Aussies Abroad: Ripley takes gold and Summer succeeds in Japan
Last week saw Aussies dominate the overseas pro wrestling scene.
Welcome back to another week’s instalment of Aussies Abroad, where we take a look at the Aussies making a name for themselves in the world of overseas pro wrestling.
Let’s start this week’s coverage with the best news coming into 2025: Adelaide sensation Rhea Ripley is once again the owner of her Women’s World Championship. The intense feud between Ripley and her former tag team partner Live Morgan came to a boiling point last week when that match to end all matches saw a fierce exchange of strength between the women, filled with emotion, fury, and determination. Morgan may have won the heart of Ripley’s ex-douche Dominick Mysterio, but Ripley never lost the right to her championship belt, and put up one hell of a fight to get it back. The match saw some intense moments between both stars as they had their turns dominating the ring, but it was eventually a double riptide that saw Morgan down for the three count. And after all this time, just when we thought Mysterio couldn’t get more pathetic, he was quick to attempt to celebrate with his ex ‘mami’ in-ring. This, however, only led him to receive a nasty, but well-deserved kick up the rocks. This match was heavily advertised as “the end” of the Ripley-Morgan rivalry, but with Morgan still comfortable in The Judgement Day, it will be interesting to see how things plan out for the two’s relationship moving forward.
Things weren’t so lucky for fellow WWE Aussie Grayson Waller, who, along with his tag team partner Austin Theory, couldn’t defeat The Motor City Machine Guns on Smackdown. Although Theory and Waller certainly bought the heat throughout the match and dominated on and off with some quick-thinking moves, it was a skull and bones that saw Motor City pick up the win.
The bad luck continued over in AEW, with the usually dominant Buddy Matthews falling short of a win against the rampant Will Ospreay. Matthews, as always, dominated many moments of the match with his sheer size and strength advantage alone. But Ospreay, just off the back of sending his old mate Kyle Fletcher down and out at World’s End, found some strength to keep Matthews on his toes. It was eventually an impressive reversal, styles clash, and a hidden blade that saw Matthews down for the three count. Following the win, Ospreay made some interesting remarks about Matthew’s in-ring abilities and claimed he didn’t need to follow a leader to make it big in the industry. “I can see gold in your future, hopefully, this is the last time you meet, and if you ever need a man in your corner, Buddy, I’m your guy,” he told Matthews.
Since her return to AEW, Aussie favourite Toni Storm has been dominating the locker room with win after win, despite seeming to have no memory of her previous years with the company. But things didn’t go quite to plan last week for Storm when she narrowly missed out on a number one spot in the Women’s Casino Gauntlet. Storm was thrown around a bit between Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale but was still able to come out strong in many moments throughout the match. It was, however, a harsh Saturday Night Fever from Statlander that saw Storm down for the three count.
Also in the women’s division, Aussie legend, and upcoming talent Harley Cameron went head-to-head in an impressive matchup between Mariah May. Cameron put up quite the fight against the heavy hitter and showed exactly how hard the Aussies can hit in-ring. The international Collision audience also seemed to get behind Cameron, with chants supporting the Australian throughout the match. Despite her best efforts, it was eventually a harsh knee to the face followed by a mayday that saw Cameron down for the three count.
Over in Japan, Adelaide star Kira Summer has continued her work with TJPW, this time picking up a massive win at the New Year Circuit. Along with her tag partner Ivy Steele, Summer successfully defeated Arisu Endo and Shino Suzuki. Fellow Aussie Chris Vice has also continued his work with GLEAT in Japan, with a recent matchup with the team of D-rize.
TMDK has also continued to shine with Shane Haste recently picking up a win against Fred Rosser and Matt Vandagriff at the NJPW Battle In The Valley.
-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.
