Thank you to the staff at MWF for the very prompt schedule. Looking forward to being at one of the shows in 2024!
Alex Cool d. Hiroki.
Butch d. Karas.
War Bear d. Axe Wang.
The Joker and Ghost Wolf d. Black Ho and Ghost Fight and remains the NTW Generation Doubles King Champions.
Sky d. Lucifer and remains the NTW Undifferentiated Singles King Champion.
New Taiwan Wrestling's next show will take place on Saturday, January 20th. More on the show soon!
There was a mention about Ho Ho Lun, the Godfather of Hong Kong professional wrestling and possibly being on the card.
I had an opportunity in America of seeing him on television back in 2016 when he wrestled for WWE NXT. It was definitely great seeing a wrestler from Asia in the WWE.
After a couple of years, he returned to Asia to continue his career. He wrestled for a couple of promotions such as the Manila Wrestling Federation when he was the second MWF Pinoy Wrestling Champion. Eventually, he went over to Dragon Gate Japan Pro Wrestling.
I had an opportunity to see him live last month at MWF's final show of 2023. He wrestled "Danger" Rex Lawin in a #1 Contender's Match for the MWF title. Though Ho Ho Lun lost, the match was electric for those who were at the PMC Spotlight Center in Circuit Makati.
Ho Ho Lun, like Tajiri, is a knowledgeable wrestler throughout Southeast Asia pro wrestling. Neither wrestler needs to have a title. Showing up to wrestle at any promotion throughout the region will bring fans to the event.
Right now, Ho Ho Lun is on a wrestling tour throughout the United Kingdom. He says that he has a goal to one day appear at MKW's biggest show of the year. Don't be surprised if he does appear at the MKW show at the end of the month!
The lineup has not been announced as yet. However, I've been informed that The Eurasian Dragon from Ring Of Rebirth (Singapore) will wrestle in the show. Also, Shaukat will defend his title, the Ambition Wrestling Global Championship against an opponent yet to be named.
For more on tickets, please check the APAC Wrestling page on Facebook. Thank you.
Fabio Makisig after winning the MWF Pinoy Wrestling Championship in December 2022.
For the last couple of years now, this blogger has followed pro wrestling quite a bit in Southeast Asia. I've seen it firsthand in the Philippines with five shows over a calendar year.
Also, this fan has followed it quite a bit on social media outlets like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), You Tube and several streaming providers.
This blogger has covered roughly 15 or so wrestling promoters throughout the region. There are several promotions such as Grapplemax Pro Wrestling in Singapore whom there's a high regard for. For much of the year, Big Dave was their Openweight Champion. He defended the belt against all comers and would also be on podcasts in the country sharing his thoughts of the coveted championship.
Late in the year, Big Dave lost a title match to Hotshot Wilson, a wrestler who was on the verge of being a champion for a couple of years. It will be interesting to see his reign in 2024.
Another pro wrestler I have a high regard for is a wrestler with the Manila Wrestling Federation.
At my first ever show outside North America, Fabio Makisig, definitely one of the most recognizable wrestlers in the Philippines, won his first MWF Pinoy Wrestling Championship in defeating another great wrestler in Jake De Leon. It happened at the Peta Theater Center in Quezon City at the 2022 Noche Buena show.
Like Big Dave in Singapore, Fabio defended the title against numerous competitors in 2023. The list included Nigel San Jose, Dabid Ravena, Migs Valdez, Robin Sane, Crystal, Ken Cifer and Jake De Leon prior to the eight man elimination last month.
However, it was more than the fact that Fabio defended and defended it successfully for nearly one year.
Fabio, as well as numerous MWF wrestlers, as well as staff members, took part in a lot of appearances in the Metro Manila community. There would be radio shows, television shows, appearances at a few of the area shopping malls.
Things would even be enhanced when around the middle of 2023, the Manila Wrestling Federation would be a part of a new channel in the country. The channel known as Rock Of Manila TV can be seen in much of the Philippines today!
Being fairly new to the pro wrestling scene in Southeast Asia, I'm not sure how popular MWF or that matter, Philippine Wrestling Revolution was prior to the pandemic.
