Wrestling Omakase

Wrestling Omakase is back for another absolutely jam packed episode as John & returning guest Arametha have major shows from SIX different Japanese promotions to break down! But first, John celebrates the first AL East title from the Toronto Blue Jays in a decade! Sad, but also hell yeah! Then the two of them start out- where else- but with the World Wonder Ring STARDOM, as they cover their 9/23 Osaka & 9/27 Korakuen shows that both set new all-time company attendance records in their respective buildings! They discuss a hot promotion staying hotter, yet more mainstream attention in Japan, Natsupoi slapping the shit out of some old comedian, an absolutely incredible Saya Kamitani vs. AZM double title match (that you can watch for free on Youtube!), and finally react to the news of Momo Watanabe challenging Saya in November and what that might mean for the Dream Queendom main event.Then they head over to the land of the Shin Nihon freaks (?) starting out with two great junior title matches from Sapporo on 9/24 that you may have missed. Then it's a full review of the entire Destruction in Kobe show, as they discuss yet another show where the NJPW roster put on plenty of great matches but were let down by substandard booking.Then it's over to NOAH for the N-1 finals, featuring a surprise turn that was foreshadowed by last week's guest on this very podcast, the thankful end to a quite bad tournament, a lot of angles to set things up for their big Sumo Hall show on 10/11 and more!Next up it's DDT, as they break down yet another awesome Korakuen Hall show from the woefully under covered promotion! They discuss the sad end to Kazuki Hirata's epic title reign, an actually incredible match between a man and an inanimate object, Minoru Suzuki's unlikely late career revival and a whole lot more.Then it's back over to All Japan to discuss their big Giant Dream show from 9/23. Man, Japan had a busy week in wrestling this last week! They break down Kento Miyahara's long awaited Triple Crown win against Jun Saito, a tag match that gave reason for some hope, the usual wacky AJPW undercard comedy and more.Finally, they wrap things up with Sendai Girls' 9/23 Big Show in Sendai, discussing yet another awesome Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Mika Iwata match (with a sadly predictable result), Sareee kicking ass yet again, and, well.....not much else. They also break down their upcoming young wrestler tournament that features wrestlers from both STARDOM & Marigold!Follow Wrestling Omakase's Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/wrestleomakaseFollow John on Bluesky: http://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're back for another episode of Wrestling Omakase as John is joined by a first time guest, another John, US indie wrestler John Bivins! John tells John all about working as an indie wrestler in the southeast US, how he got started and what it was like starting at the height of the pandemic in 2020, how the wrestling he does himself is very different from all the Japanese wrestling he enjoys watching as a fan and a whole lot more! Plus, John (as in your humble host) shares more baseball nervousness, the two talk a bit about flying nerves, and a whole bunch of other random topics!The show talk starts off with the finals of the AJPW Oudou Tournament from 9/15, as they break down a good ending to a bad tournament. They discuss the All Asia tag title match, Kento Miyahara's victory, and talk about where things might be going next for AJPW heading into the Real World Tag League and ultimately toward their biggest show of the year on New Year's Eve.Then they head over to the land of Tokyo Joshi for their big Wrestle Princess event from Ota Ward Gym. They discuss TJPW doing a bit of a disappointing number, an undercard that was full of fun matches, a surprisingly great International title match, and a main event that was pretty much just as awesome as expected. They also discuss the big news that TJPW is headed back to Ryogoku next year.After that they shift from show reviews to a show preview, as John & John take a look ahead to next weekend's NJPW Destruction in Kobe event! They break down each match on the show in detail, discuss possible Wrestle Kingdom directions, and also talk about the concept of separating out the junior title matches from the "big show" (as they once again have done this week).Finally, they finish things up with four more shows from the very underwhelming NOAH N-1 Victory, nights 5 through 8 to be exact, as the block portion comes to a close. One of the Johns actually seemed to enjoy this tournament more than the other, but both seemed to agree it had a low ceiling at least. They also preview the upcoming finals from Korakuen this Tuesday!Check out John Bivins on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.bivins.372And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punkrock.darkroast/Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakaseFollow John on Bluesky: http://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're back for another week of Wrestling Omakase as John is once again joined by returning guest Snazzy from the Social Suplex newsletter (and the new Joshi ing Around podcast!) to discuss four very different wrestling promotions. They start things out by heading back to the world of Marigold for the first