The Flagship Wrestling Podcast

The Flagship returns this week for a packed show discussing AEW's two-night visit to Arena Mexico with recaps & reviews of the CMLL vs. AEW show and last night's Grand Slam Mexico Dynamite.

Additional topics include the life and career of Dory Funk Jr, indie drama between PRODUCE and Joey Janela, David Shoemaker's embarrassing new Hulk Hogan book, Busted Open crying about media seats, and so much more.

A free preview of this week's SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE Flagship Podcast. To hear this show in its entirety, subscribe now at patreon.com/voicesofwrestling on our $5 Tier.

Topics include...

The Flagship returns for a packed show discussing WWE and SiriusXM launching WWE Radio, reviewing WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, announcing WrestleMania Weekend in NYC, WWE running Chicago during All Out weekend, "Mike Santana" "debuting" in NXT, previewing AEW Redemption, reviewing NOAH's Summer Epic, checking in on NJPW's G1 Climax, the life and career of Sivi Afi, and so much more!

The Flagship is back to full strength this week as we preview a massive wrestling weekend featuring the return of NJPW's G1 Climax, Shota Umino bowing out of the tournament, WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event from MSG, RevPro's Summer Sizzler, NOAH's Summer Epic, Dragongate's Kobe World, Osaka Pro's Castle Festival 2026 plus thoughts on the final episode of Dark Side of the Ring on TNA & so much more.

On this episode of The Flagship, Rich is joined by special guest Jeremy Donovan of the Keepin' It Strong Style podcast to preview NJPW's G1 Climax, his experience at Dynamite Beach Break, and his 95th percentile baby.

After we say goodbye to Jeremy, Rich talks about Tiger Mask IV's retirement show, the first two episodes of TNA's Dark Side of the Ring, stunningly low SummerSlam ticket sales, an anniversary that should make any wrestling fan angry and so much more!

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On this episode of The Flagship, we review a massive weekend of wrestling, including fallout from AEW Forbidden Door 2026, WWE's Night of Champions, NXT The Great American Bash, TNA Slammiversary, a stacked card for next week's Dynamite Beach Break, several TNA releases, the life and career of Joe Doering, and so much more.

On this episode of The Flagship, we get you ready for a packed wrestling weekend with previews of AEW's Forbidden Door 2026 PPV, WWE Night of Champions, TNA Slammiversary, and NXT The Great American Bash.

We also review AJPW's Super Power Series show featuring a Triple Crown Title match between Kento Miyahara and Hideki Suzuki, G1 Climax lineups, ticket sales, & announcements, and so much more.

This week on The Flagship: the life and career of "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty, a review of NJPW Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo-Hall, a look at the G1 announcements, NJPW's upcoming schedule, a check-in on Forbidden Door, AEW All In Wembley ticket sales, a review of NOAH's Neo Global Tag League finals, a preview of AJPW's Super Power Series show, and more!

This week on The Flagship: rumors on CM Punk and his absence from WWE TV, whether wrestling reporters should report on rumors or not, plus a review the Best of the Super Juniors finals, a preview NJPW's Dominion, a review Osaka Pro's June 7 show, a review of AJPW's June 6 show, and the latest free agent updates on Steve Maclin, Shun Skywalker, Enzo Amore, and more!

On this episode of The Flagship, we review AAA Noche de Los Grandes, discuss the mask vs. mask main event between El Grande Americano and "The Original" El Grande Americano, discuss WWE's next steps in Mexico, WWE Clash in Italy, Shun Skywalker departing Dragongate, a brief check in on NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors, Voices of Wrestling's 30 Under 30 and so much more!

A short preview of the latest Subscriber-Exclusive episode of The Flagship—available now in full exclusively on the FlagshipPatreon.com $10 tier.

Topics discussed on the full show: slow-moving ticket sales for TNA Slammiversary and the state of TNA, a lengthy discussion on the 2026 Greatest Wrestler Ever vote, a review of Saturday's Collision, and a recap of the special two-hour premiere of MLW Fusion.

On this episode of The Flagship, we discuss the huge news that Bushiroad is selling its NJPW shares to TV Asahi and CyberAgent, what it means for the future of NJPW and Japanese wrestling, and more. We also preview this weekend's AAA Noche de Los Grandes show featuring the hottest feud in pro wrestling, WWE's Clash in Italy, the return of MLW, whatever the heck VEEPS is, hotel continental breakfasts, pretzel buns, and much more!

The Flagship is back after a week's hiatus with a loaded show featuring a preview of AEW Double or Nothing 2026, reviews of ROH's Supercard of Honor 2026 and AJPW's Champion Carnival 2026 finals.

