WMAC Masters

WMAC Masters is an American television show produced by Norman Grossfeld featuring choreographed martial arts fights. It was created and produced by 4Kids Productions (later known as 4Kids Entertainment) in conjunction with Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment (best known as the co-producers of the Saban's Power Rangers franchise), and syndicated by The Summit Media Group (4Kids and Summit Media were divisions of licensing agency Leisure Concepts Inc., later becoming the now-defunct 4Licensing Corporation).
The show, while featuring real martial arts by trained martial artists, depicted a fantasy setting using fictional episodic stories, with each episode relating a life lesson. Battles were fought on elaborate closed sets, with an omniscient narrator, on-screen scoring and health gauges, giving the show a feel of a cinematic live-action video game.
WMAC stands for the fictional World Martial Arts Council, where the best martial artists compete for the ultimate prize, the Dragon Star. The Dragon Star is a gold trophy that looks like a shuriken surrounded by a dragon; it was proof that its holder was the best martial artist in the world.
The show lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997. The first season was hosted by Shannon Lee, the daughter of martial artist Bruce Lee and the sister of actor Brandon Lee. In season 2, Shannon Lee was no longer the host, and the show focused more on fantasy and less on real-life issues.
Many episodes featured masters doing demonstrations, with some demonstrations being known as "Master Blaster" competitions. Some were done to inaugurate a new Master (such as Hien "Tsunami" Nguyen ("Man Without Sight"), Tracy "Tracer" Swedom ("Army of One"), and Carmichael "Kid Carmichael" Simon ("Flight of Freedom"). Others included:
In most episodes, it begins with 4 combatants, 2 of them fight in 2 separate matches. They fight in the Battlezones against ninjas. After a short melee with the ninjas, depending on your health gauge, the fighters will fight each other until one of them is the victor. (In rare instances, if the fighters fight each other long enough that there is no winner yet, the ninjas will re-emerge).
The two combatants who win their respective preliminary matches will face off in the "Battledome". The match lasts 2 minutes. The fighters each try to force the opponent into the cage wall. If successful, the fighter will get points, and the opponent will receive a mild electric shock. The higher the points, the better chance of winning. Ninjas will invade the cage during the match, and if a ninja forces one of the fighters into the cage, the opponent gets the point. Also, if a fighter chooses to hold on to the cage after being knocked into it, no scoring can take place until he lets go. In case of a tie, the fighters will compete in sudden death. The winner will receive the opponent's "Ki-Symbol" and have it placed on their "Dragon Belt".
In other episodes, 6 masters take part in what was called a "Super Challenge." One at a time, they would compete in separate battlezones against a group of ninjas in 45 seconds of time, and would be scored at the end of the time period. Each master would earn 2 points for a hit against a ninja and 5 points for knocking the ninja down, but would lose points if he was hit or knocked down himself. The 4 top-scoring combatants move onto the Battledome in a 2-minute free-for-all match with the same rules as the regular matches (score points by knocking the opponent onto the cage wall), with the winner receiving 3 Ki-Symbols, one from each of the defeated opponents. No ninjas would participate in this sort of Battledome match, but Sudden Death rules still applied in case of a tie at the end of the match.
Only three of these were ever held, one in the first season and two in the second season. Before the start of the first Super Challenge, Olympus, the Dragon Star champion at the time, was asked to demonstrate a Ninja Challenge. He would be surrounded by ninjas in the WMAC Arena, where he would then proceed to battle them for the 45 seconds. Once the demonstration was finished, the real challenge began.
Challenge 1 results, including the Battlezones fought in and the final ranking going into the 4-Man Battledome Finals, were as follows (in order of appearance. Those that moved on to the 4-Man Battledome Finals are in bold print):
Battledome Finals Winner: Tsunami. Final score: Great Wolf 1, Warlock 1, Tsunami 4, Panther 1.
Challenge 2 results:
Battledome Finals Winner: Turbo, by Sudden Death. Final score: Olympus 2, Yin Yang Man 3, Star Warrior 0, Turbo 3. (Note: With Turbo and Yin Yang Man tied at the end of regulation, Olympus and Star Warrior were told to leave the dome, so the other two could conclude the match under Sudden Death rules. Turbo came out the victor.)
Challenge 3 results:
Battledome Finals Winner: Warlock. Final score: The Machine 2, Tsunami 0, Tiger Claw 2, Warlock 3.
NOTE: Great Wolf is the only Master to have taken part in all 3 Ninja Challenges.
Once a master achieved Full Dragon Belt status (acquiring 10 opponents' Ki-Symbols), he would compete for the Dragon Star against the champion.
