Aussies Abroad: Ripley gains ticket to Mania and Storm retains championship title

Welcome back to another week’s Aussies Abroad, where we take a look at the Australian talent making waves in the overseas world of pro-wrestling. 

Let’s start this week’s coverage with (some possible AEW Dynasty spoilers up ahead!) the latest news from Aussie favourite Toni Storm. AEW Dynasty saw Storm successfully defeat Megan Bayne to retain the Women’s Title in what was one major match for the PPV. Despite a slightly rocky start from Storm, with the audience’s clear support behind her, she managed to take back control with a thesz press and tornado DDT. Bayne however, certainly put up one hell of a fight and was able to avoid a potentially fatal storm zero, but eventually fell short when Storm was able to land a German suplex. The rest of the match saw an intense exchange of power between the two women, who both took a huge amount of damage and somehow continued. It was eventually a counter from Storm into a flash pin that saw her get the win. 

Dynasty also saw Sydney’s Kyle Fletcher defeat Mark Briscoe in the Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament Quarter Final. Fletcher, as always, looked incredibly strong in this match and dominated quickly with a dive to Briscoe before the bell even rang. After some back and forth, Fletcher sent Briscoe flying to the floor followed by multiple powerbombs to the apron and barricade. The two powerhouses really went at it for the rest of the match, including brutal snake eyes from Fletcher and a nasty brainbuster on the apron. It was eventually an Avalanche brainbuster that saw Fletcher pick up the win. 

Over in WWE, fellow Aussie superstar Rhea Ripley has been having her own issues trying to land herself a spot at WrestleMania. Following a shock double disqualification end to Iyo Sky and Ripley’s match last week, the Adelaidian once again confronted Bianca Beliar and Sky on today’s RAW. Ripley’s ticket to Mania was finally announced on the show when the fight for the Women’s belt turned into a triple-threat match. Sky has clearly been frustrated by this feud, and proved to the crowd that she’s the current champion and is not to be messed with with a harsh kick to the back of Ripley. It will be interesting to see the dynamic between the three and their history at Mania. 

Also in the WWE universe, fellow Adelaide and RCW star Zaria has been cementing herself as one to not be messed with in the NXT locker room. Apart from picking up a number of wins at house shows with her tagmate Sol Ruca, Zaria has also successfully qualified for the Stand & Deliver Ladder Match for the Women’s North American title. Us Adelaide fans could not be more excited to see another local talent go up against some of the best overseas wrestlers and prove themselves in an international setting. The whole of Australia will be anxiously waiting at the edge of their seats later this month when the WWE talent hit Las Vegas. 

Also in the US, Aussie wrestling legend SLEX has been absolutely killing the game in the States this year since he opened bookings overseas in February. He has since been hitting up promotions such as NWA and is also set to visit WrestleCon in Vegas while on injury. Fellow Aussie Shazza McKenzie has also been making waves across the US, this week with an epic match with Tommy Vendetta at ICW No Holds. The absolutely insane match saw McKenzie bring everything she had to the ring that ended in a bloody, but impressive affair. This week also saw Shane Haste bring the heat to another battle riot event, this time with a huge 40-man lineup of some of the best international names. 

Over in Japan, Robbie Eagles, along with his partner Kosei Fujita, successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team belts against the team of Bullet Club War Dogs. Chris Vice has also continued his work in Japan with ZERO1, competing in a huge six-man elimination in Tokyo this week. Adelaide star Kira Summer has also been absolutely killing it over in Japan with her continued work with TJPW. 

– Till next week! 

Imogen Evans

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.