Eastern Lariat

Episode 280: Flowers, Dreams & Super Juniors

Hanami season is officially over in Japan, but the flowers bloom nonetheless with Marigold's debut Show Marigold Fields Forever and the yearly Hana Kimura Memorial show. The Eastern Lariat takes a detailed look at Rossy Ogawa's new project with a match-by-match analysis and a projection for some of the roster members' prospects within the new company. A few days later, also in Korakuen Hall, Kyoko Kimura presented the 2024 Memorial Show for her late daughter Hana. For this one, STRIGGA & Dyl...

Episode 279: Golden Week Extravaganza 2024

In a BIG recap of Golden Week, the Eastern Lariat returns after a month-long hiatus. STRIGGA & Dylan are back to discuss recommendations between April 27 and May 6 including Stardom, Ryukyu Dragon Pro, DDT, Wrestling Dontaku and BJW. The next big chunck of the show revolves around Pro Wrestling NOAH's Wrestle Magic with Kaito Kiyomiya regaining the GHC Heavyweight Championship, DRAGONGATE's Dead or Alive with the highly emotional Cage Match and an unsuccessful All Together. The final two top...

Episode 278: AJPW CC Catchup (w/Jess) + NJPW/Stardom & Jake Lee

Special guest longtime AJPW expert and podcaster formerly of Talking Triple Crown, Jess joins Dylan to talk about the Champion Carnival, go through every single match of the first 3 shows as well as lay out what she thinks will be the final of the tournament. After that Dylan brings it home solo with some breaking news updates and gives his thoughts on the news of the BUSHIROAD corporate reshuffling ending up with Stardom being a subsidiary of NJPW, followed by the news of Jake Lee's shockin...

Episode 277: Sakura Potpourri Ep. 2

The second episode of the Sakura Potourri features an extensive look at the joshi scene in Japan as STRIGGA & Dylan not only discuss the Marigold press conference and its future outlook, but they also take a ride through almost the entire scene with a focus on Ice Ribbon, WAVE, Sendai Girls & TJPW before turning to NOAH's most recent Korakuen Hall show and DRAGONGATE's Rey de Parejas Final & Dead or Alive card. Final topic of the show is New Japan with their Windy City Riot featuring Jon Mox...

Episode 276: Sakura Potpourri

Join STRIGGA & Dylan for another episode as they dive into the ever evolving world of japanese pro wrestling! In another potpourri episode the Eastern Lariat covers a lot of ground covering no less than 8 different promotions. The discussion begins with DDT, TJPW & DRAGONGATE on WrestleMania weekend and quickly moves to a more general discussion about the DG roster and the missing game changing high flyer for all of japanese pro wrestling. This also brings the Eastern Lariat crew to NJPW and...

Episode 275: That's What They Do

Welcome back to the Eastern Lariat! STRIGGA & Dylan dive right back into the hottest topics in the world of japanese pro wrestling! As Stardom sees the departure of five wrestlers who are very likely heading to Rossy Ogawa's new project, STRIGGA & Dylan explore the implications for both sides and what impact it could have on the scene as a whole. In NJPW, Yota Tsuji's New Japan Cup victory is the talk of the town right now, while at the same time the quality of the tournament and of the rost...

Episode 274: Gedo 101

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 s...

Episode 273: Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Rainmaker Experience

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 book...

Episode 272: Eisbein Lariat

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. Ash...

Episode 271: Okada leaves NJPW

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 ...

Episode 270: Year End Awards 2023

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 d...

Episode 269: The New Year in Japan

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 in...

Episode 268: 2024 Prediction Show

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!  

Episode 267: ...it's only Wednesday

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' situatio...

Episode 266: Miracle on Eastern Lariat Street

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 ...

