Aussies Abroad: Fletcher and Matthews butt heads ahead of Grand Slam
The past week saw Aussie legends dominate the overseas pro wrestling scene.
Welcome back to another week’s instalment of Aussies Abroad, where we take a look at the Australians making waves in the overseas pro wrestling scene.
Let’s start this week’s coverage with the latest news from NXT, Adelaide star Zaria has continues her partnership with Sol Ruca, defeating both Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley in a dominating match. The Adelaide powerhouse showed no hesitation in bringing it down hard on the NXT Locker room, and worked well with her tag team partner despite the unique pairing. It was eventually a Soul Snatcher by Ruca with a little help from Zaria that saw the two easily take the win.
Also in NXT, Aussie favourite Grayson Waller finally saw a stroke of luck with his tag mate Austin Theory when the two defeated Oba Femi and Trick Williams. Despite the surprise win, the two had an intense back and forth, with Waller struggling to get the upper hand throughout much of the match. It was some miscommunication between Femi and Williams that allowed A-Town Down Under to get some quick hits in, and it was eventually a distraction that left Williams open to a surprise three-count win from Waller.
Over in AEW, Toni Storm has continued to shock international audiences since her return to the ring. This time, it was a surprise appearance as her long-time friend-turn-rival Mariah May that sent the roof off the Dynamite Arena. Storm entered her match against Queen Aminata, in which May was watching closely, dressed in top to bottom ‘Glamour’. The close appearance to May might have thrown Aminata off, but it was still the expected hard hits from Storm that lead her to pick up the win. Following the match, Storm decided to taunt her soon-to-be opponent in Australia, which lead to an intense stare down between the two ahead of their match at Grand Slam.
Also in AEW, young Aussie legend Kyle Fletcher has been absolutely killing it since his reinvention following the Will Ospreay breakup. This week was no different, with a super intense match-up with Mark Briscoe that bought all the blood, sweat and tears. For a wrestler of his age, Fletcher commanded the ring completely undeterred by the bloody mess in front of him, and continued to beat Briscoe down until he got the win. The Continental Classic rematch eventually saw its end when Fletcher landed a brain-buster on the top turnbuckle which sent Briscoe down and out for an easy three-count win.
Speaking of Will Ospreay, the fellow youngster went head-to-head with Aussie Mark Davis at Dynamite in another intense and emotional match. Although Davis had the advantage of surprise, his domination didn’t last too long when his former friend Ospreay got the upper-hand despite his attempts to expose the steel link. It was a distraction from the ref discovering his sneaky actions that gave Ospreay the chance to hit him with a hidden blade to pick up the win.
The definition of Aussie domination Buddy Matthews also suffered a loss at Dynamite alongside his Hounds of Hell partner Brody King. The two went head to head with The Don Callis Family of Konosuke Takeshita and Fletcher in what was a surprisingly brutal match. It was exciting to see the two Aussies get their hands on each other, and it was no surprise that the two absolutely brought the house down. The two were able to genuinely match each other’s strengths in-ring, but it was eventually an interruption from future opponent Kazuchicka Okada that gave Fletcher just enough time get some power back. Following the match, Matthews had a sit-down with Okada ahead of their match in Brisbane.
Also in the US last week was Aussie favourite Shane Haste, who brought the heat to the Twelve Man Battle Royal at MPW. Haste was quickly able to send a few competitors over the top rope, and fought hard to be in the final three in-ring.
Over in Japan, Adelaide’s Kira Summer has continued her work with TJPW with a number of matches in the Futari Wa Princess Max Heart Tournament. Fellow Aussie Chris Vice also had a match in Japan with the ZERO1 team against Daisuke Sekimoto and Shane Mercer. Also in Japan last week was the TMDK team, with Robbie Eagles going head-to-head with the team of CHAOS with NJPW.
– Till next week!
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.