time in quite a while, as they discuss the 9/14 Marigold Dream Star GP finals. John is just parachuting in for this after having missed the tournament up to this point while Snazzy has seen it all, so he's able to give the lowdown on everyone's performances and who has and hasn't shown big improvements so far on the roster. Both of them bemoan some very annoying (and very classic Rossy Ogawa) booking on the final night, talk up a very good Victoria Yuzuki performance and where she compares to some other second year wrestlers in Japan, and discuss the entire rest of the card as well as Marigold prepares to head to Sumo Hall next month.Next up they head back to STARDOM to discuss the 9/10 Korakuen Hall show, which was not exactly the most stacked lineup they've produced this year. Still, there's two title changes to talk about here (including one that was possibly not supposed to happen at all!) as well as a lot of speculation about where STARDOM might be going heading into their November Ota Ward show as well as the Goddesses Tag League and Dream Queendom after that.Then they head over to men's wrestling starting with NOAH to talk nights 2 through 4 of their annual N-1 Victory tournament, and WOOF is this bad. The two of them break down some very house show level efforts from most of the roster, more run-ins, Kaito getting geeked for about the ten thousandth time, and, well, yeah that pretty much covers it. Hopefully this tournament gets better at some point because it did not have a good week!Finally they wrap things up by checking in on New Japan for the first time since the end of the G1, as they had two Korakuen shows this past week. They discuss the very wacky Shinnichi Champion PPV show from 9/12 that was a tie-in to NJPW's Japanese variety show you may or may not have even heard of, but besides an undercard full of comedy also featured a killer (and completely serious!) main event. Then they break down a much more standard Road To show the next night (much more quickly of course), but have praise for the Knockout Brothers and some of the Young Lions. Also there's lots of live updates for a Blue Jays game throughout. Look, we're trying to win a division here!Check out Snazzy's new joshi podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/24Fg7QoUdB032u40nHiVRF?si=c20398f1e13946ce&nd=1&dlsi=7c602c298e554251Check out John's apperance on the Super J Cast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sjc-extra-9-9-to-138542376Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakaseFollow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're back on Wrestling Omakase to discuss four very different Japanese wrestling promotions in another jampacked episode! John is joined by Milo (@primasteras on Twitter), someone they used to host Open the Voice Gate with right on this very network many, many years ago by now, making it a bit of a reunion for the two of them! Unfortunately the tragic passing of AJPW's Taishin Nagao absolutely had to be our first topic, so major content warning there (not that we really discuss anything that happened in detail though). The discussion of his death goes for about the first fourteen-and-a-half minutes.Then the two of them make a somewhat awkward transition to other things going on in their life (John went to an AEW Collision taping although they did not give a full review of the show or anything, as they figured last week's Forbidden Door review was more than enough AEW content on Omakase for one lifetime), before they head over to their first true topic of the episode: a full review of the STARDOM to the World 9/6 PPV, as Milo brings the perspective of a more casual/occasional STARDOM viewer while the two discuss yet another very good show from the World Wonder Ring. They also talk about upcoming title challenges and give a quick preview of the next 9/10 Korakuen, while John makes a bit of a case for Starlight Kid as 2025's Most Outstanding Wrestler.Then they move over to NOAH to talk a very eventful opening night of the N-1 Victory tournament, held on 9/8 in front of yet another packed Korakuen Hall audience. They discuss a possible promotion-altering injury to their franchise star, some very uneven matches, and an enormous GHC Jr. Title match as well. Then they look ahead to the first full week of N-1 action coming up.Afterward, John & Milo head over to Dragongate to discuss their 9/4 Korakuen Hall event. They discuss the debut of new heel stable Gaja Dokuro (and their connection to Rito Revolto- yes, really!), a great Brave Gate title match, a Triangle Gate ladder match the two of them felt very differently on, and discuss a little bit on why DG's attendances may be lagging a bit at the moment. They then look ahead to what's coming up next in DG, including a very odd show booked for later this month!Finally, the two of them wrap things up with a look at the four quarterfinal matches of the very underwhelming AJPW Oudou Tournament, which just hasn't been good at all. John & Milo then talk a little about the upcoming semis & finals from their 9/15 Korakuen show to wrap things up for another week.Check out Milo's article on Kzy he mentioned here: https://sixtyminutedraw.com/kzy-ode-to-joyFollow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @wrestleomakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"This week on Wrestling Omakase John is joined by a first