A Pro Wrestling match can be enjoyed by any seeing person regardless of language

From an outsider’s perspective In American culture it’s all about living the American dream and being the best you can be/making it big. In Australian culture we have what they call “tall poppy syndrome” and because of it people will tend to downplay or joke about their accomplishments. Frustrating whenever complimenting someone here or talking about things you’ve been up to. Don’t have the ego of Kanye West but would be nice to just talk about pulling something off sincerely.

While Australia has had a rich history of pro wrestling with World Championship Wrestling (Australia) it seems like team sports will always be favoured in Australia and you see the media and people turn on solo Olympian’s a lot. Plus wrestling being a work people just want to take the piss out of it (as seen on morning TV) and will always be seen as some Yank thing despite having origins elsewhere.

Probably similar culture to the UK which also has history with wrestling with things like World of Sport and people like Johnny Saint & Giant Haystacks. Despite having similar attitudes as Aus the UK seemed to be a hotbed for wrestling especially in the WCPW days but #SpeakingUp and the folding of NXT Uk seemed to be its demise rather than any cultural shifts. Where as despite attempts to gain international attention using awkward hashtags like #youregonnanoticeus and #nowweconquer (that looks like
NO WWE CONQUER) have crashed & burned (in to the back on an RBT.)

Sure a lot of Aussie wrestlers got signed to the WWE or AEW but you don’t really see it talked about in a lot of circles. To be clear I’m not complaining as I don’t enjoy a lot Aussie wrestling, especially after meeting some involved.

In Japan it seems to be about discipline and pushing your body to the absolute limit, respect and other staples of Japanese tradition. Lucha Libre is obviously very big in Mexico but I can speak to how it ties in the culture overall.


Do you think the culture of a certain country (or even state) should factor in to how a show is booked or should it be approached the same way universally?

Definitely the former. The classic example is booking Jaques Rougeau in Canada. Anywhere else and he's just a mid-carder but you book him in Canada and the guy is like Hulk Hogan. Certain cities like New York were known for being heel towns, whereas the West Coast was always into bollocks/fast-paced wrestling.

Another good example is the series of matches Rey/Psychosis had in the 90s. If you go back and watch their work in Mexico, Japan, ECW and WCW - they changed it to suit the towns. Their Mexico matches were more ground based with guys transitioning from one mat hold to another before going crazy with the flips. Japan was a more hard hitting affair, with less transitions on the mat that really focused on the tension of the match. ECW was all about big crowd dives and working a higher register to pop the crowd. Then you have WCW with more emphasis on babyface/heel psychology and familiar transitions.

Does Australia have a wrestling culture? I always presumed since it was so underground, we'd lean towards an Indie/Japanese. Either you're a crazy gimmick, or you're Robbie Eagles. That's just my ignorant take, obviously someone in the business would have a better idea.

I believe a lot more people than expected watch particularly WWE in Australia. And this is likely due to how embedded WWE is with Foxtel. It's one of it's top brands and has been for the better half of 25 years. 

But it isn't water cooler stuff. No one talks about it, it's mentioned in passing and only seems to be spoken about in the shadows unless it's a safe space. 

But, I was also interested to learn in the last few years, people like Ella Hooper from Killing Heidi is a big wrestling fan and attends shows. MCW being one recently. I've also heard her on a podcast discussing AEW. Bridget Hustwaite formally of Triple J is also a wrestling fan. 

I've been watching and hoping for an Aussie promotion to rise up from obscurity and become a (kinda... ) national brand, but it won't happen. The closest is perhaps WSW - World Series Wrestling, but of course it's a tour that relies heavily on American talent.  It won't happen because touring is a bitch. Regional centres are risky, as most centres between Melbourne and Sydney have barely 200,000 people outside of Canberra. And running Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane to Adelaide every other month isn't cheap, particularly with the likely terrible ROI. 

And the problem with Australian wrestling is, it's mostly cringy stuff. Rarely have I seen anything cool. Or natural for that matter. I'm convinced that whenever a new Aussie promotion starts up, someone is automatically awarded a poorly fitted suit and some aviator sun-glasses and given the rich manager gimmick. Maybe that's not true, but everything I see from Australian performers outside of the guys who made it to WWE or AEW, are gimmicks to the point of satire. Most Australian wrestling looks like someone set up a ring next to the line up to Comic Con and the patrons rolled in and started taking bumps and calling spots. 

Where, when you look at someone like Grayson Waller, he's all personality. His natural personality turned up to the maximum volume. And he's an " Aussie lad " and that's what's missing in Australian wrestling. If you had 10 Grayson Wallers in the same place at the same time, all of them so fucking sure of themselves and willing to banter with a merciless crowd, then you'd have a show. You'd probably have a riot in time, but it would be a show. Australian wrestling won't attract what you'd consider " casual " fans until it embraces a harder " Aussie culture " - I'm not talking about crocodile hunters or outback wranglers. 

The Undertaker was a biker, Austin took inspiration from a serial killer, it's not silly to consider taking inspiration from some of the darker places of Australian culture - there's guys like Spanian and Russel Manser on the socials who embody that underbelly of Australian life. There's inspiration. Throw in 3 or 4 Samoans or Tongans dressed up like they're in ONEFOUR, and a few bikers just to spice things up. Shit, I'd probably go to that show if I thought someone was going to get stabbed.