Pinoy wrestlers have ‘no reason’ not to reach WWE, says Sheamus

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Throughout the years, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has seen its share of international stars make it big in its promotion.

Fans need to look no further than current WWE champion Kofi Kingston, who hails from Ghana in West Africa.

Before Kingston took over, however, the promotion’s most prestigious title was once held by Irish superstar Sheamus, who is currently in the Philippines to promote the WWE live event happening in Manila next month.

And no less than the four-time world champion believes that Filipinos also have a shot at making it to the top like he did. 

“There’s no reason from a country like this that there can’t be a WWE superstar, man or woman, to come through here and represent this country,” he said during a meet-and-greet event in Taguig City on Thursday, August 15.

“They go the right way by their training, they go the right way by their wrestling and they get proper training from someone who knows what they’re doing and they don’t take unnecessary risks in the ring. I think there definitely could be.” 

Indeed, there are homegrown talents actively working for a rare shot at becoming a WWE superstar.

Just last month, Crystal, Jake de Leon and Ken Warren of top Filipino wrestling promotion Philippine Wrestling Revolution (PWR) were part of a 40-person Asian contingent who participated in WWE’s tryouts in Shanghai, China.

 

For @CrystalMNL, the first two days of the #WWEChina Tryout have been mind-blowing, but she’s excited to finish strong! #NXT pic.twitter.com/32IcDe78BJ

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 17, 2019

 

 

For Sheamus, who started his WWE main roster journey with the now defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2009, there’s no goal too far for anyone who believes they can reach it. 

“You just can’t make excuses, you know? There’s always a way,” he said. Even Finn (Balor) went to Japan. He followed his path, it went that way and I came to America.”

Like Sheamus, Balor rose through the ranks in Ireland and Japan before making his mark in the WWE –  a long journey capped off by becoming the first-ever WWE Universal Champion in 2016. 

“Obviously, it takes a long time to start the training process in the US with NXT, but there’s no reason in 5 years’ time, there can’t be somebody here from the Philippines sitting here with this microphone answering your questions about their journey from here to WWE,” Sheamus continued. “There’s no reason why that can’t happen.” 

Through PWR and other Filipino promotions like the Manila Wrestling Federation (MWF), Philippine wrestling has gained enough traction to be scouted by the WWE in 2017. 

Fil-foreign superstars like Batista and TJ Perkins also helped boost the local wrestling scene by promoting their Filipino roots during their time with WWE.

Clearly, in achieveing the Pinoy WWE dream, it’s not a matter of if, but when. – Rappler.com