time guest, Snazzy from the Social Suplex Newsletter (making a very last minute appearance that John is very grateful for!), for a tour through a whole bunch of very different wrestling. But first, John complains about their baseball team, tries to explain their very weird and complicated sports fandom alignment, and the two of them make fun of Manchester United for some reason. Then it's over to wrestling where they start out with a fashionably late review of AEW Forbidden Door from last weekend, with Snazzy providing live impressions from inside the building and John providing, uh, the kind of takes you've come to expect from them about American wrestling. Hey, they really liked three of the matches on this show at least! And they didn't really care about the gummy bears! But jesus christ that MJF match....Once that and a bunch of other random tangents are out of the way (even for Omakase this is a pretty tangent-heavy episode....) they head over to the land of the Dramatic Dream Team for full reviews of nights 1 & 2, the Peter Pan show (and if you'd like to skip right to this it starts around 1:30:00- just saying!). John & Snazzy put over the year DDT is having in general and then two shows full of great stuff, starting with day 1 from Higashin Arena which featured a super unique Extreme title match (that maybe just has a couple minor flaws that could be fixed next time if they ever tried this again), an awesome tag match with Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita from NJPW, and an amazing old school main event with Kazusada Higuchi and Jun Akiyama. Then it's on to day 2 from Korakuen Hall featuring Minoru Suzuki turning back the clock against MAO, another great title match with Higuchi and Ueno, and a moment at the end of the show that's so amazing John called it one of their favorite moments as a professional wrestling fan.Next they head over to AJPW to talk about a very underwhelming first round of the AJPW Oudou Tournament, burying a few dry as dirt matches and wondering why Hideki Suzuki even bothered bringing these ex-NXT people if he doesn't even want to try when he wrestles them. Not a good weekend for 'ol Zen Nihon!Finally, they wrap things up with brief previews of the 9/6 STARDOM to the World PPV (well, the four matches we actually know if it at least) and the NOAH N-1 Victory tournament that kicks off next Monday (9/8). Another jam packed show!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenby"Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wrestling Omakase is back to wrap up a super eventful, super awesome STARDOM 5 Star GP! John is joined by longtime viewer and jubilant Momo Watanabe fan Velkej Bracha (@Velkej_Bracha) as he celebrates the #Momo5Star prophecy finally coming to pass. They give a full, lengthy and detailed review of both the last two nights which covered the entire playoffs, with all four first round matches, all four quarterfinals, both semis and the final covered in great detail. Plus, John wonders who Saori Anou's oshi could possibly be, the two of them decide we're allowed to have one spotty cat as a treat, and John wonders how they're supposed to be critical when everything is this great. Oh well. At least *something* in wrestling is these days!Then it's time for the full 5 Star GP wrap up, as John ranks the four blocks and then ranks each wrestler in each block by average star rating, with lots of thoughts on who among the young roster took a big step forward and who just kind of stalled out (plenty of people for both categories!). Plus, John and Velkej list some of their favorite matches so you can go back and check some stuff out if you missed anything, and John even gives their favorite overall block shows as well.Once they're finally done with STARDOM (and to be clear it's the vast majority of the run time), they turn their attention over to Sendai Girls to talk about their "The Biggest" show from Xebio Arena this past Sunday (8/24). They discuss SenJo drawing an enormous house, a weird and nondescript undercard, one incredible hardcore tag that saved the show (well, for one of them at least), and yet more utterly baffling SenJo booking.Finally, John wraps things up solo with a brief review of AJPW's Oudou Tournament opener, a tournament we'll be following going forward. John discusses another sleepy undercard, two great tournament matches and then a third one in the main event that just kind of unexpectedly sucked. 2 out of 3 isn't bad!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @JustOneEnbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're back for another new episode of Wrestling Omakase, and thankfully back to a normal format episode (recorded all at once in a single location!). John is joined by returning guest Arametha as they start with a bunch of nonsense about stuffed animals, rhythm games, anime cons and who knows what else. Then they get into the end of the NJPW G1 Climax 35 with reviews of the last four nights of the tournament, starting with the final B block night, then the Quarterfinals from Korakuen and the Semis & Final from Ariake Arena this weekend. Boy is there a lot to discuss here, starting obviously with the controversial choice of final, the strange fan reaction, various theories on why they decided to go the direction they did, and a whole lot more.Then they turn their attention back to the World