Filipino Pro-Wrestling delivers powerbomb of a show

MANILA, Philippines – If Filipino Pro-Wrestling’s second ever event — Mawala Na Lahat Huwag Lang Wrestling — held at the Power Mac Center Spotlight at the Ayala Circuit last Sunday can be summed up in two statements, you will have to go with the following.

The first was from professional wrestler Duke Ortega, who had previously wrestled in Singapore and Australia and is now taking his talents to Filipino Pro-Wrestling (FPW), which rose from the ashes of the old Pro Wrestling Revolution. 

The huge and chiseled Ortega picked up his opponent of the night, FPW’s first academy graduate and live show debutante Thiago, and asked to no one in particular, “Where are we going?”

“Oh, there.”

With that sentence, Ortega threw down a devastating suplex that flummoxed the rookie. Soon after, Ortega rolled up Thiago for the 1-2-3 pin.

It was a sobering debut for Thiago, who was also impressive as he sought to squat Ortega into oblivion. 

“I’ll get him next time,” promised Thiago after the match. 

After last November’s soft launch titled “FPW: Unfinished Business,” the new pro wrestling organization went full bore with a slate that was delivered like a Christmas powerbomb to an audience starved for local sports entertainment that has been denied for close to three years due to the pandemic.

The main event that pitted Chino Guinto and Mike Madrigal was an epic 20-plus minute match that was exhausting and punishing. The latter stunned Guinto with his finishing near death experience for the win.

Even 30 minutes after the show, Guinto said that the leg kicks from Madrigal, a Muay Thai practicioner, hurt. 

The second statement of the night was from some female fan in the live crowd of over a hundred (with about 17,000 watching online), who repeatedly exclaimed — once more to no one in particular — “Oh my God!”

It was none more pronounced when Nina ran the length of the ring to kick Cali Nueva out and barely hanging for dear life on the turnbuckle. 

Nina won the inter-gender match when she forced the flamboyant and high-flying Nueva to submit.

“Tap out!” she cried moments before Nueva did so with their own match, a grueling affair. 

Other matches saw James “Idol” Martinez losing to Bolt as he was denied by the referee any chance to cheat. Martinez surprisingly returned to the ring in the very next match to join Mh4rkie in tag team action against the Yolo twins, whose newfound aggression as heels helped them to the victory.

Dax Xaviera was brutally punished by Vlad Sinnysk. And perhaps the best match of the event — Jan Evander versus Ralph Imabayashi — had fans oohing and ahhing with a technical match-up with the latter taking a dub via a cutter.

“It’s our last offering for 2022 and we wanted to put out a showstopper of a show,” said FPW president Red Ollero. “When we return for next year, 2023, we promise a lot of great pro wrestling action and quite a few surprises.”

Yes, FPW is definitely going over there with more “Oh my God” reactions.