Matches took place atop a rotating platform. If either competitor stepped off the platform at any time, a violation was called and a ninja entered the competition.
Each match continued until one of the two masters was knocked off of the platform. The master left standing was declared Dragon Star Champion and was awarded the star. The defeated master would return to regular competition and attempt to gain enough Ki-Symbols to challenge again.
The first champion was Turbo, who defeated Yin Yang Man in the inaugural Dragon Star match. Turbo was in turn defeated by Olympus, who was defeated by Superstar.
In the last episode of the first season, Superstar was challenged by the Machine in a match that ended in controversial fashion. One of several ninjas that the masters had forced into the match attacked both men and knocked both of them off the platform simultaneously, leaving the Dragon Star in flux.
At the beginning of Season 2, it was revealed that WMAC rules did not allow ninjas to win the Dragon Star. It was also discovered that a conspiracy was beginning to brew involving master Warlock and new master Tracer.
To settle the vacancy and crown a new champion, Superstar and the Machine faced off again in a secret area where there would be no interference. The two masters were each given a module with their respective Ki-Symbol on them, with the object being to reach a Dragon Star replica and place their module in its compartment, all while battling themselves and the elements surrounding them. The Machine reached the goal first and won the vacant Dragon Star.
Red Dragon emerged as the next challenger for the Dragon Star and defeated the Machine to claim it. His first defense of the star would come against Warlock, where the conspiracy once again reared itself. Warlock was discovered to have paid off a ninja to not attack him during the course of the contest, instead focusing on the champion. The strategy ultimately backfired and Red Dragon retained the Dragon Star.
The conclusion of the season revealed the truth of the entire matter. Warlock, Tracer, and at least one other master were discovered to have been competitors in a discipline that the WMAC had outlawed due to its connection to illegal activity. Their goal was to procure the Dragon Star by any means, and they were revealed to have been behind the controversial finish to the Dragon Star match from the first-season finale. Once that failed, and once Warlock failed in his quest to win it outright, the corrupt masters simply stole the Dragon Star and left the organization taking the trophy with them. Their partner in crime was revealed to be young master Tsunami.
There were many different Battlezones for the fighters to compete in, whether they were for preliminaries or for ninja challenges. However, in Season 2, only 5 of these would be used. These battlezones included:
NOTE: In Battlezones settings with water hazards, like Mayan Mystery and Danger Dock, if a combatant was knocked into the water during the match, he or she would automatically lose the match.
NOTE 2: Stone Valley, Nuclear Nightmare and Danger Dock were not used in Season 2.
NOTE 3: The Dark Alley battlezone was the only Battlezone that had been rained on during the show's run, despite the constant thundering in Ghost Town. On that occasion, a thunderstorm appeared in the area, which also affected the electrical power in the arena.
There were many different types of ninjas that appeared in the show, most of them specific to a battlezone, although they would appear in other places, including the Dragon Star matches. According to Shannon Lee, they were all WMAC Academy Cadets who would eventually become Masters; Tsunami and Kid Carmichael were known to be former ninjas. The different kinds of ninjas included the following:
On one occasion in Season 2, a male combatant would team up with a female combatant to take on another male/female team in what was called a Mixed Doubles match. In the lone case, Superstar had teamed up with Lady Lightning (as Team Yellow) in order to take on the team of Tracer and Chameleon (as Team Red). The match took place in the Doom City battlezone, where they also had to fend off a group of Kabuki Warriors. It was just like a regular preliminary match, but there would be only one health gauge for each team, meaning that the two members of each team were competing as one. Team Yellow emerged victorious, and for their victory, they received the Ki-Symbols of their defeated opponents (Superstar getting Tracer's Ki-Symbol and Lady Lightning getting Chameleon's).
(In order in which they have held the title until someone beat them for it)
Male
NOTE: Yin Yang Man was also a contender and he challenged Turbo for the title (hence the reason that Yin Yang Man was starting on his second Dragon Belt when the series started), but Turbo defeated him. Similarly, Warlock was a contender who challenged champion Red Dragon, but Red Dragon won the match.
Female
NOTE: Baby Doll was the only female master in the series to lose the Dragon Star match as a contender. Lady Lightning, who was practically a dominant force in season 1 in the women's division, had successfully defended her title against Baby Doll. But it was revealed in season 2 that Lady Lightning was defeated by Black Widow. Black Widow is the only ever champion, male or female, to have willingly relinquished her Dragon Star, which then caused 3 competitors – namely, Lady Lightning, Princess, and Chameleon – to be automatically eligible to compete in a Dragon Star match.
