PWL Super Show Update #3

Hello everyone!

 

There have been several updates regarding the PWL Super Show coming up on Friday, February 14th in Australia.

 

Matt Hayter and Emman Azman, well known in Southeast Asia with Malaysia Pro Wrestling will be in the show and joining the All Stars in a match.

 

Also, as one sees in the pic above, Robbie Eagles vs, Mitch Ryder vs, Zeke Andino will square off in a Triple Threat Match.

 

The show, at the Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane, is a sellout but standing room only tickets remain.  Please visit the Pro Wrestling League Facebook page for more info.  Thank you. 

Wrestling Shows And Matches

Hello everyone!

 

In my two years plus of watching Southeast Asia wrestling live, there have been some good shows, and definitely some good matches.

 

Certainly, my first show, MWF's Noche Buena in December 2022 will always be special.  The Jake De Leon vs Fabio Makisig match had this blogger on the end of his seat.

 

There was also the four way women's match at the 2023 Noche Buena show that was really good. It elevated the Pinay wrestling scene in the Philippines where it has a great future.

 

The Dexcon show that I went to in August 2023 at the Brawl Pit Bulusan was a real good one with top quality matches.

 

Then, there was the first PUSO Wrestling show this past August.  It was amazing that a show was put together in a couple of months time.  As always, kudos to the promotion.  It was a historical and enjoyable night of action.

 

Back in August 2023, I was fortunate to see my first Filipino Pro Wrestling show at Circuit Makati.  It was the company's first year in operation.

 

There were several good matches that afternoon/evening.  The Mike Madrigal-Duke Ortega FPW Title match was good.  The Yolo Twins vs. Evan Carleaux-Cali Nueva tag team encounter was good as well.

 

The main event between Ralph Imabayashi and Robbie Eagles had the fans and myself in a fever pitch at the PMC Spotlight Theater.  I remembered Imabayashi wondering if he felt he could still wrestle effectively prior to the match.

All this wrestling blogger can say is that the match was one of the best I had seen in several years.  The match had a lot of excitement, actual wrestling and more.  The fans were standing at the end of the match.  Certainly, Ralph proved to those at PMC that he is still effective! 

 

When saying this, it includes local independent promotions, New Japan Pro Wrestling, AEW and WWE house shows that I've been to in the Bay Area.

 

As a wrestling fan and blogger, it is appreciative what wrestlers like Ralph, Robbie, Jake, Fabio and others do on not only on the day of the event, but the workouts leading up to it.

 

At the same time, I'll continue to post entries on the various wrestling promotions throughout the Southeast Asia region.  The wrestlers and fans deserve this from this blogger.  I have some ideas regarding the future of the blog and will share them early next month.

Regarding future wrestling shows, am looking forward to the New Japan Pro Wrestling show in San Jose this coming January.  The fact that Zack Sabre Jr. is planning to be there is one of the reasons.

 

After that, I have some thinking and saving to do....

Happy Holidays everyone!  Please be safe out there.

Filipino Pro Wrestling Notes

Wanted to share some info regarding Filipino Pro Wrestling for this next post.

 

First off, this blogger would like to thank Red Ollero, the MWF staff and the FPW locker room for a successful year one of FPW Astig.  I had the opportunity to watch all the episodes of FPW Astig like all of the fans on You Tube.  It was well produced and really enjoyed the commentary of all the matches.

 

Certainly, seeing how the FPW Championship unfolded was really cool.  Congratulations to Mike Madrigal on winning the first FPW Championship.  Also, congratulations to everyone on the FPW roster for making season one a successful one.  I feel, along with Red, the FPW locker room, staff and the majority of fans, that Filipino Pro Wrestling is cautious and doing things the right way.

 

Seeing the last FPW Astig show in August was special for this fan.  The matches were exciting, particularly the Mike Madrigal-Duke Ortega and the Ralph Imabayashi-Robbie Eagles matches.  Definitely, the show was entertaining and important, especially when earlier in the week, the pro wrestling world lost two iconic wrestlers.

 

I'm told that Filipino Pro Wrestling will resume likely in February 2024 with another series of shows.  I don't want to mention the date until told to.  Hopefully, the FPW and Pinoy wrestling fans will look forward to another season of exciting action.

