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.
Source: Dante Chen on Facebook
The hard-won victory was achieved by flipping his opponent — a much larger man — onto the floor in a neat move.
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.
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.
Source: Dante Chen on Facebook
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.
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.
Source: Dante Chen on Facebook
He subsequently pinned his opponent onto the floor till the bell rang, snagging an unlikely win.
Source: WWE
As he was declared the winner, the look of exhaustion and jubilation on his face showed just how much this meant to him.
Source: Dante Chen on Facebook
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.
Just like on Friday, he won his first match after being initially dominated by his opponent.
Source: WWE on YouTube
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
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Featured image adapted from Dante Chen on Facebook.
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