next on the pipeline to be placed on the ballot in the future. It was another edition at the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame for the year 2025. Below is the full ballot and list of candidates:   I FOLLOWED THE HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA CANDIDATES (Six maximum)   Ole Anderson Afa & Sika Anoa'i Bob Armstrong Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith) June Byers Wild Bull Curry Junkyard Dog Cowboy Bob Ellis  Pampero Firpo  Black Gordman &

The guys kick things off with a look at the bad blood between Go Shiozaki and Pro Wrestling NOAH over the ZERO1 Title – a messy situation that All Japan Pro Wrestling could benefit from a lot. From there, it’s over to All Japan, where STRIGGA brings up the point of production values in contrast to NOAH or NJPW. They'll also talk about HAVOC being over with the crowd and how Shiozaki fits into the group and the promotion. From there, they take it to NOAH’s Wrestle Odyssey from Sumo Hall that featured some strong junior matches but plenty of disjointed storytelling. Another question raised and tackled is where New Japan goes next with Konosuke Takeshita as new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Is Okada going to be his Wrestle Kingdom opponent? Is It Tsuji? This could also interfere with possible Tanahashi retirement opponents. Other topics on NJPW include the hit Tag Team Title match, thoughts on the IWGP Women’s Championship, a ridiculous Super Jr. Tag League lineup. The final topic includes early speculations

Eastern Lariat Special: GAEA Girls   25 years after it's release, Dylan is joined by his Wrestle Update co-host and film major, game designer, director Nello de Angelis to give his insights from a directorial standpoint. Hear the two break down the film as well as the content of it as well which focuses on the GAEA Dojo led by legendary Joshi wrestler Chigusa Nagayo which at times devolves into psychological analysis as well as a look at possibly separating the kayfabe from the real   The Kim Longinotto & Jana Williams film documents the life of multiple trainees of GAEA over the course of the summer of 1999 eventually centering around rookie wrestler Saika Takeuchi and her October debut and her quest to "become someone" and her intense training with (a 19 year old) Meiko Satomura as well as Chigusa Nagayo and others including cameo appearances from Sakura Hirota, Toshie Uematsu, Sonoko Kato and even a young Thanomsak Toba!? Among others. It is a journey that sees many fall off and quit, but we discuss th

STRIGGA & Dyaln are back and cover a lot of ground from late August to mid September! First off, they dive deep into All Japan’s Oudou Tournament and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory, both of which are shaping the fall landscape in a big way. Over in Marigold, the Dream Star GP ended with two wrestlers gaining a lot from it alongside the surprising news of MIRAI's departure. Might she go back to Stardom? The duo also checks in on Tokyo Joshi Pro's Wrestle Princess VI, Ganbare Pro, Dragon Gate, and DDT to round out another tour across the Japanese scene.

On today's Eastern Lariat, it's an extremely special episode as Dylan is joined by the esteemed Pro Wrestling Author Dr. Jonathan Foye. The Ganbaru Author and regular Japanese wrestling live show attendee joins Fox in giving looks at all the competitors in the tournament, their histories, who they are as wrestlers and also we come through at the end with predictions for the finals of the tournament as well as the winner. It was great to have the good doctor on once again and to talk about the company he loves, with insight and info abound!   For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat    Follow us on Twitter/X:     https://www.twitter.com/easternlariat    https://www.twitter.com/strigga       https://www.twitter.com/viva_zero   www.twitter.com/JonathanFoye   Follow us on BlueSky: @easternlariat.bsky.social @vivazero.bsky.social @strigga.bksy.social  

Special Edition: 5 Star Grand Prix Full Review and Recap   We talked about it on the EL but it just wasn't enough for Dylan as he brings in the Dramatic Dream Dragons' Sondre Bjørn into the fold and we go over the entire tournament, with talk about not just the final, but EVERY SINGLE WRESTLER and rank them on a 1/10 scale. We talk about the future and where things could go with Momo as the winner as well as an overall view of the whole tournament. It's A LOT and we get through it together and hope you enjoy!   For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat    Follow us on Twitter/X:     https://www.twitter.com/easternlariat    https://www.twitter.com/strigga       https://www.twitter.com/viva_zero   www.twitter.com/sondrebjorn   Follow us on BlueSky: @easternlariat.bsky.social @vivazero.bsky.social @strigga.bksy.social   Follow us on IG: https://www.in

Welcome to episode 308 of the Eastern Lariat! STRIGGA & Dylan are back to dish out another potpourri of the Japanese wrestling landscape. This week they dive into New Japan’s freshly updated cards for the Destruction tour before they look back at Stardom’s highly successful 5★Star Grand Prix that elevated numerous wrestlers to greater heights. Another joshi tournament is in the focus following that as Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Princess Cup also finished up with talent elevated as well. The Eastern Lariat also covers the latest in All Japan with the Oudou Tournament, quickly break down Pro Wrestling NOAH’s N-1 Victory lineup, and round it all out with a stop in DRAGONGATE discussing the upcoming Korakuen Hall card and the upcoming Z-Brats rebranding.

STRIGGA & Dylan return with their coverage the final days of NJPW's G1 Climax 35 – the biggest tournament of the Summer. With the final and the road leading to it being pretty controversial, did the tournament hold up the high G1 standards? What does the crowd reactions during Konosuke Takeshita vs. EVIL tell us about the individual performers and the state of the company? From booking choices and patterns to match quality and overall presentation, The Eastern Lariat breaks down what worked, what didn’t, and where New Japan Pro Wrestling stands after the conclusion of the tournament.

In the spirit of the season, The Eastern Lariat returns with deep dive into the big summer gatherings of pro wrestling in japan – the major tournaments. The show starts out with Dylan's rundown of Stardom’s 5Star Grand Prix up until Day 4 and then turns to New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax 35 that crossed the half way point this past weekend. The big question here is: What's in the cards for which performer? The show of course also offers a series of recommended matches, highlights performers and performances and also questions unwritten rules of pro wrestling in Japan. Deservedly so so, All Japan Pro Wrestling is in the main event spot of this show for their excellent, dramatic and energizing Summer Action Wars from Ota Ward that saw two high-class matches in the World Tag Team Title Match and the Final of the Zennichi Junior Festival and that could steer AJPW in the right direction.