Top 7 Australian Wrestlers

Much has been written and spoken about AEW making the trip to the Land Down Under to hold Grand Slam: Australia. Maybe it was too soon for an attempt at running a stadium there, but in general Australia has been a tremendous market for all sorts of professional wrestling companies. Jim Barnett helped start the original World Championship Wrestling in the 1960s, their TV show ran successfully for over a decade. WWE has drawn well over the years. The American-based WCW had some great attendance figures there when ticket sales in the US were down. The WWA was a thing for a few minutes in the early 2000s. Hulk Hogan ran a retirement tour. Fans in Australia love their wrestling.

Fans also love Australian wrestlers! From Outback Jack to Princess Aussie, Australia has been making its presence felt in wrestling rings all across the world. The connection has grown even stronger recently, as more Aussie wrestlers have been able to travel the world and get noticed. Eight years ago, I did a column for The Chairshot ranking the top 5 Australian wrestlers. I can only hope the other articles I did around that time were better than that one. I was a bit too strict in the requirements and a bit too brief in the descriptions. These days I’m a lot looser & a bit longer winded, so here are seven of the most magnificent Australian wrestlers & teams!

7. Aussie Open

As you’ll notice as we go through this countdown, Australia is known for its tag teams. Back in the olden days, ring announcers would introduce a tag team match as an “Australian tag team match” in order to make it seem exotic. Then we started getting famous tag teams from Australia, so it ended up making sense in the long run.

Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis are among many that followed in this tradition. They ended up meeting while wrestling in the United Kingdom Indy scene in 2017 and formed a tag team. New Japan, ROH and other promotions started using them, and Aussie Open had a pretty successful run on their way to AEW.

An interesting development of late: Fletcher stood out in AEW while Davis was out with an injury, and seems in line for a big push as a single. We’ll see what happens in the future, Fletcher might end up exceeding the fame & success of his tag team like others have through the years. For now, Fletcher & Davis get to share a spot on this list.

6. The Iiconics

Not only is Australia known for tag teams, but in recent decades the country has been known for producing female wrestlers. I want to honorably mention Madison Eagles for this, as she seems to have had a hand in training almost any Australian lady wrestler I’ve heard of. That includes Jessie McKay/Billie Kay & Peyton Royce/Cassie Lee, who went to high school together before going to wrestling school together.

After finding success in the Australian & US indy circuits, Jessie & Cassie were both signed by WWE in April 2015. Eventually somebody at the PC decided to make them a tag team, and the Iiconics were born. They had a good run in NXT before going to the main roster in 2018. Like many WWE Superstars during the late 2010s, Billie & Peyton were at their most entertaining on things that didn’t air on television, like interviews for YouTube, WWE.com or pretty much anything that wasn’t over scripted. They did manage to win the Women’s Tag Team Championship and had a lengthy run with that title

They were split during 2020, and Peyton was rumored to be getting a big push while Billie was kind of left in the wind. Unfortunately, both were left in the wind and released in April 2021. They then went to Impact Wrestling for awhile and teamed as The Iinspiration for about six months before exiting the wrestling business. Both have become mothers since. I’m still holding out hopes for their return but am not holding my breath anymore. That got a bit uncomfortable, turns out you need to breathe in order to live! Who knew?

5. Buddy Matthews

Before becoming a Hound of Hell, Buddy spent eight years with WWE, working pretty much everywhere. He formed a tag team championship team with Wesley Blake in NXT, then went to 205 Live and became Cruiserweight Champion. That was when most people started to notice Buddy as a top-notch in ring worker.

He went on to win the Raw Tag Team Championship alongside Seth Rollins, which was part of Murphy being the Monday Night Messiah’s disciple. They went on the outs when Buddy formed a relationship with Rey Mysterio’s daughter. Buddy turned face, but the angle was dropped and he was released soon after in June 2021.

Buddy went to New Japan in November 2021. His first match there was a loss to Kazuchika Okada. Matthews will face Okada again at Grand Slam, and will have the homefield advantage. His momentum since arriving in AEW has varied immensely, but he’s usually good to go when his name gets called.

4. Bill Dundee

Born in Scotland. Raised in Australia. Loved in Memphis. The Superstar was a true citizen of the world. He started wrestling in Australia in 1962, and twelve years later he wound up in the Memphis territory, where his team with George Barnes got over as a top heel team. Barnes would eventually go home, but Dundee spent most of the rest of his career in Memphis.

Dundee became one of Memphis wrestling’s top stars, constantly involved with Jerry Lawler as either a tag team partner or bitter enemy. People say Lawler & Dundee often clashed behind the scenes due to ego, but they knew they could work together and draw money. Dundee would go other places, including Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW, where he managed Lord Steven Regal as Sir William. He had a stint as booker for Mid-South Wrestling during Bill Watts’ company’s best days of business.

For whatever reason, Dundee was at the peak of his powers in Memphis. The people there loved him, and when Dundee was bad they loved to hate him. Perhaps it was his jet black hair and jumpsuits, it’s tough to say. Dundee had a great mind for wrestling and was a unique talker.

