Honest Opinion - Did PWR Kranti exceed expectations despite challenges?

Pro Wrestling Rebellion delivered Kranti, crowning their inaugural Champion.

After multiple roadblocks, Pro Wrestling Rebellion (PWR) went against the odds to deliver PWR Kranti, their first-ever flagship show at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. Originally set for September 11 at the venue, the show was moved to Noida Indoor Stadium.

The change was made due to the then ongoing BRICS Summit in the national capital. However, given the extensive movement restrictions and very short amount of time, they were unable to move ahead with the show on September 11 and had to postpone it to September 23 at the original venue.

Khel Now was in attendance last night to witness a ‘Kranti’, in Jeet Rama’s words. The former WWE superstar who is spearheading the rebellion aims to bring pro-wrestling to the masses in India. So did he succeed? How good was Kranti and can they bring a revolution?

Jeet replaces Saurav Gurjar to take center stage at PWR Kranti

To start the show, which was supposed to begin at 6 PM, was delayed by an hour and began at 7 PM with a dark match before superstars took center stage. The changes in schedule also meant many fans from around the country were unable to attend; this also meant the show was not sold out.

That said, the fans in attendance were loud. PWR also did a decent job in making fans aware of who the heel and face are, despite the fans being unaware of the personas. The talents did a commendable job with their antics to establish who the fans should root for.

Regarding the matches, although there were few botches, overall the matches kept fans engaged with low blows, kendo sticks, interferences, ring-side spots and much more.

Event Jeet laced up his boots to team up with Guru, who was originally set to team with Saurav Gurajar, who was unable to attend due to his arrest. Jeet’s inclusion was kept a secret until the very last moment and the pop in his entrance was proof of how Indian fans adore him and the work he’s doing.

The two battled Mason Maddon and Toofan, with Guru carrying much of the match while Jeet made his presence felt at key moments. He came in and out of the action throughout, staying heavily involved as things broke down towards the finish.

The closing moments saw ringside interference and a chair spot that visibly irked Maddon, who eventually left the ring. That gave Jeet and Guru the opening they needed to pick up the win, celebrating in the ring alongside Mansoor, Mark Dallas, Mei Suruga, and others as the night came to a close.

JT Baba crashed the post-match celebration, cutting a heel promo, blasting fans for cheering for non-Indian wrestlers and booing one of their own. The segment had some desi flavors with clapbacks as the audience cheered on the babyfaces.

The show also featured a PWR Cup Battle Royal where Shanky decimated the rest of the field to secure an easy win and win the first-ever Battle Royal. On the other hand, Emi Sakura defeated Mei Suruga to retain the Super Asia Championship.

While Jora Johl, Mei Suruga, and even Dijak won over the fans, Shanky took the crowd reaction to another level. The entire stadium erupted as soon as he made his entrance. His entrance drew arguably the loudest pop of the night, making it clear just how strongly the home crowd had connected with him.

New Delhi loves Johnny Bollywood

The main star of the show that the fans unanimously backed was Johnny Bollywood (fka John Morrison). The former WWE star defeated Mansoor earlier in the show to qualify for the Four-way No DQ match in the main event, where the inaugural PWR World Heavyweight Championship was up for grabs.

Apart from Johnny, Dijak, Jora Johl and Big Damo were part of the main event, which saw Johnny taken backstage after a spot that forced the referee to throw up the ‘X’ sign as medics came in to take him backstage.

However, Johnny returned with kendo sticks to soften Dijak and Damo, courtesy of a short-lived alliance with Johl. The match not only featured tables and steel chairs but ringside spots that saw Johnny leap over fans to take down the opponents in the crowd stands.

In the concluding moment, Johnny pinned Damo to secure the win and rushed towards the title, which was kept on a podium near fans; we were sitting right beside the title and got to join Johnny in the celebration as the show came to a close.

Concluding Thoughts

While there is certainly room for improvement, especially if Jeet and PWR want to break into the mainstream conversation in India, the show ultimately delivered on its expectations and gave fans a memorable night to remember.

More importantly, it showed that there is a genuine appetite for live professional wrestling in India, which has been evident in WWE’s social media numbers, and PWR is slowly beginning to carve out a space for itself.

PWR has the opportunity to fill a gap that larger international promotions have left behind. WWE may have the global reach and star power, but they don’t even host live events in the country and have only hosted a handful of shows.

If PWR can continue improving its production, storytelling, and prop up homegrown talents while taking its shows to more cities, towns, and communities across the country, there is a clear opportunity to build something that extends well beyond a single event.

For now, though, PWR has given Indian wrestling fans a memorable night of live professional wrestling, homegrown as well as international talents, and an atmosphere that is impossible to replicate by watching from behind a screen. If this is only the beginning of the Kranti, there is plenty of reason to keep an eye on what comes in this ‘rebellion.’

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