Japanese wrestling talk with memory and patience.
Eastern Lariat is a conversational Japanese pro wrestling show built around reviews, news, awards, predictions, and big-event fallout. It suits fans who already know the scene and want careful reasoning about DDT, All Japan, Dragon Gate, Noah, NJPW, Stardom, and the wrestlers moving through them.
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Eastern Lariat is a long-running Japanese pro wrestling show for fans who want the reasoning behind the reaction. It is not built like a highlights package. It takes its time. Regular episodes move through news, reviews, listener responses, awards, predictions, and promotion-by-promotion check-ins, with the conversation often circling a point from several angles before landing. That patience is the appeal. A discussion of DDT can pause on Katsuma Sumi, Mao, Toy, Yuki Ueno, and the question of who is actually gaining momentum. A 25 under 25 episode can turn a prospect list into a debate about opportunity, readiness, size, company trust, and how young wrestlers are used. A G1 Climax recap can become a frustrated but specific argument about lost feeling, credibility, commentary framing, and what the tournament is supposed to create. The show is comfortable being warm, skeptical, and nerdy in the same stretch. It also has room for the odd sidetrack: birthdays, German Christmas phrasing, Persona 3 Reload, comics, listener lists, and running jokes all sit beside close wrestling analysis. Recent specials show another mode, with Dylan handling prediction episodes and breaking-news reactions when a story feels too big to wait. Those episodes still keep the show’s larger habit: treating a single announcement as part of a wider company story. Eastern Lariat works best for listeners already familiar with Japanese wrestling’s names and rhythms. It does not slow down for a full primer. Instead, it assumes curiosity, rewards context, and keeps asking what each match, tournament, push, departure, or fan response says about the scene around it.
Made for: For Japanese pro wrestling fans who follow more than one promotion and want thoughtful, opinionated context rather than quick recaps. It especially fits listeners who enjoy predictions, prospect debates, tournament postmortems, and company-wide booking analysis.
What sets it apart: Eastern Lariat stands out by treating individual matches and news items as evidence in a broader argument about promotion identity, wrestler development, and audience feeling. Its loose conversation gives the analysis room to breathe without sanding off strong opinions.
Crave a podcast that goes in-depth on the hotbed that is the Japanese pro wrestling scene? If so, the Eastern Lariat podcast from the MLW Radio Network is for you! Hosted by STRIGGA of Purolove.com and Cagematch.net and Dylan Fox of MLW's Lucha Talk and Cagematch.net, this bi-weekly podcast series explores the Japanese pro wrestling landscape with analysis, reviews and news on New Japan Pro Wrestling and beyond. Be introduced to new companies and their style of wrestling, insight on their business, wrestlers, rivalries, tours, big shows and much, much more.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Eastern Lariat turns Japanese wrestling results into sharp arguments about performance, opportunity, booking, and the direction of promotions.
Eastern Lariat treats Japanese pro wrestling as a living competitive scene, with STRIGGA and Dylan Fox moving between match evaluation and the decisions shaping promotions.
Striga brings the G1 feeling, Dylan Fox brings the statistics; you get the argument afterward.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Striga and Dylan close January with DDT, All Japan, Dragon Gate, and a birthday in the room.
Striga and Dylan use the January 27 recording to wrap a busy month in Japanese pro wrestling, moving from year-end awards reactions into a promotion-by-promotion pass through DDT, All Japan, and Dragon Gate before turning toward February.
Dylan Fox gives plausible picks and long shots a warm, thoughtful hearing in Eastern Lariat's 2026 prediction show.
Dylan Fox steers Eastern Lariat's yearly prediction show into 2026, sorting through audience picks that range from plausible calls to real long shots.
A measured under-25 debate that turns rankings into a conversation about timing, opportunity, and potential.
Eastern Lariat's under-25 discussion treats Japan's next wave of pro wrestlers as a real debate, not a simple list. Striga and Dylan work through their rankings by testing specific cases, including Masada's obvious upside, the more reserved response around him, and the sharp…
A candid G1 Climax postmortem where instinct, stats, and fan expectations collide.
This single-episode review frames the G1 Climax finale as more than a result sheet. Trigger brings the gut-level read, while Dylan adds Cagematch statistics and Eastern Lariat listener responses, letting the conversation move between predictions, the final stretch, presentation,…
A delayed catch-up finds wrestling's character in the rooms that hold it.
This single-episode review frames Japanese pro wrestling through the places that make it feel lived in, beginning with a month of catch-up before settling into Shinjuku FACE closing and the practical texture that made the venue stand out.
A sharp G1 check-in on New Japan's crowds, booking logic, and the frustration of familiar mistakes.
The show treats the G1's third and fourth nights as more than a match ledger. It looks at what the tournament is exposing for New Japan: the push to rebuild attendance outside Tokyo, and the booking choices that can make wrestlers seem either sharper or oddly careless.
Striga and Dylan discuss the breaking news of Kazuchika Okada leaving NJPW.
Hosts Strigga and Dylan Fox analyze nights three and four of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax tournament.
Hosts Strigga and Dylan Fox return after a month to catch up on Japanese pro wrestling.
Hosts Strig and Dylan discuss Japanese pro wrestling news and Jun Akiyama's appearance at Collision.
Dylan Fox delivers a breaking news update about Jeff Cobb, BUSHI, and Tetsuya Naito leaving NJPW and the vacating of tag team titles.
Dylan Fox and Amy Hay review DRAGONGATE's Tokyo Infinity Hectopascal from Ota, which drew a reported 1,682 fans, slightly below last year's Shun and Kakuta main event show.
Eastern Lariat hosts Trigger and Dylan assess Osaka Pro’s current position, highlighting YouTube accessibility, the Vertex and Rogue Nation factions, and Ryoya Matsufuza’s rise as Osaka Pro champion.
The hosts of the Istan Lariat Podcast celebrate a birthday and discuss Japanese pro wrestling, comics, and listener awards.
Dylan Fox hosts a solo prediction show for Japanese wrestling in 2026, reflecting on past feedback and previewing upcoming content.
Hosts Striga and Dylan discuss Japanese pro wrestling and exchange belated Christmas greetings in German.
Hosts Striga and Dylan discuss Japanese pro wrestling news and reviews, with Dylan humorously claiming to be from 'the other side'.
Hosts Stryga and Dylan discuss Japanese pro wrestling, reflecting on past episodes and the Gaea Girls documentary.
Trigger and Dylan use Ariake Arena's 4,558 semifinal and 6,800 final numbers to argue that G1 Climax 35 underperformed at the gate.
Dylan Fox delivers a breaking news update about Jeff Cobb, BUSHI, and Tetsuya Naito leaving NJPW and the vacating of tag team titles.