Wonder Ring for another week of the STARDOM 5 Star GP, covering days 9 through 11- the final three block nights. They look at a stretch of more great matches and some really weird and somewhat baffling booking decisions on the last night especially. Then they look ahead to the upcoming four playoff rounds, giving their predictions for how the entire playoffs will go and who might be ultimately crowned this year's 5 Star GP winner!Finally, they wrap things up by going back to NJPW for a final look at the G1- they go wrestler-by-wrestler, as John ranks them by their average star ratings for the tournament in each block, discusses their performances and who had standout (or disappointing) years. They also give a list of recommended best matches for the entire G1 if you missed some or all of it and would like some picks to go back and watch now that it's over (and frankly, thank god it is).Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week on Wrestling Omakase we're still on the road, so it's another live-to-tape/running audio blog edition as we keep you up to date with all of the tournament action across two promotions! This time around we go in chronological order through both promotions, alternating between NJPW G1 Climax & STARDOM 5 Star GP shows. John is once again joined by their good friend Quinlan to break down the G1 shows and goes solo on the 5 Star shows, coming live from a hotel room in DC for a bunch of it. So you get some random thoughts about Otakon too mixed in, because why not? Also, John made a bunch of AEW fans mad again. Shocking news there. With guest appearances by multiple other people, an unruly hotel room air conditioner, and the sound of Nicole's controller, it's a hell of a show! Also one of these G1 shows really sucked and we had to bury it a lot, but hey, at least all the 5 Star stuff was good!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week on Wrestling Omakase we continue our ongoing coverage of two major tournaments! John introduces the unusual format we'll be using for the next two weeks (it was the only way they could bring you these episodes due to some travel they'll be doing), as they start out going solo to talk about the first five days of the STARDOM 5 Star GP. They break down each and every tournament match so far, from the enormous 16-match opening day in Ota Ward right through the doubleheader in Utsunomiya. Hear all about some of the best matches of the tournament so far, including Saori Anou vs. Ami Sohrei in a match that showed off what could be the main event future of the promotion, Sareee getting absolutely nuclear heat all week long, AZM and Starlight Kid tearing the house down and a whole lot more! John's good friend Quinlan returns to the show to talk about the final 5 Star GP show of the week (the evening show from Utsunomiya) and gives a bit of a casual viewer perspective on it.Then John & Quinlan both break down Nights 7-11 of the G1 Climax in full, talking about some interesting topics: attendance finally showing signs of life during the last week, whether Konosuke Takeshita is perhaps having a bit of a weaker tournament than he did last year (by his lofty standards), and even put over some House of Torture matches for a change on this network. They also discuss some more great Taichi matches as he continues to be the absolute MVP of the tournament, and some more good performances from Tanahashi on his retirement show. A fun show as tournament season rolls on!Following Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @wrestleomakaseFollow John on BlueSky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wrestling Omakase is back for our most absolute jam packed and indeed longest episode ever! John is joined by returning guest Arametha as they start with 2 hours and 40 minutes just on the hottest promotion in Japan at the moment, the World Wonder Ring STARDOM! It starts with full reviews of their 7/21 & 7/24 shows from Sapporo & Korakuen respectively, as they go over yet more outstanding matches from STARDOM's increasingly large catalogue- SLK/Anou, Saya/Poi, AZM/Bozilla and more! Then they dig into a full, lengthy preview of the upcoming 5 STAR GP, which kicks off by the time many of you will be listening to this (but not to worry, we cover the entire tournament in detail including every participant and all the other stops on the tour, and spend very little time on the opening night on purpose). They break down the final night of each block and how it might help us figure out who has the best chance of advancing, go over various picks to win outright, list most anticipated matches and even rank the four blocks from anticipation/excitement levels.Next it's back to New Japan to talk nights 3-6 of the already underway G1 Climax. They discuss what are becoming the two big stories of the tournament: largely great matches and largely flagging attendance. Hear their thoughts on Finlay/Taichi, Tsuji/Yuya, ZSJ/Umino, Tanahashi/Finlay, ZSJ/ELP, Umino/Narita, Takeshita/Shingo and much more! Then they give a look ahead at what's coming up in the following week of G1 shows, including a look at how attendance is shaping up for each night.Then it's back to joshi for two more topics, starting with a full review of Tokyo Joshi's 7/21 Summer Sun Princess show from Ota Ward Gym (which slightly outdrew one of the G1 nights!). John & Arametha discuss an awesome tag title match, some comedy that may not land with John's significant other at least, music vs. wrestling idol body requirements and much more. They also give a brief preview of the upcoming Tokyo Princess Cup.Finally, this marathon episode wraps up with a quick preview of the somehow also upcoming Marigold Dream Star GP. They give their thoughts on who is a contender to win each block and the tournament in general as well as some of their most anticipated matches. It's really tournament season in Japan, and Omakase has you covered!