However, I can say since post pandemic, the wrestling scene led by the Manila Wrestling Federation has elevated their game. Certainly, the MWF Pinoy Wrestling Championship has definitely been elevated and Fabio has a great deal to do with it. Hopefully, the kapafeds who followed him throughout 2023 will not forget what Fabio accomplished as champion.
Now, with Jake De Leon as the champion, this doesn't mean that Jake cannot elevate things in holding the belt. He has been a recognizable face in the pro wrestling scene for a few years now. He's not known as "Mr. Philippine Wrestling" for nothing. Whether the fans like him or not, it will be interesting to see his path as champion going forward.
Certainly, this fan is looking forward to what the path will be in 2024 for Fabio, Jake, for Oro Plata Mata and the Manila Wrestling Federation.
Here are the results from Manila Wrestling Federations's 2023 Noche Buena. The event was held on Sunday, December 3, 2023 at the PMC Spotlight Theater in Circuit Makati.
Grey Shirt d. Orange Shirt.
Ken Cifer and Saint John Martin d. Zera and Umezawa to win the World Underground Wrestling Tag Team Championship.
Isaiah Valencia d. CJ Serafin.
El Kapitunero d. Brother Benny.
Joey Rosas d. Michael Su and Bitman to win the Hong Kong-Philippine Alliance Cup.
Danger Rex Lawin d. Ho Ho Lun in the MWF Pinoy Wrestling Championship #1 Contender's Match.
The trial of Oppa KT and Tarek turned out as a guilty verdict for Tarek.
Aaron Liwanag d. Jomar Liwanag.
Super P. d. Chelsea Marie, Joya and Patricia Ligaia in a four way women's match.
Jake De Leon d. Main Maxx in the final two wrestler pairing to win the MWF Pinoy Wrestling Championship.
The match began as an eight man tag team elimination match between the MWF All Stars (Fabio Makisig, Robin Sane, Nigel San Jose and Danny Zamora) versus Team Oro Plata Mata (Jake De Leon, Main Maxx, Dabid Ravena and Kurt Jiminez). Also, team Oro Plata Mata will remain intact going into 2024.
From the Philippines to Hong Kong to Thailand to Singapore and more, shows were selling out in venues.
Current wrestling promotions would stream or have their shows on television for the first time in years.
A Chris Jericho podcast would feature two promotions in Southeast Asia for the first time.
There was a promotion in one country making its successful debut over a 10 month calendar stretch. The same promotion would follow by showing their shows over a 10 week time frame on You Tube.
There would be two - four way women's matches, in two different shows, with two different promotions in the same country. Though, as difficult as it is finding women to wrestle, both promotions were able to pull it off! In both cases, the fans who were present at the shows, showed their appreciation. This fan was fortunate to be at both of the events!
Pro Wrestling Illustrated, now a global magazine, has recognized several wrestlers from the region. That is a good sign of things to come.
In a couple of countries, things are still somewhat slow in recovery from the pandemic. However, there is progress with the promotions as the year is coming to an end.
With 2024 arriving soon, things will continue to improve. Numerous promotions are recognizing and seeing it. The fan bases of the different promotions in different countries are noticing it and this fan feels it from the various social media pages.
One thing worth adding. Since the new blog began in October, over 5,000 people and 137 countries have read at least one post. This is more than what this blogger would have ever imagined. Thank you for making this possible.
Hopefully, the fans who read this, whatever country one lives in, has an opportunity to see a show in your area in 2024. The promotions are doing everything they can to make pro wrestling entertaining as possible. All I can say it please check it out!
Happy New Year and a safe 2024 everyone!
Realizing that WUW - Philippines doesn't get as much ink on my blog as it should, still, the promotion needs to be recognized.
Led by a very talented performer in Saint John Martin, the promotion put on a great show with Dexcon being a major contributor in August of this year. The show, as well as the meet and greet with wrestlers throughout the Philippines and some of Southeast Asia was great! It was this fan's first taste of a meet and greet in Southeast Asia and it was very memorable.
Having the show at the Brawl Pit Bulusan in Quezon City was really cool too. The fans are right on top of the action which made the show even better. What this fan liked was the cafe next to the venue called the S. Brewed Cafe. The food was really good and something I would recommend to someone that is making a day of the show activities.
