Twitter’s penchant for sharing GIFs recently caused an explosion of interest in Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, after two of their roster made debuts on a Dragon Gate show held at KBS Hall in Kyoto the first weekend of May 2018. This debut was followed shortly by news that rocked the Puroresu landscape. This news was that Dragon Gate was splitting into two companies, one to operate domestically and one to operate internationally. The international branch of the promotion would be led by CIMA, taking a small handful of Dragon Gate talent with him, and be based in Shanghai, China. Their goal? To elevate and establish OWE as a Chinese pro wrestling titan. While visa difficulties with the United States of America and Australia have kept most of their announced international exhibitions from occurring as planned, their drive to give their fledgling talent greater exposure, and experience, as quickly as possible has been clear. Presently OWE has partnerships with two other companies, the aforementioned international arm of Dragon Gate, and Future Stars of Wrestling out of Las Vegas, Nevada.

These partnerships have led to two distinct benefits for the company. The first is that the amount of international interest in their product is steadily increasing, as now viewers outside of mainland China can see OWE’s talent appearing on both Dragon Gate’s streaming service, and on FSW’s twitch channel. FSW’s offering presents those unwilling to venture onto Chinese streaming services the opportunity to tune in weekly on Fridays at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST) to catch the latest video content from the Chinese wunderkind of pro wrestling. The second is that their roster is now made up of three separate components: Dragon Gate international’s talent, a likely rotating cast from FSW, and OWE’s homegrown talent. This article will set out to name, identify, and explain as many of the nuances of the roster as possible to newcomers to the product. Since the Dragon Gate and FSW roster members working in OWE have readily available information out in the wilds of the internet I will only briefly discuss them, and the meat of the article will go towards OWE’s developing roster.

A special note before I begin: The first event OWE held on 2/2/18 also featured a number of other Dragon Gate wrestlers, and the American team of Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier, but with the separation of Dragon Gate into two branches there is no indication that they will be making any returns.

Dragon Gate International

CIMA

Undeniably a legend in the world of lucharesu and puroresu, CIMA has grown to be known for his good eye for talent and his passion to train and elevate that talent into something truly phenomenal. The list of men whose careers he has helped shape is very long and includes names like Matt Sydal, Tony Nese, and Ricochet. He’s the head coach of OWE and has been on every show they have run as a performer, including accompanying talent abroad to their international dates. He has a criminally underappreciated sense of humour.

T-Hawk

A solid tag-team and trios worker in Dragon Gate who many thought capable of being the next big thing for the company, until the Dragon Gate fandom decided they had no interest in him. It seems likely that OWE will be an opportunity for him to reboot, away from the history of negative impressions and downward trajectory he was facing in his home promotion. It is worth noting that within weeks of leaving the main Dragon Gate branch, T-Hawk has picked up international gold during his outings in Australia with the struggling AWF.

El Lindaman

An incredible judoka who can look very impressive throwing people around, but his small stature may have been holding him back from getting attention as a singles competitor. This matter of stature, however, may become a moot point in the landscape of OWE’s locker room, where the average competitor is rather slight in stature themselves.

Takehiro Yamamura

Unfortunately, while full of brilliance and potential in his early career, Yamamura suffered an incredible back injury that has sidelined him for so long that fans are questioning whether or not he can make a comeback at all. His close ties with CIMA have led to CIMA overseeing, and seemingly paying for, his expensive rehab and medical treatments. CIMA seems to believe he will make a comeback, but what he will be like if/when he steps in a ring again are wholly unknown,

Future Stars of Wrestling

Jack Manley and Remy Marcel

The Whirlwind Gentlemen, or simply “WG” as they are known in OWE, look to be a major connecting link between FSW and OWE. Their primary function is to help teach the OWE roster what American-style pro wrestling is like, which they have plenty of experience doing as the coaches for FSW’s school. On the shows they play foreign heels who don’t speak Chinese and get themselves into trouble with their aggression and lack of understanding of the Chinese context. They both do great character work and have a penchant for interesting moves, even if some people online have questioned their execution in-ring. Their commitment to OWE’s development can be seen in Remy changing his twitter handle to reflect his new position.

