Eastern Lariat (MLW Radio Network)

Another year is in the books and while 2021 once again was a year of huge challenges, sacrifices, grief and for a lot of us searching a foothold and support, it also was a year that brought us joy, fun, excitement and hope. Pro-Wrestling as an art form is what brings us together and so The Eastern Lariat once more proudly presents the Year End Award 2021. In 14 categories Dylan, STRIGGA and their guest for this episode, Rob, look back at the year in japanese pro-wrestling and highlight their top performers, matches, moments and so much more. From MVP over Show of the Year to Most Underrated and Most Improved, the Eastern Lariat hopes to offer a digest of the best in Puroresu in 2021!

With the "Big 3" of japanese pro-wrestling running big shows around New Year's Eve, the Eastern Lariat starts off the new year in proper fashion and very much in the tradition of the show's history. Of course one major talking point is Wrestle Kingdom 18 with Tetsuya Naito's roll call and Championship win, Okda vs. Danielson and all the fallout after New Year Dash, but that's not all. STRIGGA & Dylan go into depth with Pro Wrestling NOAH's New Year show in Ariake that featured the already infamous Kota Ibushi vs. Naomichi Marufuji match, but that also saw some great action. A very emotional point of discussion is AJPW and all the developments since mid December until now with a focus on Katsuhiko Nakajima's title run and his defense against WWE's Charlie Dempsey.

New Japan's big traditional summer tournament has come to a climatic finish with Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada as the last match of the G1 Climax 33. The Eastern Lariat takes a look back at the penultimate show featuring the semi finals of Okada vs. EVIL and Naito vs. Ospreay as well as the final show including all storyline developments on all shows and ultimately, STRIGGA & Dylan rate the tournament as a whole. Before that, the first half hour of the show is dedicated to TJPW's Princess Cup and Pro Wrestling NOAH's N-1 Victory while at the end of the show, there's a brief discussion about the upcoming Royal Road tournament for All Japan Pro Wrestling.

This special episode of the Eastern Lariat is all about Kazuchika Okada leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling. Join us as we analyse the immediate ramifications of Okada's unprecedented departure, where he could go and what it means or should mean for management and Gedo. While the first ever full time departure of a true ace guy to America caused shock waves through japanese pro wrestling and for its fans overseas, this is also the time to discuss the exciting potential for new talent to rise to the top and change NJPW as we know it. 

Hanami season is officially over in Japan, but the flowers bloom nonetheless with Marigold's debut Show Marigold Fields Forever and the yearly Hana Kimura Memorial show. The Eastern Lariat takes a detailed look at Rossy Ogawa's new project with a match-by-match analysis and a projection for some of the roster members' prospects within the new company. A few days later, also in Korakuen Hall, Kyoko Kimura presented the 2024 Memorial Show for her late daughter Hana. For this one, STRIGGA & Dylan discuss how far you can go with yearly memorial shows of this kind. The men's side of puroresu is represented by Pro Wrestling NOAH's One Night Dream 2 that featured Kenoh vs. Minoru Suzuki and Masa Kitamiya vs. Tomohiro Ishii as well as with a half tiem check on New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Junior 31. With the final headlining Dominion, the die seems to be cast – or is it?

This time the Eastern Lariat has an appealing Sandwich of topics to offer. The show starts out with the first slice of topics as STRIGGA & Dylan discuss three tournaments with ZERO1's Fire Festival, TJPW's Princess Cup and Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix. Then, the Kobe World double shot of DRAGONGATE is the center piece of attention and the base of an honest discussion about the current and future direction of the company, while the weekend also produced one of the best matches of the year. To complete the Sandwich, the half way point of another tournament is up for discussion, so STRIGGA & Dylan name their top performers in the G1 Climax so far and go over days 8 & 9 of the tournament that left some good and some bad tastes.

This week, (almost) the entire focus of the show lies on the 30^th Best of the Super Junior, New Japan's annual Junior Heavyweight Tournament that has produced some of the best and most talked about matches of the year as well as some unforgettable moments in its past iteration. This year, some new competitors enter the field to mix it up with the top of the junior division in New Japan, which already provided some great pro-wrestling. STRIGGA & Dylan look back at the first half of the tournament and rate each wrestler, their matches, their stories and their chances of advancing to the semi finals. Before that, the show opens with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Shotaro Ashino's tragic injury, his replacement and a look at the first matches for All Together.

The Eastern Lariat is back with another MEGA episode as STRIGGA & Dylan once again cover NINE promotions. At the beginning, they address the horrible injury Shinjiro Otani suffered on ZERO1's anniversary show. From there the Eastern Lariat takes it to all major groups in japanese pro-wrestling as the main focus this time are shows from this past weekend and upcoming cards of which many take place in Yokohama so get on board with the Yokohama Lariat!

Join STRIGGA & Dylan Fox for episode 289 of the Eastern Lariat podcast as they dive into the latest developments in japanese pro wrestling. First, they discuss NJPW’s recent Royal Quest and the difference between the live experience and watching on stream. From there on, they touch on the ongoing Super Junior Tag League, Power Struggle and specifically Shota Umino's role in the lead up to Wrestle Kingdom. The Eastern Lariat crew then turns to AJPW, covering the star-making battle between Yuma Aoyagi and Ren Ayabe and the contrast between ELPIDA and Zennichi Hontai. In Marigold, the standout match was Sareee vs. Bozilla, with the rest of the card leaving more to be desired. The episode also covers the opening of Stardom's Goddesses of Stardom Tag League and finally it preview DRAGONGATE’s Gate of Destiny, where a Unit Disbands Match may shake up the promotion's entire landscape.

Tokyo once more was the center of japanese pro-wrestling this past Saturday with both New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling running important shows. While New Japan's Sakura Genesis in Sumo Hall produced amazing matches and stunning title changes in front of an ecstatic crowd, the opening day of the Champion Carnival 2023 left a lot to be desired and there were clear reasons for this lackluster tournament opening. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss these two shows and their implications for future developments. Join us a we discuss JUST...TWO...SHOWS!

With STRIGGA on vacation and a big STARDOM show to talk about Dylan brings back Sondre Bjørn for a ride through, as they go through the spectacular finals of NJPW's Best of the Super Jr. Run down best matches, what they think of Wato and his big win, as well as where the Jrs. and the company as a whole is headed towards in the future. The second half of the show is dedicated to STARDOM, as we talk about the entire Flashing Champions show, the direction of the company and then run down the participants announced for the Five Star Grand Prix with a spirited conversation about things in Joshi's most popular company.

For more coverage of Japanese pro wrestling, modern and classic, check out our Patreon patreon.com/easternlariat for just $5 a month to gain access to thousands of hours of shows talking wrestling.

Follow the Eastern Lariat and Sondre on Twitter and let us know your thoughts on Japanese wrestling!

@EasternLariat
@Viva_Zero
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and listen to Sondre and Dylan's show the Dramatic Dream Dragons about DDT, Dragon Gate & GLEAT. https://open.spotify.com/show/0lmhqND9EcIB8jFIGvScoT

Hopefully you enjoyed the show and have a great week!

With the 30^th anniversary of the biggest tournament in japanese professional wrestling right around the corner New Japan Pro Wrestling finally announced the full line up of the G1 Climax 30 stat's starting on September 19 in Osaka. Like every year STRIGGA & Dylan got together to discuss potential winners, dark horses, alternative candidates and of course who gets to beat the champion. This time the field of 20 also raises the question why there are no new entrants for the first time in the tournement's history and what that says about NJPW as a whole.

The Eastern Lariat comes to you with a bunch of different topics such as Hiromu Takahashi's idea of running the Best of the Super Junior and the G1 Climax simultaneously, Dragon Gate's King of Gate, All Japan's latest event featuring a great Junior Title match and DDT putting out more great content. The big talking point though is the junior division of Pro Wrestling NOAH that's full of turns, twists and treachery.

On a special edition of the Eastern Lariat podcast, Dylan welcomes Japanese wrestling translator & historian Cameren Lee on to discuss the life and career of Antonio Inoki. From an unbelievably harsh childhood and improbable upbringing in the wrestling industry we discuss his early days as Rikidozan's trainee and his ascent and attempts to ascend to leading the company which turns into the formation of New Japan Pro Wrestling. From there we go into the deep political waters Inoki was forced to wade through with other wrestlers and especially TV Networks, his rivalry with his former tag team partner Giant Baba as they engage in constant attempts to one up each other as AJPW & NJPW owners. We talk about some of his biggest triumphs and matches in the ring and how he was even more than his reputation hails him as, which leads to scandals as time goes along with questionable decisions being made personally and professionally. We also discuss the underrated hand Inoki's wife at the time, the actress Mitsuko Baisho played in keeping NJPW afloat and all the mayhem surrounding Inoki through the decade. Finally we (relatively) briefly cover his political career which involved more scandal, his 4 year long retirement tour and his post-in-ring career including some talk about the Inoki-ism era of NJPW and his fade into IGF, closing into our thoughts in the overall legacy of this one of a kind complex & influential figure in life, letalone wrestling.

