For many Singaporeans, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was their favourite sports entertainment programme growing up.
While some of us may have tried imitating their trademark moves, we could only dream of standing in the coveted ring.
However, for one Singaporean wrestler named Sean Tan, that dream recently became a reality.
On Tuesday (21 Sep), Sean became the first Singaporean to debut in WWE after appearing on the NXT programme.
He emerged victorious in less than 1 minute, pinning fellow wrestler Trey Baxter and securing the 3 counts.
2 years after joining a WWE tryout, Sean made his debut on Tuesday’s (21 Sep) edition of the NXT programme.
Introduced under the moniker Dante Chen, the 25-year-old entered the ring wearing a red sleeveless coat and a glittery bandana mask.
Though the NXT commentators acknowledged the challenge Sean faced assimilating to a new culture, they were confident that there were “big things in store” for him.
Sean’s 1st WWE match was against fellow NXT performer Trey Baxter in a singles match.
The beginning of the match was dominated by Trey, who landed a backbreaker and a suplex against Sean.
However, the tides turned when Trey rolled Sean into an unsuccessful pin, only to be reversed and slammed from an inside cradle move.
This transitioned into a successful pin for Sean, who secured victory within just 1 minute.
Earlier in July, Sean became 1 of 3 recruits from Asia to train with the WWE.
With the achievement, not only did Sean become the first Singaporean to join the WWE roster, but also the company’s first Southeast Asian talent.
Before joining WWE, Sean spent almost 10 years in the Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) circuit.
Known as Trexxus then, the 25-year-old rose through the ranks to become the Southeast Asia Champion of the independent circuit.
His last match in SPW was uploaded on YouTube on 24 May.
Our heartiest congratulations go out to Sean for his successful debut in the WWE.
Hopefully, he will be a popular superstar in the WWE Universe and will lock horns against other seasoned performers, and if all things go well, get his hands on one of the belts.
Let’s hope Sean’s run in the WWE inspires other aspiring wrestlers in Singapore to chase their dreams, no matter how unorthodox they may be.
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Featured image adapted from Dante Chen on Twitter.
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