Philippine Wrestling Revolution: Reviving wrestling one suplex at a time

Photos courtesy of Hub Pacheco and PWR’s Facebook page.

Advertisement

Suplexes. Moonsaults. Piledrivers. Leglocks. If those words mean nothing to you, move along, research, then come back. If, however, you’re one of the droves who caught wrestling fever over a decade ago, please make yourself at home. Bring out those old wrestling merch while you’re at it. Wrestling isn’t dead. In fact, it’s poised to make a local comeback. It’s a wrestling revolution. The Philippine Wrestling Revolution, to be precise.

Back in 2005, wrestling fever was at its peak. Dave Batista, one of the few wrestlers with Filipino blood, won the WWE’s World Heavyweight Championship at that year’s Wrestlemania 21 pay-per-view. As you might expect, Manila exploded with excitement. Quite a few months later, the fever silently fizzled out. It just died without precedent. Most just forgot about it, tucking it away in the annals of childhood. But for some, wrestling was alive and well. Their passion grew beyond the Batista era. For them, wrestling grew away from the WWE into different promotions and different styles.

It was this passion that led to the wrestling revolution. Philippine Wrestling Revolution (or PWR) started off as a Facebook group in 2012. It consisted of Filipino wrestling fans who had the same dream: starting the Philippines’ own wrestling company. At the start, their dream sputtered in fits and starts. Most of the group’s activities were just fantasy bookings. Then, in 2013, around ten members from the Facebook group decided to physically meet for the first time. PWR was born. Sort of.

They knew that putting up a wrestling company took more than just raw passion. They needed skill, experience, and of course, wrestlers. Through social media, they contacted wrestling personalities who in turn, showed their support for the aspiring wrestlers. Big names like Josh Bauserman and Joe E. Legend were even instrumental in establishing PWR. Even now, talents of Filipino origin show interest in the fledgling promotion, including T.J.  Perkins and Zema Ion from TNA.

In 2014, PWR held their first bootcamp to train their first roster of wrestlers. This included members of their current roster, like Bryan Leo, Jake de Leon, Ken Warren, and Chris Panzer. It was tough. Training was grueling. They trained for months in a bad ring that could have potentially broken their backs. In May of that year, the bootcamp held a test show to ease their comfort in performing for a live audience. Only 14 people (friends and family) attended. Their curtains were even made of garbage bags. It wasn’t what you would call a successful event but it accomplished what it was made to do: to start them on the road to revolution.

They were ready. A few months after the test show, PWR held their first show in September, PWR Renaissance, at the Makati Cinema Square. With just two weeks of Facebook promotion, the event hooked an attendance of 120 people and rave reviews from the crowd. The numbers were only going to get higher. Later that December, they held their second show, Terminus, which drew 150 people in attendance. In February of 2015, their Vendetta event got 400 people. In May, one year after the test show, Revolution X put 550 butts on the seats, from just 14 people the year before. In August, this number reached 650 people. It grew so big that they had to turn away people because the arena was full to the brim.

In just one year, PWR single-handedly elevated wrestling’s place in Philippine culture. It may have a long way to go, but it has nowhere to go but up. Wrestling is no longer a forgotten memory from childhood. It’s now a spark rekindled from the passion of those who kept wrestling alive all these years. And they’re not yet done. The bootcamp is currently on its fifth batch of recruits. Their numbers and their fans are growing by the day.

While they take inspiration from established wrestling promotions like WWE, TNA, and ROH, PWR isn’t out to emulate anyone. They’re building their own product. Their style isn’t limited to luchador, hardcore, or even mat wrestling. They’ve coined themselves as the masters of the halo-halo wrestling style. They can climb to the top turnbuckle, but they can just as easily duke it out in submission holds. How far will they go? Well, one of their wrestlers, Bombay Suarez, set his hand on fire and delivered a flaming chop to this opponent’s chest in one match, if that’s any indication.

In the future, they hope to increase their shows and their championships. They hope to find a permanent home on a cable network. They hope to go on national and international tours. It’s only been one year since they started their first wave of shows. In that one year, they’ve already made waves locally and internationally. Their hopes are within their grasps. There’s no stopping the revolution.

If you want to catch a taste of the revolution, PWR is holding PWR Live! on November 21 at the Makati Cinema Square. Afterwards, Terminus will be held in December to close out their successful year.