Damian Drake and Spyder Warrior

Tagging together as the Midnight Marvels, this duo have humorously seen themselves renamed as simply “Brad” and “Thomas” in Shuaijiao’s coverage of OWE. This, unfortunately, undercuts the amazing work they’ve done to fill their gimmicks with carefully crafted comic book references. Drake seems to be a particularly good fit for OWE, with his background in parkour granting him athletic bonuses that OWE seems the utmost place to maximize them within. They are both there for the immediate future, looking to participate in OWE’s upcoming big summer plans, and Drake has expressed to me directly that he has interests in working in China as much as he can.

Clutch Kucera and Sugar Brown

Known as the Bonus Boyz in the US, this team have been rebranded in OWE as the “RMB Brothers,” or “Real Money Brothers” in English, but their gimmick remains the same: They’re there to fight, and win, to earn their win bonuses. They have a hard hitting, heavy-handed style that offers the lads in OWE something different to work with. Their presence, for however long they stay, will add much needed diversity in physical appearance to the matches OWE puts on, along with a cruel Western style heel edge.

Jake Cafe

Self identified as “The Thinking Man’s High Flier,” and called “Jackie Coffee” in Chinese press coverage of OWE’s 5/7/2018 Shaolin Temple show, Jakob Austin Young looks to fit well in the mix. In his first outing for the company he participated in a main event tag-team triple threat match that has produced some phenomenal GIFs. He brings an element of roguish American heel tactics to the table, providing some diversity to the style of work being performed on these events.

Minor Gregory Jade

Billed as “Hyperstreak” in FSW, with an entrance package in OWE calling him Minor Gregory Jade, ring announcer Michael Nee proclaiming in English that he is “The Rocket, G Sharp,” and appearing as “Greco” (which may be a misspelling of his real name, Greg) in the press coverage I have seen so far,no matter what you call him he brings energy to the table. He seems to have been paired up, at least for now, with Jake Cafe. He adds a unique masked look to the roster, alongside the Midnight Marvels.

Oriental Wrestling Entertainment

OWE’s homegrown roster are divided, presently, into three teams (with the possibility of a fourth on its way.) Each team is made up of seven men, some of whom we haven’t seen wrestle yet. These teams make up a total of 21 wrestlers, but OWE have indicated that they have upwards of 50 people presently training in their facility (which has several rings, full gyms, and provides three square meals a day.) Properly identifying these teams has proven a bit challenging as, while each teams roster remains the same, the on-screen graphics during the first show introduced the red team as both Team W and Team E (each team has been named for one initial of OWE.) To further complicate this, A-Ben is clearly indicated as a member of the Red team in graphics, with every other member working the show in red gear, but made his first appearance in black gear. As such i have done my best to use logic and information to deduce a proper structure here.

Team O (Colour: Black)

“Mr. COOL” Tang Huaqi

Tang Huaqi is a member of the fledgling cross-team faction identified by Shuaijiao as the Mongolian Wolf Clan(蒙古苍狼帮.) While his debut match may have seen him sporting the simple uniform of his team, when he’s decked out in his personalized gear he rocks a very modern Chinese urban dance aesthetic, sporting remarkably flashy colours that dazzle and astound. He carries himself with a certain charismatic cockiness befitting his urban dance culture styling, and his positioning as an early standout amongst OWE’s roster.

