Australian Wrestling thread

[nobbyiscool]

Show last night was fun but pretty meaningless. The main event was great. I'm not sure what the business relationship between OPW and MCW is but it certainly benefits one side far more than the other. Classy Ali was terrible.

Right? Sooo bad. I felt a bit bad for Mitch when he was trying to do comedy spots - which is so not his deal post Brat Pack - in an attempt to salvage anything at all from the match.

Classy Ali had good hair... everything else about him suuuuuucked.

 

[Big Time Greg]

Right? Sooo bad. I felt a bit bad for Mitch when he was trying to do comedy spots - which is so not his deal post Brat Pack - in an attempt to salvage anything at all from the match.

Classy Ali had good hair... everything else about him suuuuuucked.

You can only hope Classy Ali paid to be there because he might be the worst wrestler I’ve seen in Thornbury.

We are now 1 title change off OPW and MCW having the same champions so are MCW going to absorb the inferior brand?

On another note, cricket bat guy is a dreadful promo, and why are they promoting Australia v India, it’s a slippery slope to racist crowd behaviour

 

[kistan]

Right? Sooo bad. I felt a bit bad for Mitch when he was trying to do comedy spots - which is so not his deal post Brat Pack - in an attempt to salvage anything at all from the match.

Classy Ali had good hair... everything else about him suuuuuucked.

Ali not going up for the rock bottom was shocking. Like JUMP. Seriously.

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

Who would people say is the best young wrestler in Australia. As in under 22?

Not as much choice as there was as it seems like the average age of Aussie wrestlers is higher than it has been and guys getting opportunities is a slower pace, I think both Jarvis and Tuckman are 22-23ish.

 

[Dingbat McFlurry]

Not as much choice as there was as it seems like the average age of Aussie wrestlers is higher than it has been and guys getting opportunities is a slower pace, I think both Jarvis and Tuckman are 22-23ish.

Jesse Lambert would be close

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

MCW/OPW show yesterday was perfectly fine, I have a rep of being annoyingly positive about Aussie wrestling as I just don't see the value in talking about things that are shit unless they are absolutely horrible, which I guess leads into Classy Ali. I have seen worse on local shows sure, but most of the time it's either guys on student shows having their first match or guys on the shindy feds that have been stinking up venues for years, having this bloke on what is marketed as the best shows in Melbourne, against one of the best workers in the country (and bless him, Waterman gave it everything he has) being that bad was an absolute farce. I get the Qatar connection might bring some money and being that QPW is basically a few Qatar people and a bunch of WWE guys from 20 years ago, maybe that might open some doors for Aussie guys to work O/S, but if you're presenting OPW as the premium priced fed above even MCW, having a bloke who couldn't leave his feet to take a Rock Bottom is not a good look.

On the positive side, I actually enjoyed the majority of this show a lot more than Vendetta, Ali vs Brooks was Brooksy's best match in years, the ICONS stuff was a lot more tolerable than last show and the undercard itself was solid. I really enjoyed Rapid vs Lucky and I'm actually disappointed to miss the 19th because Waterman vs Rapid is legit the most interesting match that MCW has to offer in 2024.

One last negative note, I couldn't help but laugh that they hype this big ICONS survivor series match, when the ICONS team has only one of the core group in Rocky, someone who ads a lot in Robbie Thorpe, a great wrestler who is being shoved down the audiences throat even though no one in Melbourne gives a **** about him in Ricky South and two podcast blokes from Sydney who no one knows why they're even on the show. I wonder who the Kairouz Brothers are mates with to get booked because they're boring as ****.

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

Jesse Lambert would be close

Good choice.

 

[kistan]

Not as much choice as there was as it seems like the average age of Aussie wrestlers is higher than it has been and guys getting opportunities is a slower pace, I think both Jarvis and Tuckman are 22-23ish.

One of my friends pointed out to me how pretty much pwa dropping the ball and rampage not having any golden trainees anymore has really hampered everyone. Since you don't have jackson jonah eagles (all three of them) going with Armstrong's etc. Everyone's too floaty and accepting of just mediocre work. Honestly the rocky matches should be him and 2 rookies vs 1 vet and 2 rookies and they get them through matches. Try to get some sort of development going.