Rest in Peace Antonio Inoki. February 20th, 1943 - October 1st, 2022.

Follow the Eastern Lariat on Twitter: @EasternLariat

Follow Cameren @KinchStalker & check out his blog centered around classic Japanese wrestling translation: frommilotomisawa.wordpress.com

Also very soon STRIGGA will return and join Dylan for a more in-ring focused look at Inoki and his career when we do a Week of: Antonio Inoki. The first episode will be free for all on this feed and the later matches will be on patreon.com/easternlariat so subscribe to hear that along with much great pro wrestling content. Also feel free to follow @STRIGGA for more into him and make sure to subscribe to the Eastern Lariat wherever podcasts are heard and any 5 star reviews are truly appreciated.

Most of all, thank you so much for listening! Thank you Antonio Inoki!

After an eventful weekend in the realm of japanese pro-wrestling and an unexpected eventful Monday with the announcement of CyberFight The Eastern Lariat returns yet again to discuss a bunch of different topics starting with smaller companies such as Ganbare Pro, ZERO1, DOVE, BASARA and from there going to Stardom, their recent shows and the upcoming 5 Star Grand Prix. STRIGG A & Dylan also talk about the big title matches in All Japan (Suwama vs. Ishikawa, Yokosuka vs. Iwamoto) and New Japan (EVIL vs. Hiromu, Takagi vs. Desperado) that happened over the weekend and also discuss about the directions both companies are going in.

With Golden Week in the rear view mirror The Eastern Lariat crew got together to discuss major developments, matches and stories in some of the big japanes pro-wrestling companies. Following up Dylan's great Patreon series about the Champion Carnival he did with Rob (@BeMcCooley on Twitter) we once again got Rob onto the show to discuss the Carnival as well as other developments in NJPW, Kyushu Pro, TJPW, DDT and Dragon Gate in one of the busiest weeks of the year in Japan!

Come for the All Together Again, stay for an hour on each company involved with it! No stone gets left unturned with everything going on in NJPW and AJPW and NOAH. Dylan is joined by Dean again and talk about the full card of All Together and then go over the G1 Climax Blocks, where AJPW, NJPW & NOAH go from here and a breakdown of all sorts of stories and wrestlers going on in each company with talk and even disagreements about different wrestlers like Kaito Kiyomiya, Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Ishii, Shingo & much unhappiness thanks to STINGER!

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for over 1000s of hours of audio:
 https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat

Follow us on Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/EasternLariat https://www.twitter.com/STRIGGA https://www.twitter.com/Viva_Zero https://www.twitter.com/dnmt67

Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3yWeS1ILdE

With Wrestle Grand Slam in the rear view mirror and the G1 Climax right around the corner STRIGGA & Dylan got back on track to discuss the two nights of New Japan Pro Wrestling in the MetLife Dome including big title matches, turns and a horrendous match between Yano and Owens. The Eastern Lariat crew gives their take on the G1 Climax line up and has a clear winner in mind. Other topics besides NJPW include the STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix, GLEAT & ZERO1 in dispute over Hayato Tamura, Suwama challenging for the Triple Crown & DAMNATION disbanding.

This year we see the return of our coverage of the Hall of Fame, said by many experts to be among the most "legit" hall of fames among wrestlers themselves as well as historians and journalists. But more importantly than the inner workings of the Hall of Fame, we're here to discuss the candidates up and down and top to bottom and talk about these historical legends in wrestling. (And sometimes not legends)

Joining Dylan once again is the Emerald FlowShow's Gerard Di Trolio, an active voter in the HOF itself. We end up running down every candidate as well as who he ultimately voted for with some back and forths on a number of people in these regions, which feature the following candidates up for induction:

HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA (eight maximum)

Ole Anderson

Bob Armstrong

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon

Jack & Jerry Brisco

British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith)

June Byers

Wild Bull Curry

Junkyard Dog

Cowboy Bob Ellis

Pampero Firpo

Black Gordman & Great Goliath

Archie "Mongolian Stomper" Gouldie

Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart)

Sputnik Monroe

Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch

Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez

Johnny Rougeau

Iron Sheik

Tiger Jeet Singh

Sgt. Slaughter

Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood

Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon

Von Brauners & Saul Weingeroff

Kevin & Kerry & David Von Erich

MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA (five maximum)

Mark & Jay Briscoe

Young Bucks

Edge

Bill Goldberg

Matt & Jeff Hardy

Becky Lynch

Jon Moxley

Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

Paul Orndorff

Randy Orton

Seth Rollins

C.M. Punk

Roman Reigns

Trish Stratus

Rick & Scott Steiner

JAPAN (three maximum)

The Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato & Maki Ueda)

Cima

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Hayabusa

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi

Tomohiro Ishii

Meiko Satomura

Shingo Takagi

Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada

MEXICO (three maximum)

Angel Blanco & Dr.Wagner

Sangre Chicana

Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000)

Dorrell Dixon

Pirata Morgan

Blue Panther

El Hijo del Santo & Octagon

La Parka AAA

Huracan Ramirez

EUROPE/AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/PACIFIC ISLANDS/AFRICA (four maximum)

Spyros Arion

Big Daddy

Dominic DeNucci

Billy Joyce

George Kidd

Killer Karl Kox

Mike Marino

Kendo Nagasaki

Jackie Pallo

The Royal Brothers (Bert Royal & Vic Faulkner)

Johnny Saint

Adrian Street

Jose Tarres

Otto Wanz

NON-WRESTLERS (six maximum)

Dave Brown (U.S. & Canada modern)

Bobby Bruns (Japan)

Bob Caudle (U.S. & Canada historical)

Bobby Davis (U.S. & Canada historical)

Joe Higuchi (Japan)

Jim Johnston (U.S. & Canada modern)

Larry Matysik (U.S.& Canada historical)

Rossy Ogawa (Japan)

Reggie Parks (U.S. & Canada modern)

Morris Sigel (U.S. & Canada historical)

Tony Schiavone (U.S. & Canada modern)

George Scott (U.S. & Canada historical)

Sanshiro Takagi (Japan)

Mike Tenay (U.S. & Canada modern)

Ted Turner (U.S. & Canada modern)

Roy Welch (U.S. & Canada historical)

Stanley Weston (U.S. & Canada historical)

Grand Wizard (U.S & Canada historical)

James Melby (U.S & Canada historical)

And we finish off by going over the people that have been talked about and we suggested ourselves to be put on the ballot on 2024!

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: patreon.com/easternlariat 

Follow us on Twitter/X:  

https://www.twitter.com/easternlariat 

https://www.twitter.com/strigga

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Check out Gerard as well and give a listen to his show, the Emerald FlowShow!

https://www.twitter.com/GerardDiTrolio

https://www.twitter.com/EmeraldFlowShow

Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3yWeS1ILdE

New Japan vs. NOAH – the announcement caught the pro-wrestling world by storm, which of course means the news of the interpromotional show in Yokohama on January 8 takes center stage on this Eastern Lariat episode. Is it a one time thing? What matches are to expect and will get politics get in the way of these? From there STRIGGA & Dylan take it to Dramatic Dream Team. After some interesting notes from an Jun Akiyama/Sanshiro Takagi interview about DDT's goals and scouting the focus is on the D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 and its top matches and top performers. Other topics include All Japan's Real World Tag League and NJPW recommendations from the World Tag League and the Best of the Super Junior.

Welcome back to the Eastern Lariat! STRIGGA & Dylan dive right back into the hottest topics in the world of japanese pro wrestling! As Stardom sees the departure of five wrestlers who are very likely heading to Rossy Ogawa's new project, STRIGGA & Dylan explore the implications for both sides and what impact it could have on the scene as a whole. In NJPW, Yota Tsuji's New Japan Cup victory is the talk of the town right now, while at the same time the quality of the tournament and of the roster as a whole raises questions and concerns about the future. Towards the end of the show, AJPW's Champion Carnival lineup and Katsuhiko Nakajima's Triple Crown run take center stage.