WUW - Philippines will be having their next show in March 2024 sponsored by Dexcon once again. This blogger will have continual updates on who will appear. The show is called WrestleStorm on it will take place on March 24th.
Finally, regarding WUW - Philippines, congratulations to Ken Cifer and Saint John Martin for winning the WUW Tag Team Championship at the 2023 Noche Buena show.
To begin with, the company began operations in October 2022 with a few wrestlers who had performed with Philippine Wrestling Revolution, a company whom was founded in late 2013. The company, because of the pandemic, closed in September 2022.
Because this fan loves wrestling, and this is a Southeast Asia wrestling blog, FPW deserves more posts than it has been getting. Moving forward, the company began with their first show on October 16. It turned out to be the beginning of a series of shows called FPW Astig. The first show was called FPW: Unfinished Business.
Red Ollero, in my opinion, has done a great job with getting Filipino Pro Wrestling off the ground. The promotion is starting cautiously and slowly, but most everyone feels this is the correct way.
Back to FPW Astig, the shows from October 2022 through the August show in 2023, were held at the PMC Spotlight Theater in Circuit Makati. Following the Unfinished Business show and another in November, there were seven FPW: Astig shows. Several of the shows would have a tournament to see who would be the first FPW Champion. That turned out to be Mike Madrigal.
Madrigal won a three way final on April 22nd by defeating Cali Nueva and "The Best Pure Wrestler"- Ralph Imabayashi, certainly two deserving wrestlers, to win the belt. Madrigal has successfully defended the belt twice against Cali Nueva and Duke Ortega.
This fan was curiously wondering why results were hard to come by. Well, I found out the reason.
While on vacation in the Philippines in August, on Sunday, August 27th, I attended my first Filipino Pro Wrestling show. Following one of the matches, Red Ollero announced that the FPW Astig series would be aired on You Tube beginning on Thursday, September 14th. There would be two matches each week for 10 weeks with the FPW Championship Match as the final match of the series.
Right now, this fan is assuming that there will be more video from the July and August shows on You Tube sometime in the future. Certainly from the show I saw in August, it was a highlight in itself with some great matches that took place.
From what is on the blog, several wrestlers were accommodating on doing interviews with this blogger. Though right now, it is a quiet time of the year due to the Christmas holidays, am sure that training is going on to get ready for the 2024 season.
Am told as of right now that Filipino Pro Wrestling's next show will likely take place in February and at the PMC Spotlight Theater once again. With what has been happening with World Underground Wrestling - Philippines and the Manila Wrestling Federation in 2023, the 2024 season will be a successful year for all three promotions.
And why not!
In the next few days, a new year will be upon us. In advance, Happy New Year everyone! This blogger has decided on something new for the viewers beginning in 2024. I've put together a list of upcoming wrestling shows in Southeast Asia over a two month time frame.
Just to let everyone know, this page will be updated promptly as more promotions will schedule upcoming shows. It would be a good idea to bookmark it since the updates may happen often. At the end of each month, there will be a new list.
The January and February shows (actual and tentative) are posted below. The times of the shows are accurate per each promotion's Facebook page. Normally, the doors open roughly 30 to 90 minutes prior to the show depending on the promotion. Please check the Facebook pages of any of the promotions regarding the time of the show and ticket availability!
Again, this page is subject to change and will be updated often. Thanks again everyone!
***
Saturday, January ?, 2024 (tentative) - Vietnam Pro Wrestling - Saturday Showdown. Venue is the VAIB Studio, 37 Be Van Cam, P.Tan Kieng, Q7, Ho Chi Minh City beginning at 7pm
Friday, January 19, 2024 - Singapore Pro Wrestling - Champions Never Yield 2. Venue is the Foo Chow Building, Tyrwhitt Road, 207530, Farrer Park MRT Station, Serangoon Rd and begins at 7:30pm.
Saturday, January 20, 2024 - SETUP Thailand - Bangkok Showdown. Venue is The Circus Studio, G Village Bangkok and will begin at 6:30 pm.
Saturday, January 20, 2024 - New Taiwan Wrestling - ? - Venue is Zhongguang Dojo and will begin at 2:00pm.
Saturday, January 27, 2024 - Middle Kingdom Wrestling - Bash At The Bay 3. Venue is the Nashan Digital Innovation Exhibition Center in Shenzhen, China and will begin at 7pm.
