Ramblings of an Englishman

Haven’t done one of these for a while. As with the being interested in writing the right subject has to come to light. The last one I done was on Master Wato and what I would do to evolve him into the (one of) the top players in the junior division of New Japan. While Gedo has gone in a different direction I won’t be deterred and instead I’ll look towards another one of my favourites in Hologram. Making his AEW debut roughly this time last year and remaining undefeated since we have seen Hologram become more a part of AEW programming most recently being part of All In’s multi man match with The Costco Guy. However, I did feel at one point we were on the verge of more a Holoverse if you will. Before Hologram got injured and also took some paternity leave it was uncovered that AEW had trademarked ‘The Clone’ and ‘El Clon’ for future use. Trademarking the Spanish phrase as well led many to believe we would get evil Hologram but alas to this day we still haven’t. So much like Beast Mortos ...

News broke overnight or as I just woke up today that Tetsuya Naito is to leave New Japan Pro Wrestling as of May 4th. It's something unexpected and leaves you wondering about the future of the company. While I'm sure New Japan will be fine I wanted to just give some thoughts about this. Once again, we have New Japan have a wrestler from their most recent golden era not really putting anyone over out of the door. That can change but it leaves more holes then it does solutions. Okada just up and left didn't even drop the title and while Ospreay did lost to Finlay on his way out I don't think it overly helped to boost him as they still seem to be working on it. You continue to lose those who can help boost the next up guys without actually using their star power. What that does is leave you with the guys who have been champion but never guys like Goto, Shingo, Sabre and (lol) EVIL and SANADA to build up the next up guys but these aren't going to be historic wins. It...

In 2025 one of the key stories that New Japan Pro Wrestling are telling is that of Shota Umino discovering who he is. For too long he's used Jon Moxley's finisher and Hirohi Tanahashi's attire scheme. There's a story to be told of Shota saying his place is in Hontai but after major loss after major loss this year it feels like something needs to be changed. Shota for me is falling behind Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura in terms of fan expecations. For me Shota needs to move into being where he is to something new he's in the position of Stardust Genius Naito where that reinvention is needed and that I think is a new stable. Shota saying his only place is Hontai keeps leading me to expect a story where he doesn't think it represents New Japan in the best way and forming a group that does that in his own way. With Chaos and Just 4 Guys merging into it you have too many people in one place. With that being said if Shota was to break out into his own group I have a few i...

Pokémon day has come and gone with the announcement for legends Z-A coming in late 2025 (likely October/November you’d have to imagine). I imagine we will get more reveals in that time but I wanted to take some time over my initial thoughts. I’ve left this a few days to wipe out immediate reaction which was one of disappointment. This was mainly due to me expecting more from the announcement but I understand that is my issue so didn’t want it to determine the course of the thoughts. However, as someone who only uses new Pokémon or new regional forms for their teams on each generation I hope we get some reveal geared towards some of those in the near future. Let’s start with the starter line up. For me having 2 for Johto meaning all three Johto starters (and 2 Unova) starters in 2 legends games I odd. I would’ve loved to see more variety to the generations chosen from and one from each I thought would be the way they would go. I do find the starters of generation 2 & 5 the weakest a...

I seem to have stumbled into constantly fantasy booking and speculating on New Japan and its future recently. It’s no real surprise given the rebuilding that New Japan needs in terms of its talent and roster given retirements and talents leaving over the past few years it allows wide open debate about how is the next top guy or top guys. One of the things that likely also needs looking at is who is that top foreign star post Zack Sabre Jr (ZSJ). Arguably since the signing of AJ Styles 2014 New Japan has always looked to position at least one non Japanese wrestler from a western country at the top or around the top of its card normally with them in big featured matches and winning titles and at least the world title at some point. Starting with AJ Styles and then followed with the likes of Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and then Zack Sabre Jr New Japan always wants one guy near the top of the card but isn’t afraid to also add depth with other talents from America and other countries. If it w...