The Eastern Lariat returns to action after almost one month for its annual post-tournament edition, as STRIGGA and Dylan Fox dive deep into the just concluded G1 Climax 34. Recorded on the very day the tournament wrapped up, this episode provides the teams' unfiltered reactions and speculations to one of the most grueling and prestigious tours japanese pro-wrestling has to offer. STRIGGA and Dylan break down the tournament structure, standout matches, surprising upsets and key moments that defined this year's G1, while also giving you an in-depth analysis of each wrestlers' performance throughout the group stage not being shy of pointing out disappointments. The discussion leads to the final between Zack Sabre Jr. and Yota Tsuji and what the results mean for the future of New Japan Pro Wrestling heading towards Wrestle Kingdom. The final talking point about the G1 is an attempt to rank this tournament in comparison to the tournaments in the last 5 years. The end of the show gives a quick spotlight to Anzai vs. Aoyagi from AJPW, NOAH's N-1 Victory and Yoshinari Ogawa retiring.

Special guest longtime AJPW expert and podcaster formerly of Talking Triple Crown, Jess joins Dylan to talk about the Champion Carnival, go through every single match of the first 3 shows as well as lay out what she thinks will be the final of the tournament. After that Dylan brings it home solo with some breaking news updates and gives his thoughts on the news of the BUSHIROAD corporate reshuffling ending up with Stardom being a subsidiary of NJPW, followed by the news of Jake Lee's shocking attack on Naito, where it could go and the online response to it.

Follow Jess and all her coverage of AJPW and consistent updates on her account:
https://www.twitter.com/RoyalRoad72

As well as her personal account:
https://www.twitter.com/SisterJessiee

And if you wanna hear more of us then check us out on our Patreon, she'll be joining me for more show reviews of the CC in the next couple of weeks so you'll always be updated with the tournament + more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat 

Follow us on Twitter/X:  

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Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3yWeS1ILdE

After returning from Japan, STRIGGA share some of the stories he's expierenced during his vaction that fell into one of the most busiest times in japanese pro-wrestling. Given that, Dylan not only asks him about all the venues he went to, which food and drinks were on the menu, but they also discuss most of the events from late December until early January which includes DDT & Stardom in Sumo Hall, AJPW in Yoyogi, NOAH in Budokan and of course NJPW & AEW in the Tokyo Dome. Join in and listen to this first hand experience of a wrestling trip to Tokyo!

This episode of the Eastern Lariat starts off with rather difficult topics as STRIGGA & Dylan discuss Marty Scurll potentially coming into New Japan, Hiromo Takahashi being out for a long time and Kota Ibushi's weird body language. But fear not! The guys have a lot of fun discussing All Japan's recent and upcoming events as well as the Champion Carnival line up plus CyberFight's announcement of a big joint show of all companies under their umbrella.

With the resurgence of New Japan Pro Wrestling of America The Eastern Lariat for the first time in months presents an extensive look at the matches, stories and future events in NJPW. While this part of the show is mostly focused on the US side of things, STRIGGA & Dylan also discuss participants in this year's G1 Climax and whats up with White, Finlay & Robinson. The voyage over the big pond then leads the Eastern Lariat team to Pro Wrestling NOAH, their most recent Kawasaki Go event and the upcoming N-1 Victory. The show is then topped off by the “rapid fire tournament corner” as STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the Tokyo Princess Cup, Stardom's 5 Star Grand Prix being on hold and AJPW's Oudou Tournament 2021.

All Japan and Dramatic Dream Team are the main focus of the newest edition of the Eastern Lariat as both companies came off a weekend with multiple title matches. While DDT is giving us one of the best championship runs in recent history with Kazusada Higuchi, many decisions in AJPW, specifically around the Voodoo Murders, are mind boggling and they led to in part atrocious matches. Besides these two companies STRIGGA & Dylan also briefly preview the big NOAH & DRAGONGATE shows on the coming weekends and the final of the IWGP Women's Championship and its impact on NJPW is up for discussion at the end of the show!

Golden Week traditionally is the week of the year that delivers the most concentration of big shows apart from the first week of January. This year was no different as every major company ran shows during the holidays so the Eastern Lariat's plate was full of matches, developments and surprises to talk about. STRIGGA & Dylan of course focus on the traditional big three, but also dive into Big Japan and DRAGONGATE deeper than they usually do and overall about a dozen companies are mentioned on this year's Golden Week Extravaganza~!

After one month Dylan and STRIGGA got back together to discuss the latest in japanese pro-wrestling and as luck would have it, the recording took place on the first day of spring, which is a public holiday in Japan. In celebration of this, The Eastern Lariat crew once more included as many topics as they could to provide a colorful mix of different flavors of Puroresu from Joshi over NOAH and NJPW to DDT and TJPW. Winter is over, the hot season in Puroresu is about to start!

The summer of tournaments rolls on and so does the Eastern Lariat. In this episode STRIGGA & Dylan look back at Days 3 & 4 of the G1 Climax 33 from Yamagata and Sendai, which leads to a discussion about the format of the tournament. What improvements could there be to provide more interesting undercards and an more intriguing field of competitors? While some matches are lacking excitement, others over delivered so far – the G1 has truly started. At the end of the show the Eastern Lariat duo also discusses DRAGONGATE's King of Gate as well as the N-1 Rumble leading up to NOAH's N-1 Victory and the Sumo Hall Cards for DDT & GLEAT.

With pro-wrestling “returning” or more precisely getting back to normalcy step by step The Eastern Lariat debates which promotion made the most out of the unfavorable circumstances during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. In doing so STRIGGA & Dylan talk about 2AW, AJPW, Dragon Gate, DDT and NOAH and name some of the best matches and moments while also pointing out what didn't work. From there on the duo turns their attention to NJPW and the upcoming New Japan Cup. They lay out scenarios for the possible winners and name some matches they'd love to see within the tournament.

For the final show of the year The Eastern Lariat first offers you a wide range of news from all over Japan: rookies in AJPW, Iwasaki & SUGI leaving ZERO1, Murakami in NOAH, Dragon Gate & Ryukyu Dragon Pro and of course Yoshiko & Nanae Takahashi returning to Stardom. Then STRIGGA & Dylan focus on Dragon Gate's Final Gate and DDT's D-King Grand Prix Final and finally there's still plenty of room left for the 2021 PREDICTIONS~~! Another jam-packed show to end a crazy year – maybe with some crazy predictions?

New Japan Pro Wrestling has crossed the finish line and after a little over one month the 32^nd G1 Climax is over! Kazuchika Okada scored back to back tournament wins and called his shot, Will Ospreay rose to new hights and left Tetsuya Naito behind, which caught many fans by surprise. Tama Tonga got revenge on Jay White and much, much more happened in these 4 weeks. STRIGGA & Dylan put it all into perspective while bringing up both, the positive and negative aspects of the tournament itself and the surroundings of it. Some of the talking points include their lack of making new stars, their rigid booking patterns and the lack of fan interest, but also the great individual performances and the overall enjoyable tournament. There was a lot to get into, so hop on and enjoy the ride!

Every year Umi no Hi, or the Day of the Ocean, marks the start of one of the busiest and most exciting weeks of the year for japanese pro-wrestling. Not only did the 32^nd G1 Climax start with a big double header in Hokkaido, but Pro Wrestling NOAH also ran one of their biggest and most well received shows in recent history in Nippon Budokan. Besides a discussion about these shows, matches and developments, STRIGGA & Dylan also analyse All Japan's booking around Suwama winning the Triple Crown, the newest advent of the Voodoo Murders and Budokan on the horizon.

Out with the old, in with the new! The Eastern Lariat got new any shiny awards waiting for winners in 13 different categories that saw almost every japanese promotion represented in some form or fashion. Led by the ballots sent in by the listeners, STRIGGA and Dylan make their own picks starting with Best Foreigner, going over most improved, best promotion, best wrestler and much more until the final two awards: The Manami Toyota Joshi MVP and the Kenta Kobashi (overall) MVP. Join the Eastern Lariat on a journey through the first six months of japanese pro-wrestling in 2023!

Dylan hosts a very special historical episode of the Eastern Lariat, joined by his good friend Dr. Jonathan Foye, the author of Ganbaru, the story of how AJPW survived the 2000 NOAH split & his new friend, who happens to be a legendary journalist, who has experience in writing, podcasting, commentating, & working behind the scenes in Japanese wrestling for over 3 decades, Fumi Saito. We discuss many topics on this show centered around Sumo Palace (aka Sumo Hall). We start all the way from the original incarnation of the building nearly 200 years ago to the incarnations of the Kokugikan that followed, then the many big matches and events that took place there over the years and it's recent resurgence over the last month with STARDOM, Zero1, NJPW & NOAH all have or are about to run shows there in the span of a month. Historical content we touch on is too much to list but include:

Rikidozan's start in Sumo Palace and incident with Masahiko Kimura.

NJPW's success in the 80's and Inoki's ways & matches.

The IWGP Title inaugural tournaments.

Tiger Mask(s)!

