Regional Cooperation Or Mega Corp Power Move Part 2

Shawn takes a look at the movement happening in Asia and what it mean for wrestling!

In part one, I provided bread crumbs which possibly indicated a power grab by World Wrestling Entertainment’s NXT brand.  Shortly following my submission, new information has been revealed which removed the first option all together.  The information provided below is a collaboration between myself and independent writer James Snelgrove (NuclearConvoy).  James has extensive knowledge regarding the Chinese professional wrestling promotions.

Following the tweet on 20 March, a new twitter account was created by Honk Kong Wrestling Federation.  The name of the account is Ultimate Wrestling Asia (@UWA34354104) and began tweeting updated information.  One of the first tweets included a map of the independent promotions in Asia.  UWA Asia, has been actively tracking the promotions and retweeting information, thus indicating the seriousness of their proposal.

Ultimate Wrestling Asia made contact with myself and James explaining their intent being a universal partnership amongst all of the major promotions throughout Asia.  This information creates a major alliance which benefits everyone in the region.

How China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan benefit;

The Chinese promotions have been working hard to introduce women’s wrestling to the population.  At this point they’ve been able to attract a few freelance wrestlers like Hibiscus Mii and Zeda Zhang.  China has introduced the population with these ladies, but lack 1. Numbers to build a women’s division and 2. Quality of wrestlers.  Had China begun training women, it would take an additional five years just to see any decent matches.  Including Thailand alone brings legend Emi Sakura, Riho (Emi’s student), Blue Lotus, and Miho (Emi’s student) to the Middle Kingdom and all are great entertainers.  The addition of Malaysia and the Philippines provide diverse wrestlers with extensive experience in different forms of matches.

How Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines benefit;

The promotions in these companies, provide good wrestling talent both in men’s and women’s divisions.  They also benefit from the connections legend Emi Sakura and Andrew ‘The Statement’ Tang have created in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.  So, how can China benefit them? First, though these promotions have good wrestlers very few are great characters.  Imagine what talents such as the 2018’s Best Character winner Zombie Dragon, Uncle Money, Ho Ho Lun, and so many more deserving characters can provide in building a character and promos.  Character development is arguably as important as technical skills in modern wrestling.  Chairman Al is a master of being a manager, his skills could revitalize the manager identity in Asia.

Finally, the Chinese promotions enjoy a greater amount of support by the Chinese government than the smaller nations.  Better quality equipment, lighting, and production quality.  China’s government has been heavily involved in using these promotions to build good relations with other nations and that support will extend to promotions associated with China’s.

But, we can’t forget the leftovers;

There are two promotions in Asia, not on the list.  It is possible that the reason for this omission were their current status.  Pro Wrestling Society in South Korea and Saigon Pro Wrestling Club.  At the moment, these two promotions lack support by their governments.  These promotions also suffer from lack of experienced trainers, as they rely on old WWE video tapes for instruction.  They still are capable of putting on decent matches under limited conditions.

Oriental Wrestling Entertainment;  This could make sense due to OWE’s partnership with All Elite Wrestling.  It is possible that such partnership would restrict OWE in participating in an alliance, but that is purely unknown at this time.

In Closing; The formation of Ultimate Wrestling Asia is no small feat.  It also impacts the future of professional wrestling.  It impacts the World Wrestling Entertainment brand who seeks to establish dominance globally.  WWE’s future would depend heavily on the creation of training centers, promotions, and networking for venue space.  This alliance could also prevent talent sharing with WWE and with Vince McMahon’s habit of poaching talent could face unfamiliar legal actions with such attempts.  It is significantly easier to use well trenched promotions for a new brand than it is building them from scratch.  A new threat to the McMahon’s plan for global dominance has emerged and the threat is not All Elite Wrestling.