Nepal Women’s Wrestling Foundation draws big crowd for multinational event
This past Sunday, the Nepal Women’s Wrestling Foundation held a big, outdoor, multinational event in Kathmandu. Competitors at the event included female wrestlers from the NWWF, wrestlers from Pakistan’s Revolution Eastern Wrestling and American pro wrestler JC Storm. We previewed the event prior to this weekend and you can read that here.
Representatives from REW that hail from India were also scheduled to compete on the event but did not make the trip to Nepal, causing some last minute adjustments to be made. More on that later.
The outdoor event was very well attended as has become the norm for pro wrestling events in Nepal. Some reports from wrestlers on hand indicate that the crowd on hand may have been as high as 20,000. Unfortunately, we are not able to confirm nor deny any attendance figures. From all of the footage and photos that we’ve seen, there was undoubtedly a big crowd on hand, but the views that we’ve been able to see don’t catch a good enough glimpse of the crowd, or how far the crowd stretched for us to confirm or deny an attendance number.
Some photos of the big crowd on hand, courtesy of REW’s Xekay
According to a report by Nepali newspaper Gorkha Patra, legendary Nepali pro wrestler the Himalayan Tiger was in attendance, as was the Mayor of Suryabinayak Municipality, Vasudev Thapa. President of the NWWF, and Nepal’s first female pro wrestler, Bhagawati Khadka Unika, was also on hand to watch the event and present the winning wrestlers with titles, prizes and certificates.
The Himalayan Tiger poses with JC Storm. Image courtesy of JC Storm’s Instagram page
Highlights of all of the matches from the event are included in this video courtesy of Namaste Times
Jordan Hurr poses with Asmita Jureli
One of the main advertised attractions of the card was set to be a double title, no holds barred, winner take all Pakistan vs. India REW World Heavyweight Championship match between Pakistan’s Jordan Hurr and India’s Gopal Sharma, the reigning REW World Heavyweight Champion heading into the event. However, Gopal Sharma didn’t end up making it to the event and adjustments had to be made on the fly. Instead, REW announced that Gopal Sharma would be forced to relinquish the title and was declared the loser of the match by forfeit. In turn, Jordan Hurr was awarded with the REW World Heavyweight Championship due to the forfeit victory.
However, Jordan Hurr didn’t end up having the afternoon off. Instead, he stepped into the ring with Nepali wrestler Thagu. Jordan ended up coming out on top of the match. As a result of the victory, Jordan Hurr was also presented with a brand new title belt, the REW Indian Championship, by the NWWF. Jordan Hurr is now a triple champion, holding the REW World Heavyweight, REW Eastern and REW Indian titles.
The second bout of the afternoon was a women’s match between Sapna Tamang and Jamuna Tamang. Sapna Tamang was able to score the victory in this bout.
The third bout of the event was a 2-on-1 handicap match with the REW Ring of Slam World Heavyweight Championship on the line. The match featured The Kovu Brandon defending his title against Nepali Bro and Sneha. Kovu Brandon seemed hesitant to fight Sneha in this match as he explained that he does not want to wrestle women due to having respect for them and he does not want to hit them. With the odds stacked against him, the 2-on-1 match became a 3-on-1 match when Kovu was attacked by an associate of Nepali Bro with a crutch. Following the attack, Nepali Bro was able to score the pinfall victory, becoming the new REW Ring of Slam World Heavyweight Champion. You can watch that match in full below.
The next bout of the afternoon was one that was highly anticipated by the crowd on hand. Local hero Asmita Jureli went toe to toe with American wrestler JC Storm. The crowd was loud throughout this one and they weren’t disappointed. These two brawled inside and outside of the ring with JC Storm being chained to the ring post outside at one point while the Nepal flag was wrapped around her body. In the end, Asmita scored a big win over JC Storm by submission and Asmita was celebrated as a national hero in the ring. Overall this was a fun match with a fun crowd. You can watch the match in full below.
To close out the event, The Kovu Brandon came back out and addressed the crowd. He said he felt cheated, was forced to wrestle a woman which was something he didn’t feel right doing and was also attacked in the middle of the match. He called out Nepali Bro and challenged him for the REW Ring of Slam World Heavyweight Championship. Nepali Bro answered the challenge and brought a fluorescent light tube to the ring with him to get the upper hand. Kovu Brandon was able to duck the light tube and hit his Blackout finishing maneuver (the pedigree) for a quick win, becoming a 5 time world champion with his combined wins of the REW and ROS World Heavyweight title belts.
Overall, another fun event in a very wrestling hungry country. Nepal’s pro wrestling scene is growing as are the crowds attending the events. We will continue to keep a close eye on the hot wrestling scene in Nepal moving forward!
The conclusion of the Jordan Hurr vs. Thagu match for the REW Indian Title!
