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.

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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!

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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!

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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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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's time to finally put a wrap on the 29th G1 Climax! John is joined by returning guests Andy (https://twitter.com/trillyrobinson) and Sean (https://twitter.com/SASedor2994) to break down the final five nights of the G1 and then talk macro thoughts on the entire tournament. This includes of course much talk of Tetsuya Naito coming up short yet again, and John gives a passionate defense of Naito fans from the many people attacking the group. We talk lots of other stuff too, including: Jay White's last few matches and what issues we may still have with him, Kota Ibushi's G1 triumph, Taichi finally breaking out with the masses, Shingo Takagi wrapping up his own amazing tournament, the incredible KENTA turn and emotional return of Katsuyori Shibata, and much more! We also give our overall top 10 match of the tournament rankings, as well as rank every wrestler in the tournament by average star rating (yes, some real nerd shit), and talk where things might go from here leading into the first-ever two night Wrestle Kingdom with Ibushi dropping hints that things might get weird this year. Finally we wrap things up with a spirited mailbag including many questions on Naito, White, Ibushi and more! Say goodbye to an awesome G1 with us, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's our big giant G1 Climax catch-up special as we head into the home stretch of wrestling's biggest tournament! John is joined by returning guest Hannah (https://twitter.com/HannahYoleau) to talk about SEVEN NIGHTS of G1 action from New Japan, covering Nights 8 through 14. We're making up for one week off as we cover a ton of matches, everything from stuff we absolutely adored (including one FULL FIVE and two that were damn close) but also some of the weakest nights of the tournament. Hear our thoughts on everything and everyone in this tournament, as we discuss everything from why Jay White hasn't had a great run this year, why Jeff Cobb has also been pretty disappointing, why Jon Moxley has been so great, why Taichi is #actuallygood, and why all the usual suspects have absolutely killed it for the most part. Once we're finally done with all of that we wrap things up with a look ahead to the final four nights of block action, picking a most anticipated match for each one. A fun time breaking down all things Grade One Climax, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we continue our coverage of New Japan's biggest tournament of the year, plus talk DDT's big summer show! John is joined by returning guest Thomas Fischbeck (https://twitter.com/rasslinratings) as we start by breaking down four more nights of the 29th G1 Climax: Night 4 from Hokkiado featuring Naito-Taichi and then Nights 5 through 7 from Korakuen Hall featuring Ibushi-Ospreay, Ishii-Moxley, Okada-Ospreay and more! Hear their thoughts on some of the biggest matches of the tournament so far. Once they break down all 20 G1 matches they each give their favorite matches of the entire tournament so far, give the average star rating of all the competitors so far, and preview this coming week's three G1 shows, each picking a most anticipated match from each card. Then they turn their attention to the Dramatic Dream Team and one of their biggest shows of the year: Wrestle Peter Pan! Hear John and Thomas break down both of their pick for surefire show of the year, as they discuss every match on the card including a bonafide Match of the Year candidate in Endo-Takeshita, another outstanding match in ASUKA-Akito, some strong tags, a hilarious weapon rumble and more. Then they talk Sunday's Summer Vacation show from Korakuen Hall featuring another great KO-D title match with Chris Brookes, a POTATO CHIP MATCH, and some set ups for upcoming shows. We wrap up the DDT portion by running down the cards for all of the upcoming Beer Garden shows. Finally, the show ends with a short but spirited mailbag, including our picks for a fantasy NJPW vs. DDT show! A fun time talking two great Japanese wrestling companies!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we take our second completely randomized look back at WCW's annual spooktacular, Halloween Havoc!

John is joined by returning guest Matt Francis (@archivingmatt), as they start out with a bit of a longer off-topic discussion than usual. John & Matt discuss weird trick or treat times before John gets into the recent announcement that the Wrestling Omakase Patreon will be going on hiatus (although you can still check out the rather extensive archives at any time for only $5, as John goes over on the episode- http://patreon.com/wrestlingomakase), and that then evolves into a discussion on why the current state of wrestling and wrestling discussion isn't doing a lot for either of them. Once that's out of the way they get into the actual topic, which is six randomly selected matches from six randomly selected years of WCW's annual Halloween Havoc pay-per-view. If you'd like to be surprised you can of course stop reading here, but if you'd like to know ahead of time what matches we got, please see below (all can be found on Peacock in the US and WWE Network elsewhere):

