Looking the part: Hafiz holding one of the many wrestling championship belts he owns.
JOHOR BARU: Hafiz Azwany Tahir’s passion is not confined to medicine. The offshore medical assistant has another passion – wrestling.
His interest in the sport was ignited more than 30 years ago.
He has spent thousands of ringgit to buy wrestling memorabilia and even had the lifetime opportunity of meeting his idol Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat, a former professional wrestler who visited Malaysia as part of a wrestling championship promotion more than 10 years ago.
Recounting how his interest in the sport started, the 41-year-old, who currently lives in Mersing, said he became a wrestling fan when his father brought back several videotapes in the late 1980s when he was just a child.
Hafiz Aswany said one of the tapes his father had rented included a wrestling tournament from the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
The American wrestling company was known as World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
“I watched the tape at my uncle’s house in Melaka and the first wrestler I saw was Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat. He was wearing a dragon-themed wrestling gear and would blow fire from his mouth as part of his entrance gimmick.
“I was mesmerised and hooked on wrestling ever since, and the sport has become my passion.”
He said during his schooldays, he wanted to own wrestling merchandise and memorabilia but could not afford any.
“I waited until I started working at Hospital Melaka in 2008, where I saved some of my salary to buy a wrestling championship belt through eBay.
“Currently, I have about 11 wrestling championship belts, with some of them being replicas of the real ones worn by WWE wrestlers.
“Some of the belts I own are no longer in production ... and I have no intention of selling them,” he said.
Hafiz Aswany, a father of five, added that he spent more than RM1,000 to buy a replica wrestling championship belt.
He said besides Ricky, his favourite wrestlers include Bret “the Hitman” Hart, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns.
Hafiz Aswany also said through his love for wrestling, he was able to meet several WWE wrestlers including his hero, Ricky, years ago.
“I even set up a wrestling page on Facebook for local wrestling fans to share our interest together.
“To my surprise, we have about 20,000 followers and the community is growing, which shows that there are many wrestling fans in Malaysia like me,” he added.
His wish list includes going to a WWE main event, such as Wrestlemania in the United States, but acknowledges that the travel cost would be prohibitive.
“WWE has many fans all over the world and its wrestlers conduct international tours.
“There is talk that WWE wrestlers will be visiting South-East Asia next year and I am hoping that Malaysia will be one of their stops.
“If they do come here again, I will definitely be among the first to grab a ticket to watch the wrestlers near ringside,” he added.
