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Another Eastern Lariat awaits you with almost two hours full of news, discussions and opinionated takes on the world of japanese pro wrestling. After a brief talk about Jun Akiyama vs. Bryan Danielson,  STRIGGA & Dylan present Wrestle Universe's latest upgrades and price modeling before they go to the much-anticipated and very well received debut of Kasei Takechi. Following some quick notes on Pro Wrestling NOAH & REALZERO1 the next big talking point is All Japan and the Excite series with some questions looming above the promotion and it's direction towards the Champion Carnival. Last and maybe least(?) STRIGGA & Dylan take about an hour to break down the atrocious week in Sapporo with some head scratching title changes and decisions that washed away lots of excitement they had built just two weeks before. While doing so, the Eastern Lariat crew also breaks down the roster in an attempt to figure out who could be trusted with the World Title right now.

The Eastern Lariat returns with an analysis of the most recent developments across various promotions in Japan. From El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.'s GHC Heavyweight Championship win in Pro Wrestling NOAH to Rei Saito's unfortunate injury keeping him out of the Triple Crown match with Nakajima, we discuss championship changing hands, the reasoning behind Kenoh losing YET AGAIN and also look at upcoming All Japan cards.
Additionally, we address Bushiroad firing Stardom founder and long time booker Rossy Ogawa amidst accusations of poaching and allegedly being far advanced in setting up a new promotion. This sent shock waves through the wrestling world much like the highly acclaimed Danielson vs. Zack Sabre match and the Dog Pound Cage Match from Osaka. We provide in-depth analysis of the the New Beginning in Osaka including Kazuchika Okada's weird retirement road, so join us for a 2 hour discussion the major stories in japanese pro-wrestling!

After addressing the impact of the Vince McMahon lawsuit on the media and (japanaese)wrestling, STRIGGA and Dylan relax and sit back to give their thoughts on three big shows from this past weekend. First of all, Dragon Gate's Gate of Bayside is in the focus with discussions about Luis Mante as Dream Gate Champion, the Dream Gate & Brave booking as well as Kiyomiya & Alejandro excelling in DG. Championships are also the topic of debate with AJPW's event in Hachioji featuring Nakajima vs. Ashino and Tamura vs. Iwamoto and what possible title matches could be ahead. Shuji Ishikawa leaving is of course another topic that also is connected to DDT, so Dramatic Dream Team's Sweet Dream! 2024 is the final talking point with another look at the champions and the direction of the company at the start of the year.

This special episode of the Eastern Lariat is all about Kazuchika Okada leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling. Join us as we analyse the immediate ramifications of Okada's unprecedented departure, where he could go and what it means or should mean for management and Gedo. While the first ever full time departure of a true ace guy to America caused shock waves through japanese pro wrestling and for its fans overseas, this is also the time to discuss the exciting potential for new talent to rise to the top and change NJPW as we know it. 

Welcome to the Eastern Lariat Year End Awards 2023 – your ultimate celebration of excellence in the world of japanese pro wrestling! On this show it's time to honor the best of the best with awards that YOU, the listeners voted for. From heart stopping moments over stunning rookies to MVPs, we looked at every corner of japanese wrestling to crown outstanding achievements. For the first time, we present this show at the beginning of the following year to also potentially include matches and developments in late December. On top of the awards, we introduce the Eastern Lariat Hall of Fame on this show with the first two inductees. Join us in our celebration of japanese pro wrestling in 2023!

With the final episode of the year we introduce a new concept never heard before on the Eastern Lariat: A prediction show! STRIGGA & Dylan go through all relevant promotions in Japan to run down and rate YOUR and each other's predictions on the newly invented state of the art Predict-O-Meter! Join the fun ride for a look into the crystal pro wrestling ball!

STRIGGA & Dylan return with an impromptu episode after news and cards dropped on a rapid speed at the beginning of the week. Not only did New Japan announce a new Championship, Stardom, NOAH, DRAGONGATE and GLEAT also announced their cards for the upcoming big shows at the end of the year. The Eastern Lariat digests these developments, previews the big matches and while the recording happened, the Tokyo Sports Awards were announced. So this is a jam packed episode putting companies' situations into perspective.

A trifecta of topics marks the return of the Eastern Lariat after a month and STRIGGA & Dylan are jumping right into the final tournament season of the year in Japan. However, at the beginning of the show, they focus their attention on AEW's Continental Classic and compare it to tournaments in Japan. From there this Eastern Lariat episode covers New Japan's World Tag League, All Japan's REAL World Tag League and DDT's D-Ou Grand Prix while there's also a rant about Pro Wrestling NOAH's card for January 2^nd sandwiched into the NJPW part of the show. A fun time was had!

After a huge weekend of Pro Wrestling in Japan there were a lot of talking points to get to so the Eastern Lariat returns with a look at New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestlig NOAH and DRAGONGATE. NJPW's Power Struggle on one hand is somewhat of a lame duck show in the calendar year of New Japan, but on the other hand it produced great and unique matches. Unique was Katsuhiko Nakajima's landing in All Japan, winning the Triple Crown as he walked in. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the way the match came about, the action itself and of course the future implications for Nakajima, former champion Aoyagi and the first challenger Kento Miyahara. As Aoyagi's reign ended, Madoka Kikuta's reign as Open The Dream Gate Champion in DRAGONGATE surprisingly continued so the final topic of the show involves discussions about BIGBOSS Shimizu losing yet again and in which way stables could be shaken up in the world of DG.

After a brief hiatus the Eastern Lariat returns to catch up on the big japanese promotions and their most recent as well as coming up events. First, STRIGGA & Dylan tackle New Japan's Destruction in Ryogoku and Royal Quest III as well as their road to Wrestle Kingdom and if the show will be able to draw a bigger crowd than Muto's retirement. Someone who draws a lot of attention these days is Katushiko Nakajima so the following topics include his final Korakuen match for NOAH as well his appearance on AJPW's Korakuen show the day thereafter. Amidst all the dicussions about NOAH & All Japan, STRIGGA & Dylan also discuss the sensitive topic of Kinya Okada & Yasutaka Yano's exit from Pro Wrestling NOAH, the allegations against them and pro-wrestling's terrible reaction to it. The shows ends with a look at DDT's Korakuen, a brief preview of their Sumo Hall show and a look at DRAGONGATE's upcoming show in Osaka.

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.

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 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!

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 33^rd 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.