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John is joined by returning guest Devin (@MoreThanMeatJoy on Twitter) for yet another show packed full of a busy week's worth of Japanese wrestling action! They open things up with a quick preview of STARDOM's major 7/21 Sapporo event as well as their 7/24 Korakuen later in the week, before staying in the Bushiroad Extended Universe as they break down the opening two nights of the NJPW G1 Climax in detail (also from Sapporo!). There's plenty to talk about of course: major injuries, Taichi being amazing, Ren Narita looking good again and a whole lot more. This is followed by a look ahead at all of the upcoming G1 shows in the next week.Then they turn their attention to a packed week for Korakuen Hall shows, which they cover in chronological order: first, a Marigold show with a much-debated and very long double title match main event. Then they head over to All Japan to discuss the start of their junior tournament (lots of tournaments going on right now!), plus a tag title match (and also briefly look ahead to their own 7/21 show in Osaka as well as the Oudou Tournament in August). Next up, it's Sendai Girls to discuss a great Korakuen show of their own featuring yet more suffering for us Mika Iwata fans. And finally, they wrap things up with two very eventual shows from Pro Wrestling NOAH, featuring not one but two title changes, a surprise appearance from an outside guest, an announced excursion and more! If it happened on a major show in Japan in the last week, we probably covered it!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week Wrestling Omakase is back for another packed show! John is joined by returning guest Chris Samsa (@TheChrisSamsa on Twitter) from the Sport of Pro Wrestling website for a long, thorough preview of this year's G1 Climax! John and Chris go wrestler-by-wrestler through all twenty competitors across both blocks breaking down everyone's most notable matches, who they think are favorites and dark horses to move on to the elimination round, some discussions of venues that NJPW is running this year (and early ticket sales), and a whole lot more! As you'd expect Chris comes armed with plenty of stats too, but a lot of it is just the buzz and anticipation level heading into another G1 after a very (ahem) uneven year of NJPW up to this point- a fascinating discussion that should help get you ready for another G1 Climax!Afterward, John goes solo to review three shows- about 20 minutes of brief thoughts on AEW All In Texas (and frankly, nothing they say should surprise longtime listeners at all) before giving longer form thoughts on two shows from Japan this past weekend- first, a full review of Dragongate's biggest show of the year, Kobe World! It's been a while since John has talked any DG so they go in depth with their thoughts on the major angle developments, review all the matches, and discuss a bit on where things might be going in the near future. Finally, they wrap things up with a review of DDT's 7/13 Korakuen featuring a KO-D Openweight Title match, two celebrity wrestlers, and a lot of matches being set up for the two-night Peter Pan event at the end of August.Check out Sport of Pro Wrestling's 2025 G1 Pick Em: http://g1.sportofprowrestling.com/Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @JustOneEnbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wrestling Omakase returns for a special episode! John is joined by returning guest and longtime friend Bryan Quinlan (@Not_Quinlan on Bsky) for our podcast all about traveling to Japan to watch pro wrestling! After taking some quick little sideswipes at NJPW for their latest attendance bomb, we give a comprehensive look at all the elements involved in planning for a trip to Japan! John & Quinlan (who have 8 trips between them going back 9 years!) start by going over all of their own past trips and some of the major differences in all of the different seasons they've gone in, which then transitions into a longer discussion on the different times of year you can choose to go and what some of the pluses & minuses of each are. Once that's done, they cover everything else you could ever want to know for planning your first wrestling trip to Japan (or just planning a better one if you've gone before!), including:-Overall trip budgeting and what the minimum amount you can get away with is-Different accommodation options for different group sizes: solo travelers, couples, big groups, etc.-Some of the various neighborhoods you could choose to stay in-Various options for buying tickets (including John finding out that one has gotten a little more complicated than when they just used it a few months ago, live on the air!) and how they work, including how to pick up your tickets when you get there- and which is the only option that actually lets you pick your exact seat! Plus a little bit about the various sections in Korakuen Hall specifically.