Crowds continue to grow in Nepal as Nepal Ring Wrestling completes successful doubleheader weekend
The Winter Slam events held over the weekend to open 2022 by Nepal Ring Wrestling Association were immensely successful. The back to back weekend shows on Saturday and Sunday attracted massive crowds and featured some of South Asia’s best in ring pro wrestling. We previewed both events ahead of the weekend and you can read that preview here.
At this point, the Nepal Ring Wrestling Association on average is drawing crowds comparable in size to the world’s major pro wrestling promotions, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Saturday’s Winter Slam event in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu drew 3,000+ but Sunday’s event in Gufadanda, Sindhupalchowk drew a whopping 7,000+. One major difference, though, between the world’s major promotions and the NRWA’s crowds is that fans attend the NRWA events for free. So while the crowds compare in size, the company isn’t making a killing off of ticket sales. But the Nepali fans attending the NRWA events are just as dedicated and into pro wrestling as fans at WWE and AEW shows in the United States.
NRWA National Heavyweight Champion Chattan poses with his title belt in front of the large crowd on hand during the second Winter Slam on Sunday in Gufadanda. Photo courtesy of the NRWA Facebook page and Allsportsnepal.com.
In the ring, things were solid as usual and the fans were in to pretty much every match. The first Winter Slam event from the outskirts of Kathmandu can be watched via a free live stream on the NRWA Facebook page by following this link.
A live stream of the first Winter Slam also made it to YouTube. You can watch that above.
Things get violent in a hardcore match at the first Winter Slam in Budhanilkantha as King Robert smashes a fluorescent light tube over the back of Nuwakote Tiger. Image courtesy of the NRWA Facebook page and HamroKhelkud.com.
The matches at the first Winter Slam went as follows:
Shine defeated UBL Stone in the Light Heavyweight Match by submission with a choke hold after a long and hard fought bout. Great way to open the event.
Baka, X-Hero and Young Shady faced off in a triple threat match that was won by Baka after landing an impressive looking swinging DDT finisher.
CJ World and Tanu faced off in an inter-gender lightweight match that saw the two brawl outside of the ring and Tanu take some stiff shots from CJ. CJ World was also unmasked mid-match by Tanu but was able to come up with the win after hitting a second rope moonsault for the pin.
The last match to make it on the live stream saw King Robert and Nuwakote Tiger go at it in a hardcore match that left both competitors covered in blood. All sorts of weapons came into play in this one including fluorescent light tubes and tables. King Robert scored the upset victory over the former holder of the NRWA Heavyweight Title Belt that is currently around the waist of Chattan after Nuwakote Tiger missed an attempt at his devastating elbow drop and crashed through a table. Huge win for King Robert and a bit of a surprise to see Nuwakote Tiger begin a losing streak.
In the main event, Ring Wrestling National Heavyweight Champion Chattan defended his title against David. Both of these fan favorites had a lot of support throughout the match. After a hard fought outing, Chattan was able to seal the deal and retain his championship title belt with a pop-up powerbomb. You can watch that match in full below.
Fans watched from an enclosed area but overflow crowds also watched from atop walls and ledges surrounding the venue as well as fans gathering on balconies from the nearby buildings and homes to catch a glimpse of the action. Among the dignitaries that were present for the first Winter Slam event on Saturday was former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Ishwor Pokharel.
Fans surrounded the enclosed venue and watched from balconies, walls and street corners as approximately 3,000+ fans took in the first Winter Slam. Images courtesy of Nepal Ring Wrestling Facebook page and HamroKhelkud.com.
Saturday’s event was a great success and had a great turnout for the NRWA. However, Sunday’s Winter Slam event in Gufadanda was even more successful. As we previously mentioned, there was an estimated attendance of 7,000+ on hand for the second Winter Slam. The event was also live streamed on the NRWA Facebook page but due to internet connectivity issues in the remote location, the stream quality wasn’t the best. But some highlights of the event have been released in much higher quality video and can be viewed below.
As we mentioned in our preview piece, the second Winter Slam was set to take place on the occasion of Climate Change Day in Nepal in an area that has recently been badly affected by flooding. The fans at this event were loud and very supportive of the wrestlers in the ring. From the footage we’ve been able to view, here is how the action in the ring went.
David and UBL Stone faced off in the opening match. David would go on to win the match.
Baka, X-Hero and Young Shady met for a rematch in their triple threat bout from the day before. This time, Young Shady would come out on top.
Nuwakote Tiger and King Robert also met in a rematch from their hard hitting, violent bout from the day prior. Both men were still sporting bandages of some sort to protect the fresh wounds they had received on Saturday. Weapons would again become involved in this bout with King Robert shattering a plastic chair over Tiger’s back and Tiger then denting a steel chair over Robert’s. The ending was similar to Saturday’s ending in the match between the two as Nuwakote Tiger again tried to hit his signature elbow drop from the top rope but missed again, this time landing on a steel chair and getting pinned by King Robert. King Robert appears to have Nuwakote Tiger’s number when weapons become involved.
Tanu and CJ World also revisited their match from Saturday, this time with CJ coming out to the ring and wrestling with no mask after having it pulled off by Tanu the day before in the middle of their match. The outcome of this one was different this time around though as Tanu was able to stand in the winner’s circle after the event and receive her winners check that the NRWA always provides to the winners of their bouts.
In the main event, Shine and Chattan went at it with the Heavyweight Championship on the line. Some of the fans on hand chanted Chattan’s name throughout the match, showing that he had the support of the big crowd that had gathered. Chattan did have a slight weight advantage over Shine which he took advantage of, landing a devastating leg drop on the back of Shine’s head before winning the match with a pin.
From left to right, Young Shady, King Robert and Tanu are presented with plaques to commemorate their victories. Chattan is barely visible as well behind Shady. Image courtesy of the NRWA Facebook page and Allsportsnepal.com.
Up next for Nepal Ring Wrestling will be two more Winter Slam events that they have planned for this winter season. So far, the dates for those events have not been provided publicly but planning is well underway on those events as per Subarna Shrestha, the General Secretary of the NRWA. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for full matches from the Winter Slam events to be uploaded to the NRWA’s YouTube page. The company has been very good about uploading all of their recent matches to the channel as of late and odds are good that these two Winter Slam events will also make it there. We were also able to track down the full match between David and UBL Stone from Sunday’s Winter Slam. So before we let you go, be sure to check out that match below!
