5 Star Match Game #43: 2025

Mike & JD discuss Vince McMahons sham retiremet of 2022 and try to understand the TKO shareholder lawsuit. Then they discuss Wrestle Kingdom featuring Tanahashi's retirement match, Yota Tsuji finally winning the IWGP World Title, & a Washed Naito shows up in NOAH. Plus Free Ageny news regarding Matt Cardona, Tommaso Ciampa, EC3, and EVIL!For exlusive and premium content head to patreon.com/themikeandjdshowOur Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome back to Open The Voice Gate! Case (https://twitter.com/_inyourcase) and Mike (https://twitter.com/fujiiheya) are back with an update on the comings and goings of Dragongate.It’s the final Voice Gate of 2025 and time for the Ulty Awards! On this episode, Mike and Case discuss the year-end shows in Kobe (12/27-28) including an incredible series of Triangle Gate matches before finishing the show with the Ulty Awards including MVP, Most Outstanding, Best Unit and they give their top ten Dragongate matches of 2025!Our podcast provider, Red Circle, offers the listeners the option to sponsor the show. Click on “Sponsor This Podcaster” at https://redcircle.com/shows/open-the-voice-gate and you can donate a single time, or set up a monthly donation to Open The Voice Gate!Please Rate and Review Open The Voice Gate on the podcast platform of your choice and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/openvoicegate.Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The final Flagship of 2025! This week, we preview NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 20, featuring the in-ring debut of Aaron Wolf, Hiroshi Tanahashi's final match, and more.We also preview major New Year's shows for Pro Wrestling NOAH, All Japan Pro Wrestling, review STARDOM's Dream Queendom show, discuss fallout from AEW Worlds End 2025, Brandon Thurston's article on Vince McMahon and WWE/Endeavor, and our now-annual look at the Uncrowned Awards. Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

At long last the 5 Star Match Game returns! We've been on hiatus but we would never miss our year end spectacular! Yes, our power panel of Alan Counihan (@Alan4L), Mike Spears (@fujiiheya), and Case Lowe (@_inyourcase) fields five rounds of trivia about the wrestling world of 2025. Biases are revealed and grievances aired! Alan can't beat the WWE fan allegations! Case gets retweeted by Dave Meltzer! Don't you dare miss it!Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mike & JD are back discussing JD's experience attending AEW Worlds End + a Full Show, match-by-match breakdown. They also dive into the latest free agency news with updates on Chris Jericho, Anna Jay, David Finlay, and Clark Connors. For premium and exclusive content, head to patreon.com/themikeandjdshowOur Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It is the most wonderful time of the year as Joel and Damon return to preview Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome. From Hiroshi Tanahashi's retirement match vs Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita vs Yota Tsuji, to Aaron Wolf vs EVIL, we'll get you hyped for New Japan's biggest show in years. We will have "boots on the ground" as Joel will be in Tokyo for the event - we discuss meet-ups, plans, and all the happenings scheduled for January 4. Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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/wrestleomakaseFollow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialOur Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Rich for a special edition of The Flagship this week as we cover news and notes from the week, the latest on Andrade, updates to the Wrestle Kingdom 20 card, your Christmas questions, and then a MASSIVE preview of all the events happening in the Tokyo region for Wrestle Kingdom Week with Wrestling Omakase host John Carroll.Wrestling Omakase Wrestle Kingdom Week Previews: https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2025/12/17/wrestling-omakase-276-277-wrestle-kingdom-week-2025-26-preview-20-promotions-13-guests/Wrestle Kingdom Week Schedule: https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/wrestle-kingdom-week-2025-2026-full-schedule-map/Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Case (https://twitter.com/_inyourcase) and Mike (https://twitter.com/fujiiheya) return to discuss the spring of 1995 and early summer in Michinoku Pro where a lot of things are afoot including: The Bridge of Dreams Show, Sasuke finally takes Mexico (and a discussion of what led to the Mexican Industry cratering in 95), and Michinoku finds themselves in positions in May (5/14) and June (6/17) where unexpected stars form as Masato Yakushiji and Naohiro Hoshikawa have breakout performances and who is this Triton guy!?A full match listing of footage covered during this episode can be found at the show post on www.voicesofwrestling.com or in the Open The Voice Gate channel on the VOW Discord.Our podcast provider, Red Circle, offers the listeners the option to sponsor the show. Click on “Sponsor This Podcaster” at https://redcircle.com/shows/open-the-voice-gate and you can donate a single time, or set up a monthly donation to Open the Voice Gate!Please Rate and Review Open The Voice Gate on the podcast platform of your choice and follow us on social media with @openvoicegate!.Our Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's almost time to say goodbye and good riddance to 2025. Who knows what delights and horrors await us in 2026, but before we get there, we have a Music of the Mat annual tradition: the year-end episode! Andrew and returning guest Maura Johnston (Boston Globe, Rolling Stone) play some of their favorite music that came out during the year. Artists played include Elton John & Brandi Carlile, CMAT, Bartees Strange, Jane Inc., Pulp, Kehlani, Ghost, The Last Dinner Party, Sam Fender, and many more. Thank you to everyone for listening to and supporting the show in 2025!Theme song: "Hemispheres" by Silent PartnerBluesky: @MusicoftheMat / @justandrew / @mauraMaura's website: maura.comAll VOW podcasts, articles, previews, and reviews: VoicesofWrestling.comJoin the VOW Discord to discuss Music of the Mat and other shows/topics: VoicesofWrestling.com/DiscordDonate to Music of the Mat and other VOW podcasts: VoicesofWrestling.com/DonateOur Sponsors:* Check out our sponsor BetterHelp at https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy