This week on Wrestling Omakase we've got another packed trip around most of the Japanese wrestling world! John is joined by returning guest Snazzy from Joshi ing Around & Social Suplex as they start things out with Marigold's enormous Shine Forever show from Ryogoku, which they both agree was the fledgling promotion's very best show of all time so far! They discuss a stacked top of the lineup featuring the first Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani match in well over seven years, a very divisive red belt match with a shocking finish, a white belt match they both have lots of praise for and a whole lot more. Plus some thoughts on the attendance and a lot of hot takes about recent joshi discourse and a lot more!

Then they head over to STARDOM to talk about two more shows from the World Wonder Ring- Starlight Kid's 10th anniversary show from Shinjuku FACE on 10/20 and the 10/27 Korakuen. They discuss the insubstantial but amusing SLK anniversary show and then a Korakuen show that was pretty average all things considered. They also discuss where things could be headed with Saya & Momo and again make fun of some very, very dumb takes. The joshi portion of the podcast wraps up with Tokyo Joshi's own 10/18 Korakuen as they talk a great Princess of Princess title match, QUIZ SHOWS, new foreigners and more!

The men's wrestling portion kicks off with DDT's 10/19 Korakuen show featuring both the regular and six-man tag titles on the line, as they also give a brief preview of next Monday's Ultimate Party show (also from Ryogoku). Finally, they end the show with AJPW's 10/22 Korakuen, as John again is less than enthused with the current state of Zen Nihon.

Joshi ing around podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5vEhF921sFtprCxTsWhqt6?si=d1da6785766042cd

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Wrestling Omakase is back for a very special episode! John is joined by returning guests Paul Wedding (@PaulEWedding on Twitter) and Jeff Andrews, as well as first time guest Adam Berger, to break down all the candidates in the Japan region of the 2025 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame voting in detail! Here's everybody covered on this week's episode in order:

-Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

-Yoshiaki Fujiwara

-Hayabusa

-Masaaki Mochizuki

-Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi

-Zack Sabre Jr.

-Meiko Satomura

-Io Shirai/Iyo Sky

-Tiger Jeet Singh

-Yoshihiro Takayama

-Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada

-Bobby Bruns

-Joe Higuchi

-Rossy Ogawa

-Koichi Yoshizawa

As you can probably imagine, this leads to a wide-ranging discussion on both Japanese wrestling history and even some stuff on current wrestling as well- a very fun three-ish hours! John, Paul and Adam are all Observer Hall of Fame voters and reveal their ballots (or at least where they're leaning), as well as break down how the entire process works for those who might be unfamiliar. Plus, they briefly discuss how they're leaning in the Modern US category at the end as well. A very fun trip through wrestling history!

Adam's Hayabusa HoF article he mentioned on the show: http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2022/11/14/hayabusa-is-a-wrestling-observer-newsletter-hall-of-famer/

Adam's archive on VOW: http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/author/adambomb87/

Check out Paul's wrestling substack here: http://pwfg.substack.com

Check out Paul's wrestling interviews for his radio station here: http://WFAA.com

Follow Wrestling Omakase's Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/wrestleomakase

Follow John on Bluesky: http://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social

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After a brief one week absence Wrestling Omakase is back on the air with another packed show talking four shows from all around the Japanese wrestling world! John is joined by returning guest Paul Volsch of VOW's own Emerald FlowShow (https://redcircle.com/shows/the-emerald-flowshow) as they start things out with some chat about the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom trip they'll both be on together, plus John celebrates the Blue Jays beating the Yankees in the ALDS! Yeah! Once that's all out of the way it's time for NJPW talk, as they break down three matches from their recent 10/6 Korakuen (including a truly baffling junior title change) and then the entire King of Pro Wrestling show from Monday 10/13. Lots of thoughts of course on the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, where things might be going now for the Tokyo Dome, and a ton of praise for a truly amazing tag team title match. Plus, thoughts on the surprising IWGP Women's Title change in the opener and much more, including the show kind of bombing at the gate.

Then it's over to the green ring of NOAH for another Ryogoku show from two days earlier, Wrestle Odyssey, which also kind of bombed! They discuss a pretty underwhelming overall show, a big return from the US, a great junior tag title match and a lot more, before looking ahead to what's coming up next for NOAH on their two upcoming Korakuen Hall shows. Following that they break down STARDOM's 10/11 Korakuen Hall show, another kind of underwhelming show that still featured some interesting matches and moments but in the midst of a bit of a sleepy period for the promotion. Finally, they review Dragongate's 10/8 Korakuen which featured an amazing top two matches, discuss their favorites and least favorites among DG's interesting crop of young wrestlers, and give a brief look ahead at the King of Gate tournament.