We'll also talk about the life and career of Phil Hickerson, Brock Lesnar's return, Mick Foley joining AEW, BARON CORBIN headlines, Heidenreich's viral Walmart photo & so much more.

The Flagship is back to talk about Ted Turner's impact on pro wrestling, review NJPW Wrestling Dontaku, catch you up with the latest in AJPW's Champion Carnival, and preview this week's WWE Backlash show.

The Flagship returns with a full recap and review of this week's episode of AEW Dynamite, a preview of NJPW's Wrestling Dontaku, a review of Dragongate's Golden Colosseum & much more!

After a week's hiatus, The Flagship returned with a look at the fallout from WrestleMania and WrestleMania Weekend, ratings for WrestleMania on ESPN, ESPN's Andreas Hale being denied press credentials, this week's Dave Meltzer Discourse, the life and career of Van Hammer, early returns on Darby Allin's AEW World Title run, and more!

This week on The Flagship, we preview what's coming up for WrestleMania Week next week, give a preview of this weekend's AEW Dynasty PPV, discuss Tony Khan's appearance on "The Coach & Bro" podcast, cover what happened with the Berwyn Eagles Club, and much more!

The Overrun

We ran out of time on The Flagship proper, so we had...

On this episode of The Flagship, we cover a busy week in wrestler movement, including Chris Jericho returning to AEW, Dani Luna leaving TNA, Dragon Dia departing Dragongate, and Lady Frost exiting AEW.

We also dive into the latest in the Janel Grant case, review TNA Sacrifice, preview NXT Stand & Deliver, check in on WrestleMania Week/Weekend, discuss John Cena being announced as the host of WrestleMania, preview NJPW Sakura Genesis, and more!

On this episode of The Flagship, a deep look at the life and career of Dennis Condrey, a review of the final nights of the 2026 New Japan Cup, plus a look at the latest in AJPW.

We did a Flagship on Wednesday, too, covering CMLL, ZERO1, Tony Khan's bid to buy WWE, and more. You can listen to that show exclusively at FlagshipPatreon.com.

The Deep Dive (The Midnight Express vs. The Original Midnight Express): https://www.patreon.com/posts/deep-dive-vs-71970399

With Joe unavailable this week, Rich welcomes Trevor Dame (http://linktr.ee/trevordame) to The Flagship!

Rich made Trevor endure NXT's Booker T Appreciation Night, so they review this week's NXT TV episode, the first AAA Rey de Reyes 2026 show, discuss the aftermath of Sunday's AEW Revolution PPV, The Hangman stipulation, plus some ROH nostalgia and more.

On this episode of The Flagship, we preview this Sunday's AEW Revolution 2026 PPV, discuss AEW's launch of MyAEW, review NXT Vengeance Day 2026, ESPN dropping WWE Letter Grades, Shinjuku FACE closing in September, and review Osaka Pro's BUSHI-DO 2026 show.

Instant Reaction LIVE: AEW Revolution 2026: Join us Sunday night immediately following AEW Revolution 2026 for the best post-PPV review show in the game: Instant Reaction LIVE—available exclusively on the FlagshipPatreon.com $10 tier.

In this episode of The Flagship, we cover David Finlay's AEW debut, the AEW Revolution PPV lineup, a review of WWE Elimination Chamber 2026, Danhausen's debut, and the main event: a review of ZERO1's February 28 show.

On this episode of The Flagship, we talk the latest on AJ Styles' status, preview Elimination Chamber (sort of), NJPW New Beginning in USA, review Fantasticamania, discuss NXT moving off WrestleMania Weekend, and so much more.

Buy the 2026 Baseball Prospectus Annual

A short preview of the latest Subscriber-Exclusive episode of The Flagship—available now in full exclusively on the FlagshipPatreon.com $10 tier.

Topics discussed on the full show: WWE doing a tribute show to AJ Styles, putting him into the WWE Hall of Fame and what it means about his future in pro wrestling, AJPW's Excite Series show from February 23 featuring a Kento Miyahara Triple Crown title defense, ROH moving to a TV studio for future TV tapings, Bronson Reed tears his biceps & more.

On this episode of The Flagship, we welcome special guest thecubsfan of luchablog.com to discuss changes in CMLL, pro wrestling's increasing homogeneity, WWE's influence in the marketplace, and more.

Also on the show, a review of Fantasticamania Night 1, and a deep dive into the 2025 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.

On this episode of The Flagship, a full recap and review of NJPW's The New Beginning in Osaka 2026 show, a look at the New Japan Cup brackets and upcoming NJPW schedule, a preview of AEW Grand Slam Australia, the discussion around Powerhouse Hobbs' age, what's going on with Brody King & much more!