1990: Rick & Scott Steiner vs. The Nasty Boys

1991: Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier

1992: Big Van Vader vs. Nikita Koloff

1994: Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes

1995: Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant

1999: Sting vs. Goldberg

Topics that come up along the way include: a strangely fun Nasty Boys match, why wouldn't you have these guys under contract before you start this big feud, the no longer Great or Powerful Oz, the weird and short career of Bill Kazmaier that took him from Stampede to RINGS to WCW, WCW announcers spending more time about New Japan's next Tokyo Dome show than the match they're supposed to be calling, Dustin Rhodes not listening to Arn Anderson when he's talking, a weirdly non-grudge feeling grudge match, the start of crash TV era 90s wrestling is right here, Hulk Hogan's weird "darkside" gimmick, the SUMO MONSTER TRUCK MATCH, the Giant dies and then rises from the grave in the span of about 15 minutes, Vince Russo takes over WCW and immediately does away with all their existing storylines, the "pin me may me" Hogan angle that no one even remembers, Sting really never said this was for the WCW title did he, and finally: Madusa kicking ass.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we've got a packed episode on a ton of different topics! John is joined by returning guest and VOW's resident ROH expert Sean Sedor (https://twitter.com/SASedor2994) , and we open up the show with a long discussion on that very promotion. More specifically, we discuss ROH's ongoing attendance woes, including their 30% drop from last year so far in 2019, upcoming attendances that look like they'll be even worse, how they got to this point and what possible niche they could fill in a post-AEW world, where NJPW's ongoing US expansion fits into ROH's woes and their future position, what they can do to begin rebuilding, and more. Once that's out of the way we move on to talking AEW's third show, Fight for the Fallen from Jacksonville. John's favorite match on this show may not be one you expect, and they talk at length about why someone they didn't enjoy in his previous promotion is now maybe even under-utilized here. John and Sean break down the entire show, which they agree was the weakest of the three AEW shows so far, and John breaks down some major issues they have with AEW's booking thus far. Then attention is turned to the G1 Climax 29, as we save the best for last and discuss Nights 2 & 3. We break down all ten G1 matches so far including a ton of stuff we absolutely loved, as the G1 is off to a strong start this year. Hear us talk Juice-Shingo, Taichi-Moxley, Okada-ZSJ, Tanahashi-KENTA and much more. Afterwards we preview all four of the upcoming G1 shows this week (Monday in Hokkaido and then three straight days in Korakuen) as John and Sean each pick a most anticipated match for each card. Finally we wrap things up with an ROH-focused mailbag!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we're live from Dallas with a full review of the G1 Climax opener! John is joined by four guests who were all at the show: VOW contributors Jeremy (https://twitter.com/jeremysexton) , August (https://twitter.com/augustbaker12) and Jack (https://twitter.com/packerman120) plus Quinlan (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN) . We break down the entire card from top to bottom including four awesome G1 matches (plus, uh, one more), the entire undercard, live thoughts on the crowd size and how they reacted plus talk about the breaking news of a new NJPW east coast tour and how it relates to ROH. We then wrap things up with a look ahead to next weekend's first three G1 shows in Japan. A fun show!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we're proud to present our 2nd annual Mid-Year Awards! At the exact halfway point of 2019 (this episode was taped on 6/30/19 in fact) John is joined by five returning guests to pick the best and worst of the year so far: VOW contributors Gerard (https://twitter.com/GerardDiTrolio) , Lawson (https://twitter.com/LawsonComedy89) , Paul (https://twitter.com/Darth_Dragon) and Thomas (https://twitter.com/rasslinratings) , plus Skylar (https://twitter.com/Twwitterdotcom) . Here's the awards we covered in order of their appearance on the show: -Worst Weekly TV Show -Worst Major Show -Worst Promotion -Worst Feud -Worst Match of the Year -Best Weekly TV Show -Best Major Show -Most Outstanding Wrestler -Best Promotion -Best Feud -Tag Team of the Year -Match of the Year -Wrestler of the Year Agree or disagree with our picks so far? Feel free to tweet us @wrestleomakase (http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase) or check out the thread on the VOW Forums (https://voicesofwrestling.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=b22f5479c233a36ce2e2cf94d28a58eb) to give your feedback on our picks or just share your own picks with us!