Sunday, January 28, 2024 - APAC Wrestling - Enter The Dragon. Venue is Spacerubix in Puchong, Malaysia and will begin at 7:30pm.
Friday/Saturday, February 2-3, 2024 - Hong Kong Pro Wrestling Federation - Tag Of Glory. Venue is 柴灣 青年廣場2樓 Y劇場 Youth Square 青年廣場, Y Studio, 2/F Youth Square, 238 Chai Wan Road, Chai Wan, HK beginning at 7:30pm.
Sunday, February 11, 2024 - Filipino Pro Wrestling - FPW Astig. Venue is the PMC Spotlight Theater at Circuit Makati, Makati, Philippines beginning at 2pm (time to be determined).
It was nice on Christmas morning here in San Francisco to be on the Rock Of Manila feed for Part 2 of the 2023 Noche Buena showing. Even though being about 7000 miles away, I felt as if I was actually in the Philippines taking part with over 100 viewers in watching the feed. Sometime next week, I'll post the results from the show.
Now that Parts 1 and 2 have been shown both on Gank and Rock Of Manila TV, here are my final thoughts on the show.
First and foremost, it was great seeing, meeting and talking once again with numerous kapafeds, the MWF staff led by Veronica, Tarek and William, and quite a few of the MWF wrestlers as well as talking briefly with Michael Su and Bitman from the Hong Kong Pro Wrestling Federation. It was a memorable day as it was the anniversary of my first MWF show one year previous.
Thank you, as always to everyone, as this fan has always felt comfortable and welcome at a pro wrestling event, whether it is MWF, Filipino Pro Wrestling and World Underground Wrestling - Philippines. Pinoy wrestling fans are great fans. They are passionate, knowledgeable and can be humorous at times. Am grateful for this.
There was no question in people's minds is that the show exceeded the expectations. A sellout crowd at the PMC Spotlight Theater were really into the show. Seeing three of the last four shows live, there was no question this was the best one - post pandemic. It has great momentum going into 2024.
The matches were top notch from the preliminary match with Grey Shirt vs. Orange Shirt to the Eight Man Tag Elimination Match.
Certainly, the four way women's match was one great highlight for this fan. Seeing Patricia Ligaia make her debut as a wrestler was awesome. Hopefully, she will continue to pursue her dream.
Joey Rosas held his own very well in the Hong Kong-Philippine Cup against two experienced wrestlers in Michael Su and Bitman.
I was excited to see "Danger" Rex Lawin continuing his return to the squared circle to beat Ho Ho Lun in the MWF #1 Contender's Match. It was great to finally meet him after the show and to share my appreciation on him getting an opportunity in getting a title match sometime in 2024.
Finally, the eight man elimination tag match had so many story lines within the match. It will be interesting following what we saw, what will transpire in the first show in 2024. There were certainly be changes amongst the various "stables" or groups.
It will be interesting to see what happens with C.J. Serafin, Jomar Liwanag, Danny Zamora and Main Maxx going forward. All of us who saw Noche Buena on video, live, or both, may have some possible answers regarding each one.
However, this fan has learned something from the late and great wrestler, Roddy Piper when it comes to this. Once in an interview, Piper said to an interviewer, "when you think you have the answers, I change the questions!"
There is one question that has been answered so far in 2024. The Manila Wrestling Federation will return to UP Dillman with their main shows at Ang Bahay Ng Alumni. It will be memorable times.
Happy New Year everyone and will see you guys in 2024!
Inglorious d. Joses and Larhvin.
"Crypto Bro" LK d. Shaun P. Diddy.
Simon Siah d. Christian.
BIG DAVE and Ben Sachak d. Aussie Aussie Aussie.
Hotshot d. Jullian and retains the Grapplemax Openweight Championship.
Here are the lineup of matches for the show:
Sky (C) vs. Lucifer for the NTW Indifferent Singles Championship.
Ghost Fight and Black Ho vs. The Joker and Ghost Wolf (Moon Circus).
Axe Wang(Puzzle) vs A-Yong-Go vs 戰熊(Puzzle).
Butch vs. Karas.
Alex Cool vs. Hiroki.
For more information including tickets, please check the NTW page on Facebook.