Future 'Superstar'? 25-year-old wrestler Sean Tan aka Trexxus is first Singaporean to join WWE

Fans who grew up watching World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) matches on TV may soon find a familiar face battling it out onscreen, and it comes in the form of Sean Tan.

The 25-year-old, a former Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southeast Asia Champion, was recently announced as one of three new recruits by the sports entertainment company. He is also the only Southeast Asian in the lineup.

In its announcement on Friday (July 2), WWE stated that Tan and two others from China — Feicheng Wang and Jie Yin — have reported for training at the WWE Performance Centre in Orlando, Florida.

The performance centre is said to be a "state-of-the-art" training facility complete with seven training rings, strength and conditioning rooms as well as video production and editing suites for athletes to work on their performance skills.

According to the website, the centre is where recruits will have the opportunity to "learn under a world-class coaching team as they work toward their dream of becoming WWE Superstars", and "talents also work hand-in-hand with members of the creative team to cultivate their on-screen personas".


Tan, who wrestled locally and in the regional circuit under the moniker Trexxus, took to social media to express his gratitude following the announcement.

He wrote: "To the believers, thank you and don't stop supporting the dreamers.

"To the doubters, thank you and it's never too late to start."

In July 2019, Tan had gone for the WWE tryout held in Shanghai, along with two others from Singapore — Singapore Pro Wrestling co-founder 'The Statement' Andruew Tang, and Alexis Lee, who is often touted as Singapore's first female pro-wrestler.

There, 40 athletes from Asia, including Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines and Japan, vied for the opportunity to be selected for the training programme.

Since the announcement, congratulatory messages have poured in for Tan online, including one from fellow contender Lee: 

[embed]https://twitter.com/AlexisLeeXY/status/1410833776972689413[/embed]

Wrote another commenter on Twitter:

"This guy is living the dream of every wrestling-crazy Singaporean while growing up," to which Tan replied: "I've never let that dream go and it paid off!"

[embed]https://twitter.com/Gothstable/status/1410867816274677762[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/Lepakraja_30/status/1410846828841472000[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/DracoRaj/status/1410825009367371776[/embed]

In a Twitter post in May this year, Tan appeared to reflect on the difficulties of being a pro wrestler in Singapore and indicated that he would be leaving the circuit.

He added that he had join SPW since its inception, which was close to a decade ago, and gone from being the youngest member to "one of the most senior".

[embed]https://twitter.com/Trexxus/status/1397266774983417858[/embed]

Tan's final competition in SPW was published on YouTube on May 26.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNrACx0hJG0[/embed]

candicecai@asiaone.com