Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

This Month in Aussie Wrestling: October Edition

On Saturday, October 6th, WWE returns to Australia for Super Show-Down, in Melbourne, Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. This is the first time WWE has done a PPV level show in the country since 2002, where they did Global Warning at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, drawing almost 50,000 fans. Since then, WWE has returned almost every year for a house show tour. This year, however, is completely different. WWE will most likely top the attendance of Global Warning, making it the most attended wrestling event in the history of the continent. But it’s been sixteen years since WWE even attempted a large show Down Under. Why now? Well, it’d be naïve to overlook the fact that earlier this year, other international companies have toured Australia, and WWE no doubt would want to corral interest in any other company into itself. WWE is notoriously territorial when it comes to things like this. It was rumored that one of the main motivators of launching NXT UK was to quell World of Sport, a homegrown wrestling show in England, so that they don’t have competition in that market, and it looks to be a similar case in Australia as well. In this situation, it’s New Japan Pro Wrestling instead of World of Sport. In February of this year, NJPW ran a tour of Australia, and used plenty of local talent or their shows. Dave Meltzer reported that NJPW officials considered the tour a success, and are considering returning later this year for a second tour. PROGRESS Wrestling, based out of the UK, also ran a tour of Australia in April, but since they have a business relationship with WWE and are much smaller than NJPW, they are not considered competition there. Despite the reasons, however, all this foreign interest in the Australian wrestling market is a sign of the health and strength of the Australian wrestling scene as a whole. The homegrown Australian wrestling scene is the best it’s been in forty years: developing its own stars in Robbie Eagles, Jonah Rock, Madison Eagles, and Adam Brooks; drawing international stars to local promotions, like Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, The Young Bucks, Joey Ryan, Tessa Blanchard, Cody, and Will Ospreay; and more promotions popping up all the time, like New Valhalla, Mayhem Pro, and Iron Fist Pro, all of which have debuted in this year alone, not to mention Pro Wrestling League which is starting up this November. All of these things, from WWE Super Show-Down to a new local indie getting started, indicate a slow boom in Australian wrestling. Super Show-Down is a big deal, and will draw a lot of attention to pro wrestling, and according to a local, they may even have a try out for local talent while they’re there, so obvious WWE coming to town for a large show is healthy for the business there. Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW) is running an event the night before, New Horizons, and on the day of the show is joint-promoting WrestleBrunch with WrestleRock. It’s like a mini-Wrestlemania weekend for Melbourne. What this means for WWE’s long term presence in Australia, or much Aussie talent they’ll sign and use, we’ll have to wait and see. But in terms of the level of interest in pro wrestling as a whole, this will boost the already surging boom in that part of the world.

Around the Continent:

Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW): At New Horizons on Friday the 5th, Robbie Eagles is challenging “Mr. Juicy” Gino Gambino for the MCW Heavyweight Championship, and it seems like a prime situation for a title change. Also on the card is The Untouchables, Damien Slater and Marcius Pitt, which is a pleasant surprise as they are one of the best tag teams in the country, but don’t often work Melbourne.

Riot City Wrestling (RCW): On October 13th, RCW follows up one of their biggest shows ever (RCW 200) with the Riot City Rumble. The Adelaide- based RCW is bringing in a lot of interstate talent for the show, including Matty Wahlberg and Gavin McGavin, and it will be headlined by Adam Brooks challenging Chris Basso for the RCW Championship.

Wrestle Rampage: The aforementioned Damien Slater, of Cruiserweight Classic fame, is going one on one with possibly the most underrated performer on the Aussie scene, AJ Istria. On October 13th at Ground Zero. Not to mention, Jonah Rock defending his Australian National Championship against Rat Daddy.

Adrenaline Pro Wrestling (APW): In Melbourne on October 13th, APW presents Never in Your Wildest Dreams, featuring Kellyanne vs. Dowie James in the main event, which, if you’ve ever seen these two perform, you know how good this can be. Kellyanne is an awesome performer, who doesn’t get as many main events as she should, so it’s great to see her getting what she deserves.

Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA): On the 20th, PWA promotes its next event, Colosseum, where we’ll see an eight-man tournament taking place, involving Paris De Silva, AJ Istria, Damien Slater, and more.

Southern Pro Wrestling (SPW NZ): The largest promotion on the South Island of New Zealand comes back for its final show of the year, Halloween Haunting on October 27th, with Kane Khan challenging Will Power for the SPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, which Khan has been chasing for a year, but got screwed by Power in both of his title matches. Hmm, I wonder what JK Moody will be doing that night…

https://twitter.com/SPWrestlingNZ/status/1042985112537710594

Impact Pro Wrestling New Zealand (IPW NZ): The largest promotion on the North Island of New Zealand, returns on October 27th for OctoberSlam, While no matches have been announced yet, if their most recent, massively successful shows Homecoming and Pride V Fury are any indication, this show will be worth paying attention to.

