Wrestling Omakase

Wrestling Omakase
  • 3.8 (31)
  • WRESTLING
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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.

  1. 4H AGO

    Wrestling Omakase #283: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka & New Japan Cup Preview, STARDOM 2/13, TJPW 2/14, NOAH 2/11, AJPW 2/15 & GLEAT 2/11 Korakuens w/ John Bivens

    The John & John: Both Took At Least One Bump Connection™ are back once again, as John is joined by John Bivins for another long path through a whole lot of Japanese wrestling! First up: a full review of NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, featuring some weird vibes but also some great wrestling. Also was Jake Lee really that bad? The answer may surprise you! Then John & John give a full preview of the New Japan Cup as they both pick who will advance in each match, who will end up being the winner who goes on to Sakura Genesis and more. Plus a brief preview of the New Beginning in USA show and the two junior title matches announced for the Anniversary Show! Then they bounce around the rest of Japan via five Korakuen shows from five different companies: STARDOM from 2/13 (feat. good vibes and shining wizard bumps), Tokyo Joshi from 2/14 (feat. an Ober Eats burial but also a lot of stuff we really liked!), NOAH from 2/11 (feat. oh god please make it stop and by "it" we mean Team 2000X), AJPW from 2/15 (feat. some stuff and also what the f**k is up with that Champion Carnival lineup), and finally GLEAT also from 2/11 (feat. The End of the Anti-GLE Monsters, RIP I guess). John Bivins' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punkrock.darkroast/ Sport of Pro Wrestling's New Japan Cup 2026 Pick 'em Contest: https://sportofprowrestling.com/njpw/njc-26-challenge Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    4h 25m

  2. FEB 10

    Wrestling Omakase #282: STARDOM 1/31 Korakuen & 2/7 Osaka, NJPW 2/1 & 2/2 Korakuens & NB in Osaka Preview, DG 2/5 & NOAH 2/6 Korakuens w/ Arametha

    "We're back to our regular format for another episode of Omakase, as John is once again joined by returning guest Arametha to break down a ton of Japanese wrestling. But first: alpine skiing, for some reason. Then it's off to STARDOM to talk their 1/31 Korakuen and their VERY newsworthy 2/7 Osaka show, with some thoughts on Is There Too Much HATE, which seems to be the big debate of the day. Over in NJPW, they discuss two strong Road to shows and then preview the big New Beginning in Osaka event, as well as talk yet another major departure in Hiromu Takahashi. Then they head to the world of Dragongate to review their 2/5 Korakuen, which seems to have gotten a very mixed reaction online- it definitely had its share of both good and bad. Finally, they wrap things up with a quick review of the opening night of NOAH's Jr. Tag League, also from Korakuen, and discuss how NOAH feels a bit like it's stuck in place at the moment. Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social" Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    4h 5m

  3. FEB 2

    Wrestling Omakase #281: 2025 VOW Match of the Year & John's WON Awards Ballot w/ 4 guests!

    With Japanese wrestling having an uncharacteristically quiet week, it's the perfect opportunity for us to take a look back at the best of 2025! Voices of Wrestling just rolled out its 2025 Match of the Year poll (always one of the coolest things the site does every year), and John is joined by four fellow voters: Joshi-ing Around's Tim Hunter, Social Suplex's Chris Whitehead, VOW's Sean Sedor and Brady from, uh, an organic cooking company? Anyway! All five of them go over their own personal ten favorite matches from 2025 in great detail, as it's basically 4+ hours of them raving about what they loved most in wrestling last year (and also throwing some shade about what they didn't love so much- ok, mostly just John does that). Then, as if that wasn't enough 2025 award audio for you, John also recorded 45 minutes of solo audio that's tacked onto the end where they go over their Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards ballot in detail, explaining who they voted and why for Flair/Thesz, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Best Promotion and a whole lot more! Voices of Wrestling 2025 MOTY: https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2025moty Joshi-ing Around podcast: https://redcircle.com/shows/1309343e-3781-4750-9209-4efbc9976ab6 Social Suplex newsletter: https://www.socialsuplex.com/newsletter/ Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    4h 58m

