In shocking news, AEW's Pac has passed away. As he's one of the most prolific DG wrestlers ever I wanted to talk and think about his great run in Japan. PAC was one of the all time greats in DG, and stands up as among the best foreign wrestlers to grace Japan. He first started wrestling in his home country of England in 2004 at just 17 years old, and made his debut for DRAGONGATE 3 years later in 2007. He would go on to be one of the most praised and adored high flying wrestlers anywhere in the world and an integral part of DG and pro wrestling as a whole. He wrestled as a part of multiple units during his time in DG, notably as a part of WORLD-1 as a beloved babyface, and then after a multiple year absence due to his run in WWE, he would return as a heel and leader of the top heel unit at the time, R.E.D. He was a multi-time champion in both DG & DGUSA, it's American offshoot. He was a 3x Open the Triangle Gate Champion as a part of WORLD-1, sharing the honors with Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk, Masato Yoshino & Naoki Tanizaki, and Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi. In addition he won the Open the Twin Gate Titles with Dragon Kid as well as the Open the United Gate (DGUSA's tag team titles) with Masato Yoshino). His most famous title reigns were both singles titles however. The first being long considered among the greatest title reigns the company has ever seen. In August 2010 he won a tournament to capture the vacated Open the Brave Gate title and went on to defend the title a record breaking 11 times, a run that is still talked about to this day. And not only was it legendary, he had amazing matches up and down with my personal favorites against the likes of Dragon Kid, Akira Tozawa, and Genki Horiguchi, before doing the honors for Ricochet in November of the following year. In addition to that, upon his villainous return in 2018 and leading to a highly memorable run, dethroning his old friend Masato Yoshino and holding it for much of 2019 before putting over Ben-K at Kobe World 2019, which happened to be his final ever DRAGONGATE match, ending what has to be among the best sub-1 year runs in wrestling history. In addition to his DRAGONGATE run he has wrestled in NJPW for the 2012 BOSJ, making it to the semi-finals before losing to Ryusuke Taguchi. In America he wrestled for both of the current top companies, WWE as Neville & AEW and was a multi time champion in both companies, last holding gold as a part of the Death Riders unit, teaming with Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. Me and Amy were just talking last month about how great he & Claudio were and how they could be tag team of the year contenders and I know STRIGGA also thought the world of him and his work. Every wrestler I've ever heard talk about PAC has spoken fondly of him, describing him as low key, soft spoken and humble outside of the ring. He was an unbelievable wrestler who had only turned 40 years old last month and our thoughts and prayers are with PAC, his family, friends and fans. He will be missed intensely in AEW, DG, and all over wrestling. We mourn one of the greatest and remember him and so many of the great matches and memories he's brought to so many fans over the years. I hope we can all watch some of his matches this week and remember how special of a talent he was. Rest in Peace, PAC, Benjamin Satterley.

🏆It's award season!🏆 For the 8th time, The Eastern Lariat presents the Half Year Awards! @Viva_Zero & @STRIGGA discuss the very best in japanese pro-wrestling in 12 categories as voted for by YOU. Join in and relive the first six months of 2026! easternlariat.libsyn.com/epi…

DRAGONGATE has released the Homare vs. Ryoya Tanaka match from Kobe World myself and Amy had such high praise for for free on YouTube! It's really worth a watch to see what the best of this company is about with 2 of their finest. youtube.com/watch?v=u3wHZL_i…

First time ever guest @amyhay___ joins Dylan to talk DRAGONGATE's Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, a show with major developments and thoughts for Kimura, Shinbashi, Shun, XenisS, Homare & Ryoya, Kikuta and of course Kzy Time! 🔗cagematch.net/r/?id=128&nr=1…

The qualifications for the Kobashi MVP are the same as for Toyota Joshi MVP. Star power, skills and all around value to their company(ies) all matter to determine who is the winner of the ultimate prize in the Half-Year ELAs. Who was Japan's MVP through the first half of 2026?

I've long said that Best Moment was my personal favorite and most meaningful award as so many have already been nominated and remembered already, but which is the #1 best moment of the year in 2026 so far in Japanese Pro Wrestling?

When it comes to the Tanahashi Trophy it will be the first year without the man himself eligible! But there are still many wrestlers at the highest level and worthy to take the award with his name. From a purely in-ring standpoint pound for pound, who was the best in 2026 so far?