Professional wrestling in Australia: Difference between revisions
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Throughout the [[1940s]] professional wrestling suffered due to [[World War II]] but in the [[1950s]] reached new highs as many stars from overseas were imported and created larger crowds and, in turn, a larger market. Established names such as [[Lou Thesz]], [[Jerry Graham|Dr. Jerry Graham]] and [[Gorgeous George]] toured the country during the decade. |
Throughout the [[1940s]] professional wrestling suffered due to [[World War II]] but in the [[1950s]] reached new highs as many stars from overseas were imported and created larger crowds and, in turn, a larger market. Established names such as [[Lou Thesz]], [[Jerry Graham|Dr. Jerry Graham]] and [[Gorgeous George]] toured the country during the decade. |
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Throughout the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], Australia established its first major [[professional wrestling promotion|promotion]] in [[WCW Australia]]. WCW had a television deal with the [[Nine Network]], the first in Australia to do so and attracted crowds between 2,000 and 9,000 people on a weekly basis. International stars such as [[Killer Kowalski]], [[Ray Stevens]], [[Dominic Denucci]], [[Mario Milano]], [[Spiros Arion]], [[Karl Gotch]], [[Bruno Sammartino]], [[Gorilla Monsoon]] and local stars [[Ron Miller]] and [[Larry O’Dea]] were all involved with the promotion which grew steadily through the 1960s and was a well known product in the 1970s. However, with the introduction of [[World Series Cricket]], WCW was left with no television deal and was forced to close down in [[1978]]. This sent the Australian market into a large decline. With no access to any product anywhere in the world, the Australian market was almost dead until |
Throughout the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], Australia established its first major [[professional wrestling promotion|promotion]] in [[WCW Australia]]. WCW had a television deal with the [[Nine Network]], the first in Australia to do so and attracted crowds between 2,000 and 9,000 people on a weekly basis. International stars such as [[Killer Kowalski]], [[Ray Stevens]], [[Dominic Denucci]], [[Mario Milano]], [[Spiros Arion]], [[Karl Gotch]], [[Bruno Sammartino]], [[Gorilla Monsoon]] and local stars [[Ron Miller]] and [[Larry O’Dea]] were all involved with the promotion which grew steadily through the 1960s and was a well known product in the 1970s. However, with the introduction of [[World Series Cricket]], WCW was left with no television deal and was forced to close down in [[1978]]. This sent the Australian market into a large decline. With no access to any product anywhere in the world, the Australian market was almost dead until Australian Wrestling League was formed. |
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Australia depended largely on the [[North America]]n product from [[1985]] until the late [[1990s]]. Hosting tours in 1985 and [[1986]] kept a solid viewing in the sport through programmes such as ''[[WWE Raw|RAW]]'' and ''[[WCW Monday Nitro]]''. It wasn't until [[1998]] when International Wrestling Australia was formed, and then [[1999]] when both the [[Australian Wrestling Federation]] and [[Professional Championship Wrestling]] formed that Australia had a local product, despite the presence of sporadic promotions in [[Sydney]] and [[Melbourne]]. Since then, other promotions have formed around the country. Although these promotions are not attracting quite the crowds that shows in the 1970s were, possibly due to the popularity of the North American market, most promotions still have a strong following. |
Australia depended largely on the [[North America]]n product from [[1985]] until the late [[1990s]]. Hosting tours in 1985 and [[1986]] kept a solid viewing in the sport through programmes such as ''[[WWE Raw|RAW]]'' and ''[[WCW Monday Nitro]]''. It wasn't until [[1998]] when International Wrestling Australia was formed, and then [[1999]] when both the [[Australian Wrestling Federation]] and [[Professional Championship Wrestling]] formed that Australia had a local product, despite the presence of sporadic promotions in [[Sydney]] and [[Melbourne]]. Since then, other promotions have formed around the country. Although these promotions are not attracting quite the crowds that shows in the 1970s were, possibly due to the popularity of the North American market, most promotions still have a strong following. |
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Revision as of 05:01, 26 November 2007
Professional wrestling in Australia makes up a small but growing part of Australian culture. Unlike the North American or Japanese products which have large, globally renowned organisations such as World Wrestling Entertainment or New Japan Pro Wrestling with several hundred smaller promotions, Australia has fourteen smaller independent circuit promotions which exist in all but two of the states, those being the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Tours from the North American product are regularly sold out in capital cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
History
Promotions
Professional wrestling in Australia first gained distinction in the early 1900s, however there were very few shows promoted. Nonetheless, stars such as Clarence Weber, Jack Carkeek, Clarence Whistler and Georg Hackenschmidt were made. As time went on, the sport's popularity began to grow, particularly in the 1930s as people sought to find relief from The Great Depression.
Throughout the 1940s professional wrestling suffered due to World War II but in the 1950s reached new highs as many stars from overseas were imported and created larger crowds and, in turn, a larger market. Established names such as Lou Thesz, Dr. Jerry Graham and Gorgeous George toured the country during the decade.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Australia established its first major promotion in WCW Australia. WCW had a television deal with the Nine Network, the first in Australia to do so and attracted crowds between 2,000 and 9,000 people on a weekly basis. International stars such as Killer Kowalski, Ray Stevens, Dominic Denucci, Mario Milano, Spiros Arion, Karl Gotch, Bruno Sammartino, Gorilla Monsoon and local stars Ron Miller and Larry O’Dea were all involved with the promotion which grew steadily through the 1960s and was a well known product in the 1970s. However, with the introduction of World Series Cricket, WCW was left with no television deal and was forced to close down in 1978. This sent the Australian market into a large decline. With no access to any product anywhere in the world, the Australian market was almost dead until Australian Wrestling League was formed.
Australia depended largely on the North American product from 1985 until the late 1990s. Hosting tours in 1985 and 1986 kept a solid viewing in the sport through programmes such as RAW and WCW Monday Nitro. It wasn't until 1998 when International Wrestling Australia was formed, and then 1999 when both the Australian Wrestling Federation and Professional Championship Wrestling formed that Australia had a local product, despite the presence of sporadic promotions in Sydney and Melbourne. Since then, other promotions have formed around the country. Although these promotions are not attracting quite the crowds that shows in the 1970s were, possibly due to the popularity of the North American market, most promotions still have a strong following.
Wrestlers
Individual wrestlers originating in Australia have struggled for the most part to obtain any international recognition. Perhaps the two biggest names when one mentions Australia are the Fabulous Kangaroos - Roy Heffernan and Al Costello. They are the only Australian wrestlers to make it big in the United States and held the WWWF Tag Team Championship,[1] as well as being inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.[2] In more recent times Nathan Jones made two WWE appearances at WrestleMania XIX[3] and at Survivor Series[4] later that same year, making him the only Australian wrestler to ever appear on a WWE pay-per-view event. Jones also appeared on two World Wrestling All-Stars pay-per-views, losing to Jeff Jarrett at WWA: The Inception and to Scott Steiner at WWA: The Eruption.[5] Only two other Australian wrestlers have appeared on any pay-per-view event at all. They are Chuck E. Chaos at WWA: The Eruption[5] who lost to Jerry Lynn, and Mark Mercedes at WWA: The Reckoning[6] who lost to Rick Steiner.
Mercedes owns the oldest active promotion in Australia, International Wrestling Australia formed in 1998 and has main evented all four Australian Wrestling Supershows[7]. Chaos went through a period of massive popularity by Australian standards by being one of the main draws to All Star Wrestling[citation needed], a promotion co-owned by the now defunct All Star Cafe at Melbourne's Crown Casino. This promotion's success was partly due to the showing of RAW on their television screens after the live show[citation needed]. Chaos was in a feud with ASW owner Rohan Herbstreit, culminating in a two out of three falls street fight in December 2001,[8] before pursuing and winning the ASW Heavyweight Championship from Steve O'Neal the day after he lost to Jerry Lynn at WWA: The Eruption in Australia's first match involving barbed wire[citation needed] - only a few months before the infamous PCW death match.
Other notable wrestlers include TNT - the owner of the Australian Wrestling Federation, Lobo - the founder of the Pro Wrestling Alliance[citation needed] and owner of the Melbourne arm which recently ceased operations, "Jag" Hartley Jackson and Mikey Nicholls who were the first Australians to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling[citation needed] and Carlo Cannon - who is the first Australian wrestler to train in Canada under Lance Storm[citation needed]. Bobby Marshall works in the United States along with Nicholls, Damian Slater, Cameron Wallis and Ferguson Block[citation needed].
