Professional wrestling in China

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Professional wrestling in China has been a rarity since it became a republic in 1912. [1]

Contents

History

Professional wrestling originates from Japan has a long backstory with various organizations bickering back and forth, it is unclear how big the market is in China, and indeed, if there would even be enough to argue about. [2] Ashley Desilva is a local independent wrestler who has performed all over the country, and wrestles under the ring name Ash Silva. He says that China is a fertile ground for professional wrestling. [2]

Beginning in the mid-2010s, the United States-based WWE, expanded its market into China by performing several house shows in Shanghai and Beijing. [3] [4] The WWE Network over the top streaming service, launched in 2014, is currently available in Hong Kong and Macau.

Notably one of the WWE's profile stars, John Cena, speaks Mandarin. [5]

Promotions

Notable wrestlers

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standard Chinese</span> Standard form of Chinese and official language of China

Standard Chinese is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912‒1949). It is designated as the official language of mainland China and a major language in the United Nations, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. Standard Chinese is a pluricentric language with local standards in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore that mainly differ in their lexicon. Hong Kong written Chinese, used for formal written communication in Hong Kong and Macau, is a form of Standard Chinese that is read aloud with the Cantonese reading of characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One country, two systems</span> Constitutional principle of the Peoples Republic of China

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cena</span> American professional wrestler and actor (born 1977)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantonese</span> Variety of Yue Chinese

Cantonese is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. It is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese group, which has over 82.4 million native speakers. While the term Cantonese specifically refers to the prestige variety, it is often used to refer to the entire Yue subgroup of Chinese, including related but partially mutually intelligible varieties like Taishanese.

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Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop, and in particular the Campus Song folk movement of the 1970s. 'Mandopop' may be used as a general term to describe popular songs performed in Mandarin. Though Mandopop predates Cantopop, the English term was coined around 1980 after "Cantopop" became a popular term for describing popular songs in Cantonese. "Mandopop" was used to describe Mandarin-language popular songs of that time, some of which were versions of Cantopop songs sung by the same singers with different lyrics to suit the different rhyme and tonal patterns of Mandarin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Hong Kong</span> Summary and statistics of languages used in Hong Kong

The Basic Law of Hong Kong states that English and Chinese are the two official languages of Hong Kong. During the British colonial era, English was the sole official language until 1978 but has remained a strong second language in Hong Kong. As the majority of the population in Hong Kong are descendants of migrants from China's Canton Province, the vast majority speak standard Cantonese or other Yue Chinese varieties as a first language, with smaller numbers of speakers of Hakka Language or the Teochew dialect of Southern Min. In addition, immigrants and expatriates from the West and other Asian countries have contributed much to Hong Kong's linguistic and demographic diversity. The geographical element of this diversity can be seen in the Hong Kong Language Maps, which shows oral languages from the 2011 Census, and oral and written languages from the 2016 Census. Statistics for the 27 self-reported spoken languages/dialects reported in the 2011 Census, can be found in the report: Language Use, Proficiency and Attitudes in Hong Kong.

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Dylan Kuo is a Taiwanese actor, singer and model. He rose to fame in 2004 after playing the lead role in the television series The Outsiders. He is also known as Irons Kwok, his earlier western name, and Kwok Bun-chiu, his name pronounced in Cantonese.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ho Ho Lun</span>

Wong Yuk Lun, better known by his ring name Ho Ho Lun, is a Hong Kong professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE, where he competed in their Cruiserweight Classic tournament and in their developmental territory NXT. He is the founder of the Hong Kong Pro-Wrestling Federation, Hong Kong's first professional wrestling promotion. Ho has also competed in various independent promotions in Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Europe. In Chinese surname order, his surname is actually Ho but in English world some people misunderstood his surname as Lun.

References

  1. "#DiscoveringWrestling Presents – State of the Middle Kingdom: An exploration of the burgeoning Chinese Pro Wrestling Scene". March 15, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Professional wrestling on the rise in China - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018.
  3. Staff, The Ringer (October 6, 2016). "WWE's Slow Boat to China". The Ringer.
  4. Gough, Neil (December 25, 2016). "'Suplex' in Chinese? Professional Wrestling Tries a Big New Market". The New York Times via NYTimes.com.
  5. "John Cena speaking Mandarin, the world's hardest language, will blow your mind". July 4, 2019.