Adrian Gomez AMA - Middle Kingdom Wrestling China

[u/adriang4]

I was told to make my own thread by the Mod team of Reddit, so here it is

Ni Hao Wredditors! My name is Adrian Gomez -- I'm a 29 year-old American expat in China. I also love Pro Wrestling. I decided to combine the amazing place I live in with my love of Pro Wrestling to bring not just China "Chinese Pro Wrestling," but also to show the world that Chinese Pro Wrestlers like "Ho Ho Lun", "The Slam," and "The Selfie King" got it too. We've been open for just a bit over a year and we've already had several events, whether on our own or partnered with other upstarting Chinese Promotions and have had WWE CWC participant Ho Ho Lun perform for MKW on all of our events. We're even having a huge show in November in Pattaya, Thailand. MKW has its sights on taking over all of Asian Pro Wrestling. Middle Kingdom Wrestling has been covered on Wrestlezone, FORBES, The Harold Williams Blog and even on ChinaDaily -- one of China's largest state news media companies. Our Youtube channel is quite popular for being opened for just a year and we hope that you guys can check out our episodic Pro Wrestling show "MKW TV: Chinese Pro Wrestling" which is already near the end of its second season. If you guys have any questions about Middle Kingdom Wrestling or just the Chinese Pro Wrestling scene in general, I'd be happy to answer for you guys on an official AMA with Reddit. Thanks so much and give us a follow on our social media below -- especially our Youtube channel! Xie Xie!

www.middlekingdomwrestling.com

Our Flagship show:

MKW TV: Chinese Pro Wrestling -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-gdeTKKEj4 --- please like and subscribe to our channel :)

Give us a like on Facebook please: https://www.facebook.com/middlekingdomwrestling/?pnref=lhc

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKWwrestling

We have a Tumblr too: http://middlekingdomwrestling.tumblr.com/

[u/[deleted]]

What are the challenges with running a wrestling promotion in China?

[u/adriang4 → u/[deleted]]

Oh man, it's tough. First of all, although this country has 1.4 billion people, there's not a lot of resources available to us. The ring we use at Middle Kingdom Wrestling is probably one of four dedicated Pro Wrestling bumping rings ever made in China.

Next, it can be a hassle to promote pro wrestling to people who simply have never been exposed to such a product. First thing comes several people's minds are: It's Boxing. It's traditional Shuai Jiao (Mongu Wrestling.) And then after a while, maybe after a match or two, watching live, they get it. But it can be difficult to get people over that hurdle.

I'll add another thing: I'm American -- not Chinese -- trying to make Chinese Pro Wrestling work in China. And that can be an obstacle in of itself

[u/[deleted] → u/adriang4]

Thanks for the reply and good luck with the company

[u/CloudedMushroom]

Verified! Xie Xie and have fun, Adrian!

Cheers!

[u/ZeromusPrime]

How do Chinese fans differ from American fans?

[u/adriang4 → u/ZeromusPrime]

What's great about Chinese Fans is what's great about any new pro wrestling fans: You can take it back to the basics.

You can work the crowd in a simple way -- and heels can easily be hated and faces can easily be cheered. I've seen matches where there were only about three bumps, but got more reaction than some of the Chinese or Hong Kong guys attempting to chain wrestle.

In my eyes, Chinese Pro Wrestling fans are fresh fans. You can do some of the 80's, early 90's stuff in front of them and they'll pop harder for it than they would a technical match. I learned that quickly, so we're going more of the entertainment route to please our Chinese fans, which watch our "MKW TV" show in the tens of thousands on Youku and Tudou (chinese versions of Youtube)

[u/[deleted]]

Thanks for doing this AMA.

In a fantasy scenario where money and contracts aren't an issue, if you could book one current wrestler to face someone currently in MKW what would that match be?

[u/adriang4 → u/[deleted]]

1. The Selfie King vs Adrian Neville

2. Jason Wang vs Daniel Bryan

3. The Slam Vs. Goldberg

4. Black Mamba and Big Sam Vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Cesaro/Hero)

5. Necro Butcher vs Ho Ho Lun Don't ask me why, but I've already imagined this match from beginning to end. It's pretty awesome :P

[u/SoberHungry → u/adriang4]

Necro would eat him alive!

[u/[deleted]]

Are there a lot of people that come to your shows and is it difficult finding quality performers in China, or are there a suprising amount of hidden gems

[u/adriang4 → u/[deleted]]

Biggest crowd we've drawn in China is about 150. To give perspective on that number, our first event a year ago drew only about 60. So we're hoping for bigger and bigger crowds.

Yes, the guys in China are really green, but they also hold a unique, Chinese perspective on Pro Wrestling.

