Ramblings of an Englishman

Don’t really know where to begin. Arsenal have finally after 22 years won the Premier League. I was 7 the last time we won the league with little memory of it, this time I was pacing around my room watching the final few moments of Bournemouth vs. Man City that as the final whistle went I let out a massive yes and come on so loud was asked if I had injured myself. My thoughts passed to my Nan who passed away a few days before Arsenal lost at Anfield earlier in the season, I’m sure she would’ve believed unlike me the anxious mess thinking it was all over after every loss and most draws. Says more about my mental wellbeing but we will leave that for another day. So where am I this morning the day after it is all confirmed? Lack of sleep and travelling to work but on a high I’ve never felt. I’m just grateful for the journey, the highs and lows mould a person and after so much heartache we have triumph. The scenes outside the Emirates crowds gathered probably for first time celebrating Bou...

Weren’t we just here a month ago? Yeah it’s the month after month run of AEW shows. I’d prefer to save money but if the shows have the quality that AEW have I don’t mind. The good thing is that the build has to happen and has to happen quick and between the World, Tag Team and the Ospreay grudge match you have big hooks and big matches set up right away and you hope the rest of the card gets that sort of love. AEW is on an upward trajectory carrying on from a good 2025 with American TV viewership booming even without HBO Max numbers it does seem like audiences are looking for an alternative to the slop served by the sex trafficking MAGA company which people somehow still watch.  Anyway, this is a big show for me as it’s the first show for me on the new MyAEW service. With my Triller sub expiring on March 30th and the fact they won’t take new subs meant it was time to move as Triller moves further and further to bankruptcy. A sad end but a great service for supplying AEW content for...

I’m a sucker for a big swing what can I say.   I did envisage a longer break from NJPWWorld I really did, at least until the end of Best of the Super Juniors because of how disinterested I had become. Then Gedo remembered to take big swings with his booking specifically with Callum Newman.  Over the past few months Callum Newman has been given more than a push but the shove. While it felt like the long term build is always to Newman vs. Ospreay January 4th 2027 and I did have Newman as a cup finalist (funnily enough I for once predicted the final correctly of Newman and Uemura with Newman winning) I did not expect what followed. Callum Newman became not only the youngest New Japan Cup winner but the youngest IWGP Heavyweight champion. This is shocking to me because that record was held by Shinsuke Nakamura a man woven into the history of the company so for that record to be taken by a non Japanese talent and at 23 years and 7 months it’s a real difficult record to break. ...

What a difference two months makes. If this was a video it’d cut back to all the positive things I said to fade into me looking as the ground sad from my desk chair doing one of those YouTube thumbnail faces. Man for New Japan Pro Wrestling my smile and my optimism are gone, killed at the hands of the man they call Gedo. But before the negatives let’s look at where we were. January 4th 2026 was a massive success. Not just for TV viewership but for fan perception. Combined with the return of the IWGP Heavyweight Title and set philosophy for that and the Global Title it really felt like New Japan was back. Sure they would have issues retaining talent as they always do with Japan’s economy being a shitshow but they had a definitive draw again in Aaron Wolf. However, what we’ve seen in the last two months is a return to old form and just House of Torture run ins. I must be missing something but having your top star and draw lose to Bad Luck Fale is terrible optics. I guess we are doing a s...

It’s 2026 and you know what that means? More PPV for me to pretend I’m reviewing while really saying nothing. That’s how it goes that’s what the probably two of you who read this are here for. I’m quite positive on wrestling that isn’t run by a sex trafficking MAGA company at the moment because I’ve been having fun watching. I’m writing this the day after going to Wrestle Queendom 8 at the O2 and what a spectacular show. I’d expect a few of those matches to be near the top of my match of the year post a rewatch. But we are here for AEW Revolution 2026 a big show for sure. The first PPV of the year for AEW and know after this is posted I’ll be up for the All In pre-sale so thoughts and prayers. I’ve been really enjoying the AEW product this year it’s continued the good quality of 2025 and seems to be attracting new viewers and fans by the week as WWE prices out and alienates fans (how anyone can still support evil company like that before you consider the dogshit product is beyond me). ...

It was announced late Monday night that Ring of Honor would be holding a sole taping in Jacksonville at WJCT Studios this coming Sunday (1st March). This is an interesting move and a break from the current standard. For the last few years ROH has been tapped before and after Dynamite and Collision and has for a number of episodes been just matches with little promo segments or story beats. While this has improved I do find myself annoyed at the PPV builds where the majority of matches being announced 48 hours before. An exclusive taping show for ROH would allow for more time to focus on the storylines on that show. If it is not at the end of a long taping day past a big Dynamite or Collision it may help breath life into ROH. A focus on just ROH means that fans are going there to watch ROH instead of it being added at the end of what they’re going to see it should add to enjoyment. We don’t have a major ROH PPV coming up for a while (I don’t know if Supercard of Honor is moved to All In...