tetsuyanaito

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.

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. 

With the "Big 3" of japanese pro-wrestling running big shows around New Year's Eve, the Eastern Lariat starts off the new year in proper fashion and very much in the tradition of the show's history. Of course one major talking point is Wrestle Kingdom 18 with Tetsuya Naito's roll call and Championship win, Okda vs. Danielson and all the fallout after New Year Dash, but that's not all. STRIGGA & Dylan go into depth with Pro Wrestling NOAH's New Year show in Ariake that featured the already infamous Kota Ibushi vs. Naomichi Marufuji match, but that also saw some great action. A very emotional point of discussion is AJPW and all the developments since mid December until now with a focus on Katsuhiko Nakajima's title run and his defense against WWE's Charlie Dempsey.

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.

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.

With a japanese bank holiday upon us, the Eastern Lariat returns this time for a rare preview episode as STRIGG A & Dylan take a look at some of the cards scheduled for this coming Monday, October 9 known as Sports Day in Japan. The focused promotions this time are NOAH, GLEAT, AJPW, TJPW and NJPW. Before going into any cards though, the first big chunk of discussion revolves around Katsuhiko Nakajima's departure from Pro Wrestling NOAH and the speculation where he might end up. From there, the Eastern Lariat duo looks at the title matches T-Hawk vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Yuma Aoyagi vs. Kento Miyahra and EVIL vs. SANADA while also discussion the current state of each company.

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.

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.

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!

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.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has crossed the finish line and after a little over one month the 32^nd G1 Climax is over! Kazuchika Okada scored back to back tournament wins and called his shot, Will Ospreay rose to new hights and left Tetsuya Naito behind, which caught many fans by surprise. Tama Tonga got revenge on Jay White and much, much more happened in these 4 weeks. STRIGGA & Dylan put it all into perspective while bringing up both, the positive and negative aspects of the tournament itself and the surroundings of it. Some of the talking points include their lack of making new stars, their rigid booking patterns and the lack of fan interest, but also the great individual performances and the overall enjoyable tournament. There was a lot to get into, so hop on and enjoy the ride!

After being rather negative on the last episode, STRIGGA & Dylan bounce back with an episode covering two topics that let them enjoy japanese pro-wrestling more than last time while also pointing out what went wrong in their opinions. Part of that is Yuka Sakazaki winning the Princess Cup 2022 over Miu Watanabe about which The Eastern Lariat Crew has a clear opinion and also discusses the general possibility of upward movement within the Cyberfight groups. After that it's G1 time once again with days 16 & 17 of the tournament that delivered one match in particular that STRIGGA & Dylan had totally different takes on. To close out the show they go over the tournament standings and predict the semi finals for Wednesday. A fun time to be had!

This episode of the Eastern Lariat is a mixed bag in many ways. One, because of the usual range of topics from ZERO1 over NOAH to New Japan. Then, there's a lot of mixed feelings towards many of the matches that occurred in the Fire Festival, the N-1 Victory and especially the G1 Climax. STRIGGA & Dylan shout out some of the most outstanding tournamens matches in Tanahashi vs. Goto and Okada vs. Lawlor, while at the same time 2022 feels like a down period in japanese pro-wrestling across the board.

The Eastern Lariat rolls on through the summer with another look at a trifecta of G1 Climax shows form Ehime and Osaka that saw one of the most universally praised matches of the entire tournament with Ospreay vs. Takagi – but was it really that outstanding? Was the first day in Osaka a show of the year contender? Who's beating Jay? Where's the road taking Ishii? Those are some of the talking points being brought up during G1 talk. Besides that STRIGGA & Dylan also discuss All Japan's Oudou tournament and the general direction of the company bewildered once more. This episode though starts with the recent changes in NOAH's N-1 Victory due to Timothy Thatchers absence.

With five G1 Climax shows down, The Eastern Lariat returns to look back at this trifecta of events from Sendai as well as the double shot from Ota Ward this past weekend. Dylan & STRIGGA have some clear favorites that stood out and some clear criticisms on some of the performers jumping to Takaaki Kidani's side as he criticized that NJPW matches often follow the same pattern. At the end of the show Dylan and STRIGGA briefly talk about Higuchi & Yoshimura winning the KO-D Tag Team Title and Dylan gives a run down of the Stardom double shot from the weekend.

The Eastern Lariat is back with another MEGA episode as STRIGGA & Dylan once again cover NINE promotions. At the beginning, they address the horrible injury Shinjiro Otani suffered on ZERO1's anniversary show. From there the Eastern Lariat takes it to all major groups in japanese pro-wrestling as the main focus this time are shows from this past weekend and upcoming cards of which many take place in Yokohama so get on board with the Yokohama Lariat!