Picking up a victory in his debut match, and taking a tremendous beating in his second match before going down to Gao Jingjia, arguably one of the company’s slotted-in for stardom performers, Tang Huaqi has looked remarkable in each outing. While he may not have the inhuman physical prowess that his contemporaries like Gao Jingjia and Zhao Yilong have, he brings plenty of cool to the table. He is a competent high flier, executing 450 splashes and the like with ease. The impressiveness of this pales in comparison, however, to his remarkably smooth and exciting striking style. He brings unique angles of attack to the table with his strikes, and uses them to set up aesthetically pleasing sequences that transition into traditional pro wrestling moves flawlessly. Looking like he belongs on the set of a modern Kung-Fu film, he promises to be an exciting player on the roster, and is likely to be an early favorite of many new fans. As of the second OWE show it seems his moniker may officially be evolving into “Mr. T Cool” Tang Huaqi.

“Tiger Tooth” Wang Jin

While some online have made accurate aesthetic connections between the headdress worn by Chinese legendary hero Lu Bu and Wang Jin, I knew the moment I saw him come out for the post-intermission costume parade that his gimmick was an homage to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of myth and legend. Also called “Tiger Teeth Goku,” in English by ring announcer Michael Nee, Wang Jin brings all the requisite mischievous charm needed to play the role perfectly. His brand of light-hearted, good guy tomfoolery and trickery is a popular character trope in Chinese entertainment presently, with him doing things like tricking Jack Manley and Remy Marcel into chanting “We are garbage, garbage, garbage!” in Chinese.

He looks confident on the microphone, and the audience reacted as intended to his making light of the foreigners, but his personality is far from where his qualifications end. He is remarkably speedy, and agile, able to move in ways that are eye-catching and frenetic when need be. His facial expressions all the while keeping up his character. His strength, thus far, seems to be in playing a competent, entertaining backup man in tag team matches. He’s done this with both Tang Huaqi and Zhao Yilong, putting in solid, entertaining work in matches where they come out looking tremendous. The company views him favorably as well, placing him on much of their promotional materials.

“Flowing King” Gao Jingjia

Gao Jingjia’s gimmick might just be that he is insanely good at flips and moving about the ring in dynamic, flowing ways. His attire has been compared to that of Marvel superhero Black Bolt, a fellow king of sorts. He certainly looks like a superhero as he performs move after move heretofore unthought of. Maybe that’s enough for him, too, a cool nickname, a cool costume, and a revolutionary repertoire of moves.

His 630 Senton, Outside-to-In Double Stomp, and Ladder 450 Splash have earned the attention of pro wrestling fans and stars alike, with even Ricochet retweeting some of the content. Not only does he do things that look impossible, he does it all and keeps picking up wins. He has had three matches so far, all of them tag team matches of some form, where he has picked up the winning pinfall. One of his wins came in front of Dragon Gate audience, shortly before the announced split of the company. It seems evident that OWE’s management trust him to perform well, and see big things in the future of their “Flowing King.”

“Big Head” Wulijimuren

It comes as no surprise, based on his attire, that Wulijimuren is a member of the Mongolian Wolf Clan. His costuming has been compared by some to Mongolian shamans, and he certainly feels like he could be at home on the steppes in his gear. Regrettably, I cannot seem to find any logic, thus far, behind his nickname “Big Head.”

In his debut match he played the victim to much of his opponents combined offense, but still remained an element in the match right up to the end. His use of the hip attack makes him stand out, immediately, from his peers as none of them perform the move as well. He’s also, amusingly, the kind of guy who’ll slap his opponent in the face and then run away. He has put good energy on display for the audience in his matches and looks to be integrating more personality into his performance at a quick rate.

“Storm Boy” Lu Ye

Lu Ye is another member of OWE’s roster who rocks the modern Chinese urban dance fashion, even carrying around a baseball bat to enhance the look. I’ve seen advertising on QQ’s video site for Chinese urban dance competitions where competitors carry baseball bats as part of their attire, so this all ties in nicely together.

In the ring he moves well, but is a very slight competitor. His size allows him to perform some fun combo moves with his, thus far, frequent tag partner Yang Hao. The pair have fared well in their two outings. They pickied up a victory against the Mongolian Wolf Clan at the Shaolin Temple, and performed in a strong outing against Dragon Gate talent on their debut show.

