Eastern Lariat

Who's gonna be nihon ichi kakkoii, the coolest guy in Japan, this summer? STRIGGA & Dylan first discuss New Japan Pro Wrestling's recent set of events going back to Dominion and the G1 Qualifier show in Korakuen Hall and then transition to early G1 predictions after going through both blocks. They rate the blocks, participants and the composition of the tournament itself as some of the entrants ra...

After a Best of the Super Juniors final that left STRIGGA & Dylan with plenty to say, the two review the tournament's conclusion that left a lot to be desired for their liking. They rate all the participants, discuss noteworthy matches and moments and from there on discuss the upcoming Dominion card that – much like the BOSJ – leaves a lot to be desired. More interesting than the in-ring itself is...

STRIGGA & Dylan return for episode 323 of The Eastern Lariat to discuss the conclusion of AJPW's Champion Carnival, where Hideki Suzuki emerged victorious while Go Shiozaki suffered a heartbreaking defeat after coming so far. The show also covers the two opening nights of NJPW's Best of the Super Junior, as well as the latest developments in DDT and GLEAT and their King of DDT and G-CLASS tourname...

STRIGGA & Dylan celebrate Dylan's 10 th Anniversary show the only way they know and could: With a jam-packed episode covering current and upcoming events, stories and matches from seven japanese promotions. They kick things off with the joshi block on the show with Sendai Girls in Korakuen from 4/12, Stardom's All Star Grand Queendom card for 4/26, and Marvelous heading to Yokohama Buntai on May 5...

Returning from a hiatus, The Eastern Lariat jumps right back into the mix of japanese pro wrestling starting with TJPW's Texas Tour and Grand Princess, where Yuki Arai stood tall above all. Then they shift to Sendai Girls with Chihiro Hashimoto continuing to be the measuring stick of joshi wrestling. Since the world of professional wrestling is ever evolving, STRIGGA & Dylan also discuss the depar...

Halfway through the show STRIGGA had an unexpected and unfortunate situation where is X (formerly known as Twitter) account @STRIGGA was hacked. Therefore Dylan went solo for the last half or so after the 42 minute mark. We apologize for the inconvenience and will make it up one day!   On the return effort with Strig back from WxW we talk a bit about the state of the scene as well as an unexpected...

This week, the Eastern Lariat dives into a possibly defining show for New Japan Pro Wrestling on 2/11: Tsuji remains champ, Jake Lee looked goofy and Tsuji called out Bushiroad – a lot to unwind for STRIGGA & Dylan! They also discuss the big question: where exactly do you go with Olympic gold medalist  Aaron Wolf from here? Who's stepping up after Finlay and Hiromu being added to the list of depar...

Welcome to the 2026 edition of the New Year Potpourri! After Wrestle Kingdom and the Year End Awards, this show looks back how the first month of the year went for some of the top companies in Japan. Of course STRIGGA & Dylan start off by breaking down EVIL leaving NJPW and reflecting his legacy with the company. Was he a true top guy? From there on, the Eastern Lariat talks about the identity of...

It's this time of the year again! This episode is all about celebrating the very best of the year 2025 in japanese Pro-Wrestling as STRIGGA & Dylan unveil the Eastern Lariat Year End Awards that you , the listeners, voted for! Across 12 categories , both hosts break down the winners, debate cases and tight races, spotlight moments, matches, and performers that defined the year. From MVP, Best Wres...

The beginning of the new year is the endpoint of a career at the same time. It's not the endpoint of a regular career, but the endpoint of Hiroshi Tanahashi's career that shaped japanese pro wrestling over the past 26 years and helped change the balance of power in the business. So it's no exaggeration to say that fans witnessed the closing of the book of one of the most important careers not just...

It's the yearly tradition back again. 2025 is in the books and now we go over the predictions from the fans. We got a ton and Dylan goes through every single one, determining if things are more likely or unlikely to happen and my thoughts on the possibility of them happening. Finally he throws out a few predictions of his own that he foresees for 2026. It's a new year! What will the future hold fo...

For the final show of the year 2025, STRIGGA & Dylan Fox dive into their 25 under 25 list of the very best Japanese pro wrestling talent under the age of 25 . From already main eventing standouts to promising prospects with seemingly limitless ceilings, they talk strengths, trajectories, and who's in line to define the next coming years of their respective promotion or maybe the entire scene. Join...