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This is Part 2 of our episode on Japan, as we talk the second half of our most recent trip. Check out Part 1 first for lots of discussion on how to travel to Japan. Here we discuss the Dragon Gate 6/6 Korakuen, Tokyo Joshi & HARD HIT from Shin Kiba on 6/8, NJPW Dominion (including a long discussion of the Naito-Ibushi controversy), NOAH in Osaka, Michinoku Pro's Korakuen and DDT at Kyoto KBS Hall. Finally we wrap it up with a huge mailbag all about travel including questions on ALMOSTKASE, panties, where to find great ramen, how to acquire tickets to shows before you go (which we cover in detail), our favorite food and merch purchases from this trip, and more! Overall a packed edition covering everything you ever wanted to know about traveling to Japan!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we talk all about how to travel to Japan to watch pro wrestling and more! An episode so packed we had to split it in two! Fresh off their latest Japan trips John is joined by longtime returning guest Taylor (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) as they break down everything you need to know before going yourself: how to find cheap flights (and what times of year are best for it), navigating the train system and what you need ahead of time, different accomodation options including hotels, AirBNBs, hostels and more, food and drink and what you can expect to spend on both, things to see from parks and gardens to arcades and anime stores, and more! After this is over come back for Part 2 where we discuss the actual wrestling shows we went to on our most recent trip (that weren't already covered in episode 100) and then answer a gigantic mailbag full of your questions on traveling to Japan!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we're live from Japan for our one hundredth episode! John is joined by an all star panel including many past guests: Taylor (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) , Quinlan (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN) , Paul (https://twitter.com/Darth_Dragon) , Kelly (https://twitter.com/comicgeekelly) and Albert (https://twitter.com/heyhorseneck) ! Just minutes after attending the BOSJ Finals live at Sumo Hall we all gather to break down the entire show, including many thoughts on the live crowd reactions and other things the cameras may have missed. We also discuss the reaction to the somewhat controversial main event result, Moxley's debut, Jay White and Tanahashi and more. Plus we discuss all of the other shows we've attended so far this week: STARDOM, OZ Academy, J STAGE and Gatoh Move. A packed and fitting one hundredth episode of Omakase! Thank you for all your support!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we talk the debut show of AEW and some great junior heavyweight action from New Japan! John is joined by longtime friend Bryan Quinlan (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN) to first break down All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing, a mixed bag of a show featuring some really good wrestling, some very bad wrestling, a very weird main event, a decidedly WWE lite feel, and some major production gaffes. Overall a good show, but we definitely think there was room for improvement, and we detail how. Then we move on to the highlights from the past week of the NJPW Best of the Super Juniors, as we talk our favorite and least favorite matches from three hot nights at Korakuen Hall and one less hot night in Chiba. We then give each of the twenty competitors a letter grade on their tournament so far. Finally we wrap things up with your questions, mostly on AEW and many of them on the joshi six-man tag, but one question on possible G1 participants as well.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by returning guest Aaron Bentley (https://twitter.com/aaronlikethecar) from VOW podcast Everything Elite (https://twitter.com/EverythingAEW) to talk an eclectic mix of topics! We start things out with some general talk on AEW and how both NJPW and ROH have dealt with the aftermath of the Elite leaving before turning our attention to STARDOM's 5/16 Korakuen Hall show. As a gigantic Momo Watanabe fan there's no one better suited to help us eulogize her amazing Wonder of STARDOM title reign, so we talk both her latest match with Arisa Hoshiki as well as her reign in general. We also talk some of the undercard matches and promising young talent in STARDOM as well. Then we talk New Japan, namely the first six nights of the Best of the Super Juniors, with praise for some wrestlers and some vitiriol for others. Finally we wrap things up with AEW talking the future of the promotion in general and a quick preview of the Double or Nothing card, as well as thoughts on the big story from the past week, PAC-GATE. All this plus your mailbag questions on all of these topics and also Tokyo Joshi Pro and more, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John welcomes back longtime guest Jesse (https://twitter.com/K0jiii) for her first apperance of 2019! We catch up a little at the start including talking the big KO-D Openweight Title win of Tetsuya Endo from DDT's US show last month before turning our attention toward King of DDT. John and Jesse break down all seven first round matches, the special Loser Resurrection battle royale, and the four second round matches. Once we're down recapping the first two rounds we turn our attention to DDT's big upcoming schedule, including the semis and finals of King of DDT next week, a very unique Osaka card to celebrate Referee Matsui's 25th anniversary in wrestling, and finally the major matches from next month's Wrestle Matsuyamania show in Ehime. Then we turn our attention to Big Japan's major 5/5 show, Endless Survivor, breaking down all nine matches from the card. We discuss a lack of deathmatches on the card and some possible explanations, another new young lion and the recent influx of young talent in Japan in general, an awesome All Asia tag title match, a disappointing Okabayashi vs. Sekimoto strong title match, and a strong main event with Isami Kodaka's triumph. Finally we wrap things up with a brief mailbag including your questions on future BJW challengers and more. It's all things DDT and BJW, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by longtime returning guest Taylor Maimbourg (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) to talk both men's and women's Japanese wrestling! First we talk New Japan's two Wrestling Dontaku shows (Friday 5/3 & Saturday 5/4) as we break them down match-by-match, talk some big debuts and future teases, and discuss where it looks like things are going for Best of the Super Juniors and Dominion. Then we turn our attention to joshi to talk a trio of shows, beginning with STARDOM's Cinderella Tournament from Korakuen Hall! This also includes a discussion of the recent Western fan controversy involving inappropriate fan behavior (at this show as well as some others). We then turn our attention to Sendai Girls' 4/16 Korakuen (that just made tape last week), an incredible show that includes a match both John and Taylor agree gets the full five stars! Our last review is of Tokyo Joshi Pro's 5/3 Korakuen, including a big title change, another great tag title match and more! Finally we wrap things up with a packed mailbag tackling your questions on whether the Jericho announcement means anything for NJPW's future US relationships, who the best theoritical carpenter on the NJPW roster is, John's choices for Taichi's possible G1 opponents, guesses on who might win BOSJ, best possible picks for Maki Itoh to face overseas, whether there's been too many debuts in NJPW lately and more! A packed show! **Please note that John makes a comment during this episode implying Tanahashi's injury may have been less than legit because he seems to take time off around this time every year; this was before they say the picture of his giant surgery scar going around and they now feel very stupid.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we review the penultimate nights of the NJPW G1 Climax for each block, plus give our top 10 G1 matches so far and more!

The Wrestling Omakase Patreon is your best source for coverage of Japanese wrestling, from yesterday and today. The vast majority of our coverage of the G1 Climax lives exclusively on the Patreon- every previous night of both tournaments that wasn't covered on a free episode, and all three nights that remain, are covered exclusively on the Patreon! Don't miss out on our coverage of the final shows of the G1! Plus, you can listen to every single piece of audio we've done since the start- including our Tokyo Dome series covering every single Dome main event of the 1990s! Feeling nostalgic about Okada/Tanahashi after their recent G1 match? Then check out our series covering the entire Okada/Tanahashi match series as well! And finally, don't forget that you get more full episodes too- every week there isn't a new show on the free feed, there's a full length episode exclusive to the Patreon! You can get all of this right now for only $5 at http://patreon.com/wrestlingomakase

John is joined by returning guest Jon Hernandez (@OldJonHernandez) as they start out by discussing all sorts of random stuff: how both of them have been attending all sorts of wrestling shows lately, how they're both attending the NJPW Strong tapings in Philadelphia this coming weekend as well, HOT TUBS, the return of the NHL, the NHL's weird recent history on national television, Charles Barkley, more Revolutionary Girl Utena and a little Neon Genesis Evangelion, and frankly some other random crap John's probably forgetting about now.