“Happy Ghost” Yang Hao

Yang Hao’s gimmick takes two separate elements and fuses them together. His nickname, “Happy Ghost,” I am told is very popular in China. It is given to someone who makes others happy. This would be why he is decked out in bright colours and is always smiling. Layered on top of that is how he hops down to the ring, carrying a red lantern. Lanterns have often been associated with celebrations in China, so the happiness connects to that as well… however the hopping has a more sinister twist to it. The Jiangshi are legendary undead, commonly called “hopping vampires” in media featuring them. In essence one can infer that, while he aims to bring happiness, there is a dangerous side to him as well. This is doubled down on by his attire, which while bright also resembles the traditional clothing the Jiangshi are usually depicted in.

As a competitor Yang Hao is quite fast and smooth, working surprisingly well in his debut bouts with larger opposition. He has a penchant for throwing himself about, both inside and outside the ring. As they have teamed together in all their appearances, thus far, it is safe to predict that he and Lu Ye will be an early and steady team within the promotion’s fledgling years.

“Little White Dragon” Cui Xiangmeng

Very little information is available regarding this member of Team O so far. He hasn’t worked a single match yet, but he did cut a striking figure during his 2/2/2018 costume parade introduction. His look feels very much like he is a future Ace style character, throwing rapid punches and kicks as he walked to the ring decked out in brilliant white attire befitting a veteran performer.

Team W (Colour: Blue)

“Warm-Hearted Oba” Duan Dihang

Duan Dihang, dubbed “the cutie” in English by Michael Nee during the Shaolin Temple show, has a fairly simple gimmick to understand: he is desirable to young women. The term Oba, as pointed out by the Panda Power Plex blog, is “a Chinese word transliterated from the Korean word “oppa.” It literally means “older brother,” but Korean girls use it to refer to their boyfriends…or perhaps pop stars they wish were their boyfriends.” Interestingly he is, thus far, the only member of the roster who has only appeared in his team’s blue uniform. This could either be because management are having a hard time compressing his gimmick into a specific look, or alternatively they have decided that he will have an “everyman” look, to set him apart from the rest. I can see both being equally likely.

In the ring, so far, he has shown a lot of fire but also keeps getting beaten down. During the debut show he took a nasty four-on-one spot, and he has taken some beatings in his 2nd match as well. That being said he is also the only OWE roster member to have won a match via submission, which sets an interesting tonal difference between he and his cohort.

“Dashing Swordsman” Duan Yingnan

Duan Yingnan’s gimmick is a bit of a visual pun, playing off of the swordsman aesthetic to highlight his attractiveness. Herein the dashing in his name is synonymous with the name Michael Nee calls him in English, “Pretty Boy.” However, dashing can also refer to quick movements, and like the rest of the roster he certainly has that going for him.

Like many on the roster, it’s difficult to say much about his in-ring work for the lack of ring time he has had, mainly hanging around in multi-man tags and given little opportunity to shine brilliantly. He is physically capable but looks a bit more gunshy in some of his movements than his contemporaries. He’s got a mean arm drag, and I’ve a feeling he’s one to keep your eyes on.

“Martial Artist” Mao Chenxiang

Mao Chenxiang has, without a doubt, the distinction of having the easiest to identify and understand gimmick on the entire roster. They don’t even try to keep it subtle, with Michael Nee calling him both “Bruce Lee,” and the ever endearing “Bruce Lee 2000,” in English, during his two nights out. Before you ask, I’ve asked for you: Yes, Bruce Lee is still that popular in China. He’s been updated with a transparent plastic shirt, but he brings the classic Nunchaku to the table all the same.

In the ring he tries hard to replicate Bruce Lee’s classic bouncy step, and hand gestures, managing to stay in character well, but hasn’t let loose with any of the vocalizations so associated with his gimmick. He hasn’t had much opportunity to show off his skills yet, being booked only in multi-man tags.

