Here is an interview I did with Rowen Camacho, a pro wrestling fan from the Philippines. Rowen, is an intern a co host of The Wrestling-Wrestling Podcast in the Metro Manila area. His knowledge of the local and international wrestling is enormous.
This blogger had a chance to meet him while vacationing in the Philippines. We met back in December 2022 before the MWF Noche Buena Show and formally after the 2023 Road To Fate show in August.
Here is the interview. Thank you Rowen for having a copy of the interview.
Wayne: Rowen, when did you begin following wrestling?
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Rowen: My wrestling fandom started all the way back in 2010. Yes, I’m a PG
era kid, but it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t played the SmackDown
vs. Raw 2010 video game on my cousin’s PSP back in 2009. I fell in love
since then. I was so amused with WWE that I asked my parents for a
wrestling playset for Christmas ’09. What I received isn’t exactly
authentic because it has 3 WWE figures and a TNA Impact Six-Sided Ring
with a weird and fake WWE logo on it, but I’m still happy enough to
receive it. The action figures I received were: Mickey from The Spirit
Squad, Chris Benoit, and John Cena. My wrestling fandom grew bigger and
bigger through the years and I had the opportunity to watch my first
international wrestling event on February 4th, 2012 at the Smart Araneta
Coliseum which was World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX), a non-WWE show
filled with former WWE mid-card wrestlers, and featured a main event
spectacle of John Hennigan (Morrison) vs Shelton Benjamin to crown the
inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion.
- For Philippine wrestling on the other hand, I first heard of the
revival of the local scene around 2014 after seeing a WhenInManila
article talking about Philippine Wrestling Revolution (PWR). I had my
first show on August 15, 2015, as a birthday gift for myself, the show
was PWR LIVE 1 at the Makati Cinema Square Arena, which was headlined by
guys like Chris Panzer, SANDATA (MWF Commentator Romeo Moran), Ken
Warren, and Jake De Leon. The Philippine wrestling scene and its
wrestlers were young and admittedly didn’t share the same level and
quality as WWE, but I didn’t stop supporting them because I knew they
would improve eventually and as a Filipino, I just wanted to apply what I
learned and that is “Suportahan ang sariling atin.” or “Support local.”
Wayne: Was there a favorite wrestler or wrestlers that you followed early?
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Rowen: I mostly followed the main eventers and mid-carders from 2010 like
John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio, CM
Punk, Wade Barrett, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, Kane, and The
Undertaker. Looking at them gave me the impression that everyone is
unique, they have their own stories and personalities, and those
qualities of every wrestler got me hooked even more.
- For Philippine wrestling, it’s “The Social Media Sinister”, “The
Digital Demon” Ken Warren. I love Ken Warren because of the way he
presents himself and the way he interacts with the fans on social media,
fulfilling his Social Media Sinister heel persona. I myself was called a
#WarrenWannabe by him. Comparing him to the wrestlers during the
younger years of Philippine wrestling, I’d say his character has a lot
of thought put into it. It was special when I saw him perform on the
first local show I attended, and it was special to see his last match in
Philippine wrestling in Jake De Leon’s 100th match at the MWF
Kasaysayan taping. For Ken Warren, it has come full circle for him and
JDL as he had his first match with him and last match (for now) with
him. I can relate to that since Ken Warren performed at the first local
show that I attended, and I was there at his last match.
Wayne: Do you have a favorite promotion or promotions today?
Rowen: Yes, I watch promotions like WWE, AEW, and the local MWF. As a podcast
show host intern of The Wrestling-Wrestling Podcast, it is a
requirement to watch the weekly WWE, AEW shows in order to talk about
current events in the wrestling world. However, due to my busy schedule
as a college student, my mentors were kind enough to let me give me time
to prioritize my studies.
Wayne: What is your favorite wrestling moment or moments of all time?
Rowen: The year 2010 means a lot to me, so I’m picking the Nexus debut. It
was awesome to see them all the time! Whenever they show up, it’s gonna
be chaos. They were so disruptive that their debut on Raw was them
interrupting a match and attacking CM Punk, John Cena, and everyone at
ringside, destroying the ring, and ruining the main event of the show.
Another one will be Seth Rollins successfully cashing-in Money In The
Bank Contract at WrestleMania 31 and becomes the WWE Champion. It was
the first time they applied a cash-in midway into the match and made it
an impromptu Triple Threat Match. And lastly, CM Punk returning to
wrestling for the first time in 7 years in AEW. It was a dream come true
because everyone asked for it and Tony Khan made it happen. It’s just a
shame that Punk’s dirty mouth and bad temper got the best out of him at
All Out 2022, it really turned me off as a fan.
- For Philippine wrestling, it would be Fabio Makisig winning the MWF
Championship from Jake De Leon in an entertaining Main Event Manila
Rules Match because of how they performed in the match and the story the
match and the wrestlers told. The second would be witnessing Robin Sane
perform the 450 Splash for the first time in real life at Road to Fate
2023, though he didn’t hit Fabio, it was still a thing of beauty. Next
would be Quatro ending the 490-day reign of Ralph Imabayashi to become
the new PWR Champion in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Wrevolution X 2019.
And lastly, Bro. Jomar Liwanag cutting a promo at Mandala Park for Gigil
at Romansa, when the thunder roared after he delivered a line from his
promo. It was perfect timing and it makes me believe now that the
Liwanags have powers.
Wayne: Your thoughts on pro wrestling in the Philippines now and it's
future?
Rowen: To this day, I believe pro wrestling in the Philippines is still
young, but it has heavily improved from what I saw first in 2015. The
production, presentation, and venues have leveled up, and are a huge
improvement from 2015. Everyone got older and wiser and is handling the
storytelling and the behind-the-scenes pretty well. MWF now has a TV
deal and is a big win for MWF and the Philippine wrestling scene because
it can make wrestling mainstream in the country again. All I wish in
the future is for Filipinos to not only talk about international
wrestling, but talk about modern-day Pinoy Wrestling as they become
aware of it and to further establish Philippine wrestling into something
big that even the future generation will become a fan and aspire to
become a wrestler and a champion.