The famous riots in 1984 & 1987 at the venue.

WWF running in Japan and their interactions with AJPW & NJPW in the early 90's.

Super J Cup and it's legacy among English speaking fans as well as Japanese.

The dark ages of wrestling in Japan in the 2000s and the many companies that ran it over the years.

Thank you for listening to our show and please follow Fumi @fumihikodayo , Dylan @Viva_Zero , Jonathan @JonthanFoye and of course the show @EasternLariat for updates on all things Japanese wrestling, and a new episode with Dylan re-joined by STRIGGA very soon!

Thank you!

More than ever in the past three years it feels like pro-wrestling in Japan is once again gaining momentum. Therefore, STRIGGA & Dylan first discuss Kota Ibushi's freelance status as well as Keiji Muto's big retirement show on the horizon. With a lot of promotions represented on that show, the Eastern Lariat also looks at the individual shows that DRAGONGATE, AJPW and NJPW put on plus Dylan gives his rundown of the big Osaka show Stardom ran this weekend. Exciting times in japanese pro-wrestling may be ahead, which also leaves the Eastern Lariat crew feel that same excitement!

The Eastern Lariat proudly presents the Year End Awards 2020! In this episode STRIGGA, Dylan and their guest WH Park present their picks for a long list of categories that produce a wide rage of winners from all kinds of promotions throughout the japanese pro-wrestling scene which include MVP, best promotion, best show, most underrated, best moment and more! Join us in diving into the unprecedented and challenging year 2020 in japanese pro-wrestling!

The Eastern Lariat once again proudly presents the Half Year Awards! In staggering 14 categories Dylan Fox and STRIGGA welcome POST Wrestling's WH Park back to the show to discuss all their choices as well as the choices that YOU, the listeners made! It's an incredible ride from New Japan Pro Wrestling over Dramatic Dream Team to Marvelous, from FREEDOMS over Sendai Girls to Ganbare Pro to Keita in the House! Almost none of the bigger japanese wrestling promotion, men's or women's, gets forgotten. This is your guide through the first 6 months of 2021!

NINE PROMOTIONS are in the focus of this episode of the Eastern Lariat! The Eastern Lariat looks at matches, upcoming cards, stories and overall developments in Stardom, NJPW, NOAH, DDT, TJPW, DRAGONGATE, AJPW, BJW and GLEAT. On top of that for each promotion STRIGGA & Dylan give their excitement level. Join in on a comprehensive tour through japanese pro-wrestling!

Join in with the Eastern Lariat celebrating their 200^th episode! After reflecting on the history of the podcast with Dylan & STRIGGA telling the story of how they became a team, the dymanic duo focuses on their bread and butter: Japanese Pro-Wrestling! The anniversary episode sets the stage to discuss the incredible 60 minute time limit draw between Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kenou in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Of course, STRIGGA & Dylan also look at NOAH's Budokan card and make some predictions for various wrestlers in 2022. Other topics on this show include All Japan, their Real World Tag League, Jake Lee as champion and Naoya Nomura leaving. DDT is also featured once again with the D-Ou GP final between Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno that could've started a new main event rivalry. Last, but not least the turmoil in the Joshi scene with retirements and wrestlers leaving their promotions gets talked about. Another show that embodies the full Eastern Lariat spirit of covering as much ground as possible!

On the previous episode, STRIGGA had beaten Dylan to the punch on the first night of the N1. So as a make good the first episode of the Patreon N1 coverage is airing for free for everyone and Dylan has recruited his friend Squill, the one behind Wrestling with the Narrative YouTube channel and noted Timothy Thatcher respector to cover the show where the Thatch man main events against the GHC Heavyweight Champion, Jake Lee!

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And check out for the other nights of the N1 Victory Dylan bringing in multiple special guests to talk Pro Wrestling NOAH's top tier tournament on our Patreon which also supports the show and the thousands of hours put into this wonderful world of Japanese wrestling:

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Also listen to our preview and predictions episode for EVERY SINGLE MATCH: https://www.cagematch.net/?id=128&nr=953

The first weekend of the 33^rd G1 Climax is in the books, so Dylan & STRIGGA sat down to look back at the best matches of the first set of shows – was there a signature G1 match that takes the tournament out of the gates? Besides the matches, the two talk about the start of the Reiwa Toukon Three Musketeers and their individual prospects of positioning within the company. STRIGGA & Dylan also lay out their picks for block winners, runner ups and for the winner of the G1 Climax 33. With that in mind, the two discuss some booking ideas for Wrestle Kingdom 18 that revolves around the question if SANADA remains champion until January 4. At the end of the show the focus transitions to Pro Wrestling NOAH's One Night Dream show, a unique spectacle of a show that featured one of the best matches of the year in Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara.

The Final Eastern Lariat episode of the year is one of the most important and the biggest episode at the same time. With the support of their listeners AND special guest Michelle (@puroresueikaiwa) STRIGGA and Dylan assembled a list and their picks for the Year End Awards 2022 that range from New Japan and Stardom to DRAGONGATE and DDT with the inclusion of promotions like Ganbare Pro, Tenryu Project, Michinoku Pro and various others. You'll hear unique takes in a lot of the 14 categories both from afar and directly from Japan through Michelle's viewpoint!

The G1 Climax semi finals are set so STRIGGA & Dylan take a look back at the D & D Block finals that created very different emotional reactions and a very controversial match with EVIL and Shingo Takagi that STRIGGA compares to the likewise very controversial Mio Momono vs. Mayumi Ozaki match from Marvelous. The jury is out for The Eastern Lariat on SANADA as champion after the quarterfinals and another match with EVIL. After discussing the three G1 shows and knowing the semi finals, STRIGGA & Dylan lay out their scenarios for the G1 final, the tournament victory and who's going to walk into Wrestle Kingdom as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Things looked obvious before the tournament, then seemed obvious in the quarterfinals and now the obvious choices might not been those they go with.

In this episode of the Eastern Lariat STRIGGA & Dylan look at the grand scheme of things in DRAGONGATE and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Between DG's double shot in Korakuen Hall in early June and Kobe World in July, there are a lot of moving parts that the Eastern Lariat analyses. Who walks out of Kobe World with the belts? Who turns on whom? Which stable is going the way of the dodo? As for NJPW, STRIGGA & Dylan look back at Dominion and the frenetically celebrated Despe Invitacional with STRIGGA presenting a hot take on EL Desperado. Final talking point is  the upcoming G1 Climax. The big tournament of the summer has a new format and with that there need cuts to be made from 32 participants last year to 20 while at the same time there could be newcomers pushing into the field. Other topics include Iyo Sky being announced for Marigold and Katsuhiko Nakajima's appearance at GLEAT.

After a brief hiatus The Eastern Lariat returns with a mixed bag of topics starting out with our very own March Madness and shouting out the Bracketology podcasts. From there STRIGGA & Dylan first take it to the New Japan Cup before going into the championship situations in NJPW, DDT, NOAH and AJPW. The final topic of the show begins with Ryuichi Kawakami signing with GLEAT and ends with fantasy booking a whole GLEAT roster and championships. Join us for our discussion about a lot of gold!

In this special episode STRIGGA is joined by Izzac of Puro in the Rough to discuss former Triple Crown Champion and Osaka Pro trainee Zeus buying Osaka Pro Wrestling. Izzac and STRIGGA talk about Osaka Pro's history, the current Osaka scene as well as other companies and the future of Osaka Pro Wrestling.

Join STRIGGA & Dylan for another episode as they dive into the vibrant world of japanese pro wrestling. First of all, The Eastern Lariat breaks down the G1 Climax blocks and dissects participants as well as potential outcomes. Next, the show shifts gears to discuss Bloodsport Bushido, an unique event blending the worlds of pro-wrestling and martial arts. Stardom's "The Conversion" had the promotion's fans worried what might be conversed, so STRIGGA & Dylan take a look at how the promotion continues to evolve amidst Marigold getting much more attention after their launch. Pro Wrestling NOAH and All Japan Pro Wrestling both have young champions on top, but one is not like the other as the buzz both promotions create from within couldn't be any different.

A first in Eastern Lariat history, Dylan welcomes on Yannik from the Dramatic Dream Dragons for a fantasy booking special. An idea from the Swiss Icon that takes our draft concepts to a new level, introducing a full fantasy booking exercise. The first half of the show is the draft portion of the show where they select from every Japanese company as well as gain a couple of wild card wrestlers from outside of Japan at various points. The second half shows the creative minds in action for the utterly bizarre companies these two ended up running with, after a shocking trade shakes things up immediately after the draft. Names, matches, titles, factions, stories, it all comes out to play as we put it all on the line to end the year and bring Christmas cheer through the art of Japanese pro wrestling.

