WWE wrestlers Mansoor and Mace excite fans in Mukono

The spotlight on local wrestling has increased since former WWE superstars  Mansoor and Mace, formerly under the wrestling stable Maximum Male Models, made their debut at the Soft Ground Wrestling Academy in Mukono.

The arrival of these former WWE superstars on April 18 was a dream-come-true for the soft ground pro wrestlers, who even carried the superstars as they made their long-awaited entrance to the Soft Ground Wrestling facilities.

Many of the wrestlers at Mukono stared in awe, not believing the wrestlers were there in real time; they had watched the tag team duo on WWE’s Smackdown and Raw countless time, yet here they were now, challenging them to a fight. We were all awed with the size of Mace, who weighs a whopping 285 pounds and looms at 6ft tall.

Soon, the soft ground wrestlers were obviously wondering how they were to wrestle with such a large opponent, given a chance. As chants of MXM, the duo’s tag team name, filled the air in a typical wrestling arena fashion, Mansoor addressed the Ugandan wrestlers, saying: “Today the entire world can hear you, the entire world can see you. Right now, all around the world, in New York City, London, Chicago, Tokyo, and Berlin, in every single city, in every country around the world, they are chanting soft ground wrestling. When we arrived here today, you gave us your warm welcome, your kindness, your generosity and you thanked us. Last year in professional wrestling, our hearts were broken for a moment; we didn’t love professional wrestling anymore. But then we came to Uganda and here is where we found the heart of professional wrestling. You come here not for money, not for fame, but for the love of professional wrestling.”

After the energetic address, the former WWE superstars went to the locker rooms to put on their gear and went to the ring where the soil was being turned with a hoe. They joined fellow soft ground wrestlers in preparing the ring, further amazing their Ugandan counterparts; imagine seeing Mansoor and Mace with hoes, digging around the ring to soften the ground they would soon wrestle on!

Before the start of the match, the WWE superstars emphasized the importance of safety in the ring, which included training the soft ground wrestlers about the importance of landing safely to avoid life-threatening injuries that can put a wrestler’s career in jeopardy.

Mansoor and Mace also taught the soft ground wrestlers how to execute different moves such as the atomic drop, spine buster, step-up enzuiguiri, spinning side slum and the super kick.

The duo also emphasized the importance of the wrestlers to face the camera as they execute their finishers and signature moves. In this unprecedented masterclass, the duo also taught the soft ground wrestlers the art of cutting a promo, which shows the wrestlers’ prowess with the microphone.

This comes with the development of one’s character in the ring, helping to build the theatrical aspect of pro wrestling. During the match, Mansoor and Mace destroyed the colonial aspects that Lord White (Alexander Tyson) had for soft ground wrestling, with this bout gaining more than 5.1 million views on X and going viral.

Kenny Omega, a former world champion from the renowned All Elite Wrestling (AEW), stated on Twitch: “SGW Uganda, one thing that I really love and appreciate about it is that when you’re watching it, you can feel the heart of the athletes. It’s infectious to see the passion of these people and the passion of their work. Even in the most rudimentary of ways – they wrestle on a dirt ring. It looks like bamboo posts. Visually, there are ropes, but I don’t think you can run them. You understand by watching that they are in there trying to do a professional wrestling show. I think they are doing a great job entertaining fans.”

Will Osprey, a well-known wrestler from the AEW stable, said on X about Mansoor and Mace appearing on soft ground wrestling: “This makes me so happy.”

Former WWE superstar Mojo Rowley commented on his X handle: “My friends @suavemansoor & @GREATBLACKOTAKU flew all the way to Uganda on their own dime to support @SGWug. They weren’t asked to go, they reached out and volunteered because they respected their hustle and love for the business. It cannot be understated how awesome they are.”  

When The Observer asked Mansoor and Mace how they got to know about Uganda’s indie wrestling promotion, they said they got to know about soft ground wrestling through X.

“It was blowing up. It is clear that soft ground wrestling has something good going on here and we wanted to be part of it. We were doing an international tour in the Middle East and Europe; so, we spared time to come to Uganda and see what soft ground wrestling is about,” Mansoor said.

“Professional wrestling has already changed these kids’ lives, it already has! They all have had a meal in their stomachs today because of this. We thank everybody who put this together and I think it is a great thing going on here and we just want to be part of it,” Mace interjected.

“I saw these kids and found out that they are hundreds from situations out of their control and they found a family of professional wrestling, because of the shared love for our great sport. It won my heart,” Mansoor added.

“We worked in the largest professional wrestling company in the world – WWE – I  worked there for about five years, Mace worked there for seven years. That’s where people dream to go to; that is the ultimate goal, that’s what they sit and think about and lie in bed and wonder, when will I make it to WWE?”

Mansoor said: “When we finally got released from the WWE, there were three months where we couldn’t do anything and finally we got set loose to finally do the independent promotion. We got to go around the world and make our own schedule, culminating in this trip to this incredible village in Mukono. It inspires me and reminds me why we do this.”

In his words of advice, Mace gave the wrestlers the reaffirmation they desperately need from their idols in WWE.

“Professional wrestling is new culture to Uganda and people in the world know about American style, Lucha Libre, Japanese strong style of wrestling, but right  here you guys are developing the African style. If we can be a small part of that, that’s all we will ever want.”

Alexander Tyson, famously known as Lord White among the soft ground wrestling community, said about his match against Mace and Mansoor: “Everybody is so talented everywhere, and it is brilliant that soft ground wrestling can bring in talent like Mace and Mansoor.”

“When I was told that real professionals from the WWE were coming to soft ground wrestling, I felt like Rocky Balboa picked to fight against Apollo Creed,” Tyson noted.

Soft Ground Wrestling co-founder Arthur Asiimwe said the former WWE wrestlers came to experience their way of fighting.

“MxM discovered us on X and flew all the way from Dubai to Africa, Uganda for the first time ever because of pro wrestling. I believe after their visit, one of the baddest American independent tag teams in pro wrestling will influence more pro wrestling superstars to fly more frequently to Uganda to develop and enhance the sport.”

A few weeks back, Soft Ground Wrestling Academy also welcomed elite wrestlers from Japan from the independent scene Check Shimatami and Cima, who have wrestled for companies such as the famed New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Gleat.

Shimatami had a classic wrestling match with Kapeeka, which provided a test bed for the soft ground wrestling students to understand the ins and outs of the Japanese style of wrestling.

“You guys have very good eyes like a hunter’s eye, because in my opinion professional wrestling is not fake. So, it is very important to have a fighting spirit. And usually we Japanese have a fighting spirit, but you guys have hunter eyes and a fighting spirit,” Cima said then.

As the spotlight and global recognition stay on the small Kilangira village in Mukono, it looks like the Pandora’s box has been opened and the Soft Ground Academy had better be ready for what lies ahead.

The first SGW fight with perfect English commentary. Thanx to Jake rave from America. pic.twitter.com/Ur6QhtN0j0

— SGW @soft ground wrestling Uganda (@SGWug) March 28, 2024