Featured Interview of the Month:

Kellyanne, out of Melbourne, Victoria, is one of the top performers in the Australian independent scene. In addition to the Aussie circuit, she’s also had a chance to train with Lance Storm in Calgary, work in Mexico, and perform for the US-based SHIMMER promotion. Her punk rock persona has endeared her to the Australian faithful, most notably in Melbourne City Wrestling, one of the largest promotion in the country, where she is a staple. Last Word on Pro Wrestling was able to interview Kellyanne about her career, and where she might go next:

How did you get started, who trained you, when did you debut?

Kellyanne: It all started with my fond love of video games. Whilst looking for the Tekken PS1 disk, I accidentally placed WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It inside the console instead. Immediately, I was hooked and played for hours on end with my brother. I became obsessed with the character Lita which I pronounced as “litter” as a child (we didn’t have foxtel so I wasn’t aware of the pronunciation) and knew I wanted to be her. Fast forward a year and my friend brought over a VHS of SummerSlam and that was it – done, hooked.
After three years of trying to be a wrestler at home (doing 2kg weights to entrance songs didn’t cut it), I decided at the age of 13 that I will research wrestling training schools, I found one in Keysborough which was PCW. I lied about my age (thanks Mum) and started training under Carlo Cannon and a range of wrestlers. I would often skip school to train with Mad Dog and Vixsin. which was a leisurely 2.5 hour train ride from home. I debuted 6 months into training (not ready) but I had no choice and that was in 2010

At the age of 18 I traveled the Canada to train with Lance Storm for three months – I met Teddy Hart whilst over there and was pretty much kidnapped for a night and he offered to train myself and Ryan Rollins (Australian Suicide) before we went to Mexico to train with AAA. LOTS happened in-between that time (that’s an interview in itself) but I ended up training with Gran Apache (RIP), Faby Apache, Skayde and Silver King whilst in Mexico and had the opportunity to live with Psicosis and Halloween.

What are your thoughts on your upcoming match against Dowie James?

My thoughts? I’ve never thought of intergender wrestling as a ”thing” – it was always normal to me. I trained with men my whole career. I’m excited, I’m nervous.. I’m ready? I’ve been watching Dowie have matches of the night for the past few years and I was envious. I knew I could do that with him given the chance yet no one wanted to do that. They were scared of offending everyone. What is so offensive about two of the best wrestlers going at it? I know he will push me but I know I will also push him too.

What have your experiences working in SHIMMER been like?

It was pretty surreal. I started watching SHIMMER when I was 13 and always wanted to wrestle there. Thanks to Madison Eagles, that became a reality. It’s a lot of fun and I get to try different things out. I look forward to returning after Europe.

What promotions would you like to work for that you haven’t yet?

I believe I would fit well within any promotion. There isn’t really any promotions I am head hunting. Since I am a big punk rock fan, I’ve always wanted to wrestle in Germany (a lot of punk rock originated from there). wXw (Westside Xtreme Wrestling) is somewhere I think I’d do well…so let’s just say, see you soon…?

You were a key part of Mayhem Pro’s debut show a couple weeks ago. What can you tell us about your future role there?

It’s a secret. I get to beat up Fox and that’s something I will enjoy a lot.

Recently you tweeted that you were bored with Australia. Will you be working elsewhere for a while? What will your future away from Australia look like?

Hehe, bored…people get the wrong idea about what I’m bored of. I’m bored of people relying on their social media to get over instead of putting in the work to be great. That said…the fans fuel that don’t they? Fans enjoy cheering for the bad guy these days and want the wrestlers to be more personable. I don’t like playing that game.

I’m going away to push myself further than what I can here for now. I’m going to train and pick up more styles – one of the main things I enjoy about wrestling is the different styles so I’ll pick up the European strong style, come back and reign terror.

What’s your favorite match you’ve ever been in?

Myself Vs Alan Payne stands out to me as there was a lot of genuine passion in that match and it had two years of build up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyjYhyEC9c0

Where is Australian Wrestling compared to the rest of the world? What needs to happen for it to take the next step?

What we are doing here is exactly what the rest of the world is doing we just need that exposure. It will happen as long as everyone treats it with respect and doesn’t lose what makes them individuals.

In an interview with us two months ago, Indi Hartwell said that her favorite match was with you. What was it like working with her during your feud in Melbourne City Wrestling?

I had Indi’s first match and in each match she’s gotten tougher. My feud with her at MCW is still on going and I doubt it will ever end.

When it’s all said and done, what would you like to be the legacy of your career?

That I never sold out.

Anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Respect me for what I do in the ring, not because I like your posts or ask you what you thought of my match

Lance Larson

Lance Larson

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