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat 

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Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3yWeS1ILdE

The second episode of the Sakura Potourri features an extensive look at the joshi scene in Japan as STRIGGA & Dylan not only discuss the Marigold press conference and its future outlook, but they also take a ride through almost the entire scene with a focus on Ice Ribbon, WAVE, Sendai Girls & TJPW before turning to NOAH's most recent Korakuen Hall show and DRAGONGATE's Rey de Parejas Final & Dead or Alive card. Final topic of the show is New Japan with their Windy City Riot featuring Jon Moxley's title win and many more matches to discuss as well as the upcoming cards for Wrestling Dontaku.

This week the Eastern Lariat has a potpourri of different topics to offer as STRIGGA & Dylan discuss a wide range of promotions from VKF over VAMOSTAR to ZERO1, Tenryu Project and the debut of GLEAT. Of course the fantastic NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title match is a topic of interest just like BJW with their Saikyou Tag Tournament, title changes and upcoming cards as well as All Japan's events in Osaka & Tokyo as part of their anniversary tour. One main talking point for AJPW is the discussion about possible scenarios of Suwama losing the Triple Crown that don't involve Kento Miyahara.

This episode of the Eastern Lariat starts out with an hour long synopsis of the current state of New Japan Pro Wrestling after Sakura Genesis. This includes the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Kota Ibushi's fall from grace, Will Ospreay's rise to such as well as Okada, Tanahashi and much, much more. After that STRIGGA & Dylan make their picks for the 2021 Champion Carnival of All Japan Pro Wrestling thus mapping out their ideas for storylines within the tournament. Join in for a fun ride!

The Eastern Lariat is back bring you the latest from the world of japanese pro-wrestling. STRIGGA & Dylan kick things off by diving into NJPW's King of Pro-Wrestling that saw the coronation of Zack Sabre Jr. and many more developments! While New Japan has more and more positves to discuss, NOAH's big news of the week was the reveal of TEAM2000X. The Eastern Lariat crew breaks down this key moments of the show plus Kaito Kiyomiya's run as champion and Shinsuke Nakamura coming in yet again! Finally the talk of the town has been the lackluster streaming schedule of DRAGONGATE's upcoming King of Gate so STRIGGA & Dylan also dive into the promotion's developments in recent weeks!

Tournaments all over the place! STRIGGA & Dylan look back at the beginning of this year's G1 Climax where we saw highlights, but also lowlights and repetitive & tired tropes. The N-1 Victory and Stardom's 5 Star GP come across like fresher and more diverting tournaments – just because of their concepts? Besides these 3 tournaments The Eastern Lariat crew also looks at the most recent All Japan Korakuen Hall show, discusses Jake Lee as Champion and breaks down the Real World Tag League Line Up.

This episode of the Eastern Lariat revolves around Dragon Gate and their two day spectacle known as the Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2021 that saw Masato Yoshino's final two matches and his emotional retirement while the question whether it was Kzy time was answered with a crushing no. Titles, masks and toilet wipes changed hands while the action was wild and unpredictable. Join us in our look back at some fond memories of Yoshino and the Dragon System itself while also looking into the future of Dragon Gate. Other topics on this show include TJPW's Princess Cup and the send-offs of Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji in NJPW.

This episode of the Eastern Lariat is all about inspiriting stories as STRIGGA & Dylan first talk and rave about the in-ring return of Fujita „Jr“ Hayato, who overcame spinal cord cancer to do what he loves again. Another inspiring, yet totally different story is the King of DDT victory and thus KO-D Title win for Kazusada Higuchi in an amazing tournament final. This topped of a great weekend for wrestling in Tokyo that started with GLEAT's Ver. 3 show in Tokyo Dome City Hall that once again looked amazing. Final topic of the show are Stardom's most recent Cage Matches as well as a brief preview of the upcoming 5 Star Grand Prix!

A lot has happened in late July in the world of japanese pro-wrestling so the Eastern Lariat duo got back together to discuss a wide range of topics led by New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome and its aftermath. The show though starts with a look back at All Japan's Summer Action Series and then moves to GLEAT's recent events (including the highly praised Takuya Nomura vs. Yu Iizuka bout) before STRIGGA & Dylan discuss current and future events in a trifecta of Joshi promotions in Stardom, Ice Ribbon and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling.

At the beginning of 2023, japanese pro-wrestling has some great champions and challengers alike to offer. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the champions of the traditional “big three” as well as those holding the gold in six other companies. With the general rule of thumb of the champion reflecting the state of a company, the Eastern Lariat crew not only discusses potential challengers, but also look at rookies in development and the general state of some of the rosters.

The tournament season continues on the Eastern Lariat podcast! This week STRIGGA & Dylam take a deeper dive into All Japan's Champion Carnival as well as Pro Wrestling NOAH's N-1 Victory. They rate the blocks, go over every wrestler and their chances and lay out some potential scenarios as well as dark horses in each tournament. Another big talking point this week is the formation of GLEAT, the new promotion under the banner of LIDET, the former owners of NOAH. What does Kiyoshi Tamura have in store for the wrestling world?

What a spectacle it was. Keiji Muto retired on unquestionably the biggest show in japanese pro-wrestling in decades. The Eastern Lariat looks back at the entire show with discussions about Keiji Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya and their implications for the future taking center stage. With Muto presenting this huge event, two questions seem crucial: Can japanese pro-wrestling present something bigger or anything close to this? Who gained the most from this event? Besides that, STRIGGA & Dylan also put every match on the card into perspective and highlight current developments in the respective companies. 

This week the Eastern Lariat offers a very tasty tournament heavy main menu composed of All Japan Pro Wrestling's Jr. BATTLE OF GLORY and Dragongate's King of Gate with both tournaments making a new star in Akira Francesco and Kota Minoura. On the side there's discussions about the next IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Corona in Japan and in BJW specifically as well as Dylan's rundown of the Mitsuharu Misawa Memorial show from Pro Wrestling NOAH.

In this episode of the Eastern Lariat, STRIGGA & Dylan mostly focus on the young and more up and coming talent that AJPW, DDT and DRAGONGATE have to offer as they discuss guys like Ryuki Honda, Yuki Ueno or the recent debut of T.N.Revolucion in DG. The show also offers a look at Pro Wrestling NOAH using and wasting potential, recommended matches from All Japan this month and a full review of DDT's Big Bang event from this past Saturday.

STRIGGA & Dylan return with an impromptu episode after news and cards dropped on a rapid speed at the beginning of the week. Not only did New Japan announce a new Championship, Stardom, NOAH, DRAGONGATE and GLEAT also announced their cards for the upcoming big shows at the end of the year. The Eastern Lariat digests these developments, previews the big matches and while the recording happened, the Tokyo Sports Awards were announced. So this is a jam packed episode putting companies' situations into perspective.

Another big weekend of action in japanese pro wrestling is in the rear view mirror which brought STRIGGA & Dylan back together to discuss five different companies on the newest Eastern Lariat! First, they dive into the opening days of the G1 Climax 34 with the question in mind of who's starting strong and who's already facing an uphill battle. Korakuen Hall saw a double header of TJPW and AJPW with strong title matches on top so STRIGGA & Dylan also break down these two events. Sunday then saw DDT's Sumo Hall spectacle and Dragon Gate's biggest event of the year in Kobe – it was a lot to unpack and unwind, so join in for a potpourri of different takes on japanese pro wrestling!

The Eastern Lariat tackles the Final of the 5 Star Grand Prix from STARDOM. And boy do we go in depth on this tournament. We go through the final night, breaking down every single participant's tournaments, the blunders that haunted this tournament in terms of scheduling, a disappointing ending after a really strong match, a defense of Suzu Suzuki and average ratings for the tournament rounded up on average courtesy of the inmates of Cagematch.net and we found out what the people think, as well as where they're going as a company heading into the big year end show, with the winners of our own awards. Finally...we get GLEAT into STARDOM as we head towards Halloween and try to figure out what the heck is going on around here. "Where is my STARDOM!?"

