As you’ve likely heard by now, the next entry in Sega’s “Like A Dragon” franchise has been revealed. After its highly successful entry earlier in the year, it’s unsurprising that they wanted to bank off of what they had set up and see how far they could push things. But, pushing things toward a “pirate adventure” featuring one of the series’ most beloved characters? Yeah, that was something that no one saw coming. Another thing that many didn’t see coming was that near the end of the seven-minute trailer, AEW wrestler Samoa Joe appeared! Things are about to get killer!
For those of you who don’t know, Samoa Joe is one of the most respected wrestlers in the game. He made his name early on in promotions like Ring of Honor and TNA. He would eventually make the jump to NXT/WWE but never get the status and respect that many felt he deserved there. Then, he went to AEW, and he got right back to the dominant form that he was known for, even returning to ROH, which AEW head Tony Khan owns, and setting a new record with one of its belts. He was even the AEW World Champion earlier in 2024. The point is, he’s one of the best in the world, and he proves it with his style and personality in and out of the ring.
That includes video games, as Joe has been a part of several video games and video game franchises over the years, outside of just straight-up playing them. For example, he was the voice of King Shark in the Suicide Squad game that no one likes to talk about. But hey, it wasn’t his fault the game failed. Also, he was the “body” of Sweet Tooth in the hit Twisted Metal series on Peacock, which he’s currently filming Season 2 of right now! So, yeah, he’s got ties to the video game community.
The irony with him appearing in Sega’s franchise is that he’s not the only wrestler to have been in the series over time. Fellow AEW wrestlers Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada have been in the series over the years. All Elite Wrestling even did a crossover with the series for a match last year that featured them dressing up like the characters and using weapons that could be found in the game.
As we showed in our interview with Will Ospreay, these wrestlers are big gaming fans, so this is likely another dream come true!