Once that's all out of the way they get into the main topic, as they break down Nights 15 & 16 of the G1 Climax- the penultimate night of each block. They start with a great Night 15, including a third straight awesome Great-O-Khan main event. They then break down the many confusing different tiebreaker scenarios heading into the final night for A block. Then they turn their attentions to the unfortunately quite bad Night 16. John gives another EVIL rant right after promising they weren't going to do another EVIL rant, and they discuss how Kazuchika Okada apparently will explode if he wrestles a match under 20 minutes. They wrap things up by breaking down the much, much simpler scenario to decide who wins B block, and then giving each of their top 10 matches in the G1 so far.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's a deep dive through the highlights of the entire AJPW Champion Carnival and more! John is joined by returning guest Thomas Fischbeck (https://twitter.com/rasslinratings) and first time guest Gerard Di Trolio (https://twitter.com/GerardDiTrolio)  as we go night-by-night through the best matches of the entire Champion Carnival, all the way from Night 1 through the last two block shows at Korakuen Hall! Hear our picks for the best matches of the tournament, as we give you plenty to pick and choose from if you haven't seen it up till this point. Plus, some takes on whether or not one match in particular (James-Okabayashi) was indeed the Match of the Year candidate it's being hyped up in some places, yet more debate about Jake Lee's potential stardom, and much more. That takes up the bulk of the episode before we move into a brief overview of some major matches from the past week of NJPW's Dontaku tour, including Ibushi-ZSJ and the junior tag team title match. Finally we wrap things up with a full review of DDT's 4/28 Max Bump Korakuen match-by-match and a look ahead at the King of DDT tournament and Tokyo Joshi Pro Korakuen coming up. It's a packed episode!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we debut a brand new concept! Inspired by the annual STARDOM Unit Draft that just took place, we bring this concept to New Japan Pro Wrestling with the first-ever NJPW Unit Draft! John and four guests each take up a different leader of a New Japan unit as we go round by round and draft the entire rest of the roster into a fresh landscape. Joining us for this project are Andy LaBarre (https://twitter.com/trillyrobinson) , Andrew Rich (https://twitter.com/AndrewTRich) , Suit Williams (https://twitter.com/SuitWilliams) & Sean Sedor (https://twitter.com/SASedor2994) . Which units ended up fairly close to their original form and which ones ended up as something very different? We'd love to hear your thoughts on the results after you listen, either on the VOW forums or by tweeting @wrestleomakase (https://twitter.com/wrestleomakase) ! Once our draft is out of the way we turn our attention back to the real NJPW with a brief preview of the upcoming Wrestling Dontaku shows, as well as speculation on what the major matches will be for Dominion and talk on how the shows are doing business-wise so far. It's a fun episode!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's a special bonus episode breaking down the last two big shows of Mania weekend! John is joined by returning guest and Music of the Mat (https://twitter.com/musicofthemat) host Andrew Rich (https://twitter.com/AndrewTRich)  as we start with a brief recap of Andrew's Mania weekend, including his full ranking of everything he attended and thoughts on the VOW podcast network karaoke crossover with the two of us and Super J Cast co-hosts Damon & Joel. Once that's out of the way we turn our attention to a full breakdown of the huge G1 Supercard show from MSG, as we break everything down match-by-match. Some nice things are said about the NJPW side and some, uh, very not-so-nice things are said about the ROH half of the card. We then do a more brief review of Wrestlemania, with both John and Andrew giving their very takes on a pretty good but mostly unmemorable (and of course, incredibly long) show. Finally we wrap things up with a packed mailbag featuring everything from people just straight up asking us both for money to thoughts on Pinano Pipipipi's retirement, Hikaru Shida signing with AEW, what the general hell is going on with ROH and more! It's a packed bonus edition of Omakase!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase I'm joined by my longtime wrestling travel companion Bryan Quinlan (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN)  to discuss the highs and lows of two packed days of wrestling at Mania weekend! We give you all our thoughts from attending these shows live, in chronological order, including a decent EVOLVE show featuring a good first half and a not-so-hot second; a pretty bad wXw show with a very weird atmosphere and discussion of how NOT to do the "introduce new fans to your promotion" type of show; a completely fantastic American debut for DDT in which pretty much every single thing went right (we go match by match on this one); a pretty average Wrestlecon US vs. the World show made worse by some logistical issues; and finally another amazing show from STARDOM, at least if you were in the building! A fun-filled tour of some major Mania weekend spots, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by first time guest Kevin Kelly (@realkevinkelly (https://twitter.com/realkevinkelly) ), the English voice of New Japan Pro Wrestling! Kevin discusses what it's been like calling NJPW play-by-play in his nearly three-and-a-half year stint from the beginning, including what some of the biggest adjustments he had to make were, what he thinks of the Japanese pro wrestling schedule, how he approaches introducing newer fans to the promotion, what he thinks some of the differences are in how the Western and Japanese audiences approach the company, and more! We then give a brief preview of next weekend's huge Madison Square Garden show, G1 Supercard, which Kevin confirms on the air (apparently before it's dropped anywhere) that he'll be calling. Finally we wrap things up with your questions on a huge variety of topics, including: Kevin's favorite broadcast partner, what he thinks NJPW should do to get more fans to attend shows in the West, favorite and least favorite venues, Taichi, Okada's pants, his favorite match he's ever called and more. A fun chat on all things New Japan!