Tales From The TNA Tryouts – Part 2, Fozzy Young
By: Graham ‘Fozzy’ Young
TNA Wrestling – 2009 Sydney tryouts Many moons ago …
September 8th, 2009 to be factual TNA came to Australia to host a try out of sorts. The agenda was to select one wrestler from each state and they would appear on the TNA tour that was announced for February/March 2010 for Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
There were plenty of Australian wrestlers in attendance eager to put on their best performance in front of the TNA panel of judges, Jeff Jarrett, Christy Hemme and Jeremy Borash. I had previously worked with both Jarrett and Borash on the WWA tours a few years prior, so I felt hopeful that I could get a gig as an extra ref on the tour.
The format was simple. The wrestlers were split into several matches and they were to perform for a couple of minutes and get critiqued Australia’s Got Talent style by the judges. Now, I’m not sure what ever happened to that tour but it never eventuated, which makes me laugh that more than 14yrs later they are doing a show in Wagga Wagga and I’m long retired.
At the time TNA were definitely the only other big league option vs WWE, unless you were a tragic indie fan following promotions like ROH – so this was kind of a big deal. If you were from VIC/QLD/WA/SA you had to cover your costs to travel to Sydney and take a chance. My overall experience was a mixed one. I thought I did really well in the matches I did, and I did the best to showcase my talent without taking away from the wrestlers in the ring. Although no official announcements were ever made, I seem to remember that Angeleeka and perhaps Krackerjack were selected but no idea who else.
I did get an email second hand that I was to referee the Sydney show, and possibly the other shows as well. However, there was complete radio silence as the months went on and no tour ever took place.
One thing it do however was bring the wrestling community together in one place doing what they do best, and that’s to entertain the public.