“Little Guan Yu” Zhao Junjie

Zhao Junjie’s gimmick takes us on a deep dive into Chinese cultural history, referencing a real hero of the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu. A beloved and oft fictionalized historical figure. This places him easily in the position of a heroic baby face. His attire reinforces that, with elements that feel both traditional and modern, yet always militant. He also has great face paint.

He has a good fire in him, given his limited exposure and no wins on his record. He’s got a penchant for being straightforward, from what I have seen of his work. That being said, his striking style is not what I anticipated it would be, and is rather unique whilst remaining straightforward. Even though he has been on the losing side in all of his outings, he has never been involved directly in the finish. This early in the game it could be accidental, or they could be trying to keep him looking strong in their back pocket. He certainly looks like he’s got what it takes to be worthy of that thinking, and will only grow more valuable as he gains more experience.

“Little Vajra” Zhao Yilong

Without a doubt my favorite member of OWE’s roster, Zhao Yilong is likely to be an early top star for the company. He delivered a superb standout performance during the second half OWE’s debut show. Said performance saw him put on a display of comedy, character work, athleticism, and charm. His gimmick served, herein, as the linchpin for him to anchor these components together.

While OWE’s performers are all Shaolin Temple Kung Fu students, “Little Vajra” is the only one who portrays a wrestling Shaolin Monk in the ring. His look is instantly recognizable around the world, with Shaolin Monks occupying an irrevocable position in the international concept of Kung-Fu, and to another extent, China itself. Shaolin, primarily through the spread of Kung-Fu films in the 70s, has influenced numerous creators internationally and cannot be said to exist only in the Chinese zeitgeist at this point. But it was theirs first, and they’ll be damned if they’re outdone at it. His nickname, “Little Vajra,” references an implement important to the spiritual practices of Buddhism. The Vajra is both a tool of religious worship and a lightning bolt-like weapon of heroic gods. The characters used to write his name, “小金刚 literally means “Little Vajra”, but 金刚 can also mean metal” and also, sometimes, diamond. The durability, and irresistible force, of his namesake is reinforced by the painting of his head a yellowish-golden colour. This is a reference to the 18 Bronzemen (or Brassmen), legendary guardians of the southern Shaolin Temple, whose bodies were as hard as metal. They served to protect the temple, and to test its students to see if they had become masters.

He is remarkably agile in the ring, performing remarkable flips and feats of derring-do. While these things are undeniably impressive, they serve only to highlight the aerial prowess of their performer. Zhao Yilong’s best in ring moments work to tell you who he is as a character, both to comedic effect and to athletic awe. He exhibits remarkable neck strength and flexibility, which he uses offensively throughout his matches. He routinely uses his head as a weapon, to send opponents flying with a wallop to the chest, and uses it to block punches while meditating. Even without understanding the cultural elements of what is going on here, he perfectly visually communicates through aesthetic and action that his cranium is to be feared. For a native Chinese audience this would be instantly recognizable as a reference. He even gives the audience quotes from his master when he gets on the microphone, and they’re all as upright and just and sincere as one would expect of the noble Shaolin.

Layered on top of his tremendously constructed Shaolin character is a stream running through his repertoire of moves I’ve dubbed “Bald Men Manoeuvres.” This sees him perform both the Stone Cold Stunner and a Jinsei Shinzaki-esque praying rope walk. I sincerely hope that this is intentional, but I’ll take serendipitous as well.

Not only is Zhao Yilong packed with enough talent to impress even the most jaded of fans, his gimmick and performance choices allow him to maximize his screen time and appeal to both an international and domestic audience simultaneously. While a western fan may not know about the 18 Bronzemen, and a new Chinese fan may not get the visual pun of the Stone Cold Stunner, the elements that bind the gimmick together will grab attention across the whole scope of OWE’s targeted audiences.