With this current crop of Young Lions fresh from excursion we have had a large boost to the Heavyweight division. It does now seem our next group will all be juniors as they are all currently under 225 pounds. It has lead to me thking, with the rebuild of the heavyweight scene then the next junior division glut of talent is fast approaching.  With Kosei Fujita coming through, Francesco Akira continues to be great year on year and DOUKI stepping up to be a real champion of note who is the next ace? Today I want to pitch an idea to cement Master Wato as that guy. My hopes were dashed when KUSHIDA left that it would be SHO who then in turn ended up in House of Torture, never had a good match again and won the belt via countout. So out with that idea it's done lets go with former besto f the super juniors winner Master Wato. I do feel with Wato that he name and presentation allows for a very clear growth from where he is to what he could become. I think in his recent match with DOUKI a...

Following on from my previous booking post on Shota Umino I've caught a bug for fantasy booking. One of the main issues I think is with pushing Gabe Kidd. Now this isn't a case of the person themselves I think Gabe Kidd is great and clearly so do New Japan I mean January 5th he is facing Kenny Omega in the Tokyo Dome it is more of the face I wonder if New Japan will go full force in gabe Kidd when he isn't the main guy in his stable? Sure we have had times when the non leader of a group has won the big one like Shingo as World Heavyweight Champion but it isn't a regular thing. So how do you have two big faces of a faction deal with each other. Well maybe finally we actually have a real Bullet Club Civil War for once.  Having always been teased with Kenny and Cody and then Kenny and Tama Tonga but never really happening I think it is time to do as such. Forget Rouge Army and House of Torture (if they still count) this is a story using simply the War Dogs and the Main Bul...

The road to the Tokyo Dome is long and winding and when it came out the main event would be Zack Sabre Jr vs. Shota Umino it felt like a lot of fans did not want Shota Umino in that role. For many a spot and role too soon, for others a corner New Japan booked into. Many see Shota Umino as the appointed next ace of New Japan following the end of Hiroshi Tanahashi's career on January 4th 2026. I think that New Japan have the chance to tell a great story with Shota Umino and personally I would like to outline how I would go about it. As the man with the main event of the Tokyo Dome and being rejected due to it, looking to cement his place at the tope of the card but not seen as that ace, Shota Umino isn't the next Hiroshi Tanahashi he is the next Tetsuya Naito. Right now Shota Umino is in that feeling as Naito did when he declared himself the Shuyaku (the main persona of New Japan) and met with fan rejection, a vote to remove his main event match from that position and then stumbl...

For New Japan Pro Wrestling the year 2024 is off to a start where they need to look into a massive rebuild of their company. In the past 12 months or so they have lost Jay White, Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada leaving a hole in the top of their card in such quick order without being able to build replacements for them. It does seem dire but such is the current landscape of the wrestling world. New Japan will have to settle into being the third biggest company in the world unable to match the money that WWE or AEW can offer. I just wanted to cover my thoughts and if it was down to me how I would approach 2024 & 2025 for New Japan Pro Wrestling and booking the company. On the majority of things I'm willing to give New Japan a pass on booking decisions this year. This is a rebuilding year and as such some things will be done. I don't like them hiring Matt Riddle for dates and personally wouldn't but understand they want anyone with a name in wrestling to hope to fill any...

With the dust settling and fists meeting fate the story mode for Tekken 8 has given us the conclusion to the feud between the two main protagonists (and sometime antagonists) of the series in Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima and it feels like Tekken 9 will usher in a new era for the story of these games. I wanted to take some time like with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth to go over my thoughts on this instalment and my hopes for the ninth entry in the series. I will say this however, I would be perfectly fine with another Tekken Tag Tournament next instead of Tekken 9. I feel that 9 will have such a shift when it comes to story and characters it may be best for the team and series director Katsuhiro Harada to give themselves some breathing room and thinking time to work over the plot and where to take their world. Plus it would be a nice time to test some things. I’d bring everyone from 7 onwards back including DLC characters. See who people like, who they team with each other and use it ...

 Spoilers from throughout the Like a Dragon/Yakuza franchise Man 25th January 2024 was a fun one. Both Like a Dragon 8 & Tekken 8 both releasing on the same date I had to make a decision on what one to play first. Deciding narrative over fighting I started Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and now just making the final preperations for the final bosses of the game I feel I made a good choice in what game to start (full disclosure I think Tekken 8 is good and the small amount I played I really enjoyed). Being at the end of the game and unfortunately the ending spoilt in some capacity I end up looking to the future. Becomming the series fastest-selling game to date with over 1 million units in the first week we can expect Like a Dragon 9 at some point in the future. So I wanted to go over Like a Dragon 8, what I felt and what I hope for in the future.  With an expanded map and roster of party members I expect us to be visting both Hawaii and Isezaki Ijincho again for ...

