ROBBO’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS #11: Tasmanian Championship Wrestling
Merry Christmas Eve! We’re close to the finish line now, hope you’ve put out the milk and cookies for Santa and are having a wonderful holiday season.
So, just in case you’ve missed the last 10 entries in this series- my name’s Robbo and for the 12 days going into Christmas, I decided to look at a different wrestling promotion around the country. Mainly because I love Aussie wrestling, but also because I wanted to learn a bit more about Aussie wrestling outside my home region. Because (before writing these articles anyway), it might be more accurate to say I’m a NSW wrestling fan. I’ve seen some SLAM! shows in the ACT, and been to a couple of MCW and Renegades shows down in Victoria, but probably 95% of the Aussie wrestling I watch is from New South Wales.
That’s what’s made this series so fun to do. I’m getting outside my usual zone and finding some gems, gems that may not be exactly hidden, but they’re new to me, so… just… okay? Bear with me here. That brings us to today’s entry:
Day 11: Tasmanian Championship Wrestling (Tasmania)
TCW has been around since 2011. As a state in general, Tasmania doesn’t get the same kind of love that the mainland of Australia gets. A little island south of Melbourne that is renowned for being cold AF. My Tasmania knowledge basically ends there, along with a little school project that I had to do when I was 12 on Cradle Mountain. I’ll have to see if Mum has any photos of it, we spent hours making a model of it.
Founded by Diablo, a worker still going strong today, TCW was taken over by Dylan Daniels & Eddie Jones in 2018. Having wrestlers serve as the bookers and promotors can go one of two ways- no one knows pro wrestling better than the wrestlers themselves, so it stands to reason having them run a wrestling promotion. However, sometimes egos can get in the way and short-sighted decisions are made, like putting yourself over constantly over other talent, failing to build anyone else up, and then the promotion dies a slow death while you’re cancelling show after show… but looking at the men involved in TCW, it seems that’s not the case. They contribute to the shows and look to elevate the roster as a whole, looking at athletes like Andy Rhodes and Jaxon Parker to wave the TCW flag in the top spots.
Unlike some of the other promotions on our list in this series, TCW doesn’t have a crazy amount of content on their YouTube channel. The aim for this series- in addition to giving a general overview of each promotion- was to provide a video of a full match or a full show from 2024, to give the best example possible of the current product. Unfortunately, we had to break the rule for this entry, as the most recent full match on the channel went down in mid December 2023.
One interesting part of the TCW presentation is the commentary. In the content we’ve covered so far, we’ve either had a separate audio stream of commentary or none at all in the videos. TCW has what sounds like live mics going out to the crowd in attendance. It’s something I’ve seen in action at IWA shows, and it’s a fun vibe. Besides that, the production is solid with a nice lighting rig and the actual ring is in better shape than I see at a lot of promotions.
Onto the actual match here, and this was my first exposure to all four guys. At most, I think I’ve heard Owen Steadman’s name in passing, but that’s about it. Straight off the bat, I’m a big Deano guy. Obvious charisma there, and his crowd interaction was great. Similar deal for Adrian Alexander, who also has a nice spinebuster to his credit. I thought Steadman probably had the best raw athleticism of the lot, his movement looked great and he brought the excitement level in the match up a notch. And finally, Liam Lush had a bit of a hoss look about him, like early Bradshaw, pre-JBL. He contrasted with the smaller guys in the match well.
Even though you’re not going to get all the current TCW stuff through their YouTube channel, there is a decent collection of full matches which can provide a nice preview of what to expect from their roster. You can keep up to date with current happenings through their socials, they’re quite active on Facebook and YouTube, and finally- if you’re not Tasmanian and attending a show in person isn’t feasible, you can watch their shows on demand for just $7.99, which is less than the cost of a beer! That makes me sad about the current cost of beer, but I digress. (Link: https://tcwondemand.vhx.tv/)
All in all, I’ve greatly enjoyed this look at another promotion that was outside my radar, definitely support them with follows, subscriptions, all that jazz. They clearly work hard to provide entertainment for the people of Tasmania, and the better they do, the more reach they have, the better off Aussie wrestling is. The next show for TCW is their biggest of the year, Annihilation 12, on the 22nd of February 2025. Show your support!
Current Champions
TCW Champion- Andy Rhodes
TCW North Esk Champion- Jaxon Parker
Up next, and last… we’re heading to Adelaide! The same region that produced Rhea Ripley, Bronson Reed and Delta/Zaria. Merry Christmas to all!
Until next time, take care.
A man who loves his wrestling, MMA, and has been known to dabble in karaoke. Previously wrote for Snap Mayors Media and ran The Arena Media for several years. As many wrestling fans do, I often envisioned myself becoming a pro wrestling superstar, but having Cerebral Palsy makes that dream a tough one to attain. Did do a brief referee spot for Rock N Roll Wrestling and I’d love to do more non-wrestler roles if laying the Smackdown is out of my reach, but until then, I’ll be hitting you with some refreshing writing like an F5!
