This is a Patreon-exclusive full episode. Sign up to the Wrestling Omakase Patreon now for just $5 a month to get access to it, along with:
-Six previous Patreon-exclusive full episodes with Alan4L, Rich Kraetsch, Todd Martin, Nate from Everything Elite, Robin Reid from VOW Quiz Night and Garrett Kidney from Wednesday War Games.
-Daily tournament coverage of the King of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Princess Cup, now complete!
-Upcoming coverage of the G1 Climax 30 and 2020 Champion Carnival & NOAH N-1 Victory!
-Two different series covering two awesome NJPW rivalries: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii! Both have been completed, so follow along in chronological order as we discuss not just each match but also everything else all four guys were up to in New Japan at the time!
-Anime Omakase, our new series exclusively on the world of anime, which has five episodes up, including a recent one covering a recent Spring 2020 smash hit.
-And much more!

It’s a very special Patreon-exclusive 5 Matches episode of Wrestling Omakase: our all-G1 edition! If you haven’t listened to a 5 Matches episode yet, every week John and the guest each choose 2 matches to watch and talk about on the episode. Then we each choose a third match, which is put up to a vote on the @wrestleomakase Twitter account (or on the Patreon!), letting the listeners choose our fifth and final match of the week. It’s a fun retro format featuring all sorts of different wrestling!

John is joined by returning guest Chris Samsa (@TheChrisSamsa) from VOW, PWTorch and his own site the Sport of Pro Wrestling. Chris and John start by discussing their excitement for the upcoming G1, talk how much they love round robin tournaments in general, and talk about some of the possible pandemic-related issues and changes this year. Once that’s out of the way they get into their picks, which as mentioned are all G1 matches for this special themed episode:

1. Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW 8/4/13 (NJPW World: Japanese or English)
2. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, NJPW 8/17/03 (NJPW World)
3. Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay, NJPW 7/18/19 (NJPW World: Japanese or English)
4. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega, NJPW 7/15/18 (NJPW World: Japanese or English)
5. Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW 8/11/17 (NJPW World: Japanese or English)

Topics that come up along the way include: Chris’ favorite wrestler shouldn’t be too hard to guess, Ibushi enters his first G1 as a DDT-only junior heavyweight, when will Nakamura come back from the war, Tenzan Must Suffer: The Origin, Tenzan’s parents are nervous, Jun Akiyama kicks a whole lot of ass, biased New Japan officiating against the good NOAH boy, some Extremely Will Facesâ„¢, Kota does some real crazy shit, Naito and Omega just have a good time while spitting at each other a lot, don’t forget about this third match folks because it rules too, John spots themself on camera during the start of Naito-Tanahashi, two of the best pro wrestlers ever just put on a clinic, and finally: what the fuck was John thinking only giving this ****3/4 the first time.

Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wrestling-166-5-41254788

Wrestling Omakase has dedicated channels on TWO Discords! Come join either one where you can chat with John and show guests and submit questions for future episodes!
Super J-Cast Discord
VOW Network Discord

Missed any of the 5 Matches episodes or just want to revisit one of the matches discussed previously but aren’t sure what episode it took place on? Here’s a handy Google Doc with links to every single match we’ve discussed on this series so far, which will continue to be updated with every episode!