We are just over a month away from Like a Dragon 8 my most anticipated game of the year and it looks like it will be an emotional rollercoaster. One of the biggest parts of the game looks to be around Kazuma Kiryu and his cancer diagnosis leading to a lot of speculation for if he will die or not. With this post I wanted to have a look at why this could be the game where the story of Kazuma Kiryu ends but at the same time look at how this story may not end here for the Dragon of Dojima.  Yes It’s certainly being built by what we’ve seen as the last hurrah of Kazama Kiryu. Receiving a cancer diagnosis and seemingly wanting to go out with one last major quest this feels like the real passing of the torch game. It feels odd but most of the major games I’ve played seemingly are doing some sort of passing of the torch story for a new protagonist in the series. God of War has this with Kratos (another protagonist that may die or retire in their next game possibly) and his son Atreus/Loki ...

Spoilers for Like a Dragon Gaiden Having just finished Like a Dragon Giaden I am now ready for Like a Dragon 8, a big story and conclusion and new beginning for the series. However, before then we needed to be filled in with the story of Kiryu up to the point where he will meet Ichiban in Hawaii. Like a Dragon Gaiden is a smaller story in hours but is still a real fun story. One character I found myself really enjoying was Kosei Shishido. He is crazy like Majima and strong like Saejima and I was very glad how his story played out. While he starts as just a strong brute we see his plan play out over time and combining him with Homare Nishitani III you get two very interesting villains. In the end of the game Shishido isn't killed much to my delight as Yoshimura captures him and forces him to become a Daidoji agent alongside Nishitani. It got me thinking, they created all these new moves and gadgets for Kiryu in this game and will likely not be used in Like a Dragon 8 so will we see ...

The timing is good for me working on this as we have just have the announcement that the second half of the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet being announced for December it leaves February 27, 2024 otherwise known as Pokémon day without a big announcement. I think this is where we will get the first confirmation of Generation Ten. While I don't know what form this will take be it the next mainline game or a new legends spin off (which if it is Unova and the original dragon please) so I wanted to cover some hopes and expectations for the next mainline game.  Hopes: A Smooth Running Game Should be an expectation but you never know. While I did enjoy Scarlet you cannot lie it was full of performance issues and could do with a graphical upgrade. Gamefreak seem to rush these games out and if they want to keep the same release schedule they should hire more staff to work on the game but a stort for another time. I do hope they have learned from the reception of Scarlet & Violet...

I saw a tweet talking about what Pokémon from each generation you would give an evolution to and I thought might as well do it myself. It is just as simple as that but with a few restrictions for myself. I wanted to not have branching evolutions so no new evolution for the likes of Poliwhirl or Slowpoke for example and no legendary or mythical Pokémon. With that being said here is my top pick from each generation which considering that generation 9 gave us an evolution for Primeape it feels like it could be any Pokémon. Generation One: Dewgong I had a few options with Arbok, Dodrio, Seaking or finally getting that Jynx finally getting its eveolution to match up with Magmar or Electabuzz but I went with Dewgong. I have to be honest, I don't really care for Dewgong it's not on my list of favourite Pokémon and I feel the design is very plain at least for me. While I would love Jynx to get its evolution to match up to its original trio I think the controversy in its design hi...

Bryan Intihar the Senior Creative Director at Insomniac Games has seemingly set a lot of minds racing with the below comments regarding the easter egg of the eviction notice for Nelson & Murdock law firm. With this I starting to think could we see Daredevil in the DLC for Spider-Man 2. With a lack of real announcements it makes me think something big is coming and a big hook to get people to buy. What if instead of a big villain we start to introduce Daredevil and characters around him as a backdoor pilot. I believe there's an unannounced Insomniac Marvel game which might be a Defenders game but would rather it just be Daredevil. I wanted to break down how I think this could be done as I think it has great potential to be told over a three part DLC which could raise hype and get a Daredevil solo game into development. The first part would be to find a common link between Miles & Daredevil and to me the best bet would be Kingpin. In the Miles game Kingpin promised to hurt th...