ROBBO’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS #12: Riot City Wrestling

Merry Christmas everyone! It’s finally here- the final instalment of my 12 Days of Christmas series. It’s been a fun ride, going around the country and writing about different wrestling promotions around Australia, big and small, from state to state, and seeing some great wrestling along the way. I hope you’re all sitting back with a smile on your face with all your Christmas presents, having spent time with family and friends, generally feeling good about life.

But before we get to the final entry of the 12 Days of Christmas, a little note- this has seemed to stir up some controversy, and I guess it’s the ultimate proof that you can’t make everyone happy. From the outset, I’ve been fairly transparent about this whole thing- it’s a way to promote Aussie wrestling and also a way to educate myself. I’ve said multiple times that I’m NSW-based, and before writing these articles, hadn’t seen a ton of wrestling from outside NSW, a little from the Melbourne scene, but that’s about it. At no stage have I claimed to be an ultimate authority on Aussie wrestling, I’m just a guy who loves the graps and loves to write.

Essentially meaning that, if I haven’t covered a certain promotion, a certain wrestler or a certain talking point… it’s not out of malice. Call it a lack of knowledge or whatever, but that’s largely what this series is about. Hopefully to entertain and inform the reader a little, and also inform myself. Learning is a lifelong process after all. I tried to spread the love as much as I could- there were a LOT of NSW/Vic promotions I could have covered, places that I have friends at, but I didn’t, in the interests of trying to look outside my own bubble and spread the love of Aussie wrestling around. So if you feel slighted that my writing didn’t cover you or the hard work you’ve been putting in… it wasn’t intentional.

Sorry, Trent O’Day. Give QWA a follow on the socials, we’ll be sure to put you guys over in an article sometime soon.

With that said… the final entry in Robbo’s 12 Days of Christmas…

Day 12: Riot City Wrestling (SA)

Riot City is best known as the promotion that spawned Rhea Ripley, and now NXT’s Zaria (formerly Delta). Which, going into this article, was about the extent of what I knew about the Adelaide wrestling scene. There’s also Wrestle Rampage, which is quite prominent and has featured the likes of Bronson Reed (FKA Jonah Rock), Tommy Knight & Punch-Drunk Istria. But today, let’s keep it to Riot City Wrestling and learn a bit about the South Australian wrestling scene together.

One of the more tenured Aussie wrestling promotions, founded in 2006, RCW has a strong foothold as a key promotion within the Aus wrestling scene. One of the most well-produced and professional-looking feds in the Land Down Under, they have a strong blend of quality matches and top level storytelling. My first real exposure to Riot City was looking for Delta’s last Australian match, which I found here and am sharing as the token video to go with this article, a No Holds Barred battle with her brother, Dean Brady.

Just seeing the video packages to really drive home the brother vs. sister storyline is a level of attention to detail that you don’t always see. To bring it back to what I’m most familiar with for a moment, it’s reminiscent of PWA and the work that Video Boy Jax, Ben Anderson and the crew do- immaculate production that greatly enhances the stories being told through the wrestling.

And speaking of production, everything about this show, Heavy Is The Crown, is at a high level. It particularly stands out when you’ve gone around to look at wrestling promotions all around the country, where the lighting might be a little off, when the sound’s a little iffy, when the camera’s not the best quality- it makes you appreciate it all the more when you see a place like Riot City Wrestling, that has it all together.

And of course, what matters the most at the end of the day- the wrestling itself. All the bells and whistles don’t mean a thing if you shit the bed in the actual payoff. Fortunately, Dean and Delta held nothing back, making the most of the No Holds Barred stipulation with plenty of brawling, weaponry and blood, with manager (and PWDownunder award recepient) Ben Rosenthal enhancing the emotional final scene, where instead of using a baseball bat, Dean hugs his sister in a loving embrance… before dropping her with a F5 and sending her stateside. Gripping stuff.

The other big featured match on this show is Chris Basso vs. Matt Hayter for the RCW Grand Championship. And this was a real treat to watch, as I’ve mostly seen their work in short appearances in PWA, especially Hayter, who was in a Rumble and didn’t get to show absolutely everything he had. Before the bout could reach its true thrilling finale though, the match would be thrown out due to interference from the Old Guard stable, leading to the locker room emptying and chaos ensuing, until the arrival of Matt “Grimm” Basso. Following this event, we would get a more definitive clash between Hayter and Chris Basso for the Grand Championship at the Riot City Rumble, but that’s another story for another time.

These articles have been made possible for this Sydney-sider through some Internet research, some light stalking of socials, and trying to find a fitting YouTube video of a show or match to supplement the write-up. Well, when it comes to Riot City Wrestling, if I had roughly 200 hours spare, I could get up to speed just by watching the product on YouTube alone- the RCW account is an absolute treasure trove which seems to have just about every show that they’ve put on, boasting 1.1K videos and having 91.1K subscribers… that’s massive numbers for an Aussie pro wrestling promotion’s YouTube channel! If RCW is something you enjoy, you could fill up your whole Christmas break just watching that.

Current Champions

RCW Grand Champion- Chris Basso

RCW Emerald Champion- Vacant

RCW Tag Team Champions- The Kings of Ruin (HAVOC & Mike Boomer)

And with that, Robbo’s 12 Days of Christmas comes to a close. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing, reading, watching… basically trying to immerse myself in a wider Aussie wrestling world over the past couple of weeks. I appreciate all the feedback, whether positive, negative or whatever the case may be… and the cool thing is, we’re just scratching the surface. I missed a key promotion? I really need to check out that wrestler? Fantastic! The more wrestling, the better.

I might use this space to give a few more shoutouts… I found out very late in the piece that NT does indeed have an active wrestling promotion, Top End Wrestling. I mentioned QWA at the top, and plan to get more into the Queensland scene after positive experiences with Wide Bay and PWL. Victoria has plenty more quality promotions- PCW, APW, MXW, Renegades, BCW… I believe OPW is based in Victoria and they’ve done great work with the Impact Wrestling tour and Starrcast Downunder. My friend Andy Coyne has recently launched Aus Pro Wrestling, a family friendly fed operating shows in Ringwood, Victoria. And finally, back to NSW, feds like IWA, AWS, Wrestling Go, EWA, AWE… always a good time.

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along on this 12 Days of Christmas series! Hopefully you’ve discovered a new promotion or a new favourite wrestler through going on this journey with me. I’ll be back with more news articles and some reviews as we head into 2025!

Until next time, take care.

Mick Robson

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!