By Midnight Guthrie
"The Laotian Sensation" Ricky Kwong has competed in 3XWrestling for over three years, yet it can be argued he's made more of an impact in the past three months than all other months combined.
With one superkick, one flying elbow drop, one crack of a chair to the skull of "The Right Price" Aaron Masterson, one brutal overhead belly-to-belly suplex to Ian Wellington and two Laotian Locks, in the eyes of fans Kwong has quickly become one of the most hated wrestlers in all of 3XW.
Kwong's recent run of terror actually dates back to late May, months before he publicly turned on his tag team partner Masterson at Clobberpalooza Classic II in September. At May Flowers of POWER! on May 15, Kwong lost via superkick to Brady A. Dezire, injuring his ankle in the process. Kwong limped his way into the Gauntlet for the Gold later in the evening, where he found himself eliminated in relatively quick fashion. I actually owe Kwong a debt of gratitude because he actually caught me as I was press-slammed over the top rope by Gage Octane during the melee (read previous results and watch the event DVD for more details about how I found myself, a play-by-play commentator, in the bout).
According to my broadcast colleague Chad Mylan, Kwong was actually distraught about his performance in May, more than anyone even realized. Kwong felt he was "lost at sea" in 3XW - not a contender for any title and hadn't accomplished anything of significance in months. He saw the Gauntlet for the Gold battle royal as his only chance to earn a title shot for months and, due to a string of losses in 2009 and lack of win bonuses, was actually making less money overall than in his previous two years of competition despite more in-ring experience.
So, in the days after May Flowers of POWER!, Kwong returned to Hawaii focused on implementing new training techniques and increasing his stamina and power.
Kwong was excited to put his new techniques to the test. He first returned to 3XW in quiet fashion, battling Matty Star (formerly Matty Fitness) and A.J. Smooth in a triple threat match at 3XW's Mingo Days benefit event on August 1 (which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1svcYSPMRPc). Kwong was extremely confident that he would win the bout due to his advanced training and seemingly had victory in hand after nailing Star with a flying elbow drop...and was incredibly shocked when he lost to Smooth due to a punch with a foreign object.
In Kwong's mind, he used superior technique and yet still lost due to underhanded tactics. Underhanded tactics, he thought....underhanded tactics.
Angered, he was prepared to make drastic changes to his whole approach to professional wrestling. In the days after his August loss, Kwong returned for the first time in years to his native homeland of Laos, 8,500 miles away from Iowa. Determined to put himself back on the winning track and with evil intentions in mind, he secluded himself deep within the Laotian jungles to begin training on techniques the likes of which he had never used before in his career - sneak attacks, weapon attacks, eye gouging, choking, etc. Kwong convinced himself that if he applied cheating to his already sound wrestling abilities, he would finally get an upper hand on the 3XW competition. "The fans won't like it," he thought, "but the fans don't earn me win bonuses!"
Meanwhile, 3XW Outside the Ring co-host and color commentator Chad Mylan somehow caught wind of Kwong's shocking secret return to Laos. Mylan himself has been looking to get into the managing for quite some time and thought a newly-motivated Kwong would be an excellent first client. Using family riches, Mylan offered Kwong a substantial amount of money to become his advisor and manager in 3XW, with the promise that he would guide Kwong to the top and that the win bonuses would flow in freely.
Still, despite Mylan's offer and his unsportsmanlike training, Kwong wasn't ready to fully commit himself to taking a rulebreaking approach to wrestling.
That all changed on September 18, 2009 at 3XW's Clobberpalooza Classic II event. Kwong, one of the great tag team wrestlers in 3XW history, was determined to form a successful team with fellow fan favorite "The Right Price" Aaron Masterson. That night, however, Masterson took the fall to Sexy and Smooth, costing Kwong, who wrestled the match in respectable fashion, another loss.
Finally, after months of training in the evil arts, Kwong snapped and was conflicted no more. He brutally assaulted Masterson with a superkick and left him nearly unconscious after his patented flying elbow drop to the shock and anger of the fans.