Eastern Lariat Special: 2023 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame Show (w/Gerard Di Trolio)

This year we see the return of our coverage of the Hall of Fame, said by many experts to be among the most "legit" hall of fames among wrestlers themselves as well as historians and journalists. But more importantly than the inner workings of the Hall of Fame, we're here to discuss the candidates up and down and top to bottom and talk about these historical legends in wrestling. (And sometimes not legends)   Joining Dylan once again is the Emerald FlowShow's Gerard Di Trolio, an active v...

Episode 265: The Way of the Dodo

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 di...

Episode 264: Potpourri of the Fall III

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 appe...

Episode 263: Sports Day Preview

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, ...

Episode 262: STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix Final 2023 (w/Sondre Bjørn)

The Eastern Lariat tackles the Final of the 5 Star Grand Prix from STARDOM. And boy do we go in depth on this tournament. We go through the final night, breaking down every single participant's tournaments, the blunders that haunted this tournament in terms of scheduling, a disappointing ending after a really strong match, a defense of Suzu Suzuki and average ratings for the tournament rounded up on average courtesy of the inmates of Cagematch.net and we found out what the people think, as w...

Episode 261: Young Talent On The Rise

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.

Episode 260: 2023 N1 Victory Final + Pro Wrestling NOAH Breakdown (w/Dean)

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 ...

Episode 259: Hot & Cold

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 S...

Episode 258: G1 Climax 33 Final

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 Princes...

Episode 257: Empty Calories

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...

Eastern Lariat Special: Pro Wrestling NOAH N1 Victory 2023 Night 1 (w/Squill)

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...

Episode 256: Super Sunday

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, ST...

Episode 255: Why Not Tanga Loa?

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 ...

Eastern Lariat Special: Pro Wrestling NOAH N1 Victory 2023 Preview & Predictions (w/Dr. Jonathan Foye + Dean)

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 co...

Episode 254: The Most Babyfaced Babeface Who Ever Babyfaced

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 Kam...

Episode 253: A Tale of Two Shows

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 a...

Episode 252: Tournament Summer

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 ...

Episode 251: G1 Opening & One Night Dream

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 i...

Episode 250: Half Year Awards 2023

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 Easter...

Episode 249: Summertime Potpourri

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 cl...

Episode 248: All Together Again + G1 Climax 33 Blocks

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 A...

Episode 247: NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 30 Final + STARDOM Flashing Champions (w/Sondre Bjorn)

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 pa...

Episode 246: BOSJ30 Half Time Show

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 tourn...

Episode 245: Golden Week Extravaganza

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 ...

Episode 244: All-Star Grand Queendom

Episode 243: All Together Potpourri

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 a...

Episode 242: Just Two Shows

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 ...

Episode 241: Championship Edition

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.

Episode 240: NOAH Marches On (w/Dean)

Eastern Lariat is back with a very special episode focused all on Pro Wrestling NOAH and Dylan is joined by his regular NOAH Patreon guest Dean (dnmt) The first part of the show is all about Daisuke Harada's retirement and we talk about his career, Dylan talks about some of his favorite memories and matches of Harada coming in from Osaka Pro to being the NOAH Jr. Ace. After that we talk about their Great Voyage in Yokohama, Dylan has to deal with STINGER once again and Dylan & Dean get into ...

Episode 239: Keiji Muto Final - Lariat Last Love

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 even...

Episode 238: NOAH Osaka, Okada & Kaito, Muto Dome Show, Jay White Leaves Japan! (w/WH Park)

Dylan is joined by a shocking return in WH Park from POST Wrestling! And on top of it it's to talk about a full length NOAH show! We go over NOAH's Osaka offering and then use that to talk about the Muto Dome show just one more time before it happens as the show is so prominent, even on the NOAH show with yet another memorable Kaito & Okada main event angle. We transition to NJPW and a little bit on their big show as well, the most notable thing being Jay White losing the loser leaves Japan ...

Episode 237: Gaining Momentum

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-wres...

Episode 236: Pro-Wres Fantasy Draft '23

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!

Episode 235: My 3 Muta Shows (Well 2 + Wrestle Kingdom )

Episode 234: Wrestle Kingdom 17

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 matche...