SEA Wrestling Magazine - Issue 5 The Visitors - Part 1

SEA Wrestling Magazine - Issue 5 The Visitors - Part 1

While Southeast Asian wrestling can hold its head up tall and say it built itself with local talent, there have been more than a few unique and interesting visitors to our shores over its short history. In this article, SEA Wrestling looks at a few of the most impactful and memorable visitors.

An “import,” as is the technical term for someone typically from another country who is being brought in to appear on a wrestling show, is traditionally done as a “draw” (ok, enough of the wrestling terminology) in order to elevate ticket sales, DVD sales back in the day, or elevate the status of a show.

One thing admirable about Southeast Asian wrestling is that this has been done relatively sparingly in terms of bringing in huge international names. The SEA Wrestling ecosystem already works well with a mix of local names and a few regional talents sprinkled in. However, on occasion, there’s been some absolute magic made by some famous faces appearing. In issue 5, we’re looking at the first of three categories - World Champions & Global Icons.

No era has created unforgettable stars quite like the Attitude Era did from 1997-2001. Being a prominent face on WWE, WCW, or even ECW at that time made you a bankable attraction for years to come. Some of the most famous names would ultimately show up on an independent show to phone it in and provide little long-lasting impact for the promotion. On the contrary, some would invest their time and put in as much effort as if they were on a large-scale PPV to elevate and educate the local talent.

One of the most famous to do this in Southeast Asia is Yoshihiro Tajiri. Known for his spectacular matches in ECW, WWE, and Japan, the Japanese Buzzsaw has also spent some time in the Philippines and Singapore. Before the early Pinoy wrestling promotions were born, Tajiri had already toured with the WNC promotion in a fairly unsuccessful first attempt at wrestling in the country.

He would, however, return on several occasions to wrestle for Puso’s predecessor, the Manila Wrestling Federation, facing most notably Fabio Makisig in career-elevating matchups as well as later on in 2024 Jomar in tag team action where he teamed with his former foe.

That same year, Tajiri would make his debut for Singapore Pro Wrestling against The Statement in a well-received bout for the promotion. He would follow this up with two more visits in 2022, the first tagging with Riho against The Statement and Mei Surga, and then the next day entering a four-way for the Southeast Asian title against Masahiro Takanashi, The Statement, and champion Aiden Rex. In all these matches, Tajiri would help to challenge and elevate talent by allowing them to work with his dynamic Japanese/American hybrid style.

Moving on, perhaps the most unbelievable appearance in Singapore Pro Wrestling was by none other than Kenny Omega after the formation of AEW. In 2019, at a joint show with Chinese promotion OWE, Omega teamed with friends CIMA and Shaolin Monk against top-tier SPW talent The Statement, Da Butcherman & Trexxus (Dante Chen in NXT). Of course, the match is fantastic involving this level of talent.

A more recent world champion import that turned heads was Brit gone east Zack Sabre Jr., making his second run around the region. Zack has wrestled twice now in the Philippines for DEXCON, twice for SETUP in Thailand, and recently in Singapore for SPW. While some wrestlers simply elevate talent, it was clear in his bouts in Southeast Asia that Zack also took away some valuable lessons from his opponents that helped him to elevate his game even further. Although all of his matches in 2024 and 2025 were of high quality, his Dexcon matches against ZSJ and tagging with him against El Phantasmo and Fabio Makisig particularly stand out.

In recent history, though, if we’re talking about getting global eyes onto the promotion and leaving a long-lasting impact, perhaps none did so more than Vietnam Pro Wrestling’s surprise appearance of world-renowned Chris Jericho back in 2023. I will admit that being there adds some bias to my wording, but quite simply, Jericho being in Vietnam created headlines and allowed VPW to elevate themselves to a promotion noted and respected worldwide. The fact that Jericho came motivated the talent to step up their game even more and helped draw sellout houses for over a year straight.

Back in the Philippines, two other names took their time to help out their kin when they were able to do so. Of Pinoy heritage, TJP wrestled Jake De Leon in PWR in 2019; sadly, Covid-19 canceled a return visit. While another American-Filipino, Jeff Cobb, helped out FPW as their champion during his New Japan Pro Wrestling days, even wearing the championship during his Wrestle Kingdom entrance.

All these notable stars have had outstanding matches in Southeast Asia, but remember it takes two to tango, and these stars left with plenty to take away as well. In the next installment, we’ll take a look at some independent wrestling standouts who often keep coming back to the region!