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Hello everyone.
Pro wrestling has had its share of factions, stables and alliances over the years. When one least expects it, one comes along out of the blue, and is surprising.
This blogger remembers a group back in May 1996 called the nWo. Monday nights were huge in America with the ratings between WWE and WCW. There would be an overlapping of shows so unless you had two televisions, you weren't able to see both at the same time.
The WWE wrestling names of Razor Ramon and Diesel wrestled in their final matches with the company in early May 1996. It has never been determined if their contracts ran out or they jumped ship. The following week, Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) appeared on a WCW Nitro show and created a lot of havoc. He interrupted a match and was creating havoc with Eric Bischoff, the announcer (WCW owner and recently retired from wrestling altogether).
Two weeks later, it was determined that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (Diesel) had signed with WCW shortly leaving WWE. Nash would appear and at the time, the duo would initially be called The Outsiders. Over time, several wrestlers would join the group led by Hulk Hogan who turned heel. It was then that The Outsiders changed their group name to the nWo.
Over the past weekend at the SETUP Thailand pro wrestling event, EP21 Double Cross, there was a different type of development that has the fans in Bangkok and throughout the Southeast Asia area buzzing.
There was a SETUP Openweight Title Match between the champion, Andruew Tang and Jonathan Johnson. This blogger wasn't there at the show. However, reels show that a third party, SETUP's Shivam, interrupted the referee's count at two by pulling him out of the ring. It so happens that the referee gets knocked woozy by Shivam's blow.
Prior to the show, it was announced by SETUP Thailand's management team that Shivam was to be barred from ringside for the match. This was from an incident involving Shivam, Johnson and Tang at last November's final show of the year.
Shivam enters the ring with both Johnson and Tang still in the ring. Johnson attempts to closeline Shivam, misses, and Shivam nails him coming off the ropes. Eventually, Tang pins Johnson and retains the title.
That wasn't enough however. Shivam would yell out to the crowd that there would be a "takeover" of the local wrestling industry. He and Tang would form an "alliance" known as Real Global Threat. Then, both Shivam and Tang, following the announcement would continue to punish Jonathan. The referee, wrestlers and some staff try to come in and break it up, all to no avail. Finally, Jake De Leon, a wrestler from the Philippines comes in and makes the save. He had appeared at the show and wrestled Shivam in an earlier match that night.
It will be interesting to see how the Real Global Threat situation will play out. You have two wrestlers, Shivam and Andruew Tang, who are both champions. They wrestle for different promotions. The two have faced each other in singles matches, but not as a team before.
Also, it will interesting how SETUP management will deal with this one. It's been recorded that Jonathan Johnson wants a match regarding both wrestlers. Will Jake De Leon return to be Jonathan's partner?
In the meantime, who knows what Real Global Threat night do. There are numerous promotions throughout Southeast Asia. Maybe it could be a future SPW show. Perhaps, they could fly to Vietnam or the Philippines.
It will be interesting. I remember the nWo group lasted roughly four years. This "alliance" might last awhile.