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well PLUS same day reviews of G1 Climax Shows + STARDOM 5 Star GP Reviews: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat

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Dylan is back with part 2 of the Wrestling Observer newsletter Hall of Fame coverage with another voter! This time it's Gerard di Trolio from the Emerald Flowshow hops on to talk about the Non-Wrestler category which features Japanese promoters Sanshiro Takagi & Rossy Ogawa, legendary Japanese referee in JWA & AJPW and later NOAH's On-Air GHC Title Commissioner Joe Higuchi, AJPW's Triple Crown foreign liaison and chairman of the Pacific Wrestling Federation Lord James Blears, and the man who helped get Rikidozan into wrestling, Bobby Bruns, along with all the non-Japanese candidates which include commentators, promoters, legendary writers, managers, belt makers and music men:

Lord James Blears
Dave Brown
Bobby Bruns
Bob Caudle
Bobby Davis
Joe Higuchi
Jim Johnston
Larry Matysik
James Melby
Rossy Ogawa
Reggie Parks
Morris Sigel
Tony Schiavone
George Scott
Sanshiro Takagi
Mike Tenay
Ted Turner
Roy Welch
Stanley Weston
The Grand Wizard

We also go over the historical candidates in the North American region and finally circle back around to the Japanese region for another Round of Dylan trying to get a voter to vote for Yoshiaki Fujiwara and just Gerard's thought on this year's cast of characters, which ends with Gerard giving us his ballot, which differs a bit from Case Lowe, our last guest.

If you enjoy the Eastern Lariat and want more, including reviews of major live events, tournaments (right now STARDOM's Goddesses of Tag League, as well as DDT's D-Ou tournament), historical content like the 90's project covering the top 50 matches every year of the 90s and a top 10 and awards audio and currently running a daily written review feature on the career of Manami Toyota, check out our Patreon: patreon.com/easternlariat

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Follow Gerard and his show, the Emerald FlowShow for more fun stuff on Japanese Pro Wrestling: @EmeraldFlowshow

And most importantly, support Japanese pro wrestling in every company you enjoy!

For the 4^th consecutive year The Eastern Lariat once again proudly presents the Half Year Awards! On this show Dylan Fox and STRIGGA crown the very best in japanese pro-wrestling in the first six months of 2022 – in 14 categories! This also means the companies represented range from New Japan Pro Wrestling over Ice Ribbon to GLEAT and Ganbare Pro and include men's and women's wrestlers. On top of that Dylan & STRIGGA also discuss the choices that YOU, the listeners, made! This is your guide through the first 6 months of 2021!

Against all odds (it was definitely happening all along) The Emerald FlowShow's own esteemed Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame voter Gerard di Trolio (@EmeraldFlowShow on SocMed) returns once again to argue with Dylan about who should be voted in to the Hall of Fame. We discuss every region and every candidate eligible for voting with Japan of course getting the main focus as we break down each candidate individually in the region which includes:

CIMA

TenCozy

Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Hayabusa

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi

Kento Miyahara

Zack Sabre Jr.

Meiko Satomura

Tiger Jeet Singh

Shingo Takagi

Yoshihiro Takayama

Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada

Followed by segments breaking down every other region and revealing Gerard's ballot in depth with wrestlers from every region discussed as listed below:

Ballots were sent out to us over the weekend: 

This is our ballot for the 2024 Hall of Fame.

This ballot is being sent out to major wrestling stars, past and present, major management figures in the industry, writers and historians.

If you are getting this, you are being asked your opinion on who should be inducted into this year's Hall of Fame class. The criteria for the Hall of Fame is a combination of drawing power, being a great in-ring performer or excelling in ones field in pro wrestling, as well as having historical significance in a positive manner. A candidate should either have something to offer in all three categories, or be someone so outstanding in one or two of those categories that they deserve inclusion.

The names listed below are those under consideration for this year. To be eligible, a performer must have reached their 35th birthday and completed ten years since their debut as a full-time performer, or be someone who has been a full-time pro wrestler for at least 15 years.

Longevity should be a prime consideration rather than a hot two or three year run, unless someone is so significant as a trend-setter or a historical figure in the business, or valuable to the industry, that they need to be included. However, just longevity without being either a long-term main eventer, a top draw and/or a top caliber in-ring performer should be seen as relatively meaningless.

There are more changes in the rules this year largely because the modern U.S. & Canada category is so full of viable candidates. Each category is separate and the number of votes in a category allowed will be one in every three people on the ballot, so each category will have a different number. The idea is categories with fewer balloters won't be easier to get in, and categories with a lot of balloters won't be so difficult that it causes a logjam.

The election is broken down into a number of categories. You should check each category for wrestlers that you feel you are familiar enough with based on geography that you've either traveled or are familiar with, and based on the time you have followed pro wrestling. You do not have to vote for a wrestler in every category you've checked. The ballot is also broken down to wrestlers and those who are not pro wrestlers but have been valuable parts of the industry.

You can pick as few as zero in categories if you don't believe anyone on this list deserves inclusion or you can skip voting in categories that you don't believe you are familiar enough with to vote in.

All responses are confidential. There is nothing to worry about politically about any involvement in this process. Your selections will not be revealed unless you choose to do so yourself.

Anyone who receives mention on 60% of the ballots from the geographical region and time frame (broken down as Continental United States & Canada; Mexico; Japan; and the rest of the world) will be added to the Hall of Fame in the class of 2023.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the candidates due to geography or having never seen them, that is fine. Ballots are sent to many people from all over the world and from different wrestling cultures so that everyone has as fair a shot as possible.

The breakdown for modern and historical performers is 30 years ago, or 1994. So if the last year the person was a headliner, or was a key figure in the industry, was prior to 1994, they would be in the historical class.

All performers who receive mention on 10% to 59.9% of the ballots from their geographical region or era will remain on the ballot for consideration next year. All those who receive less than 10% of the vote will be dropped from next year's ballot. They can return in two years based on if there is significant feedback from voters who say they will vote for them. This is mostly for wrestlers who are still active who may improve their career legacy, but can be for retired wrestlers if voters believe they should be put on or returned to the ballot.

In addition, in following the lead of the baseball Hall of Fame, which is the model here, we have a 15-year-rule. The following candidates have been on the ballot since 2008. In baseball, this would be their last year of eligibility. Here, if they don't get at least 50% of the votes in this year's election they will be removed from the ballot. If they are modern candidates, they can be brought back in the historical performers era in two years if it is more than 30 years since their career as a Hall Fame level performer is up:

The following candidates will be dropped from next year's ballot unless they are elected in or garner 50% of the vote:

Johnny Saint

Huracan Ramirez

HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA (Seven maximum)

Ole Anderson

Afa & Sika Anoa'i

Bob Armstrong

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon

British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith)

June Byers

Wild Bull Curry

Junkyard Dog

Cowboy Bob Ellis

Pampero Firpo

Black Gordman & Great Goliath

Archie "Mongolian Stomper" Gouldie

Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart)

Sputnik Monroe

Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch

Johnny Rougeau

Iron Sheik

Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood

Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon

Kevin & Kerry & David Von Erich

MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA (Seven max)

Asuka/Kana

Mark & Jay Briscoe

Young Bucks

Edge

Bill Goldberg

Samoa Joe

Matt & Jeff Hardy

Becky Lynch

Jon Moxley

Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

Paul Orndorff

Randy Orton

Kevin Owens

C.M. Punk

Roman Reigns

Cody Rhodes

Trish Stratus

Rick & Scott Steiner

Jimmy & Jey Uso

Sid Vicious

Bray Wyatt

Sami Zayn

MEXICO (Four max)

Angel Blanco & Dr.Wagner

Sangre Chicana

Psycho Clown

El Dandy

Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000)

Dorrell Dixon

Gran Hamada

El Hijo del Santo & Octagon

La Parka AAA

Huracan Ramirez

Mascarita Sagrada

Volador Jr.

EUROPE/AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/PACIFIC ISLANDS/AFRICA (Three max)

Spyros Arion

Dominic DeNucci

George Gordienko

Billy Joyce

Killer Karl Kox

The Royal Brothers (Bert Royal & Vic Faulkner)

Johnny Saint

Adrian Street

Jose Tarres

Otto Wanz

NON-WRESTLERS (Seven max)

Dave Brown (U.S. & Canada modern)

Zane resoff (U.S.& Canada modern)

Bobby Bruns (Japan)

Bob Caudle (U.S. & Canada historical)

Bobby Davis (U.S. & Canada historical)

Joe Higuchi (Japan)

Jim Johnston (U.S. & Canada modern)

Larry Matysik (U.S.& Canada historical)

James Melby (U.S. & Canada historical)

Rossy Ogawa (Japan)

Reggie Parks (U.S. & Canada modern)

Morris Sigel (U.S. & Canada historical)

Tony Schiavone (U.S. & Canada modern)

George Scott (U.S. & Canada historical)

Kevin Sullivan (U.S. & Canada historical)

Mike Tenay (U.S. & Canada modern)

Ted Turner (U.S. & Canada modern)

Roy Welch (U.S. & Canada historical)

Stanley Weston (U.S. & Canada historical)

Grand Wizard (U.S & Canada historical)

Koichi Yoshizawa (Japan)

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat 

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Special thanks to Futakuchi Mana & Jun Mitsui for the official 2024 EL HOF Theme Song: "Find Your Flame" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UnGESNUmRI

The newest episode of The Eastern Lariat has a package of four very different topics to offer – be it from a storyline, an in ring or an emotional standpoint or even in regards of the overall state of the companies in discussion. First off STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the dysfunctional state of New Japan Pro Wrestling at the moment and discuss how to escape from this seemingly abysmal situation. Then they discuss the very promising GLEAT show from 5/26 as well as the highly emotional Memorial show for Hana Kimura from 5/23 that got the wrestling world together in a very wholesome way. Finally you get a big preview of the upcoming DDT/NOAH/TJP/Ganbare CyberFight Festibal on June 6 in Saitama Super Arena!

