A-Yong-Go: The Man Carrying NTW Wrestling on His Shoulders

Photo credit: NTW.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1984, A-Yong-Go has loved sports since he was young. During junior high school, he trained in judo and amateur wrestling, and even finished second in a wrestling competition.

His connection with professional wrestling began when he was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, first watching professional wrestling with his father. Although his father couldn't remember the wrestlers' names, he would identify them by the colors of their gear. Mitsuharu Misawa was ‘the guy in green,’ while Toshiaki Kawada was ‘the guy in yellow.’ Jumbo Tsuruta was given another nickname by his father because of his personality.

After some time, his father became busy with work, so they didn't watch wrestling together as often. However, A-Yong-Go had already fallen in love with professional wrestling, beginning the search for wrestling information online and renting wrestling tapes to watch on his own. During high school, he discovered an online forum for professional wrestling fans in Taiwan. That discovery slowly started a fire inside him and turned his passion into a dream…A-Yong-Go wanted to be a professional wrestling.

A-Yong-Go attended an exhibition show at Xinyi Elementary School held by Impact Wrestling Love, one of Taiwan's early professional wrestling promotions. After watching the show, he began to believe that he might have a chance to become a wrestler himself. Wanting to see what he was capable of, he decided to join IWL, making his professional wrestling debut in 2004. His performances eventually led him to win IWL's top title, the UWC Championship, in 2006. Three years later, an opportunity to learn from a legendary Japanese wrestler became another important moment in his life.

In 2009, Japanese wrestler Ikuto Hidaka came to Taiwan and helped improve the fundamentals and techniques of Taiwanese wrestlers at the time. Although Hidaka was only there for a few days, he shared as much of his knowledge as possible with his students.

Hidaka carefully wrote down what each wrestler needed to improve and gave them individual advice. His notebook was eventually filled with notes about his Taiwanese students. Seeing how seriously Hidaka treated them made an important impression on A-Yong-Go and strengthened his determination to continue pursuing his dream.

In 2011, A-Yong-Go wanted to build the kind of wrestling promotion he had always imagined. Together with several partners, he helped establish a new professional wrestling promotion in Taiwan: New Taiwan Entertainment Wrestling, better known as NTW. His longtime partner Super Da-Zhi provided the initial funding and invited A-Yong-Go to help organize the promotion in Taiwan, with A-Yong-Go becoming NTW's first president. From that moment, a new chapter in Taiwanese professional wrestling began.

After losing the match to crown NTW's inaugural Undifferentiated Champion, A-Yong-Go later decided to travel to Okinawa in 2014, where he trained and gained experience with Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling. Returning to Taiwan toward the end of that same year, A-Yong-Go once again took on the role of NTW president. His career also began to take him outside Taiwan. He competed for CWF in China in 2016 and Hong Kong Wrestling Federation in 2017.

After receiving several invitations from The Joker, the leader of Moon Circus, a faction made up of NTW's younger generation of wrestlers at the time, A-Yong-Go officially joined the group. With a new group of partners around him, he went on to capture both the NTW Undifferentiated Championship and Tag Team Championship in 2017, becoming only the second wrestler in NTW history to hold both titles at the same time.

However, things changed in 2019. After losing the Tag Team Championship, A-Yong-Go was forced out of Moon Circus. Looking back at the regret and lack of understanding between the former partners, A-Yong-Go now speaks about it calmly. He doesn't have many feelings about what happened anymore. In his view, both sides simply got what they needed from each other. In 2020, A-Yong-Go established the babyface faction BIG WAVE. As the group's spiritual leader, he has continued to support and lead BIG WAVE.

Beginning in 2024, A-Yong-Go helped establish NTW's annual collaborative event with Big Japan Pro Wrestling. NTW has also worked with Japanese women's promotion DIANA for several years, as A-Yong-Go has continued using his connections to expand NTW's relationships across Asia. In recent years, he has also helped NTW wrestlers compete internationally for promotions including Dropkick, PPP TOKYO and FTO in Japan, GrappleMax in Singapore, and APAC Wrestling in Malaysia.