Interview #4 - Ralph Imabatashi (FPW)

Ralph Imabayashi is known today as "The Best Pure Wrestler."  For wrestling fans who have seen him live at an event in Circuit Makati or elsewhere, you'll know what I mean.

 

This blogger first saw Ralph on You Tube several years ago during the pandemic times.  There were several matches that really inspired this wrestling fan.

 

At the last FPW: Astig wrestling event of 2023 in August, Ralph and Robbie Eagles put on one of the best wrestling matches seen in a few years.

 

Recently, I did the interview with Ralph.  This fan was a little shy and timid but Ralph wanted to do this.  Thank you again and will look forward to seeing you in action in 2024!  

 

Wayne:  Ralph, how long, other than the pandemic time, have you been wrestling?

 

Ralph:  If we exclude the pandemic time then I've only been doing this for 5 years, it feels weird cause a lot has happened but I still feel new and fresh with still lots to learn. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to face opponents with the same caliber as Robbie Eagles, who I learned a lot from through wrestling him as well as seminars. I wish to have more of that and have more learning experiences in my career.

 

 

Wayne:  Was there a moment or time when you knew that you wanted to become a pro wrestler?

 

 

Ralph:  I always wanted to be one. Everyday at school when I was a young kid, I would day dream almost every day about being a wrestler. I vicariously lived through the Smackdown vs Raw games pretending I was really in WWE and I wanted my dad to bring me to Japan ASAP because I thought I could start my wrestling career there. The moment I got a chance here I did not waste my time I immediately took it.

 

 

 

Wayne: Do you remember your first pro wrestling match?

 

Ralph:  I clearly do. It was a bad match. I had no idea what I was doing and neither did my opponent. It was a miracle how I came through. It was also in a boxing ring bumping there sucked it probably took years off my life. I had no idea who or what I was as a wrestler and my opponent was just copying popular Japanese wrestlers he watched. Thing is the first step in being great at something is sucking at it. I was clearly not a good wrestler but I wouldn't be able to achieve my dreams if I didn't start at all.

 

 

Wayne:  Do you have a favorite promotion outside of FPW?  It can be local, international or both.

 

 

 

Ralph:  I love AEW, I watch both Collision and Dynamite every week. The match that solidified my fandom for the promotion was Cody Rhodes vs Dustin Rhodes at Double or Nothing 2019, it just kept escalating until it became something special. Of course it sucks Cody is no longer All Elite but he has achieved great success in WWE even becoming one of their biggest draws. The main events in recent PPVs have mostly felt special too like Orange Cassidy vs Jon Moxley, MJF vs Adam Cole, MJF vs Bryan Danielson, Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada - all big fight feel matches that future generations will look back to.

 

 

Wayne:  Do you have a favorite wrestler that you follow today?  It can be local, international or both.  

 

 

 

Ralph:  Bryan Danielson has been a long time favorite of mine and probably inspired me a lot as a pro wrestler. When he won the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the main event of Wrestlemania XXX it felt like a strong message towards little guys like me. If someone like him can achieve great things then I can too, it was prolly the catalyst for me to take my dreams seriously and join a local wrestling promotion. I watched him in person back in WWE Live Manila 2019 and I was close to tears I didn't expect to see him at all after his retirement in 2016. This man inspired me to start wrestling and he continues to inspire me today. Fight for your dreams and your dreams will fight for you.

 

 

Wayne:  Ralph, your thoughts on pro wrestling in the Philippines, now and it's future?

 

 

Ralph:  With the release of the FPW: Astig episodes I think its about to be special, it's on Youtube so it's accessible to audiences worldwide. We've put so much into this, the wrestlers, the production, and the marketing team of Filipino Pro Wrestling all worked in tandem to give you guys this beautiful finished product of guaranteed great pro wrestling. This was honestly the most fun I've ever had in my pro wrestling career, everything just works and clicks. The eyes of the world can now see how great Philippine Wrestling can be. We're starting out really small and slow taking careful steps into the next level while thinking things through instead of rushing to get big like how we used to be. There's no where to go but up from here and I'm every excited to see where it goes.