Wrestling Omakase – Details, episodes & analysis

We're back for our first new episode of Wrestling Omakase in quite a while, as John is once again coming to you live from Japan! First, they're joined by Joel from the Super J-Cast for a full review of the NJPW Sakura Genesis 2025 show, with John giving you the live perspective from the front row of Sumo Hall. Lots of talk about NJPW's current booking direction, where things may be going from here, and of course full reviews of all the matches. Then, John goes solo for an additional 45 minutes as they take you through their entire Japan trip so far, including shorter reviews of the NJPW Jr. Genesis show from Korakuen, STARDOM's 4/2 Korakuen featuring Tam Nakano vs. Saori Anou, Sendai Girls 4/3 and WAVE 4/1 (both from Shinjuku FACE) including Meiko Satomura vs. Minoru Suzuki, and, yes, a review of a Secret Base (!) show from the tiny Ring Soul bar in Kobe! Plus lots of other random Japan travel talk and complaining about tariffs!

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The Most Active Podcast in History™ is back for our third episode of 2024! John is joined by returning guest Chris Samsa (@TheChrisSamsa) from Sport of Pro Wrestling/VOW and, somehow, first time guest J. Michael (@ryugu_go) from Voices of Wrestling for the most thorough and complete wrap-up of the 34th edition of the Grade One Climax you're going to find anywhere! John, Chris and J. Michael break down the tournaments of all twenty wrestlers, talk about where they ranked by match quality, their strengths & weaknesses throughout the tournament, and where they might be heading from here as NJPW transitions into the fall season and Wrestle Kingdom. Along the way a very wide range of topics are covered, with a lot of focus on how the new generation of NJPW is shaping up. Plus, an extensive discussion on the controversial booking decision to have Zack Sabre Jr. take his IWGP World Heavyweight Title challenge at King of Pro Wrestling in October instead of Wrestle Kingdom, and where things might be going for the Dome!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we review two big shows from the past weekend- AEW's Full Gear and NJPW's Battle in the Valley!

John is joined by returning guest Chris Samsa (@TheChrisSamsa) as they start out with some quick updates on their lives and then talk for quite a bit on the dual possibilities of reopening borders and crowd cheering in Japan. They then get into a full review of AEW's Full Gear PPV from Minneapolis, talking about the good, the bad and the ugly from the latest show. The good: an awesome main event, a match with some real emotion in Punk/Kingston (plus some chat about how Punk maybe needs that kind of emotion to hit anything close to his peak) and an amazing opener from MJF & Darby Allin. The bad: A very weirdly and unevenly paced show with two walk-n-brawls, and just a general feeling of doing way too much that makes the show kind of drag. The ugly: Jay Lethal signing with the company, and what it says about them.

Then they turn their attention to NJPW's Battle in the Valley, as they discuss some of the issues that New Japan's US brand continues to have. They break down a pretty fun show though with plenty of good matches, and then rant (and debate a little) about the rather convoluted set up for the upcoming Tokyo Dome nights of Wrestle Kingdom.

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter to submit questions for future episodes and get alerts every time new episodes go up (both free feed & Patreon)- @wrestleomakase!

Wrestling Omakase has dedicated channels on TWO Discords! Come join either one where you can chat with John and show guests and submit questions for future episodes!

Super J-Cast Discord: https://discord.gg/zWEgNK5

VOW Network Discord: https://discord.gg/rGTXwXd

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's once again time for Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame talk! John is joined by the CAPTAIN Rich Kraetsch of the Voices of Wrestling flagship (@voiceswrestling) to once again break down every candidate in the Modern US/Canada and Japan categories. It's quite the dichotomy, as first we try our best to make a case for any one of a historically weak batch of US candidates including Bill Goldberg, CM Punk, Edge, Randy Orton, Sgt. Slaughter and more. Then we dive into a ridiculously deep slate of candidates from Japan including the "NJPW Modern 4" of Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito and Tomohiro Ishii, modern legends like Jun Akiyama and Meiko Satomura, and other interesting historical candidates like Akira Taue and Hayabusa. Then we talk about a few of the non-wrestling candidates like Gedo, Stephanie McMahon and Ted Turner. Finally we wrap things up with a really packed mailbag featuring questions on WRESTLERS AS POKEMON, the last time we really enjoyed WWE, who Naito should face on 1/5, and of course a ton of questions on the Hall of Fame as well. It's an absolutely jam packed edition of Omakase looking at the Observer Hall of Fame, this week!

