Diary of a Diva: The Alicia Fox of Australian Pro Wrestling

By: Nikki Van Blair

What do Alicia Fox and Will Kiedis have in common?

If you’re dying to know the answer to this, then you better keep reading.

Hi love bugs, it’s Nikki Van Blair here with another edition of Diary of a Diva, and today I wanted to touch on something that I am a bit of an expert on. Can I get a drumroll? That’s right: it’s Divas!

But more specifically, I wanted to talk about the first African American Divas Champion and also the first woman to ever wish us a Foxy Holiday, Alicia Fox.

The word ‘underrated’ gets thrown around a lot when it comes to wrestling and wrestlers, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For me, I don’t think that word applies to anyone more in mainstream wrestling than Miss Fox. Whatever WWE threw at her, she ran with it and she soared.

She was a wedding planner; she was a dancer; she was a sassy heel that then became the top of her division seemingly out of nowhere. Then she dropped her title and was lost in the mix, but every throwaway match or random gimmick change or face/heel turn she was given, she committed to it and she turned it into something truly special. I mean, can we talk about how iconic Crazy Tantrum Alicia Fox was? Getting over with the crowd on a losing streak is no easy feat, yet everyone tuned in to see Alicia lose specifically to see her crazy post match antics.

To me, an underrated wrestler is someone who takes everything given to them by the promoter, turns it into something special, and soars with it. And most importantly, an underrated wrestler is someone who doesn’t get the spotlight that I think they rightfully deserve.

This is what Alicia Fox and Will Kiedis have in common.

Merriam-Webster (AKA Jackie Goldschneider) defines underrated as ‘rated or valued too low’. And while I don’t necessarily think that Will Kiedis is undervalued, I do think he has all the talent and tools to be a main event player across Australia easily.

In a Will Kiedis match, he has exceptional wrestling foundations; his footwork and his basics are incredible; he knows when to take a beat and show off his arrogant character; and his selling (vocals, body language, face) are just en pointe. All in my sweet and humble opinion of course.

And then you give the man a microphone, and if you’re able to hear him over the deafening chorus of boos he usually gets, he speaks clearly with proper diction, and emphasises the words/points he needs to get across.

He looks the part, dresses the part, and he has the athleticism, professionalism and charisma to be any promotion’s main champion and, dare I say, to make it big and stretch his reach across the globe.

If you take some time to reflect on the rise of my beautiful friend Cherry Stephens, another excellent wrestler who is a fantastic example of the tutelage of the Pro Wrestling Academy, a big part of her success relied on her evil counterpart in Will Kiedis. The Jacqueline to her Sable, if you will. Kiedis played his role to near perfection, in matches, segments and promos, and really helped launch Cherry to the stardom she rightfully deserves.

Therefore, if you really think about it, Will Kiedis is the Alicia Fox of Australian pro wrestling, period.

To balance this out so Kiedis doesn’t get a big head, I want to acknowledge that there are plenty of other wrestlers around Australia that I believe deserve more spotlight on them: Lucas Fantasia from WA, Trent O’Day from QLD, Edward Dusk from VIC, Amber from SA, and (all bias aside) my sister Frankie B from NSW. If you haven’t already, take some time to familiarise yourself with these wrestlers on social media, support them at your local shows, buy their merch!

In fact, support local wrestling in general. We’ve created a great, inclusive community, and we’re only getting bigger, so jump on the bandwagon while you can. And while we’re talking about underrated, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of the most underrated matches in wrestling history: Trish Stratus and Lita vs. Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson at Invasion.