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we finally finish our trip through the New Japan Cup and talk some more great Japanese wrestling as well! John is joined by longtime returning guest Taylor Maimbourg (@tamaimbo (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) ) to break it all down, starting with our wrap up of the NJC. We talk the last two 2nd Round matches we had left from last week (Cabana-Yano & Suzuki-SANADA), all four quarterfinal matches, the two excellent semifinals and finally the finals of the tournament. What did we all think when it was all said and done, and what are our feelings heading into MSG? Afterward we turn our attention to All Japan with a breakdown of the top three matches from their 3/19 Korakuen show, talking the junior, tag, and Triple Crown title matches plus looking ahead at what might be next in the Champion Carnival. Next we talk DDT and their 3/21 Korakuen as we break down the entire show, talking two excellent tag title matches, the Riki Choshu vs. Gota Ihashi saga, red light green light, and more! We also do a quick look at some upcoming matches in DDT and lay out some possible scenarios for their big NYC show over Wrestlemania weekend. Finally we wrap things up with a packed mailbag with your questions on YMZ, Jay White, wrestler swaps, SANADA and EVIL's respective potential, and much more. It's a jam-packed puro episode, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we talk an eclectic mix of wrestling. I'm joined by returning guest and my longtime wrestling travel companion Bryan Quinlan (@IMNOTQUINLAN (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN) ) as we start in the land of World Wrestling Entertainment, breaking down a pretty decent Fastlane show and some of the more confusing aspects of the Wrestlemania build-up. Once that's out of the way we turn back to the New Japan Cup to cover nights 4-7, featuring an impassioned defense of SANADA (who took a verbal beatdown recently from a sister VOW network podcast), mixed thoughts on an Ospreay-Archer match everyone else seemed to love, lots of love for Ishii-Taichi and Tanahashi-Taguchi, and being slightly disappointed by a still great Ibushi-ZSJ match. Finally we wrap things up with thoughts on a recent match from STARDOM, Momo Watanabe vs. Jungle Kyona from about two weeks ago in Nagoya. All this and more, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's more New Japan action as we continue tracking their hot March. John is joined by first time guest Lorien (@divingmeteora (https://twitter.com/divingmeteora) ) as we break down the NJPW Anniversary Event from Ota City Gymnasium and the first three nights of the New Japan Cup. It all starts with the Anniversary Show, as we discuss two big junior title matches, everybody pointing at themselves, and a main event we both found a little underwhelming. Then it's on to the first three nights of the New Japan Cup featuring 12 out of the 16 1st Round matches! Night 1 from Korakuen we discuss our Dad Feelings for Nakanishi, the International Cabal of Taichi Pretenders, Chase dunking on the host of this podcast personally and an awesome old guy battle in the main. Night 2 we're much more down on as 3 of the 4 matches were really quite dire, so we discuss some stuff we really didn't enjoy. But then it ends back on a positive night for Night 3 again with a lot of awesome stuff, including Taguchi's big upset of Tenzan (and his near-war crime ankle locks), Tanahashi taking Umino to school, EVIL and ZSJ being kind of perfect opponents for each other, and finally an amazing blowaway MOTYC between Naito and Ibushi. We wrap things up with some mailbag questions including who Naito's best opponent is and whether or not Umino's dad calling his biggest match ever was a conflict of interest. A fun time breaking down some NJPW, both the hot and the not so hot!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we present our first ever live pick 'em roundtable! John is joined by returning guests and VOW contributors Damon from the Super J Cast (@thesuperjcast (https://twitter.com/thesuperjcast) ), Nate (@epitasis (https://twitter.com/epitasis) ) from Everything Elite, Suit Williams (@suitwilliams (https://twitter.com/SuitWilliams) ) & Andy LaBarre (@trillyrobinson (https://twitter.com/trillyrobinson) ). Before they get into the NJC they give a quick preview of the upcoming NJPW 47th Anniversary Event from Ota Ward Gym, talking about their most anticipated matches and giving a general overview of the card. Once that's out of the way we turn into the meat of the podcast: a live pick 'em for the entire New Japan Cup! Each of the five gives their winners for every 1st Round match and then continues filling their bracket all the way to the end. Who gets talked in or out of their picks as things go on? Who ends up angry at their own picks later in the same show? And what results end up with a ton of agreement and which ones end up all over the place? These questions and many more will be answered in the most thorough preview of the entire 32-man NJC you can get anywhere!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's a giant puro blowout! There were about a million pretty big shows that took place over the past week or so in Japan and we decided to just try and cover them all (or at least the major matches). Joining us to do it is first time guest and relatively new VOW contributor Thomas Fischbeck (@rasslinratings (https://twitter.com/rasslinratings) ), as Thomas like John is a crazy person who tries to watch virtually everything. They break down, in order: the entire Giant Baba Memorial Show from Sumo Hall including an awesome tag team main event, NJPW's three Korakuens featuring a one of a kind retirement for Takashi Iizuka and two Honor Rising shows that frankly weren't great, AJPW's Excite Series Yokohama show featuring an amazing Miyahara-Suwama main event, a great Tokyo Joshi Pro show from top to bottom with the RETURN OF SAKISAMA~! (and we cover all of this one but especially why she's so great), and finally the return of the anytime/anywhere contracts in DDT. Other topics include looking ahead briefly to the New Japan Cup, Champion Carnival & DDT in America, Roman's return on RAW and Kenny Omega's case of unfortunate timing, your questions and more. It's a fun and jam packed episode!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we break down Night 9 of the NJPW G1 Climax from Nagoya and the finals of NOAH's N-1 Victory from Korakuen Hall!

