Gentlemen's Wrestling Podcast #114: Does Gedo Have Any New Ideas?

We'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: @justoneenbyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, in the news: updates on JR and Pat McAfee : in THE LAZY RIVER OF WRESTLING CRITICISM: a preview of Night of ChampionsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On the latest episode of the Gentlemen's Wrestling Podcast, host Jesse Collings is joined by Gerard Di Trolio of the Emerald Flowshow to discuss NJPW's crappy booking, the repetitiveness of Gedo's core philosophies, the lack of emphasis on younger talent, and compare NJPW to other Japanese promotions who have successfully created new stars in recent years.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paul and Gerard cover the Big Japan Ikkitousen Strong Climb tournament finals, lots of NOAH Monday Magic, and dive into several title matches in All Japan. Plus more discussion of where All Japan is headed and a Jr. Battle of Glory preview.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

367 Super J-Cast New Japan Soul ReviewsJoel and Damon are back to review NJPW's Soul 2025 shows with full analysis of the G1 Glimax play-in matches. The guys also discuss Aaron Wolf signing, Don Fale, EVIL being warmed up for another IWGP run, no Taichi or Ishii in G1, an exit strategy from Goto as champ, and we answer your questions.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A rare Wednesday Flagship! Join Joe & Rich live as they preview WWE Night of Champions 2025, review CMLL FantasticaMania Mexico, All Japan's June 18 show featuring another Triple Crown title defense, the importance of Aaron Wolf's signing with NJPW, Syuri vs. Saree, El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai & more!WWE Night of Champions 2025 previewCMLL FantasticaMania Mexico reviewAll Japan's June 18 reviewAaron Wolf's signing with NJPWSyuri vs. SareeEl Desperado vs. Jun Kasai& more!Advertising 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.Open The Voice Gate is back to talk about the Shun Skywalker situation, the full tentative Kobe World 2025 card, and a fun weekend in Kobe including Prime Zone+. After getting through modern Dragongate, Case and Mike spend the remainder of the episode on a deep dive of the Open The Dream Gate title and put together their Dream Gate Tier List.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.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Diego Gasca, uno de los Los Lucha Jobbers originales, regresa para platicar sobre todo lo ocurrido entre CMLL, AEW y NJPW en Arena Mexico: lo mejor, lo más emocionante, nuestras luchas favoritas, la atmósfera y el respeto que AEW Grand Slam México mostró por la lucha libre mexicana. Además, Abraham y Wally analizan el caótico estado de NJPW con una reseña de Dominion 2025.Si te gusta el contenido y tienes dinero extra, puedes dejarnos una donación en el siguiente enlace: https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/donate/. Cualquier cantidad es agradecida y todo va directo a los anfitriones de este querido podcast.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Pro wrestling has plenty of stipulation matches, but one of the most common is the Street Fight. It's essentially just another name for a No DQ match... or a Hardcore match... or a Weapons Wild match... or whatever other silly name you come up with. Regardless of the name, this match type has inspired this episode. Andrew and returning guest Warren Hayes (The Mr. Warren Hayes Show, Voices of Wrestling) play songs that have street suffixes in the title (street, road, drive, avenue, etc.), or in some cases are the names of actual streets. Artists played include Elton John, TSHA, Radiohead, Annie Lennox, Bobby Womack, Portishead, Yellowcard, and many more. Put on a sleeveless t-shirt and strap your kneepads over your jeans, because this episode is one big street fight you don't want to miss!Theme song: "Hemispheres" by Silent PartnerBluesky: @MusicoftheMat / @justandrew / @mrwarrenhayes.showSubscribe to Warren on YouTube: Youtube.com/@MrWarrenHayesAll 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/DonateAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kelly and Taylor are back to talk joshi again!They start with Stardom's big Conversion show, before moving on to discuss the announcement of the Marigold Dream Star GP field, a big title change in SEAdLINNNG, lots of action in TJPW and an exciting Sendai Girls tag title match!Then, they preview everything upcoming in joshi, including the latest Stardom New Blood show, HYPE 3 and Tokyo Joshi's latest Inspiration show along with a big ChocoPro Super Asia Title match!Check it out!Please follow us on twitter: @jbombaudioYou can support this podcast at http://redcircle.com/jumping-bomb-audio/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy