Eastern Lariat

In this episode of the Eastern Lariat, STRIGGA & Dylan mostly focus on the young and more up and coming talent that AJPW, DDT and DRAGONGATE have to offer as they discuss guys like Ryuki Honda, Yuki Ueno or the recent debut of T.N.Revolucion in DG. The show also offers a look at Pro Wrestling NOAH using and wasting potential, recommended matches from All Japan this month and a full review of DDT's Big Bang event from this past Saturday.

Dylan is joined by regular EL NOAH contributor Dean to talk about NOAH's N1 Victory Final which saw Go Shiozaki emerge victorious for his first ever NOAH tournament win. We talk about the whole show, the developments with Psycho Clown coming in to face Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. for the National Title, the developments of the Jr. Division and a get well soon to Chris Ridgeway. We talk about Kaito Kiyomiya's return to the promotion and the potential of him bringing back Oiwa from NJPW. Finally we go over the entire tournament and break down all 16 competitors. Who shined, who stood out, who disappointed, and who was the MVP? Finally, we talk about the near future of the company and Dean throws out some great predictions and ideas for the big Ariake show on January 2nd.   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 PLUS same day reviews of G1 Climax Shows + STARDOM 5 Star GP Reviews: https://

In an impromptu show, STRIGGA called Dylan to look back at a weekend in japanese pro wrestling that had ups and downs, was hot and cold and something in between. After first going over the next big show line ups for New Japan Pro Wrestling, they discuss DRAGONGATE's Dangerous Gate from Ota City as well as their immediate future with some ideas for turns. The next big chunk of the show is devoted to NOAH's N-1 Victory, which is on its home stretch now. You can't claim that about Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix, but it's another hot tournament on the menu for this episode. At the end of the show, STRIGGA & Dylan get into some All Japan with a main focus on Ryuki Honda's rise within the company and them trying to figure out what AJPW will do in Yoyogi.

New Japan's big traditional summer tournament has come to a climatic finish with Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada as the last match of the G1 Climax 33. The Eastern Lariat takes a look back at the penultimate show featuring the semi finals of Okada vs. EVIL and Naito vs. Ospreay as well as the final show including all storyline developments on all shows and ultimately, STRIGGA & Dylan rate the tournament as a whole. Before that, the first half hour of the show is dedicated to TJPW's Princess Cup and Pro Wrestling NOAH's N-1 Victory while at the end of the show, there's a brief discussion about the upcoming Royal Road tournament for All Japan Pro Wrestling.

The G1 Climax semi finals are set so STRIGGA & Dylan take a look back at the D & D Block finals that created very different emotional reactions and a very controversial match with EVIL and Shingo Takagi that STRIGGA compares to the likewise very controversial Mio Momono vs. Mayumi Ozaki match from Marvelous. The jury is out for The Eastern Lariat on SANADA as champion after the quarterfinals and another match with EVIL. After discussing the three G1 shows and knowing the semi finals, STRIGGA & Dylan lay out their scenarios for the G1 final, the tournament victory and who's going to walk into Wrestle Kingdom as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Things looked obvious before the tournament, then seemed obvious in the quarterfinals and now the obvious choices might not been those they go with.

On the previous episode, STRIGGA had beaten Dylan to the punch on the first night of the N1. So as a make good the first episode of the Patreon N1 coverage is airing for free for everyone and Dylan has recruited his friend Squill, the one behind Wrestling with the Narrative YouTube channel and noted Timothy Thatcher respector to cover the show where the Thatch man main events against the GHC Heavyweight Champion, Jake Lee! Follow Dylan + the Eastern Lariat on X: @EasternLariat @Viva_Zero Follow Squill and check out his YT video essays! @heeldumile https://youtube.com/@wrestlingwthenarrative And check out for the other nights of the N1 Victory Dylan bringing in multiple special guests to talk Pro Wrestling NOAH's top tier tournament on our Patreon which also supports the show and the thousands of hours put into this wonderful world of Japanese wrestling:  patreon.com/easternlariat   Also listen to our preview and predictions episode for EVERY SINGLE MATCH: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=128&nr=953

On Super Sunday in japanese pro wrestling all major companies ran major events that varied in success depending on how you looked at them. The Eastern Lariat of course takes an extensive look at New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax and the finals of Block A & B. Given the results, they discuss the outlook for Hikuleo, the performance of the Reiwa 3 and # Kaito Kiyomiya's future. Block B leads straight to the discussions about the knockout stages and who will be winning. Before the G1 talk, STRIGGA & Dylan looked back at DRAGONGATE's King of Gate Final, the crazy GLEAT show from Sumo Hall as well as AJPW & NOAH from Super Sunday!