3. Toni Storm

Toni’s been all around the world several times, it seems. She’s found success in Japan, Europe, pretty much everywhere except WWE’s main roster. For whatever reason, Toni didn’t click there. She was aware of it too and wasn’t very happy, which was part of why she asked for her release at the end of 2022.

Getting to AEW and finding singles gold as part of the Outcasts helped, but Toni really found herself when she became “Timeless”. Toni’s personality as a fading actress that told people to keep their tits out and watch for the shoe took her to the heights of AEW popularity. Her feud with Mariah May, who set Toni up for her downfall while claiming to look up to her, is one of the main drawing cards for this weekend’s show in Perth.

Toni was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia at an early age and claims it as her home. Last time I left her off the list because I was a bit strict on that sort of thing. This time I’m being more inclusive.

2. Rhea Ripley

I would love to sit here and put myself over for saying that Rhea would be one of the future top stars of WWE’s women’s division back in 2018, when all she’d done in the company was the Mae Young Classic. Honestly though, I think Stevie Wonder saw that one coming. Younger Rhea had the stature and ability, once she found her personality and a look that stood out from the pack there was no stopping her.

Rhea has far exceeded any expectations I had for her back in 2018. Not only is she one of WWE’s top female stars, she’s one of the top stars period. She’s held all the major women’s championships and has rarely been anything but dominant. Rhea was influential in getting “Dirty” Dominick Mysterio over as the despicable heel he is, and has elevated the likes of Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez while establishing herself on the level of Horsewomen like Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch with key victories over them.

WWE’s huge gate in Rhea’s home country have had more than a little to do with her standing in the company. Elimination Chamber 2024 drew 52,000 in Perth with Rhea in the main event (with born in Australia Nia Jax). People might not have known Rhea’s title match would main event, but she was the one person featured on the poster. Sometimes that doesn’t matter, that time it probably did.

Honorable Mention: Harley Cameron

Harley has been one of the most entertaining characters in AEW over the past couple of months and seems to be catching on with the people. She’ll have a big match with Mercedes Mone at Grand Slam, and even if she doesn’t win it should raise her profile a good deal.

Honorable Mention: Nia Jax

I’ll be honest, until now I had no idea Nia was born in Sydney. She was raised in Hawaii & California and is of Samoan & German descent, so there’s no real reason for fans to casually associate Nia Jax with Australia. Kinda fun to throw in here though.

Honorable Mention: Shazza McKenzie

I haven’t had much chance to write about Shazza since I got too old & tired to rank hundreds of women using specious reasoning. She’s been in America working the Indy scene for the past couple of years now, and has made a number of appearances on AEW television, including two matches in Missouri last December. Apparently her US visa expires next year, here’s hoping she can find a way to stick around!

Honorable Mention: Grayson Waller

It would be rude of me not to at least mention Grayson when he’ll be featured in an NXT Championship match tonight on their Vengeance Day event. Waller has a knack for getting heat and has potential to be a reliable hand for WWE in the future. He hasn’t quite reached it yet, but these things take time and he’s got some skill.

1. The Fabulous Kangaroos

Al Costello had an idea of being in a tag team that would play up the Australian side of his roots. They would have boomerangs, wear Australian garb, proclaim their superiority, things like that. Eventually, he found the right Aussie to be his partner in Roy Heffernan, and the Fabulous Kangaroos were born. They debuted in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling in 1957 and were an instant success with their entertaining heel personalities and in-ring tactics. They would go from territory to territory across the world, winning championships everywhere and creating some championships in the process. They were the epitome of a heel wrestling tag team, showcasing tremendous skill but also breaking every rule in the book. Riots or near-riots were never out of the question when the Kangaroos were doing their thing. Their manager “Wild” Red Berry would help generate more heat from the fans.

Costello & Heffernan worked every major territory, including the Capitol Wrestling Corporation that would morph into what is currently World Wrestling Entertainment. They held the record for the longest Tag Team Championship reign in that company until Demolition broke it twenty-seven years later. After eight years as a team, the original Kangaroos split because Heffernan wanted to go home to Australia. Costello stayed in America and would form several new versions of the Kangaroos that would each find success & championships. Ray St. Clair would team with Costello for six months, then Don Kent would join Costello off & on for a decade. Neither of these men were Australian, but it didn’t hurt the Kangaroos’ image any.

Costello continued wrestling into his sixties, welcoming several more people into the Kangaroo fold in the process. Bruno Bekkar & Johnny Heffernan (no relation to Roy) each teamed with Kent, and Costello teamed with Tony Charles & Mickey Doyle, then managed Doyle, Denny Kass and a young man named Al Snow as the New Fabulous Kangaroos. I don’t want to say that Al Snow killed the Fabulous Kangaroos…but he was the last member!

The usage of the term “Australian tag team match” pre-dates the Kangaroos by a couple of decades, but they can still be credited for the emergence of tag team wrestling.

Thanks for reading! Hit me up at [email protected] or on the social media with thoughts, comments or suggestions. Feel free to hit the comment section and tell us about how Massive Q got jobbed by not being included here. (I agree!) Until next time, true believers!