Eastern Lariat

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 dev...

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...

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...

With this huge episode The Eastern Lariat first catches up with NJPW Dominion, the G1 line up, the card for Forbidden Door and the question what could've been and what we're getting now. Then STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the big Cyberfight Festival and from there on focus on the two big topics coming out of that show: Keji Muto announcing his retirement and Tetsuya Endo suffering a concussion which led...

With the two biggest junior heavyweight tournaments in Japan each year being on the closing stretch, the Eastern Lariat reflects on both DRAGONGATE's King of Gate and NJPW's Best of the Super Junior. STRIGGA & Dylan especially go in depth on the BOSJ ranking each performer and naming each wrestler's best matches. The show though starts with a heartfelt look back at the Hana Kimura Memorial show an...

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...

This is part one of the Eastern Lariat's ride through Golden Week 2022! STRIGGA and Dylan start with a look at some of the bigger indies in Japan with Osaka Pro, HEAT UP, Kyushu Pro & Ganbare before turning their attention to a round up of Joshi companies running in Golden week such as Diana, SEAdLINNNG , Marvelous, Ice Ribbon, TJPW & Stardom. The two remaining topics on this episode are NOAH's Su...

Following the episode on the history of Sumo Palace earlier this week, The Eastern Lariat has a quick turnaround and stays on the topic at first with a preview of Pro Wrestling NOAH's double shot in that exact building. What's to be expected from these two shows? Who is X? What's with all the foreign talent coming in? From there, STRIGGA and Dylan take it to GLEAT and their three shows in April th...

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 ma...

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...

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...

Dylan has a guest! With STRIGGA out doing his thing at wXw's 16 Carat, Dylan is left all alone and he's recruited a friend, and he's a doctor! Dr. Jonathan Foye has risen to prominence in wrestling through writing his book, Ganbaru: How All Japan Pro Wrestling Survived the Year 2000 Roster Split which just so happens to cover the AJPW Year 2000 roster split! And coincidentally we start with AJPW i...

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!

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...

With Wrestle Kingdom 16 in the books the Eastern Lariat looks back at all the important developments on the first two nights of Wrestle Kingdom in terms of New Japan Pro Wrestling. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the meaning of Wrestle Kingdom with multiple shows, the excitement level going in, the work on both shows as well as title programs and projections for the future. Another talking point in this c...

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...

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...

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 N...

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...

A new Puroresu Potpourri has arrived and its ingredients are tasty, spicy, sweet and balanced! The Eastern Lariat crew goes back to last weekend and talks about Pro Wrestling NOAH & All Japan at the end of October before turning over the sheet. November 3 rd saw big shows from DDT and DRAGONGATE with a tournament and title matches and of course New Japan's Power Struggle from Osaka is on the menu...

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 p...

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.

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...

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 Kor...

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 NJ...