Aussies Abroad: Surprise tag partnerships and Fletcher continues to shine
This week in Pro-Wrestling saw Aussies dominate matches and story lines internationally.
Welcome back to another week’s installment of Aussies Abroad, where we shine the spotlight on the Aussies kicking ass overseas.
Let’s begin this week’s coverage off with another update on the ongoing drama between Adelaide’s very own Rhea Ripley and the newly formed Judgement Day 2.0. Last week’s RAW saw another nasty run-in between the budget scums and the Terror Twin team of Ripley and Damien Priest after he annihilated Dominick Mysterio in a match. The match was, of course, interrupted by The Judgement Day crew. They weren’t able to do much though when Ripley also joined in watching the match, which resulted in some nasty bumps between her and Morgan, including an epic launch across the announce table that left both women down and out. After Priest was able to get Mysterio down for the three count, he was beaten to a pulp by the rest of the Judgement Day group when Ripley got back up to defend her Terror Twin. It was Liv Morgan, however, who unfortunately grabbed her by the ankle and sent her into the steel steps before the one and only Jey Uso (YEET) came to the rescue. The brief distraction didn’t last long though, with the Intercontinental Champion taking him out before he could get his hands on the heels. Morgan got her hands back on Rhea, hitting a nasty oblivion before forcing her to watch the destruction of Priest. The two groups are set to hit things off with their own respective matches at Bad Blood this October.
Over in AEW, the Don Callis Family of Australia’s Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita joined with Will Ospreay to go up against The Elite team of Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson, and Nicholas Jackson in an all-star trio match. Fletcher was once again able to showcase his quick-thinking strength in the match, working well with Ospreay to bring some impressive teamwork. Fletcher landed a few knee strikes and hits from the opposing team, but not before bouncing back to land an impressive-looking twister tombstone, which opened the match up for the duo to hit a Coriolus finisher and win the match. Ospreay and Fletcher are also set to challenge The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at the “Dynamite” Grand Slam special, securing their spot in the match after winning a Number One Contenders Tag Team Gauntlet earlier this month.
The luck didn’t continue over in the women’s division though, with Aussie Harley Cameron losing a match to Hikaru Shida. The match was an impressive display of strength between the two women, with the heat reaching boiling point right from the start of the match. Although Shida took control in the first half of the match, Cameron was able to hold her weight and hit some impressive moves. Things turned messy when both Saraya and Jamie Hayter ambushed the match, which distracted Cameron long enough for Shida to his a Falcon Arrow for the three-count win.
Over in California, Aussie Shane Haste recently joined Danny Divine to defeat the team of Full Send for the MPW Tag Team titles. The interesting collaboration made for an impressive match between the two teams, with “hysterical” Haste bringing the Aussie heat to the ring. Haste absolutely dominated the start of the match, and the team didn’t waver much following the impressive start. Although landing some hits by Dustin Daniels later in the match, it was a pedigree by Divine that saw the title change.
In Japan, Aussie Chris Vice with his teammate Brass Knuckle JUN defeated the team of Black Generation International at the GLEAT G Pro-Wrestling event. Xena has also continued to bring the Aussie heat to Japan with her work with Stardom in Yamagata, where she recently picked up a win against Koguma and Ranna Yagami.
Syndey’s Shazza McKenzie is also set to go head-to-head in an I Quit match with Maggie Lee this October. She has also recently posted about the NWA Women’s Championship 18 months since she moved to America. She also shared how she “threw everything [she] spent the first 33 years of [her] life building” to pursue her dream wrestling overseas, and has since completed 146 matches.
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.