“Lightning Leopard” Chen Xiangke

Chen Xiangke likely earned this nickname through his innate speed, which is evident immediately. His attire makes me think of Hwoarang from Tekken, but that’s likely of little impact on his character. His visual moment of frustration in the match, when he cast aside his little hooded vest in frustration, gave him a good moment of personality. He’s also the mischievous voice in Zhao Yilong’s ear when he convinces the monk to bang th WHirlwind Gentlemen’s heads together.

His ring work is, as his name implies, rather fast paced and there was nothing he did that made me question his capabilities. Unfortunately his one appearance thus far saw him tagging with teammate Zhao Yilong, who unfortunately outshone him in pretty much every aspect. In his match he also took one hell of a beating, serving as an emotional driver for the plot of the match. This limited his opportunities to shine outside of selling. Regrettably this roster is not yet the strongest at the psychology of pro wrestling. Without a second match on the books, it’s hard to say anything further than that he has potential and his placement on the card made sense.

Special Note: The roster listing image at the top of this section also shows a “Chen Sheng,” who has not competed yet. I’ve suspicions about which of the three unidentified rosters members (more on that later) he is, but I am not certain so it will not be included here.

Team E (Colour: Red)

“Wild Wolf” Fan Hewei

The man that Shuaijiao indicates is the leader of the cross-team faction Mongolian Wolf Clan, Fan Hewei is also, quite possibly, the brother of teammate Fan Qiuyang. Unfortunately, as his vicious attire and sharp claws would indicate, he isn’t the friendliest of older brothers. As a character so far he has shown himself to be remarkably aggressive, willing to attack his underlings when they fail him in matches.

In the ring his movements aggressiveness are dialed up to eleven. While I haven’t seen a tremendous amount out of him yet, he performs a mean Dragon Screw Leg Whip in both of his matches. He was amongst the first batch of talent announced for international expeditions, but unfortunately visa issues kept him, and several others, from making international appearances over the course of May 2018. He gdoes, however, get a fair deal of screen time and good moments on the Shaolin Temple show, which I hope lead to some long term traits of his character being developed.

“Teardrop Magic Star” Fan Qiuyang

Fan Qiuyang’s crazy visual kei inspired clown outfit has drawn comparisons to costumes seen at the Met Gala. While in his costume he moved differently, almost like something wasn’t quite right with him, completely living in the persona. Unfortunately this was only in costume, as none of his gimmicks traits seemed to carry over to his team outfit performance on the debut night. He is the fourth member of the Mongolian Wolf Clan, and is possibly Fan Hewei’s brother. In ring he has yet to do anything I’ve deemed exciting enough to GIF, but he’s only two matches into his career.

“Scorpion” Liu Xinxi

Called “Scorpio XX” and “Scorpio 2X” in his second and third matches, Liu Xinxi is a performer who didn’t seem to have all that much to offer other than a silly scorpion tail leg-in-the-air pose during his first outing on February 2nd. On top of others in the match seemingly mocking his signature pose, he offered up little during that show besides a lacklustre costume parade entrance.

However, after his excursion to Dragon Gate, where he wound up eating the pin, his stock in the company seems to have risen, as he main-evented the Shaolin Temple show while teaming with obvious roster standout Gao Jingjia. Given more room to perform, he has shown, and will likely continue to show, that he is a competent high flyer with all the tools needed to get over on his in ring work.

“Savage” Ren Yuhang

Ren Yuhang’s gimmick seems to be that of a wealthy man driven savage by some tragedy. Or, at the very least, that is how it reads on camera. His movements can seem like heartbroken madness and a pent up rage burning inside him, but this is offset by the elegance of his attire. Certainly this points to his strength in physical melodrama, but it doesn’t feel like a fully fleshed out idea yet.

In his debut match he tapped out in a multi-man tag, and his second outing sees him on the losing side of another multi-man tag. This early in the game that could either mean something, or be a coincidence. It’s too early to tell.