The Wrestling Omakase Patreon is your best source for coverage of Japanese wrestling, from yesterday and today. The vast majority of our coverage of both the G1 Climax & NOAH N-1 Victory lives exclusively on the Patreon- every previous night of both tournaments that wasn't covered on a free episode, and every single night of the G1 going forward until the next one, is covered exclusively on the Patreon! Don't miss out on our daily coverage of both tournaments! Plus, you can listen to every single piece of audio we've done since the start- including our Tokyo Dome series covering every single Dome main event of the 1990s! Feeling nostalgic about Okada/Tanahashi after their recent G1 match? Then check out our series covering the entire Okada/Tanahashi match series as well! And finally, don't forget that you get more full episodes too- every week there isn't a new show on the free feed, there's a full length episode exclusive to the Patreon! You can get all of this right now for only $5 at http://patreon.com/wrestlingomakase

John is joined by returning guest Liam McCann (@liam_d_mccann) as they start off with a discussion of sports heartbreak and fandom. This has been brought on by the fact that John is a Toronto Blue Jays fan and they were eliminated from the MLB postseason earlier on Sunday in about the worst way possible, but they touch on other sports too (mainly NHL hockey and Premier League soccer), and the whole discussion is probably pretty universal to the sports fan experience (they even compare it to some of what it's like to be a fan of a specific wrestler as well!). The conclusion: don't be a sports fan, do drugs instead, it's better for you.

Once that's out of the way the two of them turn to the ongoing NJPW G1 Climax, specifically Night 9 (10/3) from Nagoya. John opens up with a bit of a rant on how different clap crowds can actually make a huge difference, no matter what anyone else has told you, before they get into a very good show with two strong matches at the end as the highlight. Liam disagrees a bit on Ibushi/Shingo and on Kota Ibushi's current arc in general, so there's quite a lot on that, but they go into every match in some detail. Then they give a standings update for the A block and look ahead to the next two nights of the G1.

Then it's on to Pro Wrestling NOAH, as they discuss the final night of their own N-1 Victory tournament, also on 10/3 from Korakuen Hall. John & Liam review the entire show in detail including two great semifinal matches and an absolutely outstanding finals. Plus: confusing talk about age in the old fuck offer six-man! NOSAWA continues to book the juniors like an absolute mad man! And a look ahead to possible matches for January's big Budokan show, as John somehow forgets that Go Shiozaki exists and should be coming back soon! Look, they had a rough day.

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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!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we jump back into the world of the Dramatic Dream Team to talk two big Ryogoku shows! I'm joined by longtime returning guest and VOW contributor Taylor Maimbourg (@tamaimbo (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) ) as we first start with the return of MUSCLE after 9 years. It's a four-hour comedy show that happens to have a few wrestling matches on it but we break down the entire thing from start to finish, including: qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Wrestlympics, a retirement match with a re-start, game show antics, a battle royale for a spot in a boy band, future AEW star Andreza the Giant Panda, and much more. Once that's out of the way we turn to DDT Judgment proper, a gigantic 12-match show that featured the crowning of a new KO-D Openweight Champion. We talk each and every match on the show and discuss how we felt it stacked up next to other recent DDT big shows. Finally we wrap things up with your questions on DDT and then a brief discussion on traveling to Japan.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by returning guest Emily Pratt (@emilyofpratt (https://twitter.com/emilyofpratt) ) of Uproxx to discuss an eventful NJPW New Beginning tour! John and Emily break down all the major matches across the entire tour, from the Road To shows to Sapporo to finally Osaka, and discuss in depth Jay White's IWGP Heavyweight Title win as well as what we thought of the tour overall. Once that's done we turn our attention to the upcoming New Japan shows, breaking down the entire New Japan Road & Honor Rising cards as well as discussing the Anniversary Show matches announced so far and speculating on what might be coming up in the New Japan Cup & MSG. Finally we wrap up by answering all sorts of your questions on NJPW. It's all things Shin Nihon all the time, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's time for us to cover the 2018 VOW Match of the Year (https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2018-match-of-the-year/) poll! John is joined by a roundtable of six guests, each MOTY voters (and from a wide range of wrestling backgrounds), to each discuss their own ballots and where the matches ultimately finished in the final poll. Returning guests Sean Sedor (@SASedor2994 (https://twitter.com/SASedor2994) ) and Kevin Hare (@stan__hansen (https://twitter.com/stan__hansen) ) are joined by first time guests Kevin Chiat (@kevinchiat (https://twitter.com/kevinchiat) ), Derek (@PrivateEyeball (https://twitter.com/PrivateEyeball) ), TJ (@aspir_ (https://twitter.com/aspir_) ) and MassRafTer (@mongo_ebooks (https://twitter.com/mongo_ebooks) ) to discuss the best of 2018 in puro, joshi, lucha, britwres, US wrestling, and even Australian wrestling. It's our final episode looking back at 2018, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by returning guest Skylar (@Twwitterdotcom (https://twitter.com/Twwitterdotcom) ) to discuss WWE and DDT! First the two of them talk the WWE Royal Rumble 2019 PPV, discussing all the matches and major takeaways from the show, from Becky's big win to an awesome Brock-Finn match to some stuff on the card that they weren't so hot on. Once that's out of the way they turn their attention to DDT, talking the 1/27 Sweet Dreams Korakuen match-by-match and then giving a full preview of the upcoming major DDT Judgement Sumo Hall show. Plus they discuss the next big Tokyo Joshi Pro show and speculate on what the recently announced multi-brand crossover event in November might look like. All this plus your questions, ANIME CON CHAT, and more!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we're talking the three biggest wrestling companies in the world! I'm joined by returning guest and longtime friend/travel companion Bryan Quinlan (@IMNOTQUINLAN (https://twitter.com/IM_NOT_QUINLAN) ) as we start with a preview of the WWE Royal Rumble card. Quinlan is one of the few people left on earth who actually watch RAW & Smackdown every week, so he lets us know his thoughts on the build up to the major matches and more. Then we move on to discussing NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania, as we talk the three shows that have already happened at the time of recording and preview the last two. Finally we run down the upcoming New Beginning tour, going through all the cards and our picks for who might win the major title matches.

