What’s the story?
Hot off the news of four new female wrestlers arriving at the WWE Performance Center, WWE is reporting that three Chinese recruits have also begun training at the state of the art faculty this week. Zhao Xia, Yifeng and Big Boa have all arrived at the PC to commence training, with four more Chinese athletes scheduled to join them next month, as WWE continues to broaden its horizons and continue efforts to make a real dent into the Chinese market.
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The three were signed to WWE developmental contracts in September 2016 and will join Tian Bing, WWE’s first Chinese recruit signed to a developmental deal, who began his training with the company last summer. WWE has recently begun expanding its commitment to the Chinese market, and with WWE content freely available in the country the search is well and truly on for a marketable Chinese star. Could Zhao Xia, Yifeng or Big Boa be that star?
The heart of the matter
Zhao Xia is the only female among the three, and is trained in martial arts and also co-founded her own fitness studio. She has experienced a large amount of success in fitness and martial arts competitions, including a first place finish in the Nike Challenge Competition.
Yifeng seems to have a little athletic background but plenty of acting knowledge, as a graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Company. The fantastically named Big Boa rounds out the recruits, a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who represented China at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.
What next?
The three will report to the WWE Performance Center, where they will join more than 60 other athletes hoping to hone their skills and make it to the NXT roster, before eventually moving up to RAW and SmackDown Live. Unlike three of the four females announced yesterday, none of the Chinese recruits has any real experience of professional wrestling, and as such their time in the Performance Center could be more trying than most. Nobody said becoming a WWE Superstar was an easy, however, and there simply is no better place to learn than in the WWE Performance Center.
Sportskeeda’s take
WWE clearly has its eyes set on making a real splash in China, and the seven signings represent something of a safety first policy when it comes to locating a Chinese star. It is unlikely that all seven (plus Tian Bing) will develop into WWE Superstars, so stretching themselves so wide sees WWE hedging their bets somewhat. We wish the three new recruits all the best in the long journey ahead of them.
