212 episodes

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!

Wrestling Omakase Wrestling Omakase

    • Sports
    • 3.8 • 30 Ratings

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!

    Wrestling Omakase #246: State of NJPW & New Japan Cup Pick 'Em w/ Joel

    Wrestling Omakase #246: State of NJPW & New Japan Cup Pick 'Em w/ Joel

    Wrestling Omakase is back for another new episode! John is joined by returning guest Joel of the Super J-Cast (@thesuperjcast) for a bit of a state of New Japan Pro Wrestling update. Where does NJPW stand after losing Okada & Ospreay to AEW? What does fan reaction look like after the controversial New Beginning in Sapporo shows? What strengths do NJPW still have, and what are their big threats heading into the future? Then John & Joel bring back a former annual Omakase tradition: the New Japan Cup Pick "Ems! They each give their (sometimes very different!) picks for each and every 2024 New Japan Cup match, right down to who they ultimately think will lift the trophy this time around! All this plus a (well deserved) burial of a popular wrestling website, wow!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

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    • 1 hr 38 min
    Wrestling Omakase #245: Live from Japan! Wrestle Kingdom 18 & AJPW 12/31 w/ Paul & The Bebbler

    Wrestling Omakase #245: Live from Japan! Wrestle Kingdom 18 & AJPW 12/31 w/ Paul & The Bebbler

    We're back once again for another Very Special Episode of Wrestling Omakase! John is LIVE ON LOCATION from the Conrad and also a random AirBNB in Tokyo, as they're joined by returning guest Paul and THE BEBBLER to discuss all things Wrestle Kingdom 18! All three of them go over everything you could ever want to know about attending WK live, including various seat sections and what you might get when you choose them, beer girls (and their fanboys), fan calls, food options and much more! They also of course review the show in some detail and give their thoughts on the various matches. Once that's out of the way, it's time to go BACK IN TIME to earlier recorded audio with John & Paul from their AirBNB (which is why the sound is slightly different- it had a very high ceiling!) following the AJPW 12/31 show from Yoyogi National Gymnasium #2. John & Paul discuss the incredible Miyahara vs. Nakajima main event, Nakajima's Inoki tribute trolling, a big junior title change, and just talk about how much better it is to attend shows in Japan than in the West in general.


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

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    • 2 hr 12 min
    Wrestling Omakase #244: NJPW G1 Climax 33 Full Review & AEW All In/Out Preview w/ Chris Samsa

    Wrestling Omakase #244: NJPW G1 Climax 33 Full Review & AEW All In/Out Preview w/ Chris Samsa

    Wrestling Omakase is back for another very special episode! Tetsuya Naito has won the G1 Climax for the first time in six years, so you know John has some thoughts about it. John is joined by Chris Samsa (@TheChrisSamsa) to break down the entire G1 Climax 33, as the two of them start with a detailed review of the last two nights from Sumo Hall. They discuss of course the semi finals & finals but also all the other programs that were started for the upcoming Destruction tour, the young wrestlers who got to take a big step forward, what the fuck is going on with Kaito Kiyomiya, and much more. Then they go block-by-block and give some thoughts on each individual wrestler's tournaments (ranking them by John's average star rating), and give their overall top 10 matches of the tournament if you're looking for stuff you may have missed to go back and watch as well. Finally, they wrap up the episode with a quick check-in to the world of All Elite Wrestling, as they look ahead to the major upcoming PPVs, All In and All Out, with previews of both confirmed & rumored matches.


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

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    • 3 hr 2 min
    Wrestling Omakase #243: 2022 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame w/ Mongo

    Wrestling Omakase #243: 2022 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame w/ Mongo

    We're back for a very special episode! John is joined by returning guest Mongo (@mongo_ebooks), and only one thing can get them out of podcast semi-retirement: Tetsuya Naito is a 2022 Wrestling Observer Hall of Famer!
    John & Mongo talk a little about all of the new inductees but the most focus is on Naito, Kota Ibushi, and some of the other people who didn't get in (one CM Punk perhaps?). They discuss why Naito was such a slam dunk candidate even if you didn't necessarily love him or his fans, using some cold hard facts and business metrics to make their case. Plus, a look ahead to next year's nominees and more!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

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    • 1 hr 24 min
    Wrestling Omakase #242: 2021 Year End Awards w/ 7 Guests!

    Wrestling Omakase #242: 2021 Year End Awards w/ 7 Guests!

    This week on Wrestling Omakase it's our fifth annual year end awards spectacular, as we break down the best and worst of 2021 in all of professional wrestling!