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Wrestling Omakase is back for another absolutely jam packed episode as John & returning guest Arametha have major shows from SIX different Japanese promotions to break down! But first, John celebrates the first AL East title from the Toronto Blue Jays in a decade! Sad, but also hell yeah! Then the two of them start out- where else- but with the World Wonder Ring STARDOM, as they cover their 9/23 Osaka & 9/27 Korakuen shows that both set new all-time company attendance records in their respective buildings! They discuss a hot promotion staying hotter, yet more mainstream attention in Japan, Natsupoi slapping the shit out of some old comedian, an absolutely incredible Saya Kamitani vs. AZM double title match (that you can watch for free on Youtube!), and finally react to the news of Momo Watanabe challenging Saya in November and what that might mean for the Dream Queendom main event.

Then they head over to the land of the Shin Nihon freaks (?) starting out with two great junior title matches from Sapporo on 9/24 that you may have missed. Then it's a full review of the entire Destruction in Kobe show, as they discuss yet another show where the NJPW roster put on plenty of great matches but were let down by substandard booking.

Then it's over to NOAH for the N-1 finals, featuring a surprise turn that was foreshadowed by last week's guest on this very podcast, the thankful end to a quite bad tournament, a lot of angles to set things up for their big Sumo Hall show on 10/11 and more!

Next up it's DDT, as they break down yet another awesome Korakuen Hall show from the woefully under covered promotion! They discuss the sad end to Kazuki Hirata's epic title reign, an actually incredible match between a man and an inanimate object, Minoru Suzuki's unlikely late career revival and a whole lot more.

Then it's back over to All Japan to discuss their big Giant Dream show from 9/23. Man, Japan had a busy week in wrestling this last week! They break down Kento Miyahara's long awaited Triple Crown win against Jun Saito, a tag match that gave reason for some hope, the usual wacky AJPW undercard comedy and more.

Finally, they wrap things up with Sendai Girls' 9/23 Big Show in Sendai, discussing yet another awesome Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Mika Iwata match (with a sadly predictable result), Sareee kicking ass yet again, and, well.....not much else. They also break down their upcoming young wrestler tournament that features wrestlers from both STARDOM & Marigold!

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We're back for another episode of Wrestling Omakase as John is joined by a first time guest, another John, US indie wrestler John Bivins! John tells John all about working as an indie wrestler in the southeast US, how he got started and what it was like starting at the height of the pandemic in 2020, how the wrestling he does himself is very different from all the Japanese wrestling he enjoys watching as a fan and a whole lot more! Plus, John (as in your humble host) shares more baseball nervousness, the two talk a bit about flying nerves, and a whole bunch of other random topics!

The show talk starts off with the finals of the AJPW Oudou Tournament from 9/15, as they break down a good ending to a bad tournament. They discuss the All Asia tag title match, Kento Miyahara's victory, and talk about where things might be going next for AJPW heading into the Real World Tag League and ultimately toward their biggest show of the year on New Year's Eve.

Then they head over to the land of Tokyo Joshi for their big Wrestle Princess event from Ota Ward Gym. They discuss TJPW doing a bit of a disappointing number, an undercard that was full of fun matches, a surprisingly great International title match, and a main event that was pretty much just as awesome as expected. They also discuss the big news that TJPW is headed back to Ryogoku next year.

After that they shift from show reviews to a show preview, as John & John take a look ahead to next weekend's NJPW Destruction in Kobe event! They break down each match on the show in detail, discuss possible Wrestle Kingdom directions, and also talk about the concept of separating out the junior title matches from the "big show" (as they once again have done this week).

Finally, they finish things up with four more shows from the very underwhelming NOAH N-1 Victory, nights 5 through 8 to be exact, as the block portion comes to a close. One of the Johns actually seemed to enjoy this tournament more than the other, but both seemed to agree it had a low ceiling at least. They also preview the upcoming finals from Korakuen this Tuesday!

Check out John Bivins on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.bivins.372

And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punkrock.darkroast/

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We're back for another week of Wrestling Omakase as John is once again joined by returning guest Snazzy from the Social Suplex newsletter (and the new Joshi ing Around podcast!) to discuss four very different wrestling promotions. They start things out by heading back to the world of Marigold for the first time in quite a while, as they discuss the 9/14 Marigold Dream Star GP finals. John is just parachuting in for this after having missed the tournament up to this point while Snazzy has seen it all, so he's able to give the lowdown on everyone's performances and who has and hasn't shown big improvements so far on the roster. Both of them bemoan some very annoying (and very classic Rossy Ogawa) booking on the final night, talk up a very good Victoria Yuzuki performance and where she compares to some other second year wrestlers in Japan, and discuss the entire rest of the card as well as Marigold prepares to head to Sumo Hall next month.

