How Pro-wrestling and Pattaya Became A Thing.
Man, let me tell you—if you find yourself in Pattaya and you’re looking for a dose of home-grown chaos, skip the usual tourist traps and head straight for the ring.The man behind the curtain is SunnyZ. He’s a Canadian-Chinese muscle powerhouse who manifested the Pattaya pro-wrestling scene into existence, albeit with a lot of sweat & brains. Five years ago, I met Sunny in Pattaya at a table with some other young expats who had all recently moved here too. He told me about how he fell in love with the excitement of this city and never wants to leave. We immediately clicked as friends. I learned that back in Toronto, he was a gym owner, and was a successful pro wrestler touring all over Canada and the U.S. It all sounded interesting. At that time, I never thought he would really combine his love of Pattaya and wrestling… but eventually he did.
Back in Canada, he was just checking boxes—job, money, house—until people started pointing out he was built like a tank. He studied and trained hard, got into pro-wrestling, since it felt like it was his calling. Whether winning or losing, he loves it when the crowd cheers out his name. He loves entertaining and thrives on it. But here in Thailand he was without it.After a number of months of being friends, he told me he felt “dead inside” without a pro wrestling scene in Pattaya and decided he would see if he could build it up organically… grass-roots style.
He found a prime space. Ordered a ring to be custom-made to the specifications for wrestling, from the same people who make Muay Thai rings. The problem is, where were the wrestlers? Luckily, he had a friend, a world champion, “The HUNbelievable” Benji, a Hungarian wrestler, who was a resident wrestler in Cambodia, and had just made Pattaya his home as well. Their plan was that if they couldn’t find wrestlers here, then they would train anyone who wanted to learn. They started training anyone who had an interest and now they have a team of Thai and foreign wrestlers. Their events have a cult-like following from the crowd,
who hang on every more and cheer for the drama and the gore. The first time I walked into one of the PSE pro wrestling events, the humidity was hitting like a freight train, but the energy inside was even heavier. I’m talking beer-sloshing, lung-busting screams from a crowd that’s 100% dialed in. It’s not that corporate, shiny WWE stuff we grew up with back in the States, and it’s definitely not that stoic, “serious” Japanese style. This is “Pattaya Style.” You got guys like Blobtang – local Thai legend, built as big as a huge dump truck – literally puffing on
a cigarette mid-match like it’s no big deal while he’s wrecking people. Then we have hero Ryan Rogan, with his long hair and 8-pack abs almost about to lose, but then absorbs the energy cheering him on and wins in the end. Sunny Z, with his long-blonde hair comes out with an actual bathroom door and slams it over the head of his opponent to win his match. It’s wild.
What I love about Sunny’s vision is that he wants you to feel like you’re in an underground fight club. Yes, the event is planned and rehearsed, and you wonder if they get hurt (and sometimes they do), but it’s “Sports Entertainment” with a capital E. He wants us—the fans—to feel like we’re part of the mayhem, not just sitting watching a play. He’s all about the color, the noise, and the spectacle. It’s interactive. You can stand ring-side, pounding your hand on the floor, yelling at the wrestlers, and cheering for who you want to win but there’s one rule: Don’t touch the wrestlers! If you think they might fly out of the ring, move. Often the fight spills out into the audience, you just move and cheer harder for them! Bang on the ring and feel like you are in the show. Where else in the world can you do that?Seeing that kind of passion and hustle makes me feel right at home.
I highly recommend you not to miss the next PSE event. It’s loud, it’s sweaty, and it’s got more heart than a Rocky movie. If you’re in town, look up Paradise Sports Entertainment (PSE) and grab a cold one. Trust me, it’s low-key one of the best shows around
There are plans for the next big show this April on the 20th featuring some big Influencers set to battle it out, Check the PSE social media pages for news about this event and
contact PSE on FaceBook if you’re interested in taking lessons.