-Specific Wrestle Kingdom ticket options by section and where each actually locates you-Venue locations and other quirks about them-Other major wrestling-related landmarks in multiple cities: restaurants, bars, and stores!-Leaving Tokyo to see other cities: how to buy Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets, some cities besides Osaka/Kyoto that you might want to check out, and more-Some brief thoughts on language barrier and what you could pick up relatively quickly for a better experience-Food recommendations, especially budget onesBut honestly, this is just everything I can remember off the top of my head that we talked about in a sprawling three and a half hour podcast, so check it out for yourself!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We're back for another episode of Wrestling Omakase, and this time around John is joined by three recent guests for the return of an old favorite: the Mid-Year Awards! We present our picks for the best & worst of Japanese wrestling so far in 2025 in a ton of Wrestling Observer-style year end awards, along with some analysis on how likely these winners are to stand as full year award contenders by the time 2025 comes to an end. John's guests include: Paul Volsch from the Emerald FlowShow (@EmeraldFlowShow on Twitter & Bsky), Velkej Bracha from the ActWres Stage podcast (here's their most recent episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIHVjqO6_8), and Arametha! Together the four seasoned Japanese wrestling watchers break down the best and worst of the year of Japanese wrestling. But before they get into the actual awards, as a bonus we provide some breaking news audio on the major title change that happened earlier today (being purposefully vague in case anyone is trying to avoid spoilers on that very weirdly aired show!) as well as the news that Syuri is taking a hiatus from STARDOM and what that might mean for the upcoming 5STAR GP, among other things.Then it's awards time, and here's a full list of all the categories we covered in the order they appeared on the episode:-Best Rookie-Best Tag Team-Best Feud-Most Improved-Most Overrated/Overpushed-Most Underrated/Underpushed-Best Unit-Worst Unit-Best Major Show-Worst Major Show-Most Outstanding Wrestler (in ring only)-Best Promotion-Worst Promotion-Match of the (Half) Year-Worst Match of the (Half Year)-Flair/Thesz Award (in ring + drawing, basically MVP)For most of the best categories we each give a top 3, while we only give one pick each for the worst....mostly so we don't have to stew in negativity for very long, haha. So come hear all of our picks for the best & worst of Japanese wrestling halfway through 2025, as we discuss all the major promotions- NJPW, STARDOM, NOAH, AJPW, DDT, Dragongate, Marigold, Sendai Girls, and of course since Velkej is here we discuss Actwres Girlz as well! A packed show!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: @WrestleOmakaseFollow John on Bluesky: @justoneenbySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John is back yet again for another long dive through the world of Japanese professional wrestling, and boy do they have a mixed bag to discuss this week! Returning guest Velkej Bracha (@Velkej_Bracha on X), host of the ActWres Stage podcast (here's their most recent episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIHVjqO6_8) joins them and starts by breaking down their recent trip to Japan, as he gives the live perspective on All Star Grand Queendom, Tetsuya Naito's final night in NJPW at Dontaku and more! Plus the two of them generally bullshit about Japan travel for a good long while because, to be honest, nobody wanted to talk about Dominion. But talk about Dominion they must, so they give a full review of a very, very bad show full of absolutely horrible and baffling booking decisions, and fair warning: John gets more than a little fired up about a few of them in particular. May wanna turn your headphones down for that part. They also discuss the quite bad looking G1 lineup and bury New Japan again for being completely unwilling to do anything fun or interesting these days.But once the badness is over, we head back to the wonderful world of the World Wonder Ring, STARDOM, for a full preview of their upcoming 6/21 show from Yoyogi, The Conversion! John & Velkej talk all about recent storylines and developments as they break down the entire card in full, so if you've heard some of the recent hype for the promotion and want a good jumping in point you might want to listen to our preview here and check out the show! Finally, they wrap up the episode by heading back to another joshi promotion, Marigold, as John gives abbreviated thoughts on some of the matches from the 6/15 & 6/16 weekend shows in Osaka & Shizuoka (including the debut of another impressive looking rookie!), before they then give a full review of the 6/17 Korakuen show, including the big Marigold vs. Marvelous interpromotional main event. Lots of thoughts on how certain Marigold wrestlers are and aren't developing, Velkej breaks some news about one right on the air, and then some discussion of their upcoming schedule and their own big tournament that's coming up, the Dream Star GP. Another packed show!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy