Wrestling Omakase

C! Z! W! On this week's episode of Wrestling Omakase, John is joined by Jake (@Oatgan) & Kevin Brown (@darukinoi) to discuss the longtime northeast independent promotion. If you've ever wondered just what the hell the deal is when people start talking about CZW, hear it straight from two fans. Everything is touched upon including the differences in the Zandig/Hyde/Callihan eras, the &#...

This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by return guest Jesse (@K0jiii) to discuss three different Japanese indie promotions: DDT, Big Japan, and Wrestle-1! Talk begins with BJW: their recent tag league, their upcoming Korakuen, and the launch of their new BJW Core streaming service. After a brief stopover in New Japan we switch to Wrestle-1, talking all about the woefully undercovered young...

This week's episode of Wrestling Omakase sees us welcome a brand new guest, the King of Banter himself, Joe Lanza of the Voices of Wrestling flagship (@voiceswrestling)! It's tough for me to pin down an exact topic here: ostensibly the show was supposed to be about John & Joe's similar background in wrestling, mainly with ROH/DG/NOAH in the early-to-mid 2000s, but in practice we ta...

JR Goldberg (@wrestlingbubble) makes his return appearance on the first-ever listener requested episode of Wrestling Omakase! Two weeks ago we covered the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame candidates from Japan & America with Rich Kraetsch, so now we're back to discuss the candidates from Mexico in possibly the most positive wrestling podcast in history! Hear JR make convincing arguments for...

We're seeing green this week on Omakase, as we board the ark and take a great voyage to Yokohama! John is joined by returning guest from our very first episode Connor Dunphy (@isalrightnow) & Eastern Lariat/Lucha Talk host Dylan Harris (@DylanZeroSky), both huge fans of NOAH, to discuss one of their biggest shows of the year! The three break all eleven matches down, discussing everything f...

On this week's edition of Wrestling Omakase, John is (finally!) joined by the founder and owner of this very website, Rich Kraetsch! But the delays in Rich's appearance gave us an interesting topic to talk about: with the Observer Hall of Fame ballots having just gone out and Rich being a voter himself, the two break down every candidate in the US & Japan! We talk some in much more det...

On this week's episode of Wrestling Omakase we shift back to Shin Nihon, once again being joined by returning guest Andrew Rich (@andrewtrich) of the Music of the Mat (@musicofthemat) podcast to break it all down. First, the two of them review all three NJPW Destruction shows (Fukushima, Hiroshima & Kobe), discussing all the major matches and angles on each. Is Gedo's booking of the un...

On this week's episode of Wrestling Omakase, John is joined by a man who is literally world renowned in his field of study: VOW's own Garrett Kidney (@garrettkidney)! The two of them discuss all things TNA in over two hours of painstaking detail, covering everything you can think of, including: some of the standout early programs and wrestlers of the weekly PPV days, the Fox Sports Net era...

This week on Wrestling Omakase, we get really meta! Yes, the topic of this wrestling podcast is.....wrestling podcasts! John is joined by Joe Gagne (@joegagne), currently host of the Five Star Match Game (@5StarMatchGame) here on the VOW podcast network, and previously host of Joe vs. the World (a podcast that had rotating guests long before this one, it should be noted!), Joe's Funtime Arcade...

Wrestling Omakase continues its trip down northeast US indie memory lane with this week's episode, as John is joined by their normal Open the Voice Gate co-host Michael Spears (@fujiiheya) to discuss the history of CHIKARA! Both John and Mike were, at different but partially overlapping periods, big fans of the "fun-filled lucha supershow", so this is a discussion of what they both enj...

On this week's episode of Omakase we're proud to bring you a free-ranging, free-flowing, very unique conversation on the glory years of ROH! John is joined by JR Goldberg (@wrestlingbubble) to discuss their common history: attending Ring of Honor during what's considered their golden period (or Gabe period, if you prefer) of 2003 to 2008! This is perhaps the most deeply personal episod...

Wrestling Omakase is back on this side of the Pacific, as John has landed back home in America. On this week's episode they're joined by our first repeat guest: Dylan Justin (@DylanJx4) of Voices of Wrestling. Dylan is with us this week to discuss the show he reviewed for the VOW site, the very same show John attended live: DDT Peter Pan 2017! Hear all about one of DDT's biggest shows...

It's time for a very special episode of Wrestling Omakase, as John is coming at you live from Tokyo to discuss an amazing 9 days of Japanese professional wrestling! Joining them are Mark (@WeAllFaulter), Taylor (@tamaimbo), Mort (@mortenvh) & Ethan (@Esan_BISH) as the group discusses their wide journey through puroresu! Hear their thoughts on a number of shows, some of which haven't ev...

Wrestling Omakase is back with our latest episode, and this week it's all about the New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Climax! John is joined by two other VOW podcast hosts, Andrew Rich (@AndrewTRich) of Music of the Mat and Kevin Hare (@stan__hansen) of Burning Spirits to discuss all ten shows of the G1 Climax so far (as of recording time), and we don't leave a single stone unturned! Every single...

Two weeks ago we brought you a crash course into men's puroresu, and now this week on Wrestling Omakase we're back to talk the other side of the coin: Japanese women's pro wrestling, also known as joshi! John is joined by Alexandra (@NOAHs_Savior) of Wrestling With Words and the Ringside Revolution podcast, and Sean Williams (@STARDOMProject ) of the STARDOM Project blog & STARDOM...

This week's Wrestling Omakase focuses primarily on Big Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest show of the year, the annual Ryogokutan show from Sumo Hall in Tokyo, and as such we have two passionate BJW fans on to discuss it! Regular host John is joined by Brennan Patrick (@bren_patrick), Burning Spirits co-host/VOW writer and longtime Twitter puro mainstay/one of the most knowledgeable Western BJW...

Wrestling Omakase returns with a doozy of an episode: it's our first ever two-guest outing and a big theme episode, as we attempt to bring you up to speed on SIX different Japanese pro wrestling companies: All Japan, Big Japan, DDT, NOAH, Wrestle-1, and Zero-1. John is joined by Drew Wardlaw of VOW's indie puro podcast Burning Spirits (@_burningspirits) & Dylan Justin (@dylanjx4), one...

Wrestling Omakase is back with our second episode, and this week John is joined by Jeff Hawkins (@Crapgame13) of Shake Them Ropes and Fightful! Jeff is here to talk about what it means to be a regular WWE viewer in 2017, as we get meta about the promotion and various common critiques from internet wrestling fans. Other topics include what it means to lose the older generations of WWE stars, whethe...

It's the debut episode of Wrestling Omakase, a new podcast here at VOW based around a rotating co-host concept and covering a wide variety of the wrestling world. Join host John Carroll (@toshanshuinla) and their guest Connor Dunphy (@isalrightnow) as they kick off this new series discussing New Japan Pro Wrestling! The major topics include Connor's article from earlier this month comparin...