Aussies Abroad: AEW ‘Storm’ and ‘Big Bronson’ domination
The last week in Pro-Wrestling saw Aussies kicking ass in venues across the world
Welcome back to another week’s edition of Aussies Abroad, where we take a look at the Aussies kicking ass in the pro-wrestling scene overseas.
Let’s start this week’s coverage with the intense events of AEW’s All In, which saw the surprising downfall of Australian favourite Toni Storm. The storyline-driven match between Mariah May and Storm was weeks in the making, with Storm’s former prodigy and ‘biggest fan’ turning on the ‘timeless’ superstar. The shocking events saw May take the Women’s Championship belt away from Storm in what was a physical and impressive matchup. The match saw several hard-hitting and emotional moments, including May landing a slap to her own mother who was seated front row before being bloodied up by Storm’s aggression. After a few hard hits from May, Storm hit an impressive Storm zero but was unfortunately unable to hold May down for the three count. It was another Storm zero, but this time from May, which saw the end of Storm’s iconic reign as champion.
All In also saw Australia’s Buddy Mathews take to a London Ladder Match for the AEW World Trios Championship with his House of Black crew. The massive matchup started in chaos, but it was the House of Black who first got the tables and ladders out and into the ring. After some back and forth, Matthews followed YUTA with a top con giro, which was later followed by some nasty hits to the other men by hurled ladders. It was, however, PAC that was able to scramble up to win the championship.
All In Zero Hour saw a massive sixteen-man match featuring Australia’s very own Kyle Fletcher, who, along with his teammates, was able to defeat some of AEW’s top talent. Fletcher however, also received some heat from AEW’s latest signed talent, former WWE highflying superstar Ricochet. Following his debut at All In, Fletcher challenged the man to a match on the following episode of Dynamite, leading to some online beef between the two. Ricochet took to X (Twitter) to claim that more people watch his old WWE Speed matches than a full Kyle Fletcher one. The two are now confirmed for a matchup this week, and we can’t wait for the Aussie talent to show Ricochet the down-under brutality.
Zero Hour also saw the return of former AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter, who interrupted a promo between Saraya and Australia’s Harley Cameron. The interruption led to a brutal beating for Cameron. On Collision just hours before All In, Cameron also showed her talent in a matchup with Willow Nightingale, showcasing some impressive moves including a Russian leg sweep and some hard running knees. It was however a powerbomb from Nightingale that saw Cameron out for the three count.
Over in WWE, Adelaide’s very own Rhea Ripley saw a rare moment of weakness when the new ‘Judgement Day’ ambushed the Terror Twins and left them in a writhing mess in-ring. The attack comes after weeks of insults thrown both ways between the newly formed “Budget” Day and Ripley after her betrayal at SummerSlam. The Terror Twins pair of Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest are set to have a matchup against Liv Morgan and Dominick Mysterio at Berlin Bash next week.
The red brand also saw another epic display of brutality from South Australia’s Bronson Reed when he successfully defeated The Miz on Monday night RAW. Big Meat Bronson is now set to take on Braun Strowman on tomorrow’s episode of RAW, which is set to be an epic display of beefy men slappin’ meat.
Things were not as lucky for the Aussies over on Smackdown, with the Aussie icon Grayson Waller seeing another defeat against Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. Rhodes appeared as a guest on the Grayson Waller Effect along with Austin Theory, however, things quickly turned ugly when Ownes came to Rhodes’ defense after some back-and-forth insults.
Over in NXT, Aussie Duke Hudson, along with his Chase U teammate Riley Osborne, also saw a defeat against Axiom and Nathan Frazer in what was a tough matchup earlier last week. Hudson was able to show off some impressive moves, as always, but it was the team of Axiom and Frazer that eventually saw the win.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, Australia’s Robbie Eagles confronted Ace Austin at REVOLVER’s Taste of Truth event. The confrontation came after a debut match from Eagles between him, Austin, and Jake Something.
Over in Japan, Adelaide’s Kira Summer has continued her journey with TJPW in the Tokyo Princess Cup, showing the Aussie heat against some of Japan’s top talent. Also in Japan, Chris Vice defeated Daju Wakamatsu at the 2AW Grand Slam in TKP Garden City Chiba. Xena also bought the Aussie heat in the Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix in Yamagata.
Till next week folks!
News Writer + Aussies Abroad. Based in Adelaide and winner of the 2023 CPA Young Journo of the year, has been a news and arts journalist for a number of years working across radio and print, but has decided to take her wrestling addiction to PWDU. You can find her at any local wrestling night across the state with a beer in-hand and a front-row ticket to the action.
