'The Statement' Andruew Tang discusses his WWE tryout, Kenny Omega and Singapore Pro Wrestling (Exclusive)
To be the "first" at anything is an achievement in its own right. To be the first-ever professional wrestler from your home country? Well, that makes a monumental statement about your drive, determination and talent.
I recently caught up with the first-ever professional wrestler from Singapore, "The Statement" Andruew Tang, to chat all about his journey to the top, his recent WWE tryout, and having Kenny Omega visit Singapore.
Regular viewers may notice the voice in the video below isn't my own, as sadly Andruew and I couldn't calibrate our schedules due to time difference - but it was a pleasure to formulate the questions and hear The Statement's answers.
Watch the video below for more, or keep reading for the highlights!
Andruew, you are THE first-ever professional wrestler from Singapore. What inspired you to become a professional wrestler?
I remember when I was 10 years old, playing video games with my cousin. The game was WWF SmackDown. I didn't watch wrestling, you know, I got my a** whooped - but I found the game very interesting - the colourful characters, the mesmerising and devastating wrestling moves.
I went back home, did a lot of research on wrestling, watched wrestling and, following that, I was blown away by the athleticism on display in the ring, the larger-than-life presence, the charisma.
Growing up, I really idolised The Rock and his ability to captivate and mesmerise the crowd. I was blown away by that. I told myself, "Okay, this is something I have to do in my lifetime. I want to be like The Rock, I want to be a pro wrestler - the way they carry themselves inside the ring, the way they entertain the crowd," and I feel like that's my calling and, since then, I've never looked back.
I just try my best to make my dreams a reality.
Being the first-ever must have been a little daunting. What obstacles did you face?
Initially, I started off at the age of 23 and there were no wrestling promotions in Singapore, so basically what I would do was, I set up realistic goals for myself, to see how I could get one step closer to the pro wrestling business.
Thankfully, I met my partner, Vadim, who owns a promotion in Russia. He has been around for 15 years and there are a lot of WWE guys who have wrestled in the promotion, very established, experienced wrestlers in Russia. We decided to venture into Singapore, and we've never looked back.
I mean, the challenging part was actually learning pro wrestling, and then eventually to build up a scene, a wrestling culture here in Singapore. When I first started off the pro wrestling scene, in Singapore, 2012, there wasn't a boom, not during my time, where pro wrestling was watchable and accessible on TV in mainstream media.
So, basically to get support from the fans, to show them that our promotion is credible, the stuff we do inside the ring is good, it's value for money and making them want to come back for more, telling their friends and spreading through word-of-mouth.
NEXT: Andruew discusses sharing the ring with Kenny Omega