Each WMAC Master has a Ki-Symbol. A Ki-Symbol is the reflection of the soul of the combatant. For example, Herb Perez's Ki-Symbol is Olympus because he won the gold medal in Tae Kwon Do at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Ki-Symbol reminds many of the mask of a Luchador because both reflect the heart and soul of the wearer. Other examples include:
Red Dragon: Chris Casamassa's father is the founder of Red Dragon Karate.
Mouse: As a child, Michele Krasnoo was known for her high-pitched kiais.
Great Wolf: Jamie Webster's real-life Native American name translates to "Great Wolf."
Bam: Willie Johnson gets this nickname from shouting "Bam" in his kiais.
Superstar: Ho Sung Pak's name, in his native Korean, means "Superstar."
Baby Doll: Bridgett Riley's father, a movie stuntman, gave her this nickname when she was a child.
Yin Yang Man: Richard Branden's hobby is sketching variations on the ancient Chinese "yin-yang" symbol.
Striking Eagle: Taimak's name means "Striking Eagle" in the Aztec language.
Many of the WMAC Masters, including Richard Branden, Erik Betts, Hien Nguyen, Sophia Crawford, Yuji Noguchi, Mer-Mer Chen and Bridgett Riley, were former and then-current stunt people for Power Rangers. In fact, one, Mike Chaturantabut, would actually later become a Power Ranger, in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. Noguchi was one of the main stunt coordinators for Power Rangers until the franchise was bought by Disney. Other Masters are tied to Mortal Kombat, Batman & Robin, Shootfighter and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and series. Hakim Alston (The Machine) made a few appearances in The New Adventures of Robin Hood, playing the role of Kemal, Nomad Warrior; Crawford (Chameleon) also made an appearance on the show. Clayton Barber, Riley, Betts, Chaturantabut and Casamassa also appeared in the series Martial Law. Other movies that featured several WMAC Masters are GI Joe, Watchmen, Catwoman, Avatar, Last Airbender, Book of Swords, Fist of the Warrior, xXx²: The Next Level, Torque, Windtalkers, Time Machine, Down With Love, Sci-Fighter, US Seals 2, Urban Justice, Blood and Bone, Poseidon, Johnny Tao, Fast Five, Savate, Drive, Gedo, Red Skies, 18 Fingers of Death!, Ant-Man, and Ides of March. Betts also competed on a season 6 episode of American Gladiators in early 1995.
Despite the show's scripted and choreographed nature, its competitors were legitimate martial artists. At least two of the cast members could lay legitimate claim to being among the world's best martial artists: both Herb Perez and Lynnette Love won Olympic gold medals in taekwondo, Perez a gold in the 1992 Summer Olympics, and Love a gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics in addition to a bronze medal in 1992. Riley and Christine Bannon-Rodrigues were both competitive kickboxers, with Bannon-Rodrigues winning gold medals in the WAKO Amateur World Championship in 1991 and 1993. Several of the other performers held multiple black belts in multiple disciplines.
(Note: With the exception of Michael M. Foley, who portrayed "Tracy Swedom" (ki-symbol: "Tracer"), all actors on this list played themselves, with their ki-symbols being an element created for the show.)
NOTE: "Black Widow" and "Cyclone" are real-life siblings, as are "Star Warrior" and "Superstar". "Warlock" and "Wizard", however, are not.
The Dragon Star represents the greatest martial artist in the world. The 8 Points of the Dragon Star represented the 8 points on how a true martial artist would live. The 8 Points are: Discipline, Courage, Forgiveness, Compassion, Honor, Wisdom, Loyalty and Respect.
In Season 2, members of Jukido were banned by the WMAC for not following the Code of the Dragon Star, but some members managed to infiltrate the competition. At end of the Season 2 finale, Hien Nguyen (Tsunami) stole the Dragon Star and brought it to a rooftop building where Michael Foley (Tracy "Tracer" Swedom) and Larry Lam (Warlock) were awaiting a helicopter. The WMAC discontinued all competition until the Dragon Star could be recovered.
The Dragon Star was built by Jim King, the same prop maker that built The Machine Body Armor and several of the weapons for the series. The original design of The Machine armor was redesigned by Jim King prior to its fabrication. The new armor design was incorporated into the toy version of The Machine.
