S’porean pro wrestler Dante Chen wins WWE match after flipping larger opponent onto the floor

Dante Chen wins match ahead of WrestleMania event held by WWE

Dante Chen, who made history by being the first Singaporean to appear on the World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE’s) SmackDown programme, has another notch on his belt.

The 28-year-old pro wrestler, who made his debut on SmackDown less than two months ago, has won his latest match.

The hard-won victory was achieved by flipping his opponent — a much larger man — onto the floor in a neat move.

Dante Chen faced taller & heavier opponent

Dante, whose real name is Sean Tan Li Hao, was fighting in the NXT Level Up show on Friday (5 April).

His opponent was Drake Morreaux, who according to the Cagematch wrestling database is 1.98m tall and weighs 135kg.

For the record, Dante is 1.8m tall and 89.3kg, according to his WWE profile.

Morreaux initially gained the upper hand due to larger build

During the match, highlights of which were streamed on WWE website, Morreaux initially gained the upper hand with his larger build as Dante was unable to inflict a decisive smackdown.

Morreaux even picked Dante up and threw him onto the floor a few times, pinning him down with ease.

The American also got a few good punches and kicks in, and it looked like Dante would be heading for a defeat.

Dante Chen wins WWE match after flipping opponent over shoulder

However, Dante perservered and the tables were turned when he aimed a kick at the tiring Morreaux’s head, then finally managed to flip him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

He subsequently pinned his opponent onto the floor till the bell rang, snagging an unlikely win.

As he was declared the winner, the look of exhaustion and jubilation on his face showed just how much this meant to him.

Dante Chen wins WWE match ahead of WrestleMania

Posting on Facebook on Saturday (6 April) after the match, Dante said it was “the right week to pick up a win”.

He was ostensibly referring to WrestleMania, the WWE’s showpiece event that’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history.

This year’s WrestleMania is the 40th edition. It takes place on 7 and 8 April (Singapore time) in Philadelphia.

Dante is first Singaporean to debut in WWE

In 2021, Dante made history by becoming the first Singaporean to debut in WWE after appearing on the NXT programme.

Just like on Friday, he won his first match after being initially dominated by his opponent.

On 23 Feb this year, Dante became the first Singaporean to appear on WWE’s SmackDown programme in another history-making debut.

Also read: Pro wrestler Dante Chen becomes 1st S’porean to debut on WWE SmackDown

Pro wrestler Dante Chen becomes 1st S’porean to debut on WWE SmackDown

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Featured image adapted from Dante Chen on Facebook.