This time the Eastern Lariat starts with a look at the two joshi tournaments running at the moment with Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix and Tokyo Joshi Pro's Princess Cup. Since the Princess Cup is coming to an and, STRIGG A& Dylan discuss possible outcomes of that before turning their attention to the G1 Climax 33 that also is nearing towards its end – at least when it comes to the group stage. Here, the Eastern Lariat discusses the 3 shows from Nagoya, Takamatsu and Hiroshima and then it's G1 MATH with intense discussions about Kaito Kiyomiya, Jeff Cobb and yes, of course Tanga Loa. Join in, get a coffee and a flip chart!

Dylan engages in a full preview of Pro Wrestling NOAH's N1 Victory tournament with predictions for every single match up to the final, and he's joined by Dean and Dr. Jonathan Foye who also give their predictions and as it turned all 3 had different winners of the tournament! It's long, but we talk about everyone and go over a ton of scenarios, and somehow come out with everything being alright by the end.   Look forward to more coverage on the Patreon where EVERY SINGLE MATCH will be covered with both Dean and Jonathan factoring in along with others! And of course keep your eyes peeled to watch the N1 itself on Wrestle Universe where you will see who if any looks like genius and/or idiots.   Get coverage of the N1, same day reviews of the G1, same day reviews of STARDOM's 5 Star Grand Prix, an archive featuring thousands of hours of historical audio, all for only $5 a month. Also reviews of major Manami Toyota matches in her career for free! All on patreon.com/easternlariat   Follow us all on Twitter/X and t

The G1 Climax has reached its half way point and also delivered three shows in Tokyo so this is the perfect moment to not only look back on two Korakuen Hall shows and an event from Ota Ward that delivered some of the best matches of the tournament, but it's also an opportunity to highlight each block's best performers, which Dylan takes care of with his scientifically certified ratings system – unlike NJPW this can't be rigged. Before the G1 talk starts, the Eastern Lariat looks at Saya Kamitani being out of the 5 Star GP, Stardom's card for August 13 and ZERO1 losing their long time ring announcer as well as Fuminori Abe due to injury.

This past weekend New Japan presented two G1 Climax shows that could not have been more different. While the one from Nagaoka received almost unanimous praise, the one two days later in Nagano was rated the lowest of all G1 shows this year so far. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss all the matches and go into some wrestler's quest so far and in some cases – once again – question their role in the biggest tournament of the year. The G1 talk is sandwiched between some notes on DRAGONGATE's King of Gate and their upcoming Korakuen as well as DDT's Peter Pan with the emotional highlight of Chris Brookes winning the KO-D Title at the beginning and a quick review of Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix opening night at the end of the show.

The summer of tournaments rolls on and so does the Eastern Lariat. In this episode STRIGGA & Dylan look back at Days 3 & 4 of the G1 Climax 33 from Yamagata and Sendai, which leads to a discussion about the format of the tournament. What improvements could there be to provide more interesting undercards and an more intriguing field of competitors? While some matches are lacking excitement, others over delivered so far – the G1 has truly started. At the end of the show the Eastern Lariat duo also discusses DRAGONGATE's King of Gate as well as the N-1 Rumble leading up to NOAH's N-1 Victory and the Sumo Hall Cards for DDT & GLEAT.