Support Wrestling Omakase with a donation through Red Circle! All donations are split with that week's guest. We really appreciate it: http://bit.ly/2o42FP6

Wrestling Omakase now has dedicated channels on TWO Discords! Come join either one where you can chat with John and show guests and submit questions for future episodes!

Super J-Cast Discord: https://discord.gg/zWEgNK5

VOW Network Discord: https://discord.gg/rGTXwXd

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we talk two New Japan US shows that we attended live, plus chat some DDT! First John is joined by returning guest Bryan Quinlan (@IM_NOT_QUINLAN) to talk NJPW's Fighting Spirit Unleashed shows from NYC & Philly. Hear us discuss 90 minute ambulance delays, unruly fans, much nicer fans, who was over and what the crowd reactions were like in general compared to past US shows (including the ROH/NJPW shows in some of the same buildings), and of course break down all the matches across both events. After those two reviews and a brief preview of the following week's Korakuen and King of Pro Wrestling, the two dive into a big mailbag featuring lots of questions on what kind of shows NJPW should run in the US, how the cards compared to past events here, yet more Naito at the Tokyo Dome questions and much more.

After we wish Quinlan farewell for the week John gives the first solo review on Omakase, as they talk DDT's Who's Gonna TOP? 2019 Korakuen. John breaks down the entire card including two ****+ matches and one that was close, as this was a very good show. Plus, John talks about the announcement of the D-Oh competitors and runs down the card for the upcoming ULTIMATE PARTY show from Sumo Hall. A fun time talking New Japan and DDT, this week!

Support Wrestling Omakase with a donation through Red Circle! All donations are split with that week's guest and we really appreciate it: http://bit.ly/2o42FP6

Come join the Super J-Cast Discord, which now features a dedicated Wrestling Omakase channel to chat with John and other show guests and submit questions: https://t.co/ce3q9Bad85?amp=1

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we look at the end of a tour and two tournaments. John is joined by returning guest TJ (@aspir_) as they start by discussing their upcoming weekend, including two meet-ups ahead of NJPW FSU (NYC 3 pm at Pioneers Bar, Philly noon at Toll Man Joes!) and also a little bit of #animetalk. Once they actually get to the wrestling they start with New Japan, as John and TJ talk all about the Destruction in Kobe event. A lot of time is spent on the Naito-White main event as John breaks down all the reasons why they loved it, plus offers some takes on Naito's booking and some Naito fans that you may find a little surprising from them. Then the two of them break down the rest of the show, including an awesome Shingo-Goto match and the end of the Young Lions Cup. They wrap up the New Japan talk by looking ahead at the Fighting Spirit Unleashed cards plus King of Pro Wrestling and speculate about Power Struggle and the Dome.

After NJPW they turn their attention to All Japan, as the two of them wrap up the Oudou Tournament that we started covering last week. We talk all four second round matches, two of which we both really loved, and then the semifinals and finals (which we disagree a bit on). Plus we discuss whether or not Jake Lee can still be saved and more. Then our last promotion discussed is STARDOM where we break down the finals of the 5STAR Tournament, Hana Kimura's last few matches in general, and TJ offers some recommendations for the rest of the tournament if you're way behind (like John was!). Finally, we tackle a big mailbag this week featuring lots of questions on all 3 companies, including: who will the next THREE World of STARDOM champions be? Who should beat Miyahara and when? What's the best inanimate object in STARDOM? Is there a ceiling for how good a Young Lion match can be? And much more!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's all about Japan's two oldest promotions! John is joined by returning guest and VOW contributor Gerard Di Trolio (@GerardDiTrolio) to discuss two shows from NJPW and the opening round of AJPW's annual Oudou Tournament. First we discuss New Japan's Destruction in Beppu, a not very good show that at least is nice enough to have an awesome main event. Then we talk Destruction in Kagoshima, a much better effort all around and featuring KENTA vs. Kota Ibushi, a match we're both stunned has turned out to be as divisive as it is. Finally we wrap up the NJPW talk with a look ahead at next week's Destruction in Kobe as well as possible match ideas for the US Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour.

Then it's on to All Japan to discuss the first eight matches in the single elimination Oudou Tournament, and here John and Gerard actually disagree quite a bit on what the best match of the opening round was. We then look ahead at the rest of the tournament as well as the final two tours for AJPW this year.