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's time for our second annual year end awards! A panel of 48 Omakase guests from 2018 voted to decide the best (and worst) of the year, and we announce the winners as well as discuss our individual picks in the following categories (in order of podcast appearance): Worst Weekly TV Show, Worst Major Show, Worst Promotion, Worst Feud, Worst Match of the Year, Best Weekly TV Show, Best Major Show, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Promotion, Best Feud, Match of the Year, Tag Team of the Year and Wrestler of the Year. Our weirdly lucha-focused panel (not on purpose, it just kinda happened) consists of JR Goldberg (@wrestlingbubble (https://twitter.com/wrestlingbubble) ), Kevin Brown (@darukinoi (https://twitter.com/darukinoi) ), Michael Spears (@fujiiheya (https://twitter.com/fujiiheya) ) and Eyean (@skrongstyle (https://twitter.com/skrongstyle) ). All five of us had a great time discussing our most and least favorite things in wrestling from last year, and we hope you enjoy listening back as well.

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It's a special bonus episode of Wrestling Omakase this week! John was joined by co-host of the Brit Wres Roundtable Robin Reid (@BritWresRound (https://twitter.com/BritWresRound) ) and VOW contributor Jack Beckmann (@packerman120 (https://twitter.com/packerman120) ) just minutes after all three had finished watching Wrestle Kingdom 13 live. Listen to their thoughts on this special live broadcast of Omakase, as we also interacted with some live listeners throughout as well. We cover every match including of course the Omega-Tanahashi and Naito-Jericho main events, Okada-White and the ballsy finish, all the match results and what it could mean going forward for a lot of the talent (especially the Elite guys), the major announcements that shake up NJPW's schedule, and much more. A fun show featuring three very tired humans, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase the Year in Review series comes to a conclusion with New Japan Pro Wrestling! Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. Wrestle Kingdom 13 is right around the corner, so what better way to prepare than by listening to our New Japan Year in Review episode? To talk all things King of Sports John is joined by an all star panel including NJPW Reddit moderator Evan (@EvanDeadlySinsW (https://twitter.com/EvanDeadlySinsW) ), Super J Cast co-hosts Joel Abraham & Damon McDonald (@thesuperjcast (https://twitter.com/thesuperjcast) ) and VOW contributor August Baker (@augustbaker12 (https://twitter.com/augustbaker12) ). Together the five of us break down NJPW's year, giving our various thoughts and opinions on virtually all the major shows and tours. Once we cover all the biggest events of New Japan's 2018 we hand out our awards for NJPW's Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show and more. Finally we wrap things up with a big mailbag full of your questions including on the future of the young lion system and much more. It's a packed edition of Omakase and a great way to wrap up our Year in Review series for 2018!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase the Year in Review series reaches its penultimate episode as we cover the Dramatic Dream Team! Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. DDT's 2018 was filled with many ups and downs, and here to help John cover it all are the two most prolific guests in Omakase history: Jesse (@K0jiii (https://twitter.com/K0jiii) ) and Taylor (@tamaimbo (https://twitter.com/tamaimbo) ). All three discuss everything that happened in one of their favorite promotions, including: both D-ous and the King of DDT, the end of Takeshita's KO-D Openweight Title reign, the chaotic Irie era, the monthly Korakuens and two major supercards, Maji Manji, and much more, including even some Ganbare! We also look ahead toward 2019, give our awards picks (including a MOTY list separated into "comedy/gimmick" & "serious" to highlight the best of both), and answer your questions. It's a jam packed journey through a very interesting year, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase the Year in Review series marches on as we look back at an eventful year for Ring of Honor! Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. It was quite the year for ROH, which began kind of quietly and ended with the major bang of the Elite (with the exception of Marty Scurll) and the SCU all seemingly leaving. John is joined by the same guests from our 2017 ROH Year in Review episode, VOW contributors Joe Gagne (@joegagne (https://twitter.com/joegagne) ) & Sean Sedor (@SASedor2994 (https://twitter.com/SASedor2994) ), as we look to break down the year that was in ROH and look ahead to 2019. This includes a full chronological breakdown of their major shows, lengthy discussions on the Dalton Castle & Jay Lethal World title reigns and pushes for Kenny King and others, talk on the Women of Honor division and the relationships with STARDOM & NJPW, and more. We then shift into a full breakdown of the Elite leaving and what kind of hole that could leave for ROH in 2019, what AEW might look like (and who the hell is left to make up their talent roster), discuss the ROH signings that have come out in recent months, and much more. Finally we wrap things up with our ROH year end awards and answer a number of your questions (many of which include more 2019 speculation for both ROH & AEW). It's a wide-ranging chat on an eventful year for ROH and what's to come next, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase we kick off the NJPW G1 Climax with the opening two nights, along with some bonus coverage of the NOAH N-1 Victory!

