Eastern Lariat

Was it a Golden Week for New Japan and Big Japan? In this new epiosde the Eastern Lariat crew debates about the pros and cons of a very long Wrestling Dontaku tour, outstanding performances and flaws in New Japan's booking, foreigners in New Japan and the promotion being between needing and having. When previewing the Best of the Super Junior STRIGGA & Dylan talk about Will Ospreay's weird 2019 and they also give a preview and predictions for the tournament as well as a short Dominion preview. When switching over to Big Japan the main talking point is the big success of Endless Survivor on one side and this success being built on sand on the other. There's Okabayashi, there's Sekimoto, but who else? Check out STRIGGA & Dylan on Twitter at @STRIGGA and @DylanZeroSky Check out the Eastern Lariat Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat

In the debut episode of Pure Heart - Pure Lariat Dylan is joined by POST Wrestlings WH Park (@whpark9) to discuss the latest in Joshi Wrestling! You get WH's live experience going to Golden week shows including Stardom's Cinderella tournament and everything surrounding it. WH also runs down Actwres Girl'Z in Korakuen Hall and tells an extremely random and humorous story about meeting BJW wrestlers. Future episodes of Pure Heart - Pure Lariat will premier on the Eastern Lariat's Patreon at https://patreon.com/EasternLariat!

STRIGGA & Dylan return to discuss the final stretch of this year's Champion Carnival that saw some of the best matches of the entire tournament that included the finals and an outstanding 30 minute time limit draw. The Eastern Lariat crew looks at all the participants and rates their performance within the tournament while also looking at the future for some of the main Carnival players. In the second half of the show you'll get introduced to a feature that will be on the Eastern Lariat Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat: Kao Mise! STRIGGA & Dylan introduce the entire All Japan roster, talk about stables, tag teams and the history of some wrestlers within japanese pro-wrestling.

This episode marks the Hataage Kinenbi 3, the third anniversary celebration, of Dylan joining the Eastern Lariat so the Eastern Lariat crew has a very special announcement for all listeners at the end of the episode! Before that though STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the good and the bad of G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden before bouncing around WrestleMania weekend a bit more while expressing their love for Bloodsport, Orange Cassidy and some other shenanigans that went on two weeks ago. Back in Japan the Champion Carnival rolls on so STRIGGA & Dylan give their opinions on the tournament so far and highlight some of the best and worst matches the Carnival has seen so far.

No fancy name, just telling you what's inside! This episode of the Eastern Lariat starts with the unfortunate news of Takehiro Yamamura's injury and also talk about Teruaki Kanemitsu & Michael Elgin leaving New Japan, Jiro „Ikemen“ Kuroshio & Tsugutaka Sato leaving WRESTLE-1 and Hana Kimura going full time with Stardom. From there STRIGGA & Dylan give you a joshi roundup from February and March including Stardom, Sendai Girls and SEAdLINNNG including Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona, Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Sakura Hirota and Nanae Takahashi vs. Asuka. The third and final topic of the show is a preview for the already running Champion Carnival and a look at favorites, dark horses and the outside talent coming in.

In this episode of the Eastern Lariat STRIGGA & Dylan take a look back at the second half of the New Japan Cup highlihted by Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA in the finals. The duo shares their takes on why they weren't completley happy with the finals even though it was a great match. Besides that STRIGGA & Dylan highlight their favorite perfomers and perfomances throughout the tournament while complaining on a high level before previewing the G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden.

As the second round of the New Japan Cup closes the Eastern Lariat crew looks back at the matches and developments from the first two rounds of the big 32 men tournament. STRIGGA & Dylan mention their favorite matches and stories and also point out the good, the bad and the questionable about New Japan's spring tournament.

The New Japan Cup has been a land of upsets for many, many years now, but this year it seems like the outcome is very predictable. In that regard STRIGGA & Dylan bring up some alternative ways besides the obvious pick and shed the light on some dark horses for the New Japan Cup victory and for the road to Madison Square Garden. Before they get to the New Japan Cup however, the Eastern Lariat cews reviews the Honor Rising shows and also talks about some news and notes including japanese talent in wXw's 16 Carat Gold, Atsushi Onita, WWE releases, the next Triple Crown defense for Kento Miyahara and Pro Wrestling NOAH's restart.

A Sumo Hall trifecta is the main topic of this week's Eastern Lariat Episode as STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the DDT double shot in Ryogoku as well as the whacky Giant Baba Memorial show from this past Tuesday. There are a lot of things to unwind and a lot of questions coming out of these three events, that's for sure! Since Kento Miyahara headlined the Baba show subsequently talk about his great title defense against Suwama, the rest of the All Japan show from Yokohama and the Champion Carnival announcements!

After Wrestle Kingdom it seemed like the ace was back on top of New Japan Pro Wrestling, but that wasn't to be for long. At The New Beginning in Osaka Jay White dethroned the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and began his new era. Will „Switchblade“ go on a terror reign on top or will his title reign be cut short in Madison Square Garden? STRIGGA & Dylan discuss this question, Kota Ibushi's return, Honor Rising, the New Japan Cup and much more from the final event of The New Beginning tour.

