Wrestler Ayez Shaukat makes history in Texas competition

MALAYSIANSKINI | It took four minutes for Malaysian professional wrestler Ayez Shaukat-Fonseka Farid to defeat Jonathan J Vega in his debut at the Reality of Wrestling (ROW) show based in Houston, Texas.

This makes the 34-year-old the first Southeast Asian wrestler to appear in ROW.

Owned by two-time World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Famer, Booker T, the ROW show was broadcast on The CW channel in the US.

Shaukat’s appearance and success not only put the Malaysian wrestling scene on the map but was a showcase of Malaysian fashion too.

For that match, he wore an outfit made out of green songket with gold accents complete with a tanjak. It was designed by Sarawak designer Paul Carling.

Apart from actively competing in wrestling matches, Shaukat is also the founder of Professional Wrestling (Malaysia) and director of the Apac Wrestling Ground Zero, a wrestling school.

A diligent entertainer, he has been a stuntman in the telefilm Budak Lorong and had a starring role in the movies Juvana 2 and Juvana 3. He was also an actor and assistant director for the Gila Gusti movie and a short film titled Taruh.

He has also previously directed an English film titled Dark Eye for Amazon.

But his journey to ROW started, interestingly enough, during the pandemic. Shaukat said the experience was an eye-opener for him.

“I felt I was stagnant and not doing anything. I am not the kind of person who can just sit and do nothing. I am a very hyperactive person.

“That is one of the reasons I started reaching out to coaches outside of Malaysia to help me improve my craft as a pro wrestler. Through that, people saw me and scouted me for my talents,” he said.

“I showed them footage of my old matches and wanted their constructive criticism on how to improve. Whatever I had done was enough to impress them that they wanted me to fly down to the US.”

He flew down to Texas in June and after shooting a few episodes, he flew back to Kuala Lumpur.

After years of wrestling in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, travelling to the US and competing with pro-wrestlers there must have been daunting to some people but not Shaukat.

“In a way, I am confident with my abilities, especially after being guided by mentors who are legends in the industry who have spoken highly of me.“

He was referring to Booker T, retired US wrestler Tom Prichard who coached Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Canadian wrestler Sinn Bodhi.

Watching wrestling as kids

Recalling how he initially got drawn into the world of wrestling, Shaukat said he was a four-year-old watching wrestling on TV with his siblings.

“We fell in love with wrestling mainly because of the characters, drama, and storylines that they have,” he reminisced.

“The one who made me fall in love with wrestling was The Undertaker. It was his character. It is hard to describe it to someone who doesn’t watch pro wrestling. But to me, he is this supernatural undead cowboy.

“When you see something as interesting as that at a young age, you tend to be intrigued by it. It was his character, his presence and aura.”

It was in 2013 that Shaukat decided he wanted to pursue a career in wrestling.

“I was in the film industry as a stuntman, stunt coordinating, and a bit of action directing.”

He is keen to direct an action flick one day. “Unfortunately the film community is a very close community and opportunities are given to those who have already made a name for themselves. Others have to struggle and put something out on their own.”

The wrestling profession

Shaukat said that he is the one who started the pro-wrestling scene in Malaysia in 2014.

“However things slowed down a lot because a lot of my students saw no future in pro wrestling. It has been more than seven years.

“We haven’t been able to land huge sponsors, we haven’t been able to get the spotlight, and we haven’t been able to get our TV shows.

“I would like to believe that my appearance on US TV through ROW might spark something, for people to see that someone from Malaysia can make it in the big leagues.”

There was some momentum in terms of interest in pro-wrestling and then the pandemic hit.

“Before the pandemic things were going well. We were doing shows where we pulled in crowds of 2,000 people. Then the pandemic hit and we could not do anything. Everything fizzled down.“

When restrictions were being lifted, Shaukat tried to push things through again.

“I came up with a movie, Gila Gusti. Things were going fairly well until it went downhill again after the second lockdown.”

They are still trying to revive professional wrestling although they took a hit financially.

His school Apac Wrestling Ground Zero in Kota Damansara, Selangor started its new intake of 12 students. Things might be looking up again.

Entertainment and sports

Many refer to pro wrestling as entertainment rather than a sport.

“Even the world’s biggest pro-wrestling body WWE says that it is only entertainment and performing arts.

“We also cannot discount the fact that there is a sports aspect to it as the participants need to stay in shape for their appearance and stamina to match a real athlete.”

He says he stays in shape throughout the year. He works out in the gym two hours a day, six times a week.

“Three times a week I train in the ring to make sure my form is correct and that my body is limber. Any time I am called to shoot for a wrestling show, I must make sure my body can handle the matches.“

He will now be flying regularly to the US every three to four months to shoot episodes for ROW.

“It is an ongoing thing. After my match was aired on the CW channel in the US, a few other wrestling companies sent me emails that they were interested in having me join their company.

“I would say that my wrestling career is starting to flourish, especially in the US.

“But if I come back down to Malaysia, I try to find some time to be as creative as possible, to run my own wrestling company, and at the same time maybe get more into acting or start directing.”

Malaysianskini is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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