Season 1 involved personal storylines of the WMAC Masters. In the first episode, we were introduced to the masters themselves, and Hakim Alston talked about how he earned his namesake, "The Machine". Throughout the first season, they talked about the highs and lows of the masters, from the feud between Johnny Lee Smith (Tiger Claw) and Jamie Webster (Great Wolf) due to a broken promise, Ho Sung Pak (Superstar) surrendering to his brother Ho Young Pak (Star Warrior) after the latter once saved his life, to Richard Branden's blindness in one eye thus began wearing an eyepatch, to Hien Nguyen (Tsunami) overcoming the odds and winning 3 Ki-Symbols for his once-empty Dragon Belt, winning a bet he had with Superstar. Superstar then got a chance to challenge Olympus in a special double Dragon Star match where he won and became the new Dragon Star Champion. However, the biggest shocker was at the end of season 1 when Hakim Alston and then-Dragon Star Champion Ho Sung Pak (Superstar) got knocked off the rotating pedestal at the same time by a ninja during their Dragon Star match. The conclusion of the match would come at the start of the next season.
Episodes
Season 2 began where season 1 left off. Because both the Machine and Superstar had been knocked off the pedestal by a ninja during the Dragon Star match, neither won the Dragon Star. This became a problem throughout the World Martial Arts Council. To make matters worse, Larry Lam (Warlock) made a pact with the newest master, Tracy Swedom (Tracer) and joined a cult called "Jukido". Jukido was a secret group of martial-arts masters who did not want to follow the code of the Dragon Star; for this, they were banned from the WMAC, so they decided to steal the Dragon Star out of revenge. During the investigation, some of the Masters were accused of being the masked ninja, including Ho Sung Pak's brother, Ho Young Pak (Star Warrior), and former Dragon Star Champion Mike Bernardo (Turbo), but they were all cleared. Another Master, Mike Chaturantabut (Wizard), was found to have the red dragon mark of Jukido, but he had since cut his Jukido ties. Warlock, who turned out to be Wizard's half-brother, was still part of the group, despite all appearances to the contrary.
Dragon Star champion Chris Casamassa (Red Dragon) faced Warlock for the Dragon Star championship. During the match, a hooded Jukido ninja entered the match during a violation and came to Warlock's aid against Red Dragon (Warlock even saved the ninja when the latter almost fell off the rotating platform). Despite the interference, Red Dragon won the match and retained his title. Later, Jamie Webster (Great Wolf) began to have premonitions about the Dragon Star either disappearing or otherwise being a fake and the role Jukido would play in this.
On the women's side, Sophia Crawford (Chameleon) defeated both Mer-Mer Chen (Princess) and Christine Rodrigues (Lady Lightning) to win the Dragon Star. When she went to claim her prize, she found the Dragon Star replaced with red dragon crest of Jukido and screamed in horror, validating Great Wolf's visions. Several of the masters figured out that Tracer and Warlock were behind the theft, and Wizard finally revealed his brother's true motives as well as his own history with Jukido, but the masters were convinced there was a third member of the group. They originally suspected Chameleon of being that third member, but realized that she was innocent; not only was her terror at seeing the Jukido crest instead of the Dragon Star genuine, but Superstar had also previously overheard her reject Tracer's offer to be part of "the team." Jukido members Tracer and Warlock were definitely part of the plot to steal the Dragon Star, but, unbeknownst to all until the very end (and only to the viewers), so was Hien Nguyen (Tsunami); he brought the Dragon Star to a helicopter, where Tracer and Warlock awaited him. Great Wolf's visions, however, portrayed Tsunami as a hero who recovers the Dragon Star for the WMAC, so Tsunami's true role in the plot remains a mystery and a topic for debate amongst the fandom.
Episodes
The first 13 episodes of the first season cost $5.5 million.
WMAC Masters was cancelled after 2 seasons in 1997. The fate of the Dragon Star remains in the air. However, one last episode did air in 1997 after the end of the show, which was known as "The Turning Points of the Masters"; in this episode, four masters (The Machine, Yin Yang Man, Superstar, and Olympus) told their stories that were their personal "turning points" (these stories were actually all previously shown during episodes of Season 1; the only new footage in this episode was of the Machine as he began to tell his story).
The show originally aired on September 16, 1995. The show was not broadcast for several years following its cancellation. It was shown on the 4Kids TV Saturday morning television programming block from 2002 until 2003. The CW, who operated the Toonzai video-on-demand website (the successor to the TV-based 4Kids TV), hosted all 26 episodes of the series for free streaming on their website before 4Kids Entertainment went bankrupt and Toonzai programming was subsequently cancelled in late 2012. The series has not been syndicated in any medium since the closure of Toonzai's website.
Only six episodes from the series have been officially released on home media. All three volumes were released on April 8, 1996 on VHS by Anchor Bay Entertainment and Video Treasures. Each volume contains two episodes: Meet the Masters/Brothers in Arms, Going for Gold/Broken Promise, and Ninja Challenge/Quest for the Dragon Star.