More than two decades after making his debut, A-Yong-Go is no longer simply a wrestler. As NTW's President, a veteran performer, and someone who continues creating opportunities for the next generation of Taiwanese wrestlers, he has become one of the most important figures behind the promotion.

From a young boy watching Japanese wrestling with his father to becoming one of the people leading NTW forward, professional wrestling has been part of A-Yong-Go's life for more than two decades. Today, he continues to help Taiwanese wrestlers find opportunities across Asia. He has carried NTW through its past and present, and now he is helping build its future. He is A-Yong-Go, the man carrying NTW on his shoulders.

NTW: Witnessing 15 Years of Taiwan's Independent Wrestling History

In the early 2000s, inside a dimly lit venue, aspiring wrestlers used foam puzzle mats as a makeshift ring. These wrestlers copied the moves of the legendary performers they watched on television, competing with nothing but passion. That’s what the earliest days of professional wrestling in Taiwan looked like.

Looking back, it was undeniably dangerous. However, at the time there were no professional training opportunities in Taiwan, so learning through imitation was perhaps the fastest way to improve. As more people joined the group, it gradually became more organized. Training began regularly, as the wrestlers were determined to pursue their dream of of doing it professionally. In those days, Taichung gained a little more passion and a little more madness because of this group of young dreamers.

Not long afterward, they met the founder of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Professional Wrestling Association. After many discussions and coordination, they finally acquired their first official professional wrestling ring.

A few years later, a group of like-minded wrestlers decided to establish a new promotion with the goal of expanding professional wrestling in Taiwan. That promotion was NTW (New Taiwan Entertainment Wrestling), which would go on to become one of the country's most important training grounds for future stars.

With guidance from Japanese wrestling legend Ikuto Hidaka and internationally respected wrestler Jonathan Gresham, these young wrestlers received professional training that significantly raised the standard of professional wrestling in Taiwan.

In 2011, NTW officially held its inaugural event. Many wrestlers and supporters came together to celebrate the occasion, and the outstanding performances of Taiwan's wrestlers introduced NTW to a wider audience. The NTW Undifferentiated Championship soon became the ultimate prize every wrestler in the promotion dreamed of winning. Perhaps their determination inspired fate itself.

Over the following years, NTW began collaborating with promotions from overseas. In 2017, Japanese wrestling legend CIMA traveled to Taiwan to compete, marking another major milestone for the promotion. In 2018, Taiwan's wrestling scene reached one of its greatest moments when former WWE Superstar John Morrison faced Matt Sydal in a dream match that thrilled wrestling fans across the country. The following year, Kenny Omega's appearance became another historic milestone for Taiwanese professional wrestling.

Looking back over the past several years, nearly every major NTW event has featured internationally recognized wrestlers. At the same time, NTW's own talent has continued to impress visiting Japanese wrestlers, leading to new opportunities overseas. Two years ago, Syan Syan earned the opportunity to train with DIANA shortly after making her debut, opening a new chapter for women's wrestling in NTW.

Over the past two years, NTW has continued to improve both inside and outside the ring. While its wrestlers have continued to develop, the promotion has also built a strong social media presence. That online exposure has helped NTW gain recognition throughout the international independent wrestling scene. In addition to welcoming European wrestler Barbarossa, the promotion also brought WWE ID prospect Jordan Oasis to Taiwan.

Although professional wrestling developed later in Taiwan than in many other countries, NTW has steadily earned international recognition through consistent growth, strong social media outreach, and the continued improvement of its wrestlers. With its momentum continuing to build, NTW appears well positioned to deliver even more exciting events in the years ahead. It has the potential to become one of Asia's premier professional wrestling promotions and continue earning respect from fans around the world.

DSR/CBC will be bringing you introductions to NTW's wrestlers, match coverage, and hopefully even more stories from independent wrestling promotions across Asia going forward. Stay tuned!