SHANGHAI, June 7 (Reuters) - Not only presidents and chief executives are making their way to China to reconnect after three years of border closures, but also international professional wrestlers, who returned this week after the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are glad to let the world know, 'Hey, Chinese wrestling is back'," said event promoter Adrian Gomez. A cast of colourfully dressed characters - both heroes and villains - hammed it up for the audience, in the spirit of the storied WWE, the best-known pro wrestling body. International participants included former WWE pro wrestler Yoshi Tatsu from Japan and Malaysia's Nor "Phoenix" Diana, who is known as the first hijab-wearing pro wrestler. Gomez said the return of international wrestlers signalled a huge change in fortunes for Chinese pro wrestling, which has battled to stage domestic live matches since COVID curbs were imposed in early 2020, sometimes with no audience at all.

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Persons: Adrian Gomez, colourfully, Yoshi Tatsu, Diana, Wang Tao, Gomez, we've, Casey Hall, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Middle Kingdom, WWE, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Japan, United States