In a new edition of the Eastern Lariat STRIGGA & Dylan first discuss corona numbers in Japan rising and a possible correlation to crowds at wrestling shows. Dylan then goes over his reccomendations for the Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix so far while STRIGGA jumps in as the two debate Tokyo Joshi Pro's Tokyo Princess Cup and Dramatic Dream Team's King of DDT tournament. Another huge talking point is Pro Wrestling NOAH with their 3 big shows in early August to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. In the end the two go rapid fire on the Aoki Memorial and the N-1 & Champion Carnival line ups.

In a BIG recap of Golden Week, the Eastern Lariat returns after a month-long hiatus. STRIGGA & Dylan are back to discuss recommendations between April 27 and May 6 including Stardom, Ryukyu Dragon Pro, DDT, Wrestling Dontaku and BJW. The next big chunck of the show revolves around Pro Wrestling NOAH's Wrestle Magic with Kaito Kiyomiya regaining the GHC Heavyweight Championship, DRAGONGATE's Dead or Alive with the highly emotional Cage Match and an unsuccessful All Together. The final two topics fist give you an impression of the situation NJPW in May 2024 between Dontaku, Resurgence and the Best of the Super Junior and secondly deliver a recap of All Japan's 2024 edition of the Champion Carnival.

In this two parted episode the Eastern Lariat crew first looks at a bunch of different topics from last week including Samoa Joe being let go by WWE, TTT's new Indepenendent Championship, the 5/26 GLEAT card, DDT vs. NOAH and CyberFight, TJPW's amazing Still Incomplete show, Stardom's Cinderella Tournament and 2AW before STRIGGA & Dylan turn their attention to the first half of AJPW's Champion Carnival and put everything into perspective as they name their top five performers, top five matches and rate every performer's tournament so far.

STRIGGA & Dylan revive the great tradition of drafts on the Eastern Lariat with a special New Year Draft creating to new companies of 25 wrestlers in a very unique setting which in the end led to picks from 11 different companies from all over Japan. While discussing their draft picks, the combatants also talk about some recent shows and matches their picks have been featured in so you'll get both: A fantasy draft and a d look at current events placed in reality!  

With a japanese bank holiday upon us, the Eastern Lariat returns this time for a rare preview episode as STRIGG A & Dylan take a look at some of the cards scheduled for this coming Monday, October 9 known as Sports Day in Japan. The focused promotions this time are NOAH, GLEAT, AJPW, TJPW and NJPW. Before going into any cards though, the first big chunk of discussion revolves around Katsuhiko Nakajima's departure from Pro Wrestling NOAH and the speculation where he might end up. From there, the Eastern Lariat duo looks at the title matches T-Hawk vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Yuma Aoyagi vs. Kento Miyahra and EVIL vs. SANADA while also discussion the current state of each company.

It took a while for the Eastern Lariat crew to catch up with the events that took place on Bunka no Hi, the Day of Culture in Japan this past Monday – and it was a lot. STRIGGA & Dylan first discuss New Japan's Power Struggle including the big title matches, SANADA's turn, Umino's challenge and the reaction to it and the Tokyo Dome double shot in January taking shape. Moving on, All Japan's Hokkaido tour was less eventful than the NJPW show, but the sudden title switch to Davey Boy Smith Jr. Caught many spectators off guard and raises the question where former champion Aoyagi goes and for how long Smith holds the championship. The third big topic is last weekend's Gate of Destiny from DRAGONGATE that left many questions unanswered that fans expected to be answered. Finally, STRIGGA quickly goes over the DDT show from Sumida before the team discusses the Kota Ibushi/DDT situation and Yoshiki Inamura leaving for „unsual“ WWE training.

The traditional “big three” get a look at in the newest Eastern Lariat episode. It seems like All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH have much more issues bubbling than New Japan Pro Wrestling right now so first STRIGGA & Dylan address All Japan's missed opportunities to pur over their younger talent to the degree where the crowd reactions are a clear indicator of wrong decisions made. Wrong decisions also is the focal point when it comes to GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya who doesn't come across like he should cosplaying Keiji Muto. Muto himself has his big match with Shinsuke Nakamura coming up so his retirement road is another big topic once again. In contrast to thee two promotiomns things seem to be on the upswing for NJPW after their well received Battle Autumn show from Osaka that saw Ren Narita & Shota Umino in prominent positions. Join in for some positivity on the “King of Sports”!

After a huge weekend of professional wrestling in Japan the Eastern Lariat returns with a wide range of topics and promotions! STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the current situation in the G1 Climax and shed a light of the good, the bad and stuff in between. From there they take it to Tokyo Joshi Pro and Stardom, two promotions that ran big shows on the second weekend of October. What's there to say about the title picture in TJPW? What's the outlook for Stardom's main event scene? The title picture is the main focus for Pro Wrestling NOAH as well after Katsuhiko Nakajima won the GHC Heavyweight Championship and declared himself “NOAH” - what's next for the company and its new champion?

This New Year's Potpourri of the Eastern Lariat comes to you with a variety of topics. First STRIGGA & Dylan talk about the state of emergency in Japan due to COVID-19 and what it means for pro-wrestling. Under the impression of the looming state of emergency New Japan, All Japan, DDT and TJP all ran shows in the first week of 2021. The Eastern Lariat looks back at all those events and shout out great matches, stories and developments in each promotion.

In this two parter The Eastern Lariat first covers the untimely passing of BADBOY Hido before turning the attention to some brighter topics with Osaka Pro Wrestling & All Japan's Champion Night 2. The second part of the episode is completely dedicated to New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax 31 that ended with a show that was a roller coaster of emotions with the big return of Katsuyori Shibata to pro-wrestling and Kota Ibushi being seriously injured. Amidst the shock about Ibushi arose the confusion about Okada's claim to be the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and thus unseating Shingo Takagi in his vision. STRIGGA & Dylan try to make sense of this all and after that name their top G1 matches & performers.

Eastern Lariat is back with a very special episode focused all on Pro Wrestling NOAH and Dylan is joined by his regular NOAH Patreon guest Dean (dnmt) The first part of the show is all about Daisuke Harada's retirement and we talk about his career, Dylan talks about some of his favorite memories and matches of Harada coming in from Osaka Pro to being the NOAH Jr. Ace. After that we talk about their Great Voyage in Yokohama, Dylan has to deal with STINGER once again and Dylan & Dean get into a lively debate on Kaito Kiyomiya and his status.

Check out more of Dean talking NOAH as well as Dylan's coverage of every Japanese and US promotion at patreon.com/easternlariat

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Follow STRIGGA @STRIGGA

STRIGGA returns next time talking everything going on in the busy world of Japanese Pro Wrestling!

On this very special edition of the Eastern Lariat STRIGGA & Dylan welcome Mark Pickering, one half of the English commentary team, to the show to discuss Mark's background in judo & pro-wrestling as well as his travels that have led him to the dojos of legendary figures of the sport. The main topic of course is Pro Wrestling NOAH's return to Budokan after over a decade so Mark adds his perspective to every match on the card as the Eastern Lariat sets sail towards NOAH Destination ~ Back to Budokan!

A trifecta of topics marks the return of the Eastern Lariat after a month and STRIGGA & Dylan are jumping right into the final tournament season of the year in Japan. However, at the beginning of the show, they focus their attention on AEW's Continental Classic and compare it to tournaments in Japan. From there this Eastern Lariat episode covers New Japan's World Tag League, All Japan's REAL World Tag League and DDT's D-Ou Grand Prix while there's also a rant about Pro Wrestling NOAH's card for January 2^nd sandwiched into the NJPW part of the show. A fun time was had!

With Cherry Blossom japanese pro-wrestling usually gets into second gear after more moderate months. So STRIGGA & Dylan fully dive into the scene, covering everything from New Japan over Marigold to Michinoku Pro. This episode begins with AJPW's latest big show and the upcoming Champion Carnival and then turns to DRAGONGATE’s Rey de Parejas final and their road to Dead or Alive. This is followed by a big chunk of joshi wrestling including Marigold’s latest Korakuen, Stardom’s build to 4/27, and the latest from TJPW and Sendai Girls. While Pro Wrestling NOAH set up a huge title match at Sumo Hall with OZAWA vs. KENTA in May, New Japan Pro Wrestling's Sakura Genesis with Hirooki Goto vs. David Finlay is very close by. Buckle up as the Eastern Lariat boils up another potpourri!