I think Chinese Pro Wrestler "The Slam" is one of the most exciting performers i've ever seen. And we have a good team of foreign pro wrestlers that actually live in China and devote themselves to Middle Kingdom Wrestling and performing at our events -- like Dalton Bragg, Big Sam and Ash Silva

[u/CloudedMushroom]

Which Chinese star (or stars) currently performing in your promotion or other promotions do you think can be massive stars in the oncoming years?

Also, is it hard to find wrestlers to compete in China, performers coming from China or internationally? Do wrestlers look you up or is it the other way around?

[u/adriang4 → u/CloudedMushroom]

I've got three for you:

One is The Slam -- he's kinda small by western standards, but he plays a Chinese Goldberg perfectly.

Next is "The Selfie King" Hong Wan. This kid is gorgeous. Incredible athleticsm and just amazing passion for this business.

another is LENBAI -- from Taiwan. Green, yes -- but so much potential -- great look, good body and actually pulls off a cool character in the ring.

I think these three have potential to make real money in this business

[u/adriang4 → u/adriang4]

Wrestlers look me up, but I also look up others as well. I've brought in performers from france like Tony Trivaldo and Claude Roca.

Next year in April, we're bringing in KONGO KONG, The powers of Pain, Onyx and hopefully Eddie Kingston! :)

[u/CloudedMushroom]

Since you're a promoter of MKW, I gotta ask, which match has been your favorite in Middle Kingdom Wrestling?

[u/adriang4 → u/CloudedMushroom]

Thanks for the question

I think, as far as match quality goes, it's got to be our internation six man tag team war in our latest episode of MKW TV

It was between

Black Mamba (China), Big Sam (UK,) & Andruew Tang (Singapore) vs. Jason Wang (china), Ash Silva (Hong Kong American) & The Eurasian Dragon (Singapore.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVCe2H4Wj5E

As far as personally love ..

I really loved -- despite the mis communications that occur in the match a few times due to 4 people speaking four different languages in this match -- just came together really well and told a fun story I thought.

Dalton Bragg (America) & The Slam (China) Vs. Claude Roca (France) and Ho Ho Lun (Hong Kong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVCe2H4Wj5E

And of course, the finals of the MKW tournament last year .. between Dalton Bragg and VooDoo from the UK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeK6Kn-CWlI

[u/ElSamiZayn]

Hey, thanks for the AMA!

How big, if at all, are Western promotions in China? And does this present more opportunities for a promotion like yours or more challenges?

Thanks.

[u/adriang4 → u/ElSamiZayn]

WWE has a large audience, while TNA/ROH get a decent amount of views on Chinese social media and streaming websites/apps.

I see it all as a good thing, really. If WWE can introduce pro wrestling on a wide, mainstream scale, I think it'll only benefit the local scene, which pretty much just consists of me and CWE.

[u/THATGUYWHOBREATHES]

Who do you think are the top 5 active wrestlers in the world right now?

[u/adriang4 → u/THATGUYWHOBREATHES]

Chris Jericho AJ styles Sami Zayne Kevin Owens John Cena

[u/THATGUYWHOBREATHES → u/adriang4]

That's a refreshingly unique take, all WWE guys who have succeeded in and outside of the US. Thanks for your time!

[u/[deleted]]

Is kayfabe alive in China?

What styles or moves get the biggest reactions?

Do you have stereotypical foreign heels? If so, what country are they from?

Who are the inspirations among the MKW wrestlers, and what wrestling were they exposed to growing up?

[u/adriang4 → u/[deleted]]

Hard to answer .. even the most virgin pro wrestling fan we get into the building to watch our shows, will understand that its a work after about the second or so match.

Not at all. I try my best to keep kayfabe alive, but Chinese and Hong Kong wrestlers don't do much to keep kayfabe alive.

Yes, we have a big guy named Big Sam from the UK -- who is literally the biggest pro wrestler living in all of China and Southeast Asia. He's a bully and he tags with a guy half his size, a chinese guy named Black Mamba. They feed off eachother really well in the ring.

Most are WWE inspired, but some are inspired stictly by the Puro stuff in Japan

[u/cutemusclehead]

Any culture shock stories?

[u/adriang4 → u/cutemusclehead]

I've lived in China for almost seven years and started MKW a year ago, so I have a big of an idea what will and will not go well, but I'll tell you one off the top of my head:

There's a lot of Anti-Japanese rhetoric in China and one of our wrestlers, VooDoo, is an English bloke who wrestles under a mask. He changed his character when he got to the ring to say that he was Japanese, and instead of being funny to the audience (he obviously isn't Japanese,) the crowd seemed really, really annoyed and upset. I was upset too, I didn't approve that at all since I always say we do not try to make social or poltiical commentary about Chinese society in our shows, but yeah, it didn't go well at all.