Iran Pro Wrestling releases first round of tournament to crown first champion
Iranian Pro Wrestling has taken nearly fifteen years to fully develop. A long and difficult journey, undoubtedly. The wrestlers who have stuck it out and followed the dream of creating pro wrestling in their home country are now taking a big step as they prepare to crown, as far as we can tell, the first pro wrestling champion in an Iran-based promotion.
IPW has released the first round of bouts of their Iranian Glory tournament. The tournament will not only crown Iran’s first pro wrestling champion but it will also serve as the first pro wrestling tournament in Iran to date.
Six matches made up the first round of the tournament. Miti Toman came out victorious against Butcher after showing off some nice athleticism and some humorous heel tactics including an attempt to bribe the referee. Darky Casper and Pahlevan Reza met up next in a competitive bout where Reza’s experience and mat savvy ended up being the difference maker, leading to a Pahlevan Reza victory. Following the match, the two competitors shook hands in a show of mutual respect and sportsmanship.
The third match of the opening round featured Sensei Sajad and Rose in a bout that featured two wrestlers that were able to show off some nice martial arts related skill. The turning point of the match seemed to come when Sensei Sajad crushed the rose that Rose brought to the ring during his entrance in the middle of the ring, seemingly having a strong psychological effect on him. Sajad won the match after hitting a stiff elbow shot to the spine with the ring covered in rose petals.
Dark Knight and Little Soldier would compete in the fourth first round match. This match featured some high paced action, including Little Soldier hitting a couple of Lucha Libre inspired maneuvers. The high paced action wasn’t enough to slow down Dark Knight though, as the bigger competitor came out as the winner after using his size and power advantage after taking a page out of Mark Henry’s book and hitting a World’s Strongest Slam.
Iran’s rapping wrestler Street Boy was in action next, taking on Tsunami. Both wrestlers seemed to be fan favorites and Tsunami has the in ring look of a fighter. These two put on a good show and went back and forth for most of the match. Street Boy would score the hard earned pin after hitting two chokeslam-turned-Rock Bottoms.
APK and Rastin met in the last first round match. APK was accompanied by one of his Gangster Squad stable mates, Rose, and Rastin was forced to fight at a disadvantage for much of the match. Rastin fought through it though and even hit a big dive to the outside and a swanton bomb onto the floor despite the uphill battle. A top rope flipping senton would give Rastin the victory after Rose was banished from ringside.
Overall, the first round of action in the Iranian Glory tournament was just over an hour of entertaining wrestling. For wrestlers that have mostly self trained themselves and are using a boxing ring to compete in, they really do put on an impressive and entertaining show and the addition of a cheering crowd was a noticeable upgrade from IPW’s prior video release. It will be exciting to see who can walk out of this tournament as the first champion of an Iranian wrestling company and the first champion of IPW. Be sure to give IPW a follow on Instagram and YouTube to keep up with the rest of the Iranian Glory tournament and what the future holds as well for the young Iranian company. You can check out the matches from round one below.
