Podcast
Wrestling Omakase
Hosted by Wrestling Omakase · EN
Omakase means, literally, "I'll leave it up to you". It's a term primarily used in modern Japanese in sushi restaurants, where you allow the chef to prepare their own personal favorites, leaving your meal completely in their hands. Wrestling Omakase, therefore, is a show where we place each episode into the hands of one or two passionate fans, from all across the wrestling spectrum. Our regular host John Carroll has over 20 years of diverse wrestling fandom to draw upon, and they will be joined by a revolving door of guests who will share their knowledge and passion for particular promotions or time periods. While our primary focus will be on modern Japanese wrestling, we will also at least touch on wrestling from all over the world, in addition to the occasional episode covering historical periods of various promotions. This is a journey with wrestling fans around the world, bringing you the promotions they know and love the best, and we hope you will join us!
This podcast is a member of the Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network.
Learn more about the Voices of Wrestling Podcast Network at voicesofwrestling.com.
43episodes
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Wrestling Omakase #278: STARDOM 12/18, 12/21 & 12/24, NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome, DDT 12/21, NOAH 12/23 & DG 12/16 w/ Arametha
Dec 2603:29:54Tap to summarizeWrestling Omakase is back already after going 9 and a half hours for our two part Wrestle Kingdom Week preview, but thankfully this time we kept it under 3.5 hours. Yes, somehow! John and returning guest Arametha are just a few days away from leaving from Japan and somehow manage to keep the off topic/trip chatter to a minimum (well, at the start at least- later on there's a Gundam tangent among other things), and that's a good thing because they have a whole bunch of final wrestling shows to talk about leading up to all the upcoming big ones! They open up with (what else?) STARDOM with a trio of shows: the special 12/18 PPV from Shin Kiba featuring the "first and last" Natsu & Saori vs. Team 200KG match, 12/21 from Osaka in front of another super hot crowd, and finally the 12/24 Korakuen. They discuss a very long title reign coming to an end, how John is feeling about Saori Anou's red belt chances in the final days before Dream Queendom, and a whole lot more!Then it's over to NJPW to discuss the Road to Tokyo Dome shows: first, the continued road to Hiroshi Tanahashi's retirement as he took on Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado, then the full 12/22 Korakuen featuring his main event with Kosei Fujita, a baffling TV Title match, a lot of angles of varying quality heading into Wrestle Kingdom, and much more! DDT is next up with their own last Korakuen of the year on 12/21, as they break down an excellent KO-D title match, ass paint, and more, then discuss the upcoming D-Generations tournament.In NOAH, they review the 12/23 Korakuen featuring an excellent tag match from the juniors and a bunch of other stuff that also existed. Finally, they wrap things up with some Dragongate talk as they review their 12/16 Korakuen, and Arametha gives some interesting thoughts in particular as a longtime puro fan who never really watched DG before this year. Another fun show, and up next we'll be coming live from Japan!Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakaseFollow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #277: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 2 (STARDOM, Marigold, TJPW, AWG, OZ, ICE, Marvelous, SEAd, ChocoPro, Diana, Pure-J, WAVE)
Dec 1705:41:14Tap to summarizeIt's the biggest episode of Wrestling Omakase ever- so big in fact that we had to split it in two, and here's the second part! John is back with an absolutely enormous lineup of 13 (!) guests for a two-part preview of Wrestle Kingdom Week, as we break down a simply absurd number of different promotions- 20 in total. All of our guests start by giving their opinions on each promotion's 2025 by giving them a letter grade, with thoughts on what went well and what could have gone better, as well as a look ahead at what 2026 could be for each one in general. Then we break down the Wrestle Kingdom Week schedule for every promotion: everything from the big ones (Wrestle Kingdom, Dream Queendom, Marigold at Ota Ward, TJPW's annual 1/4 Korakuen and more!) to the many other Korakuens and tiny shows being held all over the rest of Tokyo. No stone is left unturned in this one- it's a total breakdown of all of Japanese wrestling!Part 2 focuses on all of the women's (joshi) promotions. Please see below for the exact list of promotions covered in the order they appear on the show:-Marigold-Tokyo Joshi-Actwres girl'Z-STARDOM-OZ Academy-Ice Ribbon-Marvelous-SEAdLINNNG-ChocoPro-Diana-Pure-J-WAVEIn addition to covering all these different promotions, reviewing and recapping their years and looking ahead to their WK Week shows, we also get the breaking news of Saya Kamitani becoming the first ever women's wrestler to win the Tokyo Sports MVP while we were recording the AWG segment of this episode, so we all react to that live on the air!The guests who appear in Part 2, in their order of appearance, are below:-Dylan (Eastern Lariat: https://easternlariat.libsyn.com/)-Arametha-John DK (Check out his website here: https://dk1105.neocities.org/)-Jamie (DramaticDDT: https://dramaticddt.wordpress.com/)-Tim (Joshi-ing around podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5vEhF921sFtprCxTsWhqt6?si=d1da6785766042cd)-Snazzy (Also Joshi-ing around!)-Velkej Bracha (ActWres Stage podcast)-Rodrigo-Xyon (Derailments of Thought blog: https://derailmentsofthought.com/)Don't forget to check out Part 1 (Episode 276) if you missed it, which featured all of the men's promotions (NJPW, NOAH, AJPW, DDT & more!).Follow 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #260: NJPW G1 Climax Nights 12-15 & STARDOM 5 Star GP Days Days 6-8 w/ Quinlan
Aug 11, 202503:16:34Tap to summarizeThis 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #259: STARDOM 5 Star GP Days 1-5 & NJPW G1 Climax Nights 7-11 w/ Quinlan
Aug 4, 202503:14:07Tap to summarizeThis 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #258: STARDOM 7/21 & 7/24 Reviews & 5 STAR GP Preview, NJPW G1 Nights 3-6, TJPW Summer Sun Princess & Marigold Dream Star GP Preview w/ Arametha
Jul 27, 202504:53:29Tap to summarizeWrestling 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #257: NJPW G1 Climax Nights 1 & 2, NOAH 7/19 & 7/20, Sendai Girls 7/19, AJPW 7/17 & Marigold 7/16 Reviews, STARDOM 7/21 & 7/24 Previews w/ Devin
Jul 21, 202503:12:37Tap to summarizeJohn 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #256: NJPW G1 Climax 35 Preview, AEW All In Texas, DG Kobe World & DDT 7/13 Korakuen Reviews w/ Chris Samsa
Jul 14, 202504:12:15Tap to summarizeThis 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #255: Traveling to Japan for Wrestling w/ Quinlan
Jul 6, 202503:28:14Tap to summarizeWrestling 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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #254: 2025 Mid-Year Awards w/ Paul, Velkej & Arametha
Jun 30, 202504:16:12Tap to summarizeWe'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
Transcribe →Wrestling Omakase #253: NJPW Dominion 6.15 Review, STARDOM The Conversion Preview & Marigold 6/15-6/17 w/ Velkej Bracha
Jun 18, 202503:44:42Tap to summarizeJohn 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
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