The wrestling scene in Australia is blowing up right now. A lot of very high level talent that’s branching out overseas and into international promotions. But this wrestling boom in Australia is still kind of a well kept secret to the international wrestling fan base as a whole. In fact, What Culture called the Australian independent scene the number four best kept secret in wrestling in this piece from 2018. So we have a lot to explore here.

But in order to do this, we need an expert on Australian wrestling. That’s why I’m making the hot tag into On The Turnbuckle. On The Turnbuckle is a weekly podcast based in Melbourne that covers the Australian wrestling scene and is an absolute wealth of knowledge.

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WrestleMap: So up until the late 1970’s, there was a strong professional wrestling scene in Australia that was spearheaded by the original World Championship Wrestling. However, when WCW closed down, a lot of sources talk about that being the downfall of Australian wrestling and kind of leading to a dark period in wrestling in the country. This has finally started to turn around as there are around 50 active promotions running shows in Australia today. Can you talk to us a little bit about this turnaround? Anything that you’re aware of regarding wrestling during this so-called dark period? What are some of the factors in your opinion that have led to the turnaround we’re seeing now?

On The Turnbuckle: Wrestling was extremely popular during the 70’s with World Championship Wrestling enjoying prominence on network television which made wrestlers household names. There were sell out shows every week at Festival Hall in Melbourne.

The dark period following is often attributed to losing TV coverage as well as the tendency to bill the international wrestlers ahead of local talent. As a result there was a period where wrestling was almost unheard of in the mainstream with the exception of a couple of WWE tours in the mid 80’s. Wrestling still existed and former WCW wrestler George Julio fought to keep wrestling alive in Melbourne training most of the local guys at that stage. George still has his Gym and it has produced some amazing talent.

When wrestling became popular worldwide in the 90’s PCW and PWA in Melbourne were running sold out shows. PWA later expanded to Adelaide, Queensland, Canberra and Sydney through the work local legend Lobo.

The turnaround in recent years is due to a number of factors. Will Ospreay’s contribution can’t be underestimated as he shone a light on Australia, the way wrestling is shot has improved out of sight with Mikey Jay at Melbourne City Wrestling taking production to the next level, PWA in Sydney following suit and changing the way they market their product as well as adding live streams and Wrestle Rampage also live streaming their shows.

WrestleMap: As a whole, how popular is wrestling in Australia? Obviously, WWE has come through Australia pretty frequently and have even held some major events there. Would you say there’s a big wrestling fan base there? How is the fan support for the promotions based in Australia? Are they well attended and supported as well? Or is there a big numbers difference between fans of the Australian promotions and fans of larger international wrestling promotions?

On The Turnbuckle: Wrestling in Australia is still a niche product, especially the local promotions. While WWE come through regularly and Super Showdown had 70,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and New Japan Pro Wrestling has done a couple of tours that have drawn upwards of 3000 per show but this hasn’t translated or bumped the attendance of local wrestling which is pretty much attended by the same people every week.

WrestleMap: Australian talent has started to turn up more and more in the major international promotions. WWE has featured Tenille Dashwood, Buddy Murphy, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay and Rhea Ripley. Shazza McKenzie was working with AEW for a little bit. Who are some other wrestlers that hail from Australia that have had success on bigger stages in wrestling? Any names I’m forgetting?

On The Turnbuckle: Bronson Reed, who wrestled in Australia as Jonah Rock is doing fantastic things in NXT, Toni Storm won the Mae Young classic and is a former NXT UK champion, Indi Hartwell, Brendan Vink and Shane Thorne are all wrestlers who are signed with WWE and we expect big things from.

Robbie Eagles is with New Japan Pro Wrestling where he is an important member of the Super Juniors division, Mickey Nicholls (Nick Miller in NXT) is also with NJPW and Gino Gambino can often be heard on English commentary.

Adam Brooks, Slex and Kellyanne have all signed with ROH and are waiting for this pandemic to ease so they can head over to the United States.

Madison Eagles was once considered arguably the best wrestler in the world and opened a lot of doors overseas for Australian Female wrestlers.

WrestleMap: Then staying on the topic of Australian pro wrestlers, who are some of the best wrestlers active in Australia today? Who are some names to watch? Any icons or legends on the Australian scene that maybe haven’t crossed over so much into the mainstream?

On The Turnbuckle: There are a number of local wrestling legends who never made the move overseas, mostly due to timing. Davis Storm and Damian Slater are as good as anyone in the world and are largely responsible for the healthy state of Wrestling in Western Australia. Krackerjak is another who doesn’t have the overseas recognition he deserves.

There are a lot of wrestlers with the potential to head overseas. Royce Chambers is an incredible athlete and despite being very young, has already wrestled with DDT in Japan. Avary has had a taste of working overseas with Stardom and the sky is the limit for her. The Brat Pack, Nick Bury and Mitch Waterman have had a ROH tour and could easily take their talents overseas. Mick Moretti, Ricky South, Charli Evans, Paris De Silva, Jude London, Matty Wahlberg, Caveman Ugg, Steph Delander and Jessica Troy are all ready to work for a big promotion. I know I am missing some other names.

WrestleMap: Now let’s take a look at the promotions currently running in Australia. Is there currently a top dog promotion that wrestlers around the country strive to reach? Or is it more so that each promotion is popular in the territory that they’re based out of?

On The Turnbuckle: Australia suffers for its size and relatively small and spread out population. This makes bringing wrestlers from interstate cost prohibitive. Essentially there are 2 big promotions in most states and the fans will argue over who is the biggest in the country. I would say most wrestlers in Australia would strive to work for Melbourne City Wrestling and PWA in Sydney as the top two promotions..

Western Australia has Explosive Professional Wrestling (EPW) as its top promotion with New Horizons (NHPW) nipping at their heels. South Australia has Riot City Wrestling and Wrestle Rampage as their best two promotions. PCW in Melbourne is an interesting one, they operate in Melbourne and run weekly to a loyal fan base but have drawn upwards of 2000 people to their yearly stadium show which is a massive effort.

World Series Wrestling runs national tours involving a host of internationals and local guys, but it is more spot show than promotion.

WrestleMap: Sticking with the promotions, who are some of the best promotions running in Australia today? Who is putting out the best product? Are there any promotions to keep an eye on that may be on the rise?

On The Turnbuckle: MCW, PWA and EPW are the standouts with Wrestle Rampage and Riot City Wrestling nipping at their heels.

The new promotions seem to be mostly at a tier below, however there haven’t really been any shows since April in Australia and I am hearing of some exciting plans in the works.

A Special shout out to WrestleRock which is a unique experience.

WrestleMap: Is there currently wrestling on TV in Australia coming from any of the promotions that are based in Australia that you’re aware of? Or would any wrestling programming that’s widely accessible be coming from WWE, Impact or AEW?

On The Turnbuckle: There isn’t any local wrestling on TV and most companies are running through a streaming service. The Australian Wrestling Network has just launched and will absolutely be the best place to go down an Australian wrestling wormhole.

Underworld Wrestling is a unique take on wrestling and can be seen on Amazon Prime.

WWE is currently on Pay TV most Australians don’t subscribe. AEW is available through FITE TV.

WrestleMap: As a follower of wrestling in Australia, is there one particular event or show put on by a promotion that you absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone that’s trying to jump into the Australian scene? If there isn’t one in particular, is there a couple?

On The Turnbuckle: PWA Colosseum is an annual 2 day tournament that draws a crowd from around Australia, and MCW have the Ballroom Brawl which is a Rumble.

My favourite Australian show I have attended took place the night before Super Showdown at MCW New Horizons 2018. It is the hottest Australian crowd I have experienced.

WrestleMap: Is there one thing or maybe a couple things that make the wrestling scene in Australia unique? Anything that you can think of that could kind of be Australia’s claim to fame on the international wrestling scene as a whole?

On The Turnbuckle: The Australian scene draws its influences from all around the world and has a broad range of styles. I don’t think there is an “Australian Style” of wrestling which in its own way makes it unique.

WrestleMap: Do you think pro wrestling in Australia will continue to grow? Will we continue to see more wrestlers and more promotions coming out of Australia going forward? Or do you think the market has become oversaturated and that it may be reaching a tipping point?

On The Turnbuckle: I think there are enough promotions. Wrestling needs to get better at marketing itself in order to grow. Attracting the casual wrestling fan has always been the area where we fall down.

Wrestlers will continue to travel to Australia as it’s a great place to visit, but to grow we need Television and a top national promotion where all of the top guys and girls can work together more regularly.

WrestleMap: Thanks so much for your time today and helping us to get a glimpse into the Australian wrestling scene today. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us about wrestling in Australia that we haven’t gone over?

On The Turnbuckle: The Best way to watch Australian wrestling is through http://auswrestling.net they have a host of content including MCW and EPW.

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I think it’s pretty easy to see why Australian wrestling can be considered one of the best kept secrets in wrestling today. Some of this talent is just off the charts. Observers and members of the scene stick to their guns saying that they have some of the best wrestling in the world right now and they very well may be right. Seeing a major promotion emerge from Australia or even one of the more successful independents taking the next step and becoming more recognized on an international level would be a very important next step and one I would absolutely love to see. This scene deserves to have more eyes on it and, going forward into 2021 when this pandemic will hopefully clear up, I’d venture to guess that we’ll continue to see that happen.

A HUGE thank you to my tag team partner today, On The Turnbuckle. To stay up to date on the wrestling scene in Australia, please check out their podcast and give them a follow on Twitter!

Now go explore some wrestling in Australia on the map!