Ramblings of an Englishman

October 2019 seems to be by most accounts the biggest month in wrestling since March 2001. Smackdown moving to Fox, Impact moving to AXS, NXT moving to USA, AEW debuting its weekly show on TNT not to mention New Japan’s first solo American tour at the end of September in all that sometimes lost in the shuffle is the NWA and its return to studio wrestling. I wanted to write out a quick piece on this and how I’m looking forward to it. There’s been talk for years amongst some on how most wrestling shows look the same, in an NFL or NHL area (smaller shows in smaller venues) using the same sort of cameras and storytelling ideas year on year, there was a general consensus that Impact and ROH were at points trying to be WWE but smaller (forgetting what made each respective show popular to begin with). That is what makes this NWA Studio Wrestling an interesting concept it’s already unique. No other major American show films in this way small compact in a studio it creates a curiosity as to h...

Generation 7 with Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon was the last main series Pokémon game released on 3DS. Introducing 88 new unique Pokémon the game also introduced Alola forms which are regional variants of previous Pokémon with a change of appearance and as well a change of type, an interesting concept to freshen up some older Pokémon for a new region and new generation with all that in mind let’s begin the list Honourable Mentions: Primarina, Vikavolt, Crabominable, Lycanroc (Midday & Dusk Form), Mudsdale, Bewear, Silvally, Kommo-o, Tapu Koko, Buzzwole, Guzzlord, Zeraora, Alolan Muk, Alolan Marowak. Number Six: Golisopod I have the preface this by saying if it didn’t have the ability ‘emergency exit’ this one would be higher on the list. A giant insect with what seems to be samurai armour around it has such a good look it honestly reminds me of General Grevious from Star Wars for some reason it might be due to the four arms or claws it has but with the bi...

When the 3DS began production and subsequent circulation around the world people were abuzz at the games that would come to this console some were looking forward to how Pokémon would adapt to this. Their wish was granted with the release of Pokémon X & Y versions. While only introducing 72 new Pokémon a series low to that point the game introduced the new concept of mega evolutions and while a mixed bag as some of these would’ve been better as new evolutions to existing Pokémon rather than just mega (see Camerupt) it was a nice concept for all 28 Pokémon lucky to receive one. This left me with technically 120 new Pokémon to choose from. With that all being said let us kick generation 6’s list off. Honourable Mentions: Chesnaught, Delphox, Talonflame, Gogoat, Malamar, Draglage, Heliolisk, Aurorus, Goodra, Noivern, Yveltal, Zygarde (Complete Form), Hoopa (Unbound Form), Mega Charizard-X, Mega Blastoise, Mega Scizor, Mega Beedrill, Mega Camerupt, Mega Rayquaza Number Six: Ae...

Generation five is next on this ongoing series, starting with Black and White version and followed by a unique entry for the Pokémon series in a direct sequel in Black 2 & White 2, while these entries introduce my favourite rival in Natural Harmonia Gropius otherwise known as N it also introduced a total of 156 new Pokémon with Black & White focusing on new Pokémon alone with no returning Pokémon until their sequels. With so many new options to choose form I found this generation very hit and miss with the main six I have chosen being pretty easy and really good hits with little on the honourable mentions really standing a chance of being on the list, so with that in mind let’s start by looking at those honourable mentions. Honourable Mentions: Serperior, Emboar, Samurott, Zebstrika, Seismitoad, Scolipede, Darmanitan, Carracosta, Archeops, Galvantula, Haxorus, Beartic, Golurk, Bisharp, Braviary, Zekrom, Genesect Number Six: Elektross Kicking off the list for generat...

Hello all, I’m back again with this ongoing series detailing my top six Pokémon per generation and this time we move onto generation four which kicked off with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl followed later on by the Platinum version, the first generation on DS took the game to the next level introducing bigger environments and delving into deeper subjects like the time and space of the creation of the whole universe (plus one of my favourite places in Distortion World) and after this was the game that introduced the God of all Pokémon in Arceus so really helped to build the full Pokémon universe. One thing I do really like about Generation 4 is it borrows off the concept of Generation 2 of adding new evolutions and pre-evolutions to existing Pokémon and makes some I previously didn’t care for or consider for this list previously into some of my favourites. With all that covered let us begin the list. Honourable Mentions: Torterra, Infernape, Staraptor, Luxray, Rampardos, Bastiodon, Flo...

The third generation of Pokémon games came out in 2003 entitled Ruby & Sapphire with Emerald following later on, this generation introduced 135 new Pokémon and a new colour pallet making all Pokémon stand out with their colourful looks and sprites. As stated before, this generation and more specifically Pokémon Sapphire was my first Pokémon game (and if memory serves me correctly it was my first ever game) it holds a special place for me. This generation holds some of my favourite Pokémon and the top one here is my favourite Pokémon of all time, with that in mind let us start with the honourable mentions. Honourable Mentions: Sceptile, Swampert, Shiftry, Breloom, Slaking, Ninjask, Shedinja, Hariyama, Aggron, Sharpedo, Flygon, Claydol, Milotic, Absol, Kyogre, Rayquaza Number Six: Ludicolo Coming in at number six is Ludicolo, while the design is good, and I loved it in Detective Pikachu my main love for the Pokémon doesn’t come from Ruby or Sapphire but Pokémon Colosseum...

Back again with the next generation of Pokémon released initially in Japan three years after the original generation of games was Gold and Silver and then followed by Crystal these games were intended to be the last game but as Pokémon shifted to being a money making machine this was thankfully not the case as the series continues to go strong to this day. Introducing exactly 100 new Pokémon it took the amount of options away from me to choose this list by 51, however, generation 2 manages to build off of many of the Pokémon introduced in generation one giving new pre-evolutions and post-evolutions to many loved Pokémon, so with that in mind let’s kick off the list with the honourable mentions . Honourable Mentions: Meganium, Ariados, Crobat, Quagsire, Umbreon, Heracross, Houndoom, Kingdra, Donphan, Hitmontop, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia Number Six: Espeon Starting off the list is my favourite Eeveelution in Espeon. My love for the sun Pokémon doesn’t necessarily c...

With Pokémon Sword and Shield on its way we are entering the eight generation of this beloved series. This got me thinking about my favourite Pokémon per generation from Red and Blue of Generation one to Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon of Generation seven and as of the end of those games we have 809 unique Pokémon. So, with that in mind as part of this ongoing series I will rank my top six Pokémon per generation, now this isn’t really based in typing or stats more on appearance and personal experience so if you expected a competitive analysis and breakdown of each Pokémon, I’ll apologise. However, I do have some guidelines with this series. Pokémon will be considered for ranking in the generation they debut in, for example all Pokémon introduced in generation one that come back in later games will be judged in rankings for generation one All form changes such as Mega Evolutions and Alola forms will remain in the ranking for their debut generations As well as this each gener...

Next up in this series of compiling the best combined international team for Inazuma Eleven is Australia, another team with three appearances being Big Waves in the original FFI, Big Waves in FFIV2 and Shining Satan’s in Orion’s FFI. Much like Korea the lack of defenders doing anything means it’s a 3 at the back but this time in a 3-4-3 diamond formation. Unlike Korea where the midfield and attack picked itself this team has a notified absence in midfield being Holly Summers of the original Big Waves who used the Hissatsu Kangaroo Kick against Kogure during his respective match. With it being a midfield 4 and all 3 of Australia’s captains being midfielders it left one spot open, I’ll go into why I picked the 4th midfielder I did when I reach them. GK: Jean Baker (Big Waves) As with Korea, Australia has 3 goalkeepers to choose from. Jean Baker from Big Waves, Pazuzu Zahman of Shining Satans and Jude Gordon of Big Waves GO. I chose Jean as he was simply the best keeper of the thr...

In Inazuma Eleven each third season has (at least in some form) an international tournament seen in the original third series, in Inazuma Eleven Go Galaxy (at least before the Grand Celesta Galaxy) and in Orion no Kokuin. With these series and the international teams that are in it there are some overlap with countries used. Over the course of this series I aim to combine those countries with more than one international team into the ultimate one in the Inazuma Eleven series. Before the first team is revealed I’d like to go over some ground rules. This is based on the anime alone. Now with that a lot of characters don’t get a large amount of time to shine making it difficult in some areas to place players. I have worked a system to which if the player used a hissatsu or was a captain for their team it will work in their favour. As well as this for characters for Orion that were/are Disciples of Orion (at least the ones confirmed in the Anime) it will also make it more likely for ...

With the announcement of more DLC characters past the fighter pass for Super Smash Brothers Ultimate fans of the game have gone into more of a speculation frenzy as to who they could see join this already jam packed roster of video game icons throughout the ages. I have to imagine we will get at least 5 more fighters past this fighter pack as with most fighting games now season passes are normally around 2 or 3 and while I hope for 3 I imagine at the least another 5 fighters will be the case (or of Nintendo goes all out and gets the roster to 100 I’d flip). We also need to keep an open eye on who could join the game, fighting games have grown to include a wide range of characters not expected. Between Tekken using The Walking Dead’s Negan and Noctis from Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat using God of Wars Kratos, Friday the 13th’s Jason, Predator amongst other and Soul Caliber using Darth Vader and Yoda from Star Wars all bets are off when it comes to 3rd party characters joining games. I’...

In what would be the final PPV that AEW had before their TV debut in October the final pieces needed to be put into place for that TV debut. Taking place in the same venue as All In the biggest question of the night was who was to be the first AEW World Champion between 'Hangman' Adam Page and Chris Jericho. While I didn't go into this show watching it live (I had been to NJPW's Royal Quest earlier that day) and knew the results going in I still found this be be an enjoyable watch. The show opened with the Casino Battle Royale to determine one half of the match to determine the first ever AEW Women's World Champion. There wasn't a lot to this match in all fairness I don't recall too many spots. It however managed to highlight the key players of the AEW women's division in Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Bea Priestley well especially Nyla who got 10 eliminations setting her up as a dominant winner and keep a Britt and Bea feud going with Bea costing her riva...