A short preview of the latest Subscriber-Exclusive episode of The Flagship—available now in full exclusively on the FlagshipPatreon.com $10 tier.

Topics discussed on the full show: WWE blacking out local airings of WrestleMania 42, a look at year-over-year ticket movement for WrestleMania, the life and career of Tadao Yasuda, the history and failing of Inokiism, a review of MLW Battle Riot VIII, and why Tuesday is the worst day of the week (except when there's a new Flagship).

On this episode of The Flagship, an honest and fair look at Billy Gunn's career and why the recent discourse around it has no basis in reality PLUS a hot run of TV from AEW leading to big upcoming shows, our thoughts on NJPW's upcoming New Beginning in Osaka show, trying to make sense of what the hell is going on with the Nielsen ratings, and so much more!

You guys have asked for it, and now you're getting it: Double the Flagships!

Starting this week, we’re moving to a semi-regular schedule of two Flagships per week. Here's how it's going to work: you’ll still get our standard Friday show on your free podcast feeds, but we are officially adding a Subscriber Exclusive Flagship earlier in the week, most weeks.

Both the live stream and audio replay for this earlier-in-the-week edition are available exclusively to $10 tier members at FlagshipPatreon.com.

On our debut exclusive show, we recapped the Royal Rumble, brok...

This week on The Flagship: a preview of this week's Royal Rumble show and the potential last match of AJ Styles' ...WWE career?

We also dive into recent ratings from TNA, AEW, and WWE, contract season updates, a large swath of recent injuries, the Korean Smark Awards, and review the January 25 AJPW show featuring a Triple Crown Title match between Kento Miyahara and Talos.

This week on The Flagship: our reaction to TNA's AMC debut rating and a review of TNA's Genesis PPV. Plus, new contract season updates on a number of people, including EVIL, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Trey Miguel, and Tommaso Ciampa.

Also on the show: discussion of the annual FSM 50 countdown on VoicesofWrestling.com, a review of the first episode of AAA on FOX, CMLL's big weekend with plenty of AEW involvement, and much more.

Enjoy the first three minutes of Joe's review for the debut episode of TNA Thursday Night iMPACT! on AMC. Unlock the full review and thousands of hours of bonus audio here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/friday-impact-1-148391925

"A clearly unprepared, not ready for prime time TNA debuts on AMC with a low rent, unprofessional, irredeemably putrid show, which unfortunately shocked no one who actually pays any attention to TNA."

This week on The Flagship: whatever the hell TNA was trying to accomplish with their debut on AMC, major contract season updates, including Powerhouse Hobbs departing AEW, The Rascalz signing with AEW, Nick Nemeth, Mascara Dorada, Persephone, Colby Corino, Matt Taven, SANADA, Jody Threat, and Will Kroos.

Plus reviews of NOAH's Legacy Rise 2026 show, previews of TNA Genesis 2026, AAA's Saturday YouTube special, CMLL International Weekend & so much more.

This week on The Flagship: contract season updates, NJPW New Year Dash, Yota Tsuji and NJPW's return to the original IWGP Title lineage, and much more from New Japan.

Plus reviews of NOAH and AJPW's New Year's shows, including GHC and Triple Crown title defenses, Perez Hilton, and, of course, mid-2000s celebrity gossip.

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.

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/

This week on The Flagship, we analyze John Cena's loss in his final match, including how it unfolded, the crowd's reaction, and how the media has covered it.

We also recap and review the full Saturday Night's Main Event episode, examine the Wrestle Kingdom 20 card, the 2025 World Tag League finals, break down the Tokyo Sports Awards results, and more.

This week on The Flagship: John Cena is calling it quits this Saturday, but do we care? We'll talk about his career, legacy, our anticipation level for his final match, and how his retirement run compares to other recent prominent retirements.

Plus, reviews of ROH's Final Battle 2025 and TNA's Final Resolution, additional information on TNA's deal with AMC, the life and career of "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal, Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid coming in 2026, and so much more.

This week on The Flagship: TNA signs a TV deal with AMC, ESPN is rumored to be unhappy with WWE deal, RAW falls out of Netflix Top 10, NXT DEADL1NE, ROH Final Battle, CMLL Dream Matches, Dragongate King of Gate Finals, TNA Final Resolution & more!

The Flagship is back with an abbreviated solo show! Rich flies solo to preview WWE Survivor Series: War Games and ROH Final Battle 2025. We also do a complete review of the tremendously disappointing MLW x Don Gato show and we get angry at The Aggregators copy-and-pasting incorrect spoilers.

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