In a new Eastern Lariat episode STRIGGA & Dylan go over the most recent set of New Japan shows from Hokkaido plus KUSHIDA's final match and also discuss AEW's possible impact on Japan, KENTA leaving WWE and NOAH being sold...yet again. And there's more! The Eastern Lariat crew also previews the big Baba Memorial show with a huge interpromotional main event.

The time around the turn of the year for japanese pro-wrestling has almost become comparable to WrestleMania weekend in the United States because of the strahlkraft of Wrestle Kingdom. Beyond New Japan's biggest show of the year there's a lot more happening at this time of the year so STRIGGA& Dylan took an extensive look at ZERO1, WRESTLE-1 and Big Japan Pro Wrestling while also making sure to reminisce about indie wrestling 10 years ago. Besides these topics the Eastern Lariat crew also discusses the two big title matches that started the year for All Japan and NOAH. Is Kaito Kiyomiya the guy?

Wrestle Kingdom 13 and New Year Dash!! lie behind us and with Hiroshi Tanahashi the beloved ace is back on top – but for how long? In this episode STRIGGA & Dylan take an extrensive look at all the matches and developments of New Japan's anual Tokyo Dome show, praise New Japan for their booking decisions and criticise them for meaningless belts and the missing focus on for example the junior heavyweights. With the big dates of 2019 having been announced the Eastern Lariat crew also discusses the promotion's business plans for the year to come and wonders where this leaves the Elite guys.

STRIGGA & Dylan end 2018 with an exclamation point as they review Pro Wrestling NOAH's Great Voyage from Yokohama and WRESTLE-1's Autumn Bout from Korakuen Hall. Both companies tried to set the stage for the months to come – with varying success. The duo discusses Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada, Shotaro Ashino and T-Hawk being key parts of the NOAH & W-1 storylines going forward. Other topics include the D King Grand Prix 2019 and Joshi with Stardom, WAVE & Tokyo Joshi Pro.

Special guest WH Park (@whpark9 on Twitter) from POST Wrestling joins the Eastern Lariat crew to discuss this year's "Pro Wrestling Grand Prix", better known as the Tokyo Sports awards. The trio goes through every categorie and extensively debates the winners, names their choices and sometimes even tries to get to the bottom of what the awards actutally stand for. On top of that STRIGGA, Dylan and WH also talk about their top company and some of the most improved wrestlers in 2018.

STRIGGA & Dylan set sail for a new voyage of the Eastern Lariat after the longest hiatus in the show's history. The crew is testing the waters to get into smooth sailing by giving a digest of the most important developments in japanese pro-wrestling from mid November until today. They talk about the New Japan World Tag League, NOAH's Global League, the AJPW Real World Tag League, Big Japan Death Vegas, Hideki Suzuki & Masashi Takeda as champions and the company working with ZERO1, DDT's D-Ou Grand Prix and for a special treat STRIGGA explains the build towards this year's GREAT SPACE WAR in Michinoku Pro Wrestling. It's a jam packed episode so join us and find out why a cape could be Pro Wrestling NOAH's cash cow.

It takes Understanding to accept NJPW as a whole, Knowledge to set the proper pace of watching an AJPW show, Courage to get through Danshoku Dieno's main event at DDT's Peter Pan, & Dedication to follow NOAH through their various ups & downs. All these skills are needed to finish off the MEGA SOLO PURO POTPOURRI! Dylan goes solo after a month away from the Eastern Lariat and cover all of the above, going in on NJPW, Power Struggle, & Naito's questionable booking, AJPW & Kento vs. Zeus, DDT & Peter Pan and one of the worst matches of the year (and a heartwarming personal favorite, as well as the Giant Baba/Tokyo Sports show and a daring main event idea. Check it out before STRIGGA's back next episode! Follow Dylan on Twitter @DylanZeroSky & STRIGGA @STRIGGA - Cagematch.net & Purolove.com

Plans change, they say. Even in podcasting not everything goes as planned and as promised here are some of the bloopers or outtakes that - for different reasons - have been cut from the past 100 episodes. Enjoy!

Come on in and celebrate our 100th episode with us! Right off the bat STRIGGA talks about the japanese influx in this year's wXw World Tag Team League as well as Meiko Satomura in Femmes Fatales before him and Dylan toss it back to Japan to discuss King of Pro-Wrestling and everything surrounding it. You'll hear takes on the Jay White vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi match including the aftermath, on the three way main event and much more. Then Dylan takes over and reviews Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix and finally the Eastern Lariat crew previews the big DDT Sumo Hall show that's coming up on October 21st. As for most of the 99 previous episodes it's a melange of everything in japanese pro-wrestling. Here's to a 100 more!

STRIGGA & Dylan are back with another XXLariat in which they cover the month of September in All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. All Japan saw the 6th Royal Road (or Oudou) Tournament thrat had some outstanding action featuring the names you're used to from AJPW, but that also had Kengo Mashimo in some stellar performances. Over in New Japan they had three Destruction shows and the Eastern Lariat crew takes a look at the big matches, storylines and further developments before switching over to Long Beach where New Japan presented Fighting Spirit Unleashed. STRIGG A & Dylan have a hot and yet not so hot take on the match of the night and also preview the upcoming King of Pro-Wrestling show.