The Wrestling Omakase Patreon is your best source for coverage of Japanese wrestling, from yesterday and today. The vast majority of our coverage of both the G1 Climax & NOAH N-1 Victory will live exclusively on the Patreon- every single night of both tournaments from now until our next free episode in two weeks will be covered on the Patreon in detail! Don't miss out on our daily coverage of both tournaments! Plus, you can listen to every single piece of audio we've done since the start- including an extensive G1 preview that can help you pick which nights to watch and which to skip (if you're looking to do that sort of thing), plus our Tokyo Dome series covering every single Dome main event of the 1990s! Feeling nostalgic about Okada/Tanahashi after their match this past weekend? Then check out our series covering every single Okada/Tanahashi match in history as well! And finally, don't forget that you get more full episodes too- every week there isn't a new show on the free feed, there's a full length episode exclusive to the Patreon! You can get all of this right now for only $5 at http://patreon.com/wrestlingomakase

John is joined by returning guest Harley Duncan. Harley's under lockdown still in Australia while John recounts their recent trip to western New York to see Niagara Falls and a bunch of other stuff- kind of mean on their part, really! Once that's out of the way John & Harley review both the opening nights of NJPW's G1 Climax 31! They talk a little about some of the dumb New Japan takes that have been out there lately (including some folks telling on themselves when it comes to how little they've been watching....), while breaking down each and every match so far in detail. It was a great start to the tournament, and they go over all of it, including the "big three" matches of Naito/ZSJ, Ishii/Shingo and Okada/Tanahashi!

Then the two of them turn their attentions to NOAH's N-1 Victory tournament, specifically Night 2 from the empty arena. John & Harley discuss how difficult it was going from even a clap crowd New Japan show to the fully empty arena of NOAH, and then break down two subpar matches along with two better ones (one that was much better).

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This week on Wrestling Omakase the Year in Review series continues, as we head to the wide world of joshi! Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion (or type of wrestling) each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. Joshi is obviously an expansive topic featuring many different promotions, but luckily for us we have two great guests who both watch nearly all of it! John is joined by returning guest Taylor ([@tamaimbo](https://twitter.com/tamaimbo)) as well as first time guest Luke ([@oystersearrings](https://twitter.com/oystersearrings)) to discuss a cornucopia of joshi promotions, including: STARDOM, Tokyo Joshi, Sendai Girls, SEAdLINNNG, Oz Academy, Ice Ribbon, Marvelous, and WAVE! We break down each company's 2018, talking their major matches and moments as well as give our opinions on their overall year and how they might be set up for 2019\. Once that's done we move on to discussing our award picks from all of joshi, an interesting discussing featuring some strong contenders for all of wrestling this year. Finally we wrap things up with one of our longest mailbags in a while, as it turned out our listeners had a ton of joshi questions to share! It's a jam-packed episode of joshi goodness, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase the Year in Review series rolls on, as we get this one out of the way early. Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion (or type of wrestling) each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. Yes folks, it's time to talk some World Wrestling Entertainment. John is joined by not one, not two, not three, but FOUR (!) returning guests, all of them VOW contributors: Jack ([@packerman120](https://twitter.com/packerman120)), Lawson ([@LawsonComedy89](https://twitter.com/LawsonComedy89)), Kelly ([@comicgeekelly](https://twitter.com/comicgeekelly)) and Suit ([@SuitWilliams](https://twitter.com/SuitWilliams)). All five of them break down the year that was for WWE on an episode that kind of felt vaguely like we were all on one long acid trip while we were recording it. Did any of this shit actually happen? Listen and tell us, I guess. We go month-by-month through the main roster's PPV events, talk the various NXT Takeovers more broadly, discuss which of the weekly TV shows were any good this year, give our picks for award contenders from the WWE as a whole, and finally wrap things up with plenty of listener questions. 2018 WWE is, if nothing else, a journey. We're not sure why we took that journey, exactly, but we're sure it was a journey, and we hope you'll listen along, this week!

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This week on Wrestling Omakase it's a reunion from another former VOW podcast, as we kick off our 2018 Year in Review series! Back for another year, the Year in Review series will focus on a different promotion (or type of wrestling) each week and get you all caught up on them. Didn't see a ton from their year? Feel like you need a refresher course? We go through as much of the year as we can in chronological order, highlighting stuff you may have missed along the way. Then we discuss our picks from the promotion for the traditional Observer-style awards, including: Wrestler of the Year, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Major Show, Match of the Year and more. We begin this time around with Big Japan Pro Wrestling. John is joined by returning guests Drew ([@_burningspirits](https://twitter.com/_burningspirits)) & Kevin Hare ([@stan__hansen](https://twitter.com/stan__hansen)), both alumni of the ex-VOW show Burning Spirits. We break down BJW's entire 2018, talking both the deathmatch and strong divisions at length. Was the Masashi Takeda title reign the greatest deathmatch reign of all time? How did Hideki Suzuki's second reign compare to his first? And John unexpectedly has to go to the mat to defend Hideki against Drew's ONSLAUGHT~!! of, uh, polite criticism. Somehow Kenny Omega and KENTA KOBASHI (!) come up in this, we're not sure how. It's all an interesting discussion and one that you're sure to enjoy, this week!

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