- Title: ISRAEL: Wrestling festival brings American modelled entertainment to Israel
- Date: 27th August 2013
- Summary: MAJD AL-KRUM, ISRAEL (AUGUST 22, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WRESTLERS BUILDING WRESTLING RING FOUNDER OF THE ALL WRESTLING ORGANISATION (AWO), INDEPENDENT WRESTLING PROMOTION GROUP, ASSISTING OTHER TO BUILD RING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FOUNDER AND LEAD WRESTLER OF THE ALL WRESTLING ORGANISATION, MAHARAN ABDELHAK, SAYING: "Today we have as you can see the wrestling ring is re
- Embargoed: 11th September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA994Z75U0V93QWQMCUGZ43IKMR
- Story Text: The Israeli-Arab town of Majd al-Krum is ready to rumble after hosting a wrestling festival that drew in crowds of children and local residents.
Modelled on American entertainment Wrestling Federations, the festival aimed to raise the popularity and profile of wrestling in Israeli-Arab towns with the participation of Israeli-Arab and Israeli wrestlers.
The AWO (All Wrestling Organisation) which organised the event held on August 22 said it wants to bring home the type of fighting followers of the entertainment sport would see on television and to encourage participation across the region.
"Today we have as you can see the wrestling ring is ready because today we will be holding a wrestling evening at Majd al-Krum. We hope to put on a good show of wrestling for the people of Majd al-Krum, wrestling like what they see on the television and follow, for the first time in Arab towns," said AWO founder Maharan Abdelhak, who is a wrestler and a trainer.
Abdelhad said his dream was to provide a venue for young Arab wrestlers to practice their hobby and hoped that AWO would become the home of wrestling in the Arab world.
"My goal is for us to spread in the Arab world, and to achieve the dream of every Arab man who likes wrestling so they can join the AWO," added Abdelhad, who helped fellow wrestlers set up the fighting ring.
Wrestlers in costume entertained lively children by walking through smoke screens and displaying outlandish characteristics typical of the entertainment sport.
Sticking to the popular television format featuring tag teams, betrayal and masked wrestlers, both Israeli and Arab performers put on a show that drew cheers and jeers from the young crowd.
Sixteen-year-old Marcel Raslan who fights under the name 'Mr M' was toted by the AWO as the youngest Arab wrestler to ever step into the fighting ring.
'Mr M' could be seen preening for the cheering crowd as he entered the ring before being hit in the back and proceeding to grapple with another wrestler, before a dramatic finish that announced him as victor.
Raslan said his family encouraged him to pursue wrestling.
"Since I love wrestling so much my mother decided to search the internet about wrestling in Palestine. She found the wrestler and trainer Mahran Abdelhak and she found his contact details and got in touch with him," Raslan told Reuters Television.
At the end of the one-day festival young children who had been part of the crowd broke away and threw chairs into the fighting ring to imitate the wrestlers they were previously admiring.
AWO says it hopes to hold similar events every month in different parts of the region to promote the sport, get sponsors and reach larger audiences.
The organisations which was founded in 2012 wants to fight its way onto television screens and be recognised as a professional hub for sports entertainment in Israel. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None