Kwong immediately approached a thrilled Chad Mylan backstage, putting his hand out and shaking hands with the man he now considered his business partner, manager and advisor. Kwong cut the first of many angry interviews that fall for 3XW Outside the Ring.
This was just the beginning of Kwong's reign of carnage. At Halloween Horror III, Kwong nailed Masterson with a chair as he made his entrance before the bell rang. He threw Masterson into the ring and crushed his chest with a flying elbow drop before introducing the 3XW fans to his vicious new Lethal Laotian Lock submission hold.
With Masterson still injured due to the assault, Kwong destroyed newcomer Ian Wellington, tossing him inside-out with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and tormenting him with the Lethal Laotian Lock. Kwong immediately took the mic and cut a scathing, angry promo in his native Laotian language before Masterson suddenly sprung from the crowd and ran Kwong off with the same steel chair that injured him the month before.
As seen on the most recent Outside the Ring (http://www.3xwrestling.com/otr4-1b.htm) , an irate Kwong teamed with Mylan to cut another scathing, angry promo vowing to end Masterson's career at New Year's Revenge on Jan. 1, 2010.
And thus, the stage is set for this highly-anticipated grudge match. Masterson admittedly was winless in 2009, but looked strong against the likes of Kraig Keesaman, Casanova, Tyler Cook, Arik Cannon and A.J. Smooth, among others. With his pride motivating like never before, can Masterson start off 2010 with a win over the surging Kwong? Or will Kwong continue to look like the breakout star of 2010? Join us at the Des Moines Social Club on Jan. 1, 2010 for New Year's Revenge and find out!
Other 3XW News and Notes:
- If you didn't already see it on the website, you can check out all the 2009 award winners as selected by 3XW fans here: http://www.3xwrestling.com/awards.htm
- Many of you have seen it already, but be sure to look for the 3XW New Year's Revenge event ad in the Iowa Life section of the Des Moines Register this coming week, as well as our regular ad in Juice, which is available for free at newsstands around central Iowa.
- Ticket giveaway alert!: Be sure to listen to Lazer 103.3 FM throughout the week leading up to 3XW New Year's Revenge on Jan. 1 for a chance to win free tickets! Also, be sure to check out the http://www.lazer1033.com/ online stream to listen to the New Year's Revenge radio commercial.
- Three new 3XW DVDs will be available this Friday at New Year's Revenge: Halloween Horror III and November Knockout. Also available for the first time ever is the new value-priced 3XW Sampler DVD 1, which is a special four-match DVD introducing new and old fans to the current production values of 3XW DVDs. Please stop by the merchandise area on Friday night to check out these and a wide assortment of other 3XW DVDs, including July's awesome 4th Anniversary Event, August's King of Des Moines Tournament and September's excellent Clobberpalooza Classic 2 in-stock. Don't forget to also pick up some of the awesome new 3XW temporary tattoos!
- 3XW wants to publicly thank Minnesota Corrugated Box Company, our newest sponsor, for their support!
Wrestler News and Notes:
- Congrats go out to "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt and Mark Sterling, who recently competed in Florida's Coastal Championship Wrestling. While central Iowans were digging out of 14 inches of snow, Wyatt and Sterling were staying in a hotel just hundreds of feet from the ocean. As if we didn't have enough to dislike them for....
- Look for the debuts of some new tag teams in the coming months, as well as the debut of the dangerous Domino Rivera at New Year's Revenge. Based on his dominance of other territories, he should pose a tough challenge for Maddog McDowell.
- I get emails asking about this all the time, but yes, Chad Mylan still has possession of my favorite tie. I can only hope with his total lack of organization that his hasn't lost it forever. Someday I will have it back in my hands!
Thanks for reading and I'll see you on Friday, Jan. 1 for 3XW New Year's Revenge!
Midnight Guthrie is the Director of Information for 3XWrestling. You can see him co-hosting 3XW's "Outside the Ring" webshow and interviewing the stars of 3XW for "Outside the Ring" and 3XW DVDs. You can also hear him doing play-by-play announcing on 3XW DVDs. He is also a former champion Twister player, loves the movie "National Lampoon's Vacation," and considers Jeff Garcia the most underrated quarterback in NFL history. Go Cyclones!