Mikey Nicholls was also involved in the tournament to crown a new NWA World Champion after the title was removed from TNA programming. [9]
International Tours
Shows from North American promotions have been held in Australia as early as 1985 when the then World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)) toured through Melbourne, Perth, Newcastle and Adelaide and through Melbourne and Brisbane again in 1986.
That was the last Australia saw of a live North American product until WCW did a Nitro and Thunder taping in Melbourne[10] and a Thunder taping in Brisbane and Sydney in 2000.
The next time WWE came to Australia was for the WWE Global Warning Tour in 2002.[11] A crowd of 56,000[12] packed into Colonial Stadium, as well a pay-per-view audience throughout Asia, witnessed the first WWE show on Australian soil in 16 years. WWE has visited Australia regularly since Global Warning by touring at least once a year since 2003, with the latest show by WWE Raw in November 2007 visiting Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne[13]
Television Programming
History
Throughout the 1990s, both WCW Monday Nitro and RAW were broadcast on free-to-air networks but were put in poor timeslots and were subsequently cancelled because of poor ratings. WWE's major pay-per-views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) were all shown up until 2001, when every pay-per-view began being shown.
WWE programming returned in 2000 with RAW being shown on Fox Sports on Tuesday nights. SmackDown! followed and was broadcast on FOX8 Friday nights but was moved to Saturday nights in 2001.
In September 2002 negotiations between FOX8 and WWE fell through and SmackDown! was cancelled. A special NWA-TNA package replaced it in early 2003 but only lasted a year. NWA-TNA pay-per-views were shown once a month throughout 2003 during a time when they were being presented weekly in the United States. WWE pay-per-views were also lost to Main Event in the same deal that cost Australian fans SmackDown. Village Cinemas showed them for a few months until August 2003 when SmackDown! returned on Saturday nights as well as the pay-per-views, starting with SummerSlam. RAW was moved from Fox Sports to FOX8 and was shown on Friday nights. In order to prevent spoiler hunting on the internet, FOX8 moved WWE programming to timeslots closer to their United States air date.
In February 2005, WWE Heat, WWE Velocity and The WWE Experience were added to FOX8 and set up a large wrestling program on Saturdays and Sundays which now exists today. Despite Heat, Velocity and Experience all being cancelled in the United States the shows are still shown in Australia to fulfill contractual obligations. When SmackDown! was moved to Friday nights in the United States, in Australia it remained on Friday afternoons.
After just over 3 years, Australian wrestling fans are once again being treated to TNA. Beginning with TNA Sacrifice 2006 on May 27 on tape delay TNA monthly pay-per-view events are being broadcasted in Australia. Despite much discussion there is currently no plans to screen TNA iMPACT! in Australia.
Foxtel confirmed that ECW on Sci Fi would begin broadcasting in Australia starting from September 2, 2006. The WWE Fanatic Series began airing in October 2006.
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-views in Australia are shown on Main Event, the only provider in Australia. Main Event has been broadcasting pay-per-views for both WWE starting in 1999 until the present time (including the Fanatic Series from 2006) and WCW pay-per-views from 1997 until they were bought out in March 2001. Main Event also began broadcasting TNA pay-per-views due to the high demand from wrestling fans. They have been broadcasted since May 2006, starting with Sacrifice. One year later, TNA pay per views were lifted from the 13 day tape delay format to a live format.
See also
- Professional wrestling in Japan
- Professional wrestling in Mexico
- Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom
Notes and references
- ^ WWWF / WWF/ WWE International / World Tag Team Championship history
- ^ Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame listings
- ^ Jones was originally meant to team with The Undertaker but was (kayfabe) beaten down by their opponents before the match. Jones appeared later in the match.
- ^ Survivor Series 2003 results
- ^ a b WWA The Eruption results
- ^ WWA The Reckoning results
- ^ AJ Promotions website
- ^ http://wwfdownunder.com which is now superseded by http://www.wrestling.net.au.
- ^ From the official website
- ^ "TV Nitro to hit town"
- ^ Global Warning Tour full report
- ^ Press release on Global Warning attendance figure
- ^ List of WWE tours of Australia