“Tank” Sun Chaoqun

Clad in brilliant silver from head to toe, Sun Chaoqun’s individual attire makes him feel like a fever dream cyberpunk martial artist has travelled back in time to kick some ass. His nickname, and his in ring personality, are fairly simple to understand. He’s a powerhouse who few others on the roster can go toe-to-toe with.

In each of his matches so far he has had the opportunity to show off his power, utilizing moves such as chokeslams and powerbombs that the rest of the roster doesn’t make use of in their repertoire. He’s found himself, like many others, mostly operating in tag matches and has a mixed 1-1 win-loss record so far. I hadn’t placed him highly in my rankings off of his first match, but after the costume parade and his second match, wherein OWE seem to be developing a budding rivalry between “Tank” and other Team E hoss Xiong Zhiyu, his stock in my eyes has risen significantly.

“Red Bull” Xiong Zhiyu

Xiong Zhiyu, much like his teammate Sun Chaoqun, was nicknamed for his size. While “Tank” comes to the ring looking like he’s from the future, the “Red Bull” of OWE stalks out of the past. His horned armour and face paint calls to mind ancient Chinese armour given a fantasy spin. While I initially suspected there might be some deeper historical references being made by his entrance attire, my investigations in that direction have turned up nothing. There is, however, something interesting to note in his attire. His fringed trunks are very similar in design to OWE’s head trainer CIMA’s ring attire. Like much with OWE in these early days, this could be of no real significance, but it certainly stood out to me.

His in-ring style is much what you would expect of someone who is the most physically dominant member of his roster. He tosses people around very well, even utilizing a rather unique head-lift powerbomb variation I’ve honestly not seen elsewhere before. However, beyond being just a big man in performances, he is also the comedy king of the team. When a match, a dance, or a QQ video calls for someone to inject a moment of levity, he answers the call brilliantly. As one of the sole standouts physically from the rest of the OWE roster, and this penchant for comedy in his pocket, it’s likely that he can develop into a strong part of OWE’s future.

“The Captain” A Ben (Big Ben)

A-Ben, or as he seems to be adopting lately “Captain Akilles Ben,” has the unique distinction of being one of only three OWE roster members who’ve been able to get their visas approved and compete abroad, which saw this apple-crushing future Ace work in Australia recently. His entire presentation, thus far, has seen him built up to be the face of the company. He’s had, arguably, the most screen time of anyone so far. His attire stood immediately apart from everyone else on the roster with his big furry coat. Most importantly, out of two shows so far, he is the only member of OWE’s homegrown roster to have worked a singles match. Backstage, I have been told by Damian Drake, he is even looked to as a locker room leader. He is, without a doubt in my mind, “The Captain” for a reason.

It is strange, then, that he has lost all of his OWE matches (with reports on his Australian outing not available yet.) Each of these losses has come at the hands of foreigners, and after each bout he is left despondent in the ring. This seems to be the groundwork for a larger narrative being laid down here. The Ace of the OWE roster encounters, and struggles to deal with, his lack of experience in competition against foes who show no respect for the tradition of Shaolin, and 5000 years of Chinese history, that he holds dear. During the first event he stood up to Masaaki Mochizuki for saying that pro wrestling belongs to the Japanese, and that Shaolin Kung-Fu wouldn’t beat him, and he lost. During the second event he worked a tag match, teaming with Zhao Junjie, to face the RMB Brothers, who only care about their win bonus and are willing to resort to nasty tactics to get any advantage possible. While still too early to make any guarantees, this looks like his redemption arc may lead to the OWE championship.