  4. JAN 26

    Wrestling Omakase #280: NJPW 1/19 & 1/20, STARDOM 1/21, Marigold 1/24 & DDT 1/25 Korakuens, GLEAT 1/20 Shinjuku FACE w/ Velkej

    Wrestling Omakase is finally back to its regularly scheduled programming, as we're once again going weekly from here on out following our part-time schedule earlier in January (due to a combo of Japan trip, post-Japan trip blues/jet lag and then work stuff). John is joined by returning guest Velkej Bracha to discuss NJPW's 1/19 & 1/20 Road to New Beginning Korakuens (feat. the end of EVIL, a classic tag match, and a hot unit feud), STARDOM's 1/21 Korakuen (feat. the Tokyo HATE Squad Showdown and more blissful Maki/Saori interactions) and Marigold's 1/24 Korakuen (feat. Mayu Iwatani's 15th anniversary, now without STARDOM IP). People needing to take Ls is a big overriding theme as you'll find out. Then John goes solo to discuss two more shows, DDT's 1/25 Korakuen (feat. unit movement and A Second Suzuki Incident Has Struck The Building) and GLEAT's 1/20 Shinjuku FACE show. Yes, this is a GLEAT podcast now, apparently. Who knew? Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    3h 50m

  5. JAN 14

    Wrestling Omakase #279: WK Trip Recap (NJPW, STARDOM, NOAH, AJPW, DDT, TJPW, DG, Marigold, GLEAT, JTO & More!) w/ Arametha

    Well folks, it's finally here. After we couldn't tear ourselves away from the karaoke rooms, Club MOGRA, or.....other activities long enough to get you an Omakase live from Japan this time, returning guest Arametha and I are here to recap 16 days and 22 shows of absolute insanity. We talk about attending everything from Wrestle Kingdom & Dream Queendom to Just Tap Out and Sportiva, plus answer YOUR questions about food, who the best karaoke performer was, what the gayest thing Arametha ever saw in his life was (hint: John did it), and much much more! I could never possibly do this one justice with a longer description, so just enjoy 4 hours and 47 minutes of utter depravity. Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    4h 48m

  6. 12/26/2025

    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

    Wrestling 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/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    3h 30m

  7. 12/17/2025

    Wrestling Omakase #277: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 2 (STARDOM, Marigold, TJPW, AWG, OZ, ICE, Marvelous, SEAd, ChocoPro, Diana, Pure-J, WAVE)

    It'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 -WAVE In 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/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    5h 41m

  8. 12/14/2025

    Wrestling Omakase #276: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 1 (NJPW, NOAH, AJPW, DDT, BASARA, Ganbare, BJW & GLEAT)

    It's the biggest episode of Wrestling Omakase ever- so big in fact that this is only part 1! 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, NOAH at the Budokan, AJPW at Yoyogi) to the many 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 1 focuses on all of the men's promotions. Please see below for the exact list of promotions covered in the order they appear on the show: -NOAH -AJPW -NJPW -DDT -BASARA -Ganbare -BJW -GLEAT Here's the full list of guests that appeared on Part 1, in order of their appearances: -Paul (Emerald FlowShow: https://redcircle.com/shows/the-emerald-flowshow) -Yuri (A Brazilian Pro Wrestler! Check out his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yurionerd/) -John Bivins (An American indie wrestler! https://www.facebook.com/john.bivins.372) -Jamie (DramaticDDT: https://dramaticddt.wordpress.com/) -Arametha -Dylan (Eastern Lariat: https://easternlariat.libsyn.com/) -Quinlan In Part 2 we'll cover twelve more promotions from the world of joshi, so look out for that episode soon! Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakase Follow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.social Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    3h 32m
See All (249)

3.8
out of 5
31 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Wrestling Omakase
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    249
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Wrestling Omakase

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