 

[kistan]

I always thought like Jordan and AJ were the shining example. Jordan very very solid worker and when aj was with with him he improved greatly. Just having basic solid tags

 

[nobbyiscool]

One of my friends pointed out to me how pretty much pwa dropping the ball and rampage not having any golden trainees anymore has really hampered everyone. Since you don't have jackson jonah eagles (all three of them) going with Armstrong's etc. Everyone's too floaty and accepting of just mediocre work. Honestly the rocky matches should be him and 2 rookies vs 1 vet and 2 rookies and they get them through matches. Try to get some sort of development going.

I've been a defender of PWA, but holy shit Colosseum is underwhelming this year. Much as I would've loved to see Waller vs Jimmy?

Jess
ChEvs
Lena
Fudge
Kai
Robbie Thorpe
Rufio (announced as "Ricky"?)
Tommy Knight

It doesn't feel like the best of Australian wrestling, and I'm happy that I saved myself the trip this year. I'm really happy for Kai and Fudge getting the opportunity, but you replace one or both of them with Moretti and/or Ricky, man it boosts the star power of that list.

I'm thinking Jess is going to run the table, I don't see her losing in the first round to Evans, and the only other person that PWA have built in any sense is Fudge.

So I probably see Jess beating either Lena or Tommy in the final.

 

[kistan]

I've been a defender of PWA, but holy shit Colosseum is underwhelming this year. Much as I would've loved to see Waller vs Jimmy?

Jess
ChEvs
Lena
Fudge
Kai
Robbie Thorpe
Rufio (announced as "Ricky"?)
Tommy Knight

It doesn't feel like the best of Australian wrestling, and I'm happy that I saved myself the trip this year. I'm really happy for Kai and Fudge getting the opportunity, but you replace one or both of them with Moretti and/or Ricky, man it boosts the star power of that list.

I'm thinking Jess is going to run the table, I don't see her losing in the first round to Evans, and the only other person that PWA have built in any sense is Fudge.

So I probably see Jess beating either Lena or Tommy in the final.

I agree. Jess or Evans I think will win it all. They really had something special there in 2021 with so many of their people getting hot all at once. And then just whatever booked it away.

 

[jcartwright771]

has it sold out with Grayson announced?

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

I'm hoping Chevs defeats Jess on night 1 and defends it the rest of the way. The change would be nice.

Being brutally honest, I don't give a stuff about Waller's return. The last stuff he did before he left with the whole GenNow thing was nonsensical garbage and it got a free pass from people because it's PWA and him vs Jimmy doesn't interest me from either a match or character perspective.

 

[auswrestlinginsider]

One of my friends pointed out to me how pretty much pwa dropping the ball and rampage not having any golden trainees anymore has really hampered everyone. Since you don't have jackson jonah eagles (all three of them) going with Armstrong's etc. Everyone's too floaty and accepting of just mediocre work. Honestly the rocky matches should be him and 2 rookies vs 1 vet and 2 rookies and they get them through matches. Try to get some sort of development going.

The best trainees or young wrestlers on the east coast are no longer coming out of places like MCW or PWA but most fans don't pay attention to anything except those places so it seems that the young talent pool isn't thriving when it actually is.

Aries from All Star Wrestling in Sydney I think is 23 and has wrestled at Korakuen Hall plus worked with plenty of big name wrestlers.

Lil Marz from Pro Wrestling League in Queensland is under 25 and she has wrestled in Japan and is doing all sorts of travel internationally, I think she is training in the USA right now.

Zeke Andino I think is 24-25 and he has done 3 or 4 tours of Japan already. He's another QLD guy.

Those aren't the only 3, there are plenty of young wrestlers making their way through as well just people aren't really paying attention unless hitting MCW or PWA. Even the talented young Slam guys are struggling to be noticed.

I've been a defender of PWA, but holy shit Colosseum is underwhelming this year. Much as I would've loved to see Waller vs Jimmy?

Jess
ChEvs
Lena
Fudge
Kai
Robbie Thorpe
Rufio (announced as "Ricky"?)
Tommy Knight

It doesn't feel like the best of Australian wrestling, and I'm happy that I saved myself the trip this year. I'm really happy for Kai and Fudge getting the opportunity, but you replace one or both of them with Moretti and/or Ricky, man it boosts the star power of that list.

I'm thinking Jess is going to run the table, I don't see her losing in the first round to Evans, and the only other person that PWA have built in any sense is Fudge.

So I probably see Jess beating either Lena or Tommy in the final.

I think they've gone underwhelming with the tournament as the tournament isn't the main selling point this year. Waller and the NRL bloke would be the two major selling points from their perspective I think.

I see Charli or Jess winning it. Both are boring options if you ask me.

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

Valid selections. And in NSW feds like All Star, AWS and RockNRoll seem to be building talent really well, not just with training but opportunities too. Lee Morrow is someone I thought would be a breakout guy by now and Otis is already really good as well.

In Melbourne, the best new talent is from Relentless. PCW's newest crop are very average and the quality of shows have dropped and then you have all the linked APW/Alpha/ DMDU/MXW mob and the majority of them are generic, bland and boring.

 

[kistan]

The best trainees or young wrestlers on the east coast are no longer coming out of places like MCW or PWA but most fans don't pay attention to anything except those places so it seems that the young talent pool isn't thriving when it actually is.

Aries from All Star Wrestling in Sydney I think is 23 and has wrestled at Korakuen Hall plus worked with plenty of big name wrestlers.

Lil Marz from Pro Wrestling League in Queensland is under 25 and she has wrestled in Japan and is doing all sorts of travel internationally, I think she is training in the USA right now.

Zeke Andino I think is 24-25 and he has done 3 or 4 tours of Japan already. He's another QLD guy.

Those aren't the only 3, there are plenty of young wrestlers making their way through as well just people aren't really paying attention unless hitting MCW or PWA. Even the talented young Slam guys are struggling to be noticed.




I think they've gone underwhelming with the tournament as the tournament isn't the main selling point this year. Waller and the NRL bloke would be the two major selling points from their perspective I think.
I see Charli or Jess winning it. Both are boring options if you ask me.

I mean young young. I was at the Korakuen with Keegan and Aries. I haven't seen enough to know if it was them not being good or not knowing how to work Japan.

I think O Leary and tuckman could be great but they need to do the dec ajpw tryout or such. They have the right height and look for it. Same with Thorpe.

Zeke will get there 100%. I have no doubts with that. His first korakuen to last korakuen were two different people

 

[nobbyiscool]

I mean young young. I was at the Korakuen with Keegan and Aries. I haven't seen enough to know if it was them not being good or not knowing how to work Japan.

I think O Leary and tuckman could be great but they need to do the dec ajpw tryout or such. They have the right height and look for it. Same with Thorpe.

Zeke will get there 100%. I have no doubts with that. His first korakuen to last korakuen were two different people

With the style he works, and with the advantage he has on the front of his passport, Robbie Thorpe should go base himself out of the UK for a year and work across the UK, Europe and North America as much as he can. He's like a better looking, better built version of Elliot Sexton/Duke Hudson. He's wasting his wrestling life in Australia when he could be based in Britain.

He'd be mid-20s by now, but if he can sort himself out physically and mentally, Royce is obviously the standout that could do anything at all in wrestling. And Aysha would only be 23 or 24, she's already done an overseas training tour, she's been Renegades champion for 2 years, and she's about to go work overseas for a month or so. And she's stunning.

Much as I sometimes roll my eyes at kistan's reminders that he watches a lot of Japanese wrestling, he's right when he says that's where Aysha should be targeting in the short term. Her size wouldn't matter so much there.

 

[kistan]

With the style he works, and with the advantage he has on the front of his passport, Robbie Thorpe should go base himself out of the UK for a year and work across the UK, Europe and North America as much as he can. He's like a better looking, better built version of Elliot Sexton/Duke Hudson. He's wasting his wrestling life in Australia when he could be based in Britain.