Thankfully for “The Captain,” he has all the tools necessary to carry himself as the eventual Ace of OWE. He is remarkably athletic, gifted with tremendous muscles on his wiry frame, and has a striking face with glass-cutting cheekbones. His style is far more direct than most of OWE’s roster, foregoing flips but still willing to fly. He’s shown strong fire in his matches, taking everything and not giving up. Mochizuki laid hard into him with kicks in his first match and he roared, his fighting spirit never waning. Considering the Chinese wrestling fandom’s love for the WWE, which i elaborated upon in a previous article it seems impossible to me that A-Ben’s use of the Rock Bottom in his most recent match is an accident. It is a superstar’s move being used to foreshadow the creation of a superstar.

Miscellaneous

Yan Chao

Yan Chao is both a martial artist and an acrobat, with a resume including working for the globally renowned Cirque du Soleil. He is one of OWE’s first trainers, and I would assume he is one of the reasons the roster can twist and fly with such ease. However he seems to not have much familiarity with the act of pro wrestling, having some of the same in-ring foibles as the rest of the roster when he made his appearance with FSW. I think it is questionable that we will see him make many in-ring appearances outside of when visa issues prevent others from making international commitments.

Michael Nee

Michael Nee is both a VP of OWE and their ring announcer and lead commentator. He has a charm and charisma to him that carries over to a western audience, as seen by the positive reactions he got to his guest ring announcer spot at FSW’s 9th anniversary show.

Huayang Fu

The owner and founder of OWE, he attends, thus far, every show and sits in amongst the audience. He straddles the line between proud father-figure and General Manager when it comes time for his inevitable involvement in the evening’s proceedings. He’s given authorization to change match-ups at the last minute and been there to encourage his roster after their many defeats at the hands of disparaging foreigners. I’m curious to see whether or not he takes a step back from this on-screen role as the promotion develops and expands.

Unidentified

White + Black Emissaries

While I’ve successfully managed to get their nicknames translated, these enigmatic emissaries real names have eluded me. They’ve only appeared, thus far, during OWE’s debut costume parade. Nevertheless, with their gimmick, representing characters associated with yin and yang and its connections to the Chinese afterlife, as it has been explained to me, I would consider it a safe bet that they will work together as a regular tag team once they start competing.

Contortionist

Regrettably I have been unable to identify this mysterious fellows name or nickname. There are two things that are clear about him, however. The first is that he has not wrestled yet, to my knowledge, appearing only in the costume parade. The second is that he is remarkably flexible and seems to have an element of contortionism to his gimmick. As I’ve never seen that blended with pro wrestling before, I’m curious to see where he goes from here.

Closing Notes

While I may have a head start on the average western viewer of OWE, and I may have friends willing to help me with translation and understanding cultural contexts, I cannot say that my job here has been perfect. OWE haven’t published any official documentation in English yet, so these names may not be what they end up using if/when they make their full expansion outside of mainland China. Furthermore, this is an evolving product in its infancy. Their shows number in the single digits and they’ve not been around for a full year yet, including if you start counting from mid-2017 when the company was founded.

Each show I have watched so far has had refinements and modifications in the naming, styling, and in-ring work of each roster member. This guide utilizes, as its primary source of naming information, the on screen lower thirds from the debut event. The performers, when introduced on this show, each had a given name and a nickname on screen. On top of this layer you often have Michael Nee switching between English and Mandarin. Since the first show he’s been adding extra names on top of the on screen names by saying them in English, like Bruce Lee, which appeared alongside the Chinese characters saying “Martial Artist” Mao Chenxiang. This extraneous English name is then followed immediately by the performers name being spoken in Mandarin. I’m not certain how this will work out, and some of it sounds a bit strange to my ear (and, i’d wager, many native English speakers would agree.)

This guide is not intended to be infallible, but should set everyone on the right track to better understanding, engaging with, and enjoying OWE’s product.

Finally:

Special Thanks go out to Mike Spears of Open the Voice Gate, Joe DeFalco of FSW, and “Selfie King” Hong Wan for their time and willingness to answer questions without which I would not have been able to put this article together in anywhere near as meaningful or comprehensive a fashion.