A History of Australian Wrestlers In The WWE

A look at the detailed history of Aussie wrestlers who have made it to the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.

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While many in Australia might think that WWE simply stopped airing after they ceased being interested in what crazy antics Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were up to week-to-week, the biggest wrestling promotion in the world has continued to roll out show after show every Monday night, thriving well beyond any awkward adolescent phases.

The truth is, quite a few of our own Australians have been finding significant success as professional wrestlers in the American promotion in the past few years, but it seems like a lot of people back home simply don't know anything about it. As a matter of public awareness, at Complex AU we decided to collate a list documenting the detailed history of Aussie wrestlers making it to the big smoke in the WWE – where they're from, what they did, and where they're at right now.

Let's strap on the boots and take an in-depth look at some of the Aussie pro wrestlers that have managed to make it to television debuts on WWE so far, and a few young grapplers that might just be the stars of the future.

Outback Jack (Debuting 1986)


Peter Stilsbury was brought