PUBLISHED ONOctober 28, 2023 2:10 AMByYeo Shu HuiSince the second season of Netflix's Physical: 100 may take some time to hit the screens, you may wish to watch Crush Over 2023, which appears to be a Chinese equivalent of the Korean reality competition.
The survival reality show, which is hosted by actor and martial artist Donnie Yen, featured 47 contestants — athletes, retired military personnel and fitness enthusiasts — and premiered on Oct 21 on WeTV. It is also available on YouTube.
Contestants have to compete in seven challenges over 21 days to emerge as champion.
In the first episode, each contestant has to choose a number from one to 47 based on what they think of their own abilities — with one being the strongest — and enter the corresponding room.
While everyone discusses the number that they prefer, with some choosing their favourite number lucky seven, slight tension arose when a few contestants vied for Room 1.
Rugby player He Peizhang left a strong impression when he friendly sized-up three of his fellow competitors.
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"My understanding is that if I don't think of myself as a strong person, then no one would think that I am strong. And I am here because I want to fight for the first place. There is no purpose for me to be here if I didn't take number one… You must feel that you have won mentally first," he said.
The others agreed with him.
And when the time came to enter the rooms, Peizhang, together with two men that he had sized up to earlier — retired firefighter Li Guisheng and physical fitness champion Hu Han — all walked towards Room 1.
The three of them decide to settle the matter directly by playing a round of rock-paper-scissors, which Peizhang won.
However, that's not the end of it, as mixed martial artist Li Jingliang came face-to-face with Peizhang shortly. Both of them sat in Room 1 to reason out their worthiness and upon finding themselves to be equal, both agreed to share the spot.
Donnie came after and revealed the first round they have to participate in — a ranking competition, where they have to scale a wall with moving steps and six competitors who persevere the longest would be group leaders.
And the reason for the numbers?
The smaller the number chosen, the heavier the vest that the competitors wear in the first round. Each vest has a weight of 1kg to 8kg but they could choose whether to wear it or not.
If they wore a vest and won one of the six spots, they would have the chance to save another competitor other than themselves in the future.
"With greater abilities, come greater responsibilities," Donnie said.
During the challenge, Peizhang and Jingliang both started out strong, wearing their 8kg vests and scaling the wall almost with equal speed.
However, around three minutes into the competition, Peizhang soon grew out of strength and fell into the water, ending his chances of becoming a leader, and Jingliang followed soon after.
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Eventually, the top six spots were won by retired special force soldier Pu Zhenghua, parkour athlete Zhou Mianwei, national boat rower Chen Sensen, acrobat Xing Yunwei, retired special operation police Zhang Xindong and national professional rock climber Qu Haibin.
Haibin, who wore a 2kg vest and won first place, said: "I spend 80 per cent of my training doing rock climbing. My finger strengths are relatively strong and I can hook myself with each finger to do a pull-up."
Crush Over 2023 is broadcast every Saturday and Sunday at 6pm on WeTV, and you may also catch it on YouTube.
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