The band is back together in a new episode of the Eastern Lariat podcast! STRIGGA returns and tackles some talking points from the past weeks and days in Japanese pro wrestling mostly focusing on All Japan Pro Wrestling, their Real World Tag League, their Jr. Battle of Glory and of course on Jake Lee leaving the company to maybe join New Japan. After a brief discussion on the Super Jr. Tag League in NJPW the final topic of the show addresses Sasha Banks apparently being in Tokyo on January 4 and what it could lead to. The show however starts with the question whether or not an indie wrestler bias is in place when judging talent from the US.

The Eastern Lariat is back with a review of all the first round matches of the New Japan Cup. STRIGGA & Dylan highlight the best matches, surprises, upsets while also discussing the low light of the tournemant so far.

After three years New Japan made the decision to go back to have Wrestle Kingdom only on “Ittenyon”, so they went back to January 4 as the one date for their biggest show of the calendar year. With Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay the show set the bar high for match of the year candidates, while in the actual main event of the show Kazuchika Okada stood tall over Jay White. STRIGGA & Dylan talk extensively about these two matches, give some insight on the ideas behind the structure of the matches and of course discuss all the title matches on the card. You'll also get takes on the young talent that was prominently placed on the card in Shota Umino, Master Wato and Ren Narita. At the same time the Eastern Lariat team also discusses the angles and directions from New Year Dash the day thereafter and previews the Yokohama Arena show on the 21^st that also has the Wrestle Kingdom branding.

The Eastern Lariat presents the second class of The Eastern Larait Hall of Fame, a pantheon that doesn't celebrate the most successful or necessarily the best wrestlers in japan, but those who matter most to this specific podcast and STRIGGA & Dylan. Some of them might be both the best and those who matter the most – a lot seems possible with this Hall of Fame.
In the second half of the show STRIGGA & Dylan return from their trip down memory lane to discuss current events and developments in DDT, TJPW, Marigold and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Join in for some historic and modern japanese pro wrestling talk!

Golden Week 2022 is over and once again it was one of the busiest weeks in japanese pro-wrestling. This goes to show as this is the second episode dedicated to events, matches and stories going on in this particular week. This time STRIGGA & Dylan focus on the important shows Big Japan, DRAGONGATE, All Japan and New Japan ran between 4/29 and 5/5 with some additional topics at the beginning, among them the electric announcement of Fujita “Jr” Hayato's return.

In this episode the Eastern Lariat podcast opens up the tournament headquarters as STRIGGA & Dylan talk about all four ongoing heavyweight tournaments in japanese wrestling at the moment: ZERO1's Fire Festival, All Japan's Champion Carnival, NOAH's N-1 Victory and of course the 30^th G1 Climax of New Japan Pro Wrestling. For AJPW & NOAH STRIGGA & Dylan shout out the best shows and best matches while they cover the G1 Climax in a comprehensive overview by debating every participant's performance and best matches so far.

The Eastern Lariat returns with a huge episode covering all the events that occured last weekend in New Japan, Big Japan and All Japan. From New Japan's first outdoor show since 1999 over the last Yokohama Bunka show ever STRIGGA & Dylan go to All Japan's Korakuen Hall show. Other talking points are the AXIS split in Pro Wrestling NOAH, the new Joshi „Assemble“ as well as the first GLEAT card.

It's a special episode of the Lariat! STRIGGA is out winning at life this week so Dylan is joined by friend of the show, Happy Wrestling Land's Rob McCauley. They're here talking two huge shows in wrestling. First it's all about CyberFight Festival and they go through every match on the event featuring stars from NOAH, DDT, TJPW, & Ganbare Pro, and of course the discussion of Naomichi Marufuji's title win. After that they run down a full preview of the King of DDT tournament coming up and talk about all the matches. Finally to close the show they talk about the biggest company in Japan, NJPW. It was time for Dominion and we saw what ended up being the biggest upset of the year in the main event with a new IWGP champion crowned! We talk about Shingo Takagi's new run as champion and have a time doing it. It's a big one, there's lot to talk about, lots to say, hopefully you enjoy!

Follow us on Twitter @DylanZeroSky - @BeMcCooley - @EasternLariat

And subscribe to our Patreon for 100s of hours of Japanese wrestling content both past and present, along with Dylan & Rob's upcoming coverage of the King of DDT tournament, and big shows from Stardom, AJPW, NOAH, US Promotions and more just this month! patreon.com/easternlariat 

After addressing the impact of the Vince McMahon lawsuit on the media and (japanaese)wrestling, STRIGGA and Dylan relax and sit back to give their thoughts on three big shows from this past weekend. First of all, Dragon Gate's Gate of Bayside is in the focus with discussions about Luis Mante as Dream Gate Champion, the Dream Gate & Brave booking as well as Kiyomiya & Alejandro excelling in DG. Championships are also the topic of debate with AJPW's event in Hachioji featuring Nakajima vs. Ashino and Tamura vs. Iwamoto and what possible title matches could be ahead. Shuji Ishikawa leaving is of course another topic that also is connected to DDT, so Dramatic Dream Team's Sweet Dream! 2024 is the final talking point with another look at the champions and the direction of the company at the start of the year.

On this episode STRIGGA & Dylan take a deep dive into most recent events in All Japan Pro Wrestling, first and foremost the Oudou Tournament, by analyzing standout matches, the booking of the tournament and its impact on AJPW’s future. The discussion then shifts to a spotlight on the best wrestlers in Japan under 30 in Japan and which company has the edge in this category. Lastly, Eastern Lariat crew covers Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Princes V and also offers a look at Marigold Dream Star Grand Prix and where the company stands four months into its existence.

The end of the year upon us means time for looking back, and time for looking ahead. This episode we do both! First Dylan gives a preview of the year end awards and talks about last year's winners and how things may play out this year. Then after that we get to predictions dropped on us by YOU. We got a lot from the fans and it's time to talk about all of them, before ending the show with STRIGGA reappearing as if by magic! Dylan and STRIGGA bring up their predictions and set the stage for what 2025 could bring us all, in the beautiful world of Japanese pro wrestling. Happy new year!

0:00-31:00 - Awards Preview

31-1:25:00 - Listeners Predictions

1:25:00-End - Dylan/STRIGGA Predictions

For more coverage of Japanese wrestling, and wrestling past and present please check out our Patreon for literally 1000s of hours of audio and written content as well: https://www.patreon.com/easternlariat 

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Special thanks to Souichi Sakagami & Mikado Miyabi for the OFFICIAL Eastern Lariat theme song: "Rainy Day" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3yWeS1ILdE

The beginning of the new year traditionally is one of the busiest times for japanese pro-wrestling, not only because of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom, but because seemingly every promotion – from small indies to nationwide companies – are running on or around “Ittenyon” as well. This show is about the promotions beyond NJPW. While the second half of the show is completely dedicated to NOAH's new New Year's tradition of running Nippon Budokan, the first half of the show contains discussions about Toshikoshi (New Year's Eve) Pro-Wrestling, Big Japan, ZERO1, STARDOM, Ice Ribbon, All Japan and Kyushu Pro's first ever show in the japanese capital. Join is for this massive New Year Lariat!

Join the Eastern Lariat in celebrating the impropable coronation of one of New Japan's most loyal and hardest working wrestlers as Hirooki Goto, despite all the setbacks, despite all the losses and despite all the nay sayers finally won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on a very good show with lots of developments up and down the card. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss how long Goto's reign might be and who might be the next guys to step up until the G1. After this big thunks, the attention is on a quick digest of Stardom & TJPW before STRIGGA & Dylan discuss All Japan's recent events and the Champion Carnival line up including early favorites. Then the attention lies on DRAGONGATE, their Rey de Parejas tournament and once more their disappointing streaming schedule of a major tournament. Finally, let us know who you'd consider for the Eastern Lariat Hall of Fame as STRIGGA & Dylan prepare their induction speeches for the next episode!

Calling the New Japan double shot eventful would probably be the understatement of the year. We saw turns, title changes, returns, ref bumps and shenanigans en masse. The Eastern Lariat tries to make sense of it all as STRIGGA & Dylan dicuss all of the important matches, EVIL joining the BULLET CLUB, the debut of his new “pareja” Dick Togo, Dangerous Tekkers and much, much more in a HUGE episode of the Eastern Lariat.