The first weekend of the 33rd G1 Climax is in the books, so Dylan & STRIGGA sat down to look back at the best matches of the first set of shows – was there a signature G1 match that takes the tournament out of the gates? Besides the matches, the two talk about the start of the Reiwa Toukon Three Musketeers and their individual prospects of positioning within the company. STRIGGA & Dylan also lay out their picks for block winners, runner ups and for the winner of the G1 Climax 33. With that in mind, the two discuss some booking ideas for Wrestle Kingdom 18 that revolves around the question if SANADA remains champion until January 4. At the end of the show the focus transitions to Pro Wrestling NOAH's One Night Dream show, a unique spectacle of a show that featured one of the best matches of the year in Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara.  

Out with the old, in with the new! The Eastern Lariat got new any shiny awards waiting for winners in 13 different categories that saw almost every japanese promotion represented in some form or fashion. Led by the ballots sent in by the listeners, STRIGGA and Dylan make their own picks starting with Best Foreigner, going over most improved, best promotion, best wrestler and much more until the final two awards: The Manami Toyota Joshi MVP and the Kenta Kobashi (overall) MVP. Join the Eastern Lariat on a journey through the first six months of japanese pro-wrestling in 2023!

With STRIGGA back after an hiatus of 5 weeks, him and Dylan open the show with a preview of the newly named categories for the Half Year Awards. From there, the two discuss Forbidden Door, STRIGGA's take on the G1 Climax as well as the N-1 Victory Blocks for Pro Wrestling NOAH. Dylan gives his take on the highly acclaimed 12 Women Cage Match from Stardom's Sunshine show and the duo talk about DRAGONGATE's upcoming biggest show of the year: Kobe World! Who's gonna lose their mask?The show closes with a quick discussion about Yuji Okabayashi, who's taking an indefinite hiatus.  

Come for the All Together Again, stay for an hour on each company involved with it! No stone gets left unturned with everything going on in NJPW and AJPW and NOAH. Dylan is joined by Dean again and talk about the full card of All Together and then go over the G1 Climax Blocks, where AJPW, NJPW & NOAH go from here and a breakdown of all sorts of stories and wrestlers going on in each company with talk and even disagreements about different wrestlers like Kaito Kiyomiya, Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Ishii, Shingo & much unhappiness thanks to STINGER! For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for over 1000s of hours of audio:  https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/EasternLariat https://www.twitter.com/STRIGGA https://www.twitter.com/Viva_Zero https://www.twitter.com/dnmt67 Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" -   https://www.you

With STRIGGA on vacation and a big STARDOM show to talk about Dylan brings back Sondre Bjørn for a ride through, as they go through the spectacular finals of NJPW's Best of the Super Jr. Run down best matches, what they think of Wato and his big win, as well as where the Jrs. and the company as a whole is headed towards in the future. The second half of the show is dedicated to STARDOM, as we talk about the entire Flashing Champions show, the direction of the company and then run down the participants announced for the Five Star Grand Prix with a spirited conversation about things in Joshi's most popular company. For more coverage of Japanese pro wrestling, modern and classic, check out our Patreon patreon.com/easternlariat for just $5 a month to gain access to thousands of hours of shows talking wrestling. Follow the Eastern Lariat and Sondre on Twitter and let us know your thoughts on Japanese wrestling! @EasternLariat @Viva_Zero @SondreBjorn @STRIGGA and listen to Sondre and Dylan's show the Dramatic Dream

This week, (almost) the entire focus of the show lies on the 30th Best of the Super Junior, New Japan's annual Junior Heavyweight Tournament that has produced some of the best and most talked about matches of the year as well as some unforgettable moments in its past iteration. This year, some new competitors enter the field to mix it up with the top of the junior division in New Japan, which already provided some great pro-wrestling. STRIGGA & Dylan look back at the first half of the tournament and rate each wrestler, their matches, their stories and their chances of advancing to the semi finals. Before that, the show opens with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Shotaro Ashino's tragic injury, his replacement and a look at the first matches for All Together.

Golden Week traditionally is the week of the year that delivers the most concentration of big shows apart from the first week of January. This year was no different as every major company ran shows during the holidays so the Eastern Lariat's plate was full of matches, developments and surprises to talk about. STRIGGA & Dylan of course focus on the traditional big three, but also dive into Big Japan and DRAGONGATE deeper than they usually do and overall about a dozen companies are mentioned on this year's Golden Week Extravaganza~!