easternlariat

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.

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.

This week, (almost) the entire focus of the show lies on the 30^th 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~!

With the announcement of All Together Again on June 9, the Eastern Lariat returns to discuss a possible card for the show and to take a look back in history when STRIGGA & Dylan first fantasy booked All Together shows in 2020. After that the attention is on two of the three companies represented on All Together: Pro Wrestling NOAH presented a loaded show from Sendai that saw Jake Lee vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Go Shiozaki returning and much more. In All Japan, the Champion Carnival continues and has some good matches and upsets to offer. Finally the Eastern Lariat presents a run down of the shows Big Japan and DRAGONGATE have to offer during golden week. A packed episode as always! 

Tokyo once more was the center of japanese pro-wrestling this past Saturday with both New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling running important shows. While New Japan's Sakura Genesis in Sumo Hall produced amazing matches and stunning title changes in front of an ecstatic crowd, the opening day of the Champion Carnival 2023 left a lot to be desired and there were clear reasons for this lackluster tournament opening. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss these two shows and their implications for future developments. Join us a we discuss JUST...TWO...SHOWS!

At the beginning of 2023, japanese pro-wrestling has some great champions and challengers alike to offer. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the champions of the traditional “big three” as well as those holding the gold in six other companies. With the general rule of thumb of the champion reflecting the state of a company, the Eastern Lariat crew not only discusses potential challengers, but also look at rookies in development and the general state of some of the rosters.

What a spectacle it was. Keiji Muto retired on unquestionably the biggest show in japanese pro-wrestling in decades. The Eastern Lariat looks back at the entire show with discussions about Keiji Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya and their implications for the future taking center stage. With Muto presenting this huge event, two questions seem crucial: Can japanese pro-wrestling present something bigger or anything close to this? Who gained the most from this event? Besides that, STRIGGA & Dylan also put every match on the card into perspective and highlight current developments in the respective companies. 

More than ever in the past three years it feels like pro-wrestling in Japan is once again gaining momentum. Therefore, STRIGGA & Dylan first discuss Kota Ibushi's freelance status as well as Keiji Muto's big retirement show on the horizon. With a lot of promotions represented on that show, the Eastern Lariat also looks at the individual shows that DRAGONGATE, AJPW and NJPW put on plus Dylan gives his rundown of the big Osaka show Stardom ran this weekend. Exciting times in japanese pro-wrestling may be ahead, which also leaves the Eastern Lariat crew feel that same excitement!

The great tradition of drafts on the Eastern Lariat continues once more, but in a completely different format! This time, Dylan & STRIGGA don't draft a roster for a fictional parallel reality. Instead the rosters based on 7 divisions and 5 bench slots will accompany both managers for a full year, so much like other fantasy sports work. Join in for the fun, maybe draft your own team and follow along as each month will see an updated points ranking as well as changes within the two teams!

After three years New Japan made the decision to go back to have Wrestle Kingdom only on “Ittenyon”, so they went back to January 4 as the one date for their biggest show of the calendar year. With Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay the show set the bar high for match of the year candidates, while in the actual main event of the show Kazuchika Okada stood tall over Jay White. STRIGGA & Dylan talk extensively about these two matches, give some insight on the ideas behind the structure of the matches and of course discuss all the title matches on the card. You'll also get takes on the young talent that was prominently placed on the card in Shota Umino, Master Wato and Ren Narita. At the same time the Eastern Lariat team also discusses the angles and directions from New Year Dash the day thereafter and previews the Yokohama Arena show on the 21^st that also has the Wrestle Kingdom branding.

The Final Eastern Lariat episode of the year is one of the most important and the biggest episode at the same time. With the support of their listeners AND special guest Michelle (@puroresueikaiwa) STRIGGA and Dylan assembled a list and their picks for the Year End Awards 2022 that range from New Japan and Stardom to DRAGONGATE and DDT with the inclusion of promotions like Ganbare Pro, Tenryu Project, Michinoku Pro and various others. You'll hear unique takes in a lot of the 14 categories both from afar and directly from Japan through Michelle's viewpoint!

The band is back together in a new episode of the Eastern Lariat podcast! STRIGGA returns and tackles some talking points from the past weeks and days in Japanese pro wrestling mostly focusing on All Japan Pro Wrestling, their Real World Tag League, their Jr. Battle of Glory and of course on Jake Lee leaving the company to maybe join New Japan. After a brief discussion on the Super Jr. Tag League in NJPW the final topic of the show addresses Sasha Banks apparently being in Tokyo on January 4 and what it could lead to. The show however starts with the question whether or not an indie wrestler bias is in place when judging talent from the US.

The traditional “big three” get a look at in the newest Eastern Lariat episode. It seems like All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH have much more issues bubbling than New Japan Pro Wrestling right now so first STRIGGA & Dylan address All Japan's missed opportunities to pur over their younger talent to the degree where the crowd reactions are a clear indicator of wrong decisions made. Wrong decisions also is the focal point when it comes to GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya who doesn't come across like he should cosplaying Keiji Muto. Muto himself has his big match with Shinsuke Nakamura coming up so his retirement road is another big topic once again. In contrast to thee two promotiomns things seem to be on the upswing for NJPW after their well received Battle Autumn show from Osaka that saw Ren Narita & Shota Umino in prominent positions. Join in for some positivity on the “King of Sports”!

All Japan and Dramatic Dream Team are the main focus of the newest edition of the Eastern Lariat as both companies came off a weekend with multiple title matches. While DDT is giving us one of the best championship runs in recent history with Kazusada Higuchi, many decisions in AJPW, specifically around the Voodoo Murders, are mind boggling and they led to in part atrocious matches. Besides these two companies STRIGGA & Dylan also briefly preview the big NOAH & DRAGONGATE shows on the coming weekends and the final of the IWGP Women's Championship and its impact on NJPW is up for discussion at the end of the show!

The Eastern Lariat returns with Big Match Sunday … on a Monday! This past weekend saw many big title matches including Higuchi vs. Takeshita and Kenoh vs. Kiyomiya so STRIGGA & Dylan's primary focus was on those matches as well as on some more bullet points from each promotion including the future of the GHC Heavyweight Title, GLEAT's identity, Naruki Doi's status as well as the upcoming D-King Grand Prix. The show however starts with an extensive look at All Japan Pro Wrestling's big 50^th Anniversary from Budokan the weekend before plus their Korakuen Hall event the day thereafter.

Next weekend is loaded with shows in Japan, because September 19 brings another public holiday with Keiro no Hi (Respect for the Aged Day) so STRIGGA & Dylan got together to discuss Jun Akiyama's 30^th anniversary, All Japan's business ideas going into their 50^th anniversary show in Nippon Budokan as well as the card itself and possible outcomes for the future. Who's leaving with the Triple Crown? Who's challenging one day later in Korakuen? Will Chris Daniels be there? While AJPW is full of questions, DRAGONGATE delivers some answers with the pushes of Mochizuki Jr., Ishin Iihashi and D'courage so their upcoming Dangerous Gate gets a preview as well. Other topics are Keiji Muto's retirement show in Tokyo Dome plus an update on Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix!

Tournament season and no end! On this episode STRIGGA & Dylan discuss NOAH's N-1 Victory in depth in its entirety: Kaito Kiyomiya winning and possibly reclaiming his spot as the ace, Hideki MVP, Great Muta's business for NOAH, Nakajima/Okada and of course all performers and best matches. On top of that the Eastern Lariat crew compares the N-1 with New Japan's G1 Climax. Stardom's tournament however is still going on so STRIGGA & Dylan make predictions on who's going to advance, name best matches and their top performers.