Middle Kingdom Wrestling – September 5, 2015: It’s Wrestling. But In China.
Middle Kingdom Wrestling Episode 1
Date: September 5, 2015
Commentator: Eddie Strong
It’s wrestling in China. I have no idea what to expect here and the show is only nineteen minutes long. This is one of the major countries where wrestling hasn’t spread yet and it should be very interesting to see where it goes. I’m hoping this is in English as otherwise, it could be a rather confusing show. Let’s get to it.
So it seems that we’ll be having a tournament to determine the first ever MKW Champion, though it says that the CWE Champion The Slam (I’ve heard worse names) defended his title twice this weekend. So did they just spoil the whole thing?
MKW Title Tournament First Round: Hoho Lun vs. The Selfie King
Selfie King is exactly what he sounds like. Lun has sunglasses on the back of his head. King is sent to the floor and it’s time for a picture. Lun is apparently from Hong Kong and is one of the company’s founders. The ring is really short as King is above the middle rope while standing on the floor.
Back in and King’s kicks to the leg have almost no effect and Lun gets two off a running forearm in the corner. They hit the floor for a chase until Lun takes him back inside for a Boston crab. King makes the rope and tells the referee that he saw a bird, allowing for some selfie stick shots to the back. A standing moonsault (with the camera out of focus for some reason) is enough to pin Lun.
Rating: D. Yeah this was bad. Lun was a mile ahead of King, who might have been making his professional debut here. Above all else here, the commentary is killing it. The guy sounds like he’s about 19 years old and trying too hard. He never stops talking and is more annoying than anything else, but it sounds a lot more like he’s brand new at this and has no idea what he’s doing.
MKW Title Tournament First Round: Len Bai vs. Tangguo Ge
Ge is a masked man in a full body suit and what looks like CM Punk trunks. He gives candy to some kids and comes out to Christina Aguliera’s Candyman. So he’s the reincarnation of Brad Armstrong? Bai has his face painted and looks like a cocky heel. Ge (whose name means Candy Brother) tries a quick cross body but gets caught in a fall away slam. Back up and Bai is Irish whipped but doesn’t seem to know what to do so he just stops. Ge gets whipped into the buckle, followed by a backbreaker for two.
We hit the chinlock on Ge for a bit before he tries……something like a Canadian Destroyer. That’s pretty high up on a list of moves I never thought I would see here, even if it was more of a roll into the piledriver than a jump. A big clothesline gets two for Bai but Ge grabs the Black Widow of all things. This match continues to surprise me. Bai drops him down in a side slam to break it up before a pair of fisherman’s busters are enough for the pin (with the three in slow motion).
Rating: C. WAY better here as both guys looked like they knew what they were doing, at least for the most part. They definitely had some issues out there that can be helped a lot with more experience and some coaching, but both of them looked a lot more polished. It also helps that they were wrestling instead of being obsessed with the gimmick like King was. Far better match here and it even had a story with Bai working on the head to set up the fisherman’s buster.
The credits, including thanking the wrestlers, take us out.
Overall Rating: D+. That’s on a very strong curve. It’s very clear that this is their first show and it looks like they had a budget of about $18. That being said, I can’t imagine there’s a very deep talent pool to pick from and they were doing the best with what they had. I’ll check out the second episode which might be an improvement, but they have a lot of stuff to fix, some of which might be out of their control.
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Hey man, I’m the promoter of MKW and I appreciate you covering us. Somethings you said, I could agree with myself 🙂 It’s hard out here in China, man 😛 But we’re working very hard, so I hope it’ll shine through eventually !
Please check out Episode 2 and beyond. I think we’re improving with each episode! Please continue to support Chinese Pro Wrestling!
I can imagine it’s not easy. I’ve got the second episode on my schedule and I should be checking it out in the next few days. Thanks for checking me out.
Cheers for doing this, KB!
Selfie King might be awful on purpose, since he’s more than likely a caricature on America in a Communist state. I’d at least be interested in seeing China’s take on the sport though.
Oh, man…Just checked out the company’s website, and there’s a Lenbai promo that is unintentional comedy gold. You need to check it out.