Plus we answer some questions on missing NJPW wrestlers, why Japanese wrestlers go to the fed, whether the heavyweight/junior divide will ever vanish in NJPW and if that would be a good thing, whether or not the Naito-White feud is really horny (spoiler: yes), and John presents their Theory of Why Sailor Mercury is Actually Bad, and much more!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we're joined by returning guest and VOW contributor Thomas Fischbeck (@rasslingratings) for a trip around Japanese wrestling! It starts with a deep dive into All Japan based around their 9/3 Summer Explosion Korakuen show, though we also talk at length about their booking at the moment, Kento Miyahara's title reign, why we'd like to see more cooperation between AJPW and the other puro companies and whether things feel stagnant right now. But there's also much praise for two outstanding main events as well as a couple surprisingly good undercard matches. We wrap up the AJPW segment with a look ahead to the upcoming Oudou Tournament, going over all the first round matches and who are picks are to ultimately win the entire thing.

Then we turn to NJPW to talk the Road to Destruction tour, with our main focus being the Young Lions Cup, as we discuss all eight YLC matches so far. We don't do full match breakdowns for the three Korakuens but we do talk some of the major angles and feuds so far including a weirdly horny Naito-White IC feud, Ishii/YH-GOD, and more. And we do brief breakdowns of the three Korakuen main events as well as a couple other recommended matches from the shows. Then we turn our attention to the rest of the Destruction tour, specifically previewing the big matches from the Beppu, Kagoshima and Kobe shows over the next few weeks. We also give an early look at the King of Pro Wrestling card, speculate on what one of the key matches for the US Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour could be, and even give some fantasy booking for what might happen with the IC and US titles between now and Wrestle Kingdom.

Our last segments takes us to the land of Tokyo Joshi and DDT, as we talk two shows both from September 1st in Osaka. The TJPW review is full of praise for what was a really fun show up and down the card, including an amazing six-person tag with Yuka Sakazaki giving an arm wringer to a mop that John gave four stars, and another great Su Yung match. The DDT review on the other hand is of possibly our least favorite big DDT show in ages, with a lot of stuff on the card that disappointed. Once that's done we look ahead to TJPW's upcoming weekend back in Tokyo and DDT's next Korakuen show at the end of the month.

Finally we wrap things up with a short but spirited mailbag, including an insane question asking two people who do not watch WWE to name all 18 (!) current WWE champions. You'll have to listen to hear how we did! A really fun show!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we hit a double dose of action from across the Atlantic! John is joined by returning guest Quinlan to talk two big shows from the same day, starting with NJPW Royal Quest live from London. Hear their thoughts on a rocky live stream experience from FIVE TV marring what seemed like a good undercard, another pretty whatever IWGP Tag Team Title match, a NEVER title match that was going great until it suddenly wasn't, and finally two awesome main events that really saved the show.

Once that's out of the way they turn their attention to AEW's second PPV and fourth show overall, All Out from Chicago. They run down the entire nearly 5-hour show including a women's casino battle royale that was much better than the first, a tag match that reminded them why they don't really like a lot of US indies, a fun main card opener, Omega-PAC which they (perhaps unsurprisingly) had very different viewpoints on, an absolute car crash of a 3-way, The Dark Order still not working out super well, a good joshi match that had to fight a dead crowd, Cody-Spears with a surprising finish, another Young Bucks ladder match where it looked like people were going to die, and finally a surprisingly great main event with the JUDAS IN MY MIND. A fun show talking two big wrestling cards, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we've got a wide variety of Japanese wrestling to talk about, both men's and women's! John is joined by returning guest Taylor (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) to break down five full shows. First they discuss Dragon Gate's latest big show from Tokyo's Ota Ward Gym, Dangerous Gate, a bit of a mixed bag of the show and John's return to DG after quite a while away. What was the highlight of the show, and what matches didn't quite work as well? Then it's time to discuss two Korakuen Hall shows from the DDT family, both on 8/25: Tokyo Joshi's BRAND NEW WRESTLING 3 with a big tag title match main event, a wild brawl featuring Su Yung and Yuka Sakazaki, and much more, and DDT's Summer Vacation Memories, with a ladder match for the Extreme Title, SANTINO MARELLA, and more. Plus we discuss the breaking news that All Elite Wrestling's Kenny Omega will be returning to DDT after five years at Sumo Hall in November. Our last shows are the first two nights of STARDOM's 5STAR GP from Shin Kiba 1st Ring featuring a lot of very good but short matches and a couple very strong main events. Finally we wrap things up with your questions on all of the promotions just listed. A fun trip all around Japan, this week!

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