    John is joined by an all-star panel of 2021 guests: VOW contributors Sean Sedor (@SASedor2994), Suit Williams (@SuitWilliams), Gerard di Trolio (@GerarddiTrolio) and Paul Volsch (@Darth_Dragon), plus Devin (@MoreThanMeatJoy), Mongo (@mongo_ebooks) and Liam McCann (@liam_d_mccann). They all talk a little about what they liked and didn't like about 2021, and what they thought of wrestling as a whole, before getting into their individual award picks. John also gives the overall winners of the voting, with all Omakase guests from the year being invited to send in their picks. Here's the awards in the order covered on the show:

    -Worst Weekly TV
    -Worst Major Show
    -The WWE Memorial Award for Worst Promotion
    -Worst Feud
    -Worst Match of the Year
    -Best Weekly TV
    -Best Major Show
    -Best Promotion
    -Best Feud
    -Most Outstanding Wrestler
    -Tag Team of the Year
    -Match of the Year
    -Wrestler of the Year

    Thanks for joining us at the end of another truly wild and somewhat awful year on this planet! Here's to 2022 being a whole lot better, both for wrestling and just the world in general!

    Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter to submit questions for future episodes and get alerts every time new episodes go up- @wrestleomakase!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    • 2 hr 42 min
    Wrestling Omakase #241: Tokyo Dome Retro Roulette Vol. 3 w/ Jeri

    Wrestling Omakase #241: Tokyo Dome Retro Roulette Vol. 3 w/ Jeri

    This week on Wrestling Omakase we take our third completely randomized look back at shows that took place inside the Big Egg, the Tokyo Dome!
    John is joined by returning guest & VOW contributor Jeri Evagood (@TheJerriest_Jer) for her record TENTH appearance of the year! Wow! John crowns her MVP (Most Valuable Podcaster) before they get into what they've both been up to, including Christmas, worrying about Omicron cancelling their plans, and a whole lot more. Plus there's some discussion of Jeri's semi-recent Atlantic City trip, and John's pre-emptive year end thoughts ahead of next week's 2021 Year End Awards episode. Once that's out of the way they get into their topic, which is six randomly selected matches from six randomly selected Tokyo Dome shows (all Dome shows were eligible, not just 1/4 and not just NJPW). As always, stop reading here if you want to be surprised, but if you'd like to know beforehand here they are below:
    1. Great Muta vs. Masahiro Chono, NJPW 1/4/93 (NJPW World: https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00114_1_7)
    2. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Kengo Kimura & Tatsutoshi Goto, NJPW 1/4/95 (NJPW World: https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00132_1_9)
    3. Randy Savage vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, NJPW 4/29/96 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYbamFhKl-g)
    4. Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NJPW 5/2/02 (NJPW World: https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00160_1_2 or https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00160_2_2)
    5. Heat vs. Tiger Mask, NJPW 1/4/05 (NJPW World: https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00165_1_3)
    6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Go Shiozaki, NJPW 1/4/10 (NJPW World: https://front.njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00174_1_8)
    Topics that come up along the way include: since we did get all NJPW this time John gives some background on the promotion's very turbulent history as we go through the years here, Chono's bizarre clean-cut years, Muta nearly commits a random murder, a little background on both Heisei Ishingun and Yatsu's very strange career journey to this point, a boring match with not much to talk about, how the hell did we get Savage vs. Tenzan again, Savage at least puts in some effort this time, Takayama on the verge of breaking out as a megastar, Yuji Nagata FUCKING OWNS, Minoru Tanaka's bizarre videogame gimmick, EVIL HEAT, Love & Energy forever, a damn great match to close things out, and much more!
    Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter to submit questions for future episodes and get alerts every time new episodes go up- @wrestleomakase!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wrestling-omakase/donations

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    • 1 hr 55 min

Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5
30 Ratings

30 Ratings

Podchats ,

Pure Puro (and sometimes anime)

Love the show, my Japanese wrestling knowledge is a little limited to one promotion though, so my only wish is that John would possibly do a primer on how to get into DDT, Stardom, TJPW etc (either for someone trying to just get in them or for someone looking for what’s worth diving into the archives for!). Also had to write a review cause lol half of them are being mad at John cause they have opinions

The Best Darudere ,

Hipster 101

A wrestling podcast with poor audio. Sometimes it is even on the end of not listenable. The host is very pompous with his opinions often saying things like "if you don't like this, then you're an idiot." This is not a puro podcast I would recommend.

Cast Head ,

Neck Beardy Puro Talk

Mediocre host, poor sound and overall quality.

The commentary comes off as self congratulatory and low effort.

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