“KENNY! KENNY! KENNY!”

This was what the SPW fans were waiting and chanting feverishly for the entire night. They were of course calling out one of the most popular wrestlers in the world today, Kenny Omega. And he was the main attraction for the latest Singapore Pro Wrestling show called Klash of Kings.

Last night, the Foochow Building played host to yet another night of some good ol’ wrestling action. The event was in partnership with Chinese wrestling company, Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE). Their last collaboration was Oriental Storm in July.

This time, OWE brought not only their Japanese talents like STRONGHEARTS members CIMA, El Lindaman and T-Hawk, but also their Chinese wrestlers like Shaolin Monk and Fluter. Even West Australian Pro Wrestling’s The Australian Sensation, Craven, made his return to the SPW ring. Klash of Kings saw them face SPW’s own in various matches.

Check out the highlight video here:

SPW vs OWE: Klash of Kings had 8 matches altogether. In the main event, Omega teamed up with OWE’s CIMA and Shaolin Monk as they took on the team of the SPW Southeast Asian champion The Statement, Trexxus and The Butcherman. Before that, there was Mighty Mighty challenging GM Carl Hella in a Uniquely Singaporean Street Fight where if the former were to win, his buddy and tag team partner The Eurasian Dragon would get reinstated to SPW.

The other matches included an exciting showdown between SPW’s best high-flyers Alex Cuevas and Aiden Rex, and STRONGHEARTS members El Lindaman and T-Hawk, and even a fatal four way match featuring Alexis Lee, Luna Inez, Selina and The Colonizer.

Quick thoughts

The main event stole the show. It’s no wonder since it features wrestling stars Omega and CIMA, OWE’s huge promising talent and SPW’s best.

Kenny Omega was of course a standout performer who pulled out his trademark moves like the V-Trigger and One-Winged Angel, much to the great delight of fans. But he’s not the only one who made an impression. Each wrestler in that match had their moment in the spotlight. The competitor that impressed me most is Shaolin Monk. He has been catching the world’s attention lately with his European and UK debut in the OWE tag tournament. His name is Zhao Yilong and he’s only 18 years old, making him the youngest in the main event at Klash of Kings.

It’s no wonder why CIMA selected Zhao to be his OWE partner in the match. Watching him live in action was truly a treat for any wrestling fan. His in-ring style is a unique blend of Shaolin kungfu and high-flying wrestling. Every move he made at Klash of Kings was a thing of beauty like the diving moonsault off the top ropes to the outside. Except one where he missed the landing and crashed on no man’s land instead. That was painful to watch but luckily, he seemed okay after the match. But he did pull off this

CIMA was on point, as always. In fact, he, Shaolin Monk and Omega worked really well together. Same goes to The Statement, Trexxus and The Butcherman. It was amazing to see Team SPW go head to head against these world stars, just holding their own like they did. The future of SPW definitely looks bright!

I also really enjoyed seeing Aiden and Alex battle with the STRONGHEARTS duo. It would be awesome to see Aiden and Alex team up again in the future because their flashy but deadly styles really complement each other.

The other tag match between Social Misfits and the team of Michael Nakazawa and Shigehiro Irie was another fun watch. The devious duo of SPW never fail to entertain with their wicked antics and magic tricks. Even Nakazawa had his own brand of pranks with the thong that he tried to use on Kyle Black but in a surprising and humorous display, The Trickster made it disappear (good riddance)! It’s so good to see Social Misfits not missing a beat, even when facing more experienced opponents like Nakazawa and Irie.

As a fan of high-flying wrestling, the triple threat between Blue Nova, Craven and Fluter was definitely a treat. Though it was clear that Craven has the experience advantage over the other two, I thought the match went quite well.

While I enjoyed the show as a whole, there’s no ignoring some of the misses. Being the only title match on the card, the Singapore Championship match could’ve gone better despite both men’s efforts. Destroyer Dharma made quite the impression at Oriental Storm but last night at Klash of Kings, it didn’t look like he had his head in the game for some of it. I thought Big Good Jack really made his mark as he practically manhandled the defending champ especially outside the ring. Until they made it back inside and suddenly Dharma turned the tide and that was the beginning of a quick and abrupt end. Looking forward to the next defence, though.

Speaking of inconsistency, the rookies match had promise in the beginning. It was interesting to see Taibarian’s return and I was really looking forward to see what Team ACE and CK Vin can do after their impressive debuts at Oriental Storm. But this match isn’t a true reflection of their skills. It was probably a case of wanting to do too much in one match.

Same goes to the ladies fatal four way match, unfortunately. I think the common mistake here is trying to too hard with big spots that may be too much for them to handle at their current level. One spot that I did like was when Luna jumped off the top ropes to land with a crossbody pin on all three of her opponents. As opposed to the double superplex and powerbomb combo, the diving crossbody is simple but effective. And she pulled it off well!

But the biggest disappointment has to be the street fight. Despite being the only story-driven match on the card, it sadly lacked substance in its culmination. I tried to get into the match. I even laughed when GM Carl Hella came out wearing a safety helmet with his signature headband around it. Having his lawyer be the special guest referee and Social Misfits creating shenanigans to wear down Mighty Mighty was brilliant. And I also like the noble idea of Mighty Mighty fighting for his best friend and tag team partner’s contract. But the execution was a story that’s been played out too many times with them. It’s always the same case of the good guys looking so weak until the last second where some miracle happens and they suddenly win.

Even the surprising appearance of The Eurasian Dragon as he came to Mighty Mighty’s aid drew little reaction from the crowd. I don’t know about the others but for me, that’s because I already predicted it long before it happend. And worse, having TED’s involvement actually weakens Mighty Mighty’s character because it looks like he can’t win without TED. After all the anger and fight from Mighty Mighty, it should’ve ended with him standing tall over the GM with TED’s reinstated contract. That would relate very well with the narrative that this story angle has been pushing. But with what happened at Klash of Kings plus a messy street fight, it just confuses the whole thing and everyone watching.