Middle Kingdom Wrestling
– Post match comments from MKW’s rising rookie star Micahel Su after his match with Hyperstreak point towards a future MKW vs. OWE storyline, with Hyperstreak being billed as a representative of the Shanghai based Oriental Wrestling Entertainment who first brought him into the country. His match with “Masterclass” Michael Su was not planned more than a few days in advance of the event on March 10th, but came together in the light of MKW champ Big Sam’s emergency appendectomy.
With the unanticipated nature of this match and how it came together, it’s hard to say that there are any concrete plans in the works already. This very well may be simply clever capitalization to lay the foundation for something that may never materialize. That being said, there are some interesting facts to consider that lead to this being something I can certainly see come together off of the heels of this opportunity.
First and foremost, it is no secret that OWE have been in contact with NKW owner Adrian Gomez, even before this recent talent sharing venture, including possibly some consulting done by Gomez for the newer promotion. With this connection already in place, and Gomez himself saying that he’s looking to have his talent work more dates and more promotions in 2019, it’s not hard to see this as a path he would wish to develop further upon. Particularly with the ROH vs. CZW storyline being one of his favourites in pro wrestling history.
Both companies would likely benefit far more from this collaboration, with the particular circumstances of the burgeoning Chinese pro wrestling scene being what they are, than the US analogues from that famous indie blockbuster feud did. Indeed, with OWE having essentially brought NTW under its wing, and having Gao Yuan on its roster, the owner of WLW, the scope of an inter-promotional rivalry/invasion angle could be massive in scale for the tightly knit, nascent Chinese pro wrestling scene.
– MKW’s first “Belt and Road” tournament was their biggest, riskiest venture to date, bringing together talent from numerous countries to compete in a two day tournament to crown their first ever Belt and Road champion. Now the date for their second Belt and Road tournament has been set. Happening on May 11th, this show will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
This is significant for several reasons. If this shows goes off as advertised it will be the first international outing for MKW since their shows in Thailand, which drew poorly due to unfortunate circumstances surrounding the event (including the death of a Thai royal). Furthermore, it looks to have more legs under it than their attempt to run a show in South Korea in conjunction with Professional Live Action (PLA.)
Ultimate Wrestling Asia
On March 20th this HKWF Twitter account broadcast thr message that a company featuring talent from promotions across mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and The Philippines would be “coming soon” in this tweet. They even named it “Ultimate Wrestling Asia” in the hashtags. Within a matter of days, an official twitter account for this potential brand sprung up. My correspondence with the account has indicated that they are in the early planning stages of something they hope to grow into a big super show regional promotion, with desires to film episodes for weekly broadcast at some point.
While a tweet like this, announcing the formation of a brand new wrestling promotion, may seem a bit suspect at first, particularly with how barebones and vague it has been, this does feel like a natural extension of Ho Ho Lun’s “Asian Wrestling Revolution” ideology. This is coming from an account associated with the HKWF, who are the first promotion founded by this patriarch of Asian pro wrestling.
At the very least, it is already generating buzz and discussion about the non-Japanese East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian scene, as indicated by articles like this springing up. While they have no dates or roster set in stone yet, I can assure you that any developments that happen I will keep you abreast of.
Oriental Wrestling Entertainment
– March 9th saw the first of the round robin tournament matches to determine which pair of talent will head to AEW’s Double or Nothing event take place at the Great World venue in Shanghai. The match between the teams of “The Captain” A-Ben/”Commando” Duan Yingnan and Rekka/”Scorpio XX” Liu Xinxi ended in a 15-minute time limit draw. Both teams presently have one point apiece. No tournament matches were held on March 16th, and the event on the 23rd had to be canceled due to other obligations. So far, this remains the sole “Who Will In” tournament match to have taken place.
– Starting with OWE’s March 16th show at the Great World venue the company is trying something fresh. The venue is located inside an area that functions as a hub for Chinese tourists from other parts of the country to come through and look upon the old fashioned architecture and shop for trinkets and the like. Visitors are paying to gain admission to the Shanghai Great World itself, and are not necessarily there for the pro wrestling. This may sound familiar to those who know of Impact Wrestling’s history with the theme park based Impact Zone venue.
However, unlike that western comparison, the average visitor to Great World really has no clue what pro wrestling even is, so selling them on attending the matches is even harder. To try and create an environment which is conducive to attracting an audience out of these wrestling-uninitiated tourists, OWE are couching some of these performances in recreating a cultural touchstone for all of China, the famous story “Journey to the West.”
They’ve cast their talent in different roles from the famous novel and have them compete in bouts whose storylines are easy to follow, as the average Chinese citizen will most assuredly be familiar with the material being drawn upon. While Gao Yuan has indicated to me that there were some problems in blending this classic story with wrestling on their first time out, one can always expect hiccups in a first attempt at something new. If successful with the shows at the Shanghai Great World venue, Michael Nee has indicated to be that this idea of combining historical or classic fictional stories with OWE’s wrestling may become a part of their touring shows, adapting regional narratives as they visit different parts of China, to help engage and educate the population on the art if pro wrestling. I’ve explained before why I see OWE as “Truly Chinese Pro Wrestling” and this venture shows just how far outside the conventional western wrestling box they’re willing to go.
– On top of announcing Buffa has joined OWE, the company has also confirmed in their official communications that which has already been made clear on social media: Sky and Gaia Hox from Taiwan, and Gao Yuan from Mainland China, have joined the company in an official capacity.
– NTW’s relationship with OWE is growing stronger, with it becoming common knowledge in wrestling circles in China and Taiwan that the current owner of NTW has taken a position with OWE. Some fears have been expressed by those I have spoken to that this will lead to the eventual demise of NTW as a Taiwanese brand, as there are a lot of tensions between the governments of China and Taiwan.
– Unfortunately three of OWE’s advertised roster members for the upcoming NTW vs. OWE show on March 31st have fallen victim to what seems to be the number one problem in every international outing for this young crop of stars: visa issues. As such, Zhao Yilong, Zhao Junjie, and Wang Jin will not be able to appear in Taiwan. This mark’s the 2nd time that Zhao Yilong and Wang Jin have been prevented from working in NTW due to visa issues. Nevertheless, the reworked card still looks quite exciting, with Gao Jingjia filling one of their spots.
– UK and other European talent will be showing up in OWE soon via the connections OWE have made through the UK-based NEO-TV. This is something they are clearly proud of, because they have made efforts to spread this news on both their Chinese and English-language social media pages.
– OWE’s two Japanese dates have officially sold out! Congratulations!
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