He'd be mid-20s by now, but if he can sort himself out physically and mentally, Royce is obviously the standout that could do anything at all in wrestling. And Aysha would only be 23 or 24, she's already done an overseas training tour, she's been Renegades champion for 2 years, and she's about to go work overseas for a month or so. And she's stunning.

Much as I sometimes roll my eyes at kistan's reminders that he watches a lot of Japanese wrestling, he's right when he says that's where Aysha should be targeting in the short term. Her size wouldn't matter so much there.

Aysha would have to start from scratch in Japan.

Thorpe should take the Akira route. Go to All Japan. Work with Miyahara Aoyagi Suwama etc. AJPW everyone is 6ft+ plus they love pushing young good looking guys and developing them super quickly. See Anzai and Ayabe for that

 

[kistan]

Japan also isn't the long term solution. The devaluation of the yen and how much people get paid per show is not great. You really need a second job with either a lot of holiday or remote work

 

[nobbyiscool]

Aysha would have to start from scratch in Japan.

Obviously - I don't think anyone thinks the Renegades belt and 6 weeks with Breeze and Spears results in Cinderella or 5star GP... my point is that if she's working hard and saving her money to do 1-2 month overseas tours, I think she'd arguably get further, learn more, and carve out more opportunities by going to Japan at this stage of her career.

Who knows though? Increasingly I think younger Australians will get opportunities wherever the connections are, because there are so many Australians doing cool things, and there's been so much happening here. (Ali - the good one - kind of alluded to it yesterday.) In the past couple of years Aysha has been on the same card as women like Jordynne Grace, Mickie James, Cassie Lee and Ash by Ellegance; she's shared a ring with SdL, Lena Kross (I think), Miki Fortune, Harley Cameron and Delta.

If the discussion of young talent is about people who might have a chance of making it overseas, the obvious intangible that we can't see is just how good at networking they are, how much they manage to find people that want to advocate for them, and where in the world those people work.

 

[auswrestlinginsider]

I mean young young. I was at the Korakuen with Keegan and Aries. I haven't seen enough to know if it was them not being good or not knowing how to work Japan.

I think O Leary and tuckman could be great but they need to do the dec ajpw tryout or such. They have the right height and look for it. Same with Thorpe.

Zeke will get there 100%. I have no doubts with that. His first korakuen to last korakuen were two different people

I'd say a mix of being a new style for them and it being a 5 on 5 tag, Aries is still relatively green but has done a lot in a short time.

Japan also isn't the long term solution. The devaluation of the yen and how much people get paid per show is not great. You really need a second job with either a lot of holiday or remote work

I think if money is no object all young wrestlers should strive to go to Japan for months and months on end because it is the closest thing to a modern territory system, that being that there are multiple promotions who will do 10 or more shows a month so if you could get in with 2-3 you could maybe work 3-5 times a week against mainly good wrestlers.

I have heard about paydays being as little as 60-70 AUD a match though for unknowns so that's pretty tough...

If the discussion of young talent is about people who might have a chance of making it overseas, the obvious intangible that we can't see is just how good at networking they are, how much they manage to find people that want to advocate for them, and where in the world those people work.

Strongly agree, that's often the deciding factor. Jack Bonza for example, he wasn't really good enough to work New Japan and there are hundreds around the world including here who are more worthy but because he's friends with Fale and is promoting the NJPW name in Australia he got a tour of NJPW out of it.

 

[DMN]

Alpha seem to have built a connection with Mike Quackenbush, he’s doing webinars for their school but I believe plan is to bring him over for a show + seminar! He mentions their recent event with a promo from one of their top talents in this video

 

[nobbyiscool]

Alpha seem to have built a connection with Mike Quackenbush, he’s doing webinars for their school but I believe plan is to bring him over for a show + seminar! He mentions their recent event with a promo from one of their top talents in this video

It's not like anyone should have reason to question his intentions as a trainer, right?

 

[Cleavy]

It's not like anyone should have reason to question his intentions as a trainer, right?

sounds like a red flag

 

[JustHavinAGeez]

Red flags don't matter to a promotion that books and promotes Jayson Krash.