Next up they head back to STARDOM to discuss the 9/10 Korakuen Hall show, which was not exactly the most stacked lineup they've produced this year. Still, there's two title changes to talk about here (including one that was possibly not supposed to happen at all!) as well as a lot of speculation about where STARDOM might be going heading into their November Ota Ward show as well as the Goddesses Tag League and Dream Queendom after that.

Then they head over to men's wrestling starting with NOAH to talk nights 2 through 4 of their annual N-1 Victory tournament, and WOOF is this bad. The two of them break down some very house show level efforts from most of the roster, more run-ins, Kaito getting geeked for about the ten thousandth time, and, well, yeah that pretty much covers it. Hopefully this tournament gets better at some point because it did not have a good week!

Finally they wrap things up by checking in on New Japan for the first time since the end of the G1, as they had two Korakuen shows this past week. They discuss the very wacky Shinnichi Champion PPV show from 9/12 that was a tie-in to NJPW's Japanese variety show you may or may not have even heard of, but besides an undercard full of comedy also featured a killer (and completely serious!) main event. Then they break down a much more standard Road To show the next night (much more quickly of course), but have praise for the Knockout Brothers and some of the Young Lions. Also there's lots of live updates for a Blue Jays game throughout. Look, we're trying to win a division here!

Check out Snazzy's new joshi podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/24Fg7QoUdB032u40nHiVRF?si=c20398f1e13946ce&nd=1&dlsi=7c602c298e554251

Check out John's apperance on the Super J Cast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sjc-extra-9-9-to-138542376

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We're back on Wrestling Omakase to discuss four very different Japanese wrestling promotions in another jampacked episode! John is joined by Milo (@primasteras on Twitter), someone they used to host Open the Voice Gate with right on this very network many, many years ago by now, making it a bit of a reunion for the two of them! Unfortunately the tragic passing of AJPW's Taishin Nagao absolutely had to be our first topic, so major content warning there (not that we really discuss anything that happened in detail though). The discussion of his death goes for about the first fourteen-and-a-half minutes.

Then the two of them make a somewhat awkward transition to other things going on in their life (John went to an AEW Collision taping although they did not give a full review of the show or anything, as they figured last week's Forbidden Door review was more than enough AEW content on Omakase for one lifetime), before they head over to their first true topic of the episode: a full review of the STARDOM to the World 9/6 PPV, as Milo brings the perspective of a more casual/occasional STARDOM viewer while the two discuss yet another very good show from the World Wonder Ring. They also talk about upcoming title challenges and give a quick preview of the next 9/10 Korakuen, while John makes a bit of a case for Starlight Kid as 2025's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Then they move over to NOAH to talk a very eventful opening night of the N-1 Victory tournament, held on 9/8 in front of yet another packed Korakuen Hall audience. They discuss a possible promotion-altering injury to their franchise star, some very uneven matches, and an enormous GHC Jr. Title match as well. Then they look ahead to the first full week of N-1 action coming up.

Afterward, John & Milo head over to Dragongate to discuss their 9/4 Korakuen Hall event. They discuss the debut of new heel stable Gaja Dokuro (and their connection to Rito Revolto- yes, really!), a great Brave Gate title match, a Triangle Gate ladder match the two of them felt very differently on, and discuss a little bit on why DG's attendances may be lagging a bit at the moment. They then look ahead to what's coming up next in DG, including a very odd show booked for later this month!

Finally, the two of them wrap things up with a look at the four quarterfinal matches of the very underwhelming AJPW Oudou Tournament, which just hasn't been good at all. John & Milo then talk a little about the upcoming semis & finals from their 9/15 Korakuen show to wrap things up for another week.

Check out Milo's article on Kzy he mentioned here: https://sixtyminutedraw.com/kzy-ode-to-joy

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @wrestleomakase

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"This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by a first time guest, Snazzy from the Social Suplex Newsletter (making a very last minute appearance that John is very grateful for!), for a tour through a whole bunch of very different wrestling. But first, John complains about their baseball team, tries to explain their very weird and complicated sports fandom alignment, and the two of them make fun of Manchester United for some reason. Then it's over to wrestling where they start out with a fashionably late review of AEW Forbidden Door from last weekend, with Snazzy providing live impressions from inside the building and John providing, uh, the kind of takes you've come to expect from them about American wrestling. Hey, they really liked three of the matches on this show at least! And they didn't really care about the gummy bears! But jesus christ that MJF match....

Once that and a bunch of other random tangents are out of the way (even for Omakase this is a pretty tangent-heavy episode....) they head over to the land of the Dramatic Dream Team for full reviews of nights 1 & 2, the Peter Pan show (and if you'd like to skip right to this it starts around 1:30:00- just saying!). John & Snazzy put over the year DDT is having in general and then two shows full of great stuff, starting with day 1 from Higashin Arena which featured a super unique Extreme title match (that maybe just has a couple minor flaws that could be fixed next time if they ever tried this again), an awesome tag match with Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita from NJPW, and an amazing old school main event with Kazusada Higuchi and Jun Akiyama. Then it's on to day 2 from Korakuen Hall featuring Minoru Suzuki turning back the clock against MAO, another great title match with Higuchi and Ueno, and a moment at the end of the show that's so amazing John called it one of their favorite moments as a professional wrestling fan.

Next they head over to AJPW to talk about a very underwhelming first round of the AJPW Oudou Tournament, burying a few dry as dirt matches and wondering why Hideki Suzuki even bothered bringing these ex-NXT people if he doesn't even want to try when he wrestles them. Not a good weekend for 'ol Zen Nihon!

Finally, they wrap things up with brief previews of the 9/6 STARDOM to the World PPV (well, the four matches we actually know if it at least) and the NOAH N-1 Victory tournament that kicks off next Monday (9/8). Another jam packed show!

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakase

Follow John on Bluesky: @justoneenby"

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Wrestling Omakase is back to wrap up a super eventful, super awesome STARDOM 5 Star GP! John is joined by longtime viewer and jubilant Momo Watanabe fan Velkej Bracha (@Velkej_Bracha) as he celebrates the #Momo5Star prophecy finally coming to pass. They give a full, lengthy and detailed review of both the last two nights which covered the entire playoffs, with all four first round matches, all four quarterfinals, both semis and the final covered in great detail. Plus, John wonders who Saori Anou's oshi could possibly be, the two of them decide we're allowed to have one spotty cat as a treat, and John wonders how they're supposed to be critical when everything is this great. Oh well. At least *something* in wrestling is these days!

Then it's time for the full 5 Star GP wrap up, as John ranks the four blocks and then ranks each wrestler in each block by average star rating, with lots of thoughts on who among the young roster took a big step forward and who just kind of stalled out (plenty of people for both categories!). Plus, John and Velkej list some of their favorite matches so you can go back and check some stuff out if you missed anything, and John even gives their favorite overall block shows as well.

Once they're finally done with STARDOM (and to be clear it's the vast majority of the run time), they turn their attention over to Sendai Girls to talk about their "The Biggest" show from Xebio Arena this past Sunday (8/24). They discuss SenJo drawing an enormous house, a weird and nondescript undercard, one incredible hardcore tag that saved the show (well, for one of them at least), and yet more utterly baffling SenJo booking.

Finally, John wraps things up solo with a brief review of AJPW's Oudou Tournament opener, a tournament we'll be following going forward. John discusses another sleepy undercard, two great tournament matches and then a third one in the main event that just kind of unexpectedly sucked. 2 out of 3 isn't bad!

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakase

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We're back for another new episode of Wrestling Omakase, and thankfully back to a normal format episode (recorded all at once in a single location!). John is joined by returning guest Arametha as they start with a bunch of nonsense about stuffed animals, rhythm games, anime cons and who knows what else. Then they get into the end of the NJPW G1 Climax 35 with reviews of the last four nights of the tournament, starting with the final B block night, then the Quarterfinals from Korakuen and the Semis & Final from Ariake Arena this weekend. Boy is there a lot to discuss here, starting obviously with the controversial choice of final, the strange fan reaction, various theories on why they decided to go the direction they did, and a whole lot more.

Then they turn their attention back to the World Wonder Ring for another week of the STARDOM 5 Star GP, covering days 9 through 11- the final three block nights. They look at a stretch of more great matches and some really weird and somewhat baffling booking decisions on the last night especially. Then they look ahead to the upcoming four playoff rounds, giving their predictions for how the entire playoffs will go and who might be ultimately crowned this year's 5 Star GP winner!

Finally, they wrap things up by going back to NJPW for a final look at the G1- they go wrestler-by-wrestler, as John ranks them by their average star ratings for the tournament in each block, discusses their performances and who had standout (or disappointing) years. They also give a list of recommended best matches for the entire G1 if you missed some or all of it and would like some picks to go back and watch now that it's over (and frankly, thank god it is).

Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakase

Follow John on Bluesky: @justoneenby

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