Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network

Welcome to Those Days: A Michinoku Pro Retrospective!

Case (https://twitter.com/_inyourcase) and Mike (https://twitter.com/fujiiheya) return to Michinoku Pro and late July 1996 where MichiPro has entered a Title Match Frenzy! They discuss the changing Japanese media climate before getting into The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask IV’s July CMLL Mexico tour. From there, it’s time to talk about The World Championship Title Series tour, try to figure out the legitimacy of the Central American Middleweight Title, observe the growth of the young roster. Soon it’s August 5th, 1996 and it’s time to go to Sumo Hall for the J-Crown Finals between Ultimo Dragon and Sasuke, and the night that completely changed Sasuke’s physical trajectory. To finish up, they return to The World Championship Title Series and a new top Michinoku Pro match, and matches to hunt down!

A full match listing of footage covered during this episode can be found at the show post on www.voicesofwrestling.com or in the Open The Voice Gate channel on the VOW Discord.

Our podcast provider, Red Circle, offers the listeners the option to sponsor the show. Click on “Sponsor This Podcaster” at https://redcircle.com/shows/open-the-voice-gate and you can donate a single time, or set up a monthly donation to Open the Voice Gate!

Please Rate and Review Open The Voice Gate on the podcast platform of your choice and follow us on social media with @openvoicegate!

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John is back alongside returning guest Velkej Bracha as they open things up with the start of NJPW's annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament! They discuss all the tournament action from nights 1 through 3 all around Tokyo, breaking down which performances have been entertaining and which ones have been grating so far (and there's been plenty of both!). Then they head back to AJPW to wrap up their surprisingly good 2026 Champion Carnival, in front of one of their biggest crowds in years at Ota, before looking ahead to some big upcoming shows next month.

Next up it's back to the World Wonder Ring, as John & Velkej discuss another solid Korakuen Hall show from STARDOM, celebrate the long-awaited return of the Artist six-woman belts (and talk a little about why they've been so important to the promotion historically), and then preview this coming weekend's Queen's Dynasty PPV from Aichi. Finally, they wrap up the episode with a review of Marigold's most recent Korakuen, including some surprisingly frank English commentary on everything surrounding Utami Hayashishita's departure, the promotion's current struggles but also the young talent we think can help them turn things around in the future. There's also a few very brief notes on NOAH's latest Korakuen, which we meant to review more in full but ran out of time this week.

Follow Velkej on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Velkej_Bracha

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase

Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paul and Gerard and back to discuss the many ups and downs of Pro Wrestling NOAH where a great GHC Heavyweight Title match is overshadowed by questionable booking elsewhere on the card. Then it's on to All Japan to cover a great Champion Carnival finals show including an incredible performance by Go Shiozaki. Plus discussion of the upcoming Voices of Wrestling 30 Under 30 poll.

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mike & JD break down the latest wrestling news and controversy in Episode 140.

They dive into the rumored Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight, whether it was a work, Ronda’s lasting impact on women’s wrestling and sports, and if MVP MMA can become a legitimate #2 promotion.

Plus, WWE’s push the narrative that AEW will be cancelled by Paramount & how it helps keep talent salaries down, a tribute to the late Barry Blaustein and Beyond the Mat, and their Top 5 Wrestling Documentaries.

Support the show and get early access, bonus episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon:

👉 patreon.com/themikeandjdshow

Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kelly and Taylor return, and they've got a whole lot to talk about!

They start with discussing two big shows, TJPW's Yes Wonderland and Marvelous' 10th Anniversary show!

After that, they preview Stardom's Queens Dynasty and Marigold's Shine Forever show!

Check it out!

Please follow us on BlueSky: @jbombaudio

You can support this podcast at http://redcircle.com/jumping-bomb-audio/donations

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Joel and Damon return to preview New Japan's Best Of The Super Junior 33 including block predictions, junior division parity, and break-out stars. Plus, even more Arsenal vibes, Damon's Chrono Trigger obsession, Aaron Wolf and House of Torture and we answer your questions. 

For more New Japan talk, subscribe to the Super J-Cast Patreon. Jump here  www.patreon.com/superjcast and consider becoming a member!

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rob and Jeff discuss overloading of May, Beyond the Mat, and the goodbye for now of Asuka

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"Under a hood" is an old school wrestling term that means working under a mask. The mask is a big part of pro wrestling, especially in lucha libre where it is sacred. Some songs have their own masks, so to speak, in that the titles are not found anywhere in the lyrics. On this episode, Andrew and returning guest Rich Kraetsch (Voices of Wrestling) play songs that fall into that category. Artists played include Third Eye Blind, Kasabian, Massive Attack, Little Brother, Public Image Ltd., Sunny Day Real Estate, Faith No More, and many more. Don't try to unmask this episode or you might get disqualified!

Theme song: "Hemispheres" by Silent Partner

Twitter: @voiceswrestling

Bluesky: @MusicoftheMat / @justandrew / @voicesofwrestling.com

FlagshipPatreon.com

All VOW podcasts, articles, previews, and reviews: VoicesofWrestling.com

Join the VOW Discord to discuss Music of the Mat and other shows/topics: VoicesofWrestling.com/Discord

Donate to Music of the Mat and other VOW podcasts: VoicesofWrestling.com/Donate

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mike & JD discuss the life and times of media icon Ted Turner, how he saved WCW from death multiple times and his candidacy for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame. Plus, AEW sues Triller and Mike discuss WWE Backlash

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John is back on the air for a special split episode! They start things out with returning guest Chris from Social Suplex, making his first appearance since the MOTY episode a few months back. After much complaining about broken phones and Apple bullshit they reminisce a little about being in Vegas for the Marvelous & West Coast shows, which is an excellent transition into the review of Marvelous' huge 10th Anniversary Show from Yokohama Buntai! They discuss a divisive main event and a ton of other huge matches. Then it's over to Sendai Girls for a typically low key but enjoyable 5/10 Shin Kiba show, featuring another great performance from Chihiro Hashimoto (but what else is new this year). To wrap up the joshi talk, John then goes solo to discuss the back half of Ice Ribbon's 5/10 show featuring a great world title match.

Then John is joined by John Bivins, making his second straight appearance, as they cover all the men's wrestling together for the week. It starts out with Pro Wrestling NOAH, who we haven't covered in a while on this show and as it turns out for good reason, as they bury a mostly quite bad major show from Ryogoku, discuss a better effort from Korakuen Hall a few days later, and just generally talk about the current state of the once-proud green ring. Then it's back to AJPW to wrap up the Champion Carnival's last two block nights, which continued the trend of a quite enjoyable tournament. Speaking of enjoyable tournaments, it's the second round of the King of DDT from Shinjuku FACE! And finally, John goes solo again for a review of Dragongate's 5/8 Korakuen, as they talk the directions (and lack thereof) coming out of the big Nagoya event and some really weird booking in general, even if the show was mostly pretty good in ring wise. An absolutely packed show!

---

Social Suplex newsletter: https://www.socialsuplex.com/newsletter/

John Bivins' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punkrock.darkroast/

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase

Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social

Our Sponsors:
* Sign up for MyBookie today and use our code VOWNETWORK for access to MyBookie's one of a kind Bet Back Bonus! If your bet hits, you win. If it misses, you'll earn a 100% Refund of up to $500 in Free Play. It's win-win.

Get in on the action now at https://www.mybookie.ag


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy