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Atlus / Ryū ga Gotoku
SHANGHAI, China and STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE has signed seven new recruits from China to developmental contracts. Big Boa, Gu Guangming, Gao Lei, Zhao Xia, Wang Xiaolong, Yifeng and Cheng Yuxiang were all discovered earlier this year during a four-day tryout held in Shanghai and will begin training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, in January 2017.
The signing of these new recruits further cements WWE’s long-term commitment in China. In June, WWE announced an exclusive multi-year content distribution agreement with PPTV to deliver its flagship shows Raw and SmackDown LIVE in Mandarin, and Bin Wang as the first Chinese talent signed to a developmental contract.
The seven new recruits will all attend WWE Live China at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai, this Saturday, Sept. 10, and witness history as Wang, from Anhui, makes his WWE in-ring debut against Bo Dallas.
“WWE is dedicated to finding the most talented athletes and entertainers from around the world,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “The seven athletes identified at WWE’s first-ever tryout in China will be given the opportunity to train at the WWE Performance Center, in the hopes of becoming the next big WWE Superstar, while also helping to inspire future WWE Superstars and continue the global success of WWE.”
Additional information on the new recruits:
- Big Boa (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was named the 2016 Brazilian jiu-jitsu China Open Gi/No-Gi champion and represented China at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.
- Gu Guangming (6-foot-8, 287 pounds) is an amateur boxer from Mudanjiang, ranking among the top amateurs in his weight class since 2012. He won the National Men’s Championship in his weight class in 2014.
- Gao Lei (5-foot-10, and 320 pounds) is a champion in various Beijing traditional wrestling promotions and was the team leader of Mongolian University’s wrestling team.
- Zhao Xia (5-foot-4, 136 pounds) has trained in martial arts and is the co-founder of her own fitness studio. Zhao has multiple first-place finishes in various martial arts and fitness competitions, including the Second World Traditional Chinese Wushu Championship, Nike Challenge Competition and First China Throw Down: Battle on the Bund.
- Wang Xiaolong (6-foot-3, 243 pounds) of Beijing has a background in basketball and dance, and he studied at the Shandong University of Technology and the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy for music production.
- Yifeng (6-foot-2, 238 pounds) is an actor from Shanghai and a graduate of the Shanghai Theater Company. Yifeng was most recently featured in the movie “Lady and Tiger” in 2014.
- Cheng Yuxiang (6-foot-2, 226 pounds) is an expert-level fitness trainer from Beijing, certified by the Beijing Zhuo Zhonghua International Fitness Academy. Cheng also participates in various Chinese boxing competitions across the country.
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