Merry Christmas from the Eastern Lariat!   As a special gift to you, STRIGGA & Dylan go 25 years back in time and present their review of the Super J-Cup 3rd Stage hosted by Michinoku Pro Wrestling on the 1st & 9th of April 2000! This tournament featured a colorful cast of characters from New Japan's Jushin Thunder Liger over Michinoki Pro's Great Sasuke and WCW's Kaz Hayashi to Big Japan's MEN's...

This week on the Eastern Lariat, STRIGGA & Dylan kick things off by talking about one of their japanese pro-wrestling soft spots in ZERO1. As the company is "reborn", they took it to Korakuen Hall where the "reborn" Hayabusa faced Kaito Kiyomiya. Kiyomiya also recently faced "Mr. Smack Daddy" Yoshiki Inamura in the main event, so Pro Wrestling NOAH and their upcoming Budokan card is the next topic...

With the smoke clearing on the 2025 WON Hall of Fame ballots, we have a whopping 8 new inductees to discuss. With all 7 voted in being candidates voted on by returning guest from the Emerald Flowshow, Gerard di Trolio. We go over the inductees, near misses, surprising totals and the future of the ballots with new and returning candidates being announced, finally with picks suggested by us to big D...

For the firs time in a long time STRIGGA & Dylan invest a lot of time into DRAGONGATE and analyze the current stable landscape of the promotion guiding you through the different camps and what their aspirations and goals are. In doing so, they also discuss the most recent Gate of Destiny and King of Gate events. From there, they take it to New Japan Pro Wrestling in November and on their road to t...

It's time for the Hall of Fame! Dylan is joined by the Emerald Flowshow and WON Hall of Fame voter Gerard di Trolio to discuss this year's ballot, with particular spotlight on the new candidates on this year. Every single region is covered as he reveals his ballot, with perhaps one Dylan swaying him on somewhat? Buckle up and check out our look at a wrestling history perspective for over 3 hours,...

The guys kick things off with a look at the bad blood between Go Shiozaki and Pro Wrestling NOAH over the ZERO1 Title – a messy situation that All Japan Pro Wrestling could benefit from a lot. From there, it's over to All Japan, where STRIGGA brings up the point of production values in contrast to NOAH or NJPW. They'll also talk about HAVOC being over with the crowd and how Shiozaki fits into the...

Eastern Lariat Special: GAEA Girls   25 years after it's release, Dylan is joined by his Wrestle Update co-host and film major, game designer, director Nello de Angelis to give his insights from a directorial standpoint. Hear the two break down the film as well as the content of it as well which focuses on the GAEA Dojo led by legendary Joshi wrestler Chigusa Nagayo which at times devolves into ps...

STRIGGA & Dyaln are back and cover a lot of ground from late August to mid September! First off, they dive deep into All Japan's Oudou Tournament and Pro Wrestling NOAH's N-1 Victory, both of which are shaping the fall landscape in a big way. Over in Marigold, the Dream Star GP ended with two wrestlers gaining a lot from it alongside the surprising news of MIRAI's departure. Might she go back to S...

On today's Eastern Lariat, it's an extremely special episode as Dylan is joined by the esteemed Pro Wrestling Author Dr. Jonathan Foye. The Ganbaru Author and regular Japanese wrestling live show attendee joins Fox in giving looks at all the competitors in the tournament, their histories, who they are as wrestlers and also we come through at the end with predictions for the finals of the tournamen...

Special Edition: 5 Star Grand Prix Full Review and Recap   We talked about it on the EL but it just wasn't enough for Dylan as he brings in the Dramatic Dream Dragons' Sondre Bjørn into the fold and we go over the entire tournament, with talk about not just the final, but EVERY SINGLE WRESTLER and rank them on a 1/10 scale. We talk about the future and where things could go with Momo as the winner...

Welcome to episode 308 of the Eastern Lariat! STRIGGA & Dylan are back to dish out another potpourri of the Japanese wrestling landscape. This week they dive into New Japan's freshly updated cards for the Destruction tour before they look back at Stardom's highly successful 5★Star Grand Prix that elevated numerous wrestlers to greater heights. Another joshi tournament is in the focus following tha...

STRIGGA & Dylan return with their coverage the final days of NJPW's G1 Climax 35 – the biggest tournament of the Summer. With the final and the road leading to it being pretty controversial, did the tournament hold up the high G1 standards? What does the crowd reactions during Konosuke Takeshita vs. EVIL tell us about the individual performers and the state of the company? From booking choices and...