Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network

This week on Wrestling Omakase we begin our Year in Review Series! Each episode will recap a specific promotion's 2017 with passionate fans/viewers of the company, giving you match recommendations, picks for various awards (MVP/Most Outstanding/Show/Tag Team/etc.), and an overview of what the past year has looked like. It's a great way to wind down 2017, and it starts this week with All Japan! Our guest is Eyean (@skrongstyle), a very devoted AJPW fan, and together he and John break down their entire year. We talk all the various titleholders, Kento Miyahara's historic reign, the controversial rapid fire Triple Crown changes from the past few months, the return of KAI, Shuji Ishikawa becoming a player, the cursed run of injured tag team title holders, and much more! It's nearly two hours from two fans who really love AJPW, so whether you're a fan yourself or totally new to the company, find out all about the past year in Zen Nihon on this week's Omakase!

WWE Survivor Series happens this Sunday, and Shake Them Ropes is here to run down all of the numerous card changes from this week's WWE TV. We discuss the most anticipated matches, how we expect them to unfold, and whether or not Kurt Angle will wrestle in a shirt.

Plus, NXT Takeover preview as War Games may just be the most anticipated show of the weekend. Could the return of the infamous WCW match type lead to a resurgence of NXT? And is it Nikki Cross' time in the NXT Women's Division?

Also, Jack Swagger changes professions + the return of Paige. So much to get to on this week's Shake Them Ropes!

The Five Star Match Game returns! Production problems abound, but they can't take away from the titanic tussle between Shake Them Ropes co-hosts Rob McCarron and Jeff Hawkins!

The pair clash in 5 rounds of trivia focusing on modern WWE and NXT. Who wins? Who loses? Is Headbutt a real band? Tune in and find out!

On this bonus episode of Music of the Mat, Chris and Andrew answer some listener questions and deliver an important announcement about the future of the podcast.

Yes, Open the Voice Gate is back for our 25th episode, a milestone that literally none of us were even aware of as we recorded it (as you'll hear when we mention it approximately zero times). We celebrate it the only way we know how: by obliviously ignoring it and drudging on to talk all things Dragon Gate! John, Mike, and Milo talk the Gate of Destiny PPV, easily DG's best of the year, breaking everything down including the MOTYC main event between Mochizuki & Susumu, Ricochet's return to DG after 2+ years, a 3-way Triangle Gate match, and more! Once that's out of the way we move on to the 11/8 Korakuen including the big heel turn in the main event, Ricochet's graduation, a new member for MaxiMuM, and much more. We then talk this episode's Retro Rewatch match, a CIMA vs. Masaaki Mochizuki Dream Gate match from December 2004 featuring the very first Dream Gate title change in DG history! Finally, we wrap things up with a strangely college football-focused edition of the mailbag (gag). All this and much more on this edition of Open the Voice Gate!

Voting on the 2nd Annual Open the Voice Gate awards is now open! To see the ballot and find out how to submit your votes, please go here: goo.gl/zt5Bfz.

Another busy week in the world of wrestling as Joe and Rich talk about the developing story with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, NJPW's Power Struggle, Wrestle Kingdom 12, World Tag League lineups, Impact Wrestling's Bound for Glory PPV, Dragon Gate's Gate of Destiny and some surprises along the way.

Chris Jericho has returned to NJPW, setting up a huge battle of Canadian stars at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in January. Plus, WWE TV chaos with Owens and Zayn.

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Chris Harrington (@mookieghana) and Brandon Howard (@BrandonThurston) discuss who they voted for in this year Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame balloting. Includes discussion on candidates like AJ Styles, CM Punk, Junkyard Dog, Edge, Randy Orton, Jun Akiyama, CIMA, Hayabusa, Sgt. Slaughter, Cien Caras, Blue Panther, Villano III, Los Misioneros de la Muerte, Jimmy Hart, Gary Hart and more!

C! Z! W! On this week's episode of Wrestling Omakase, John is joined by Jake (@Oatgan) & Kevin Brown (@darukinoi) to discuss the longtime northeast independent promotion. If you've ever wondered just what the hell the deal is when people start talking about CZW, hear it straight from two fans. Everything is touched upon including the differences in the Zandig/Hyde/Callihan eras, the "big three" yearly events of CZW over the years (Cage of Death, Tournament of Death, and Best of the Best), various title reigns, storyline tropes, that whole Onita deal, whether CZW has a "style", and more! Plus, we go into detail on guys like Nick Gage and John Zandig. Finally, we have a huge mailbag (people really had a ton of CZW questions!) covering everything from show names to fan behavior to announcers and more! It's a loaded edition of Omakase on another promotion that doesn't exactly get a ton of audio coverage, so check it out and enjoy!

Arn and Oli talk through the weekend that was wXw London and PROGRESS Chapter 56, featuring yet another amazing encounter in the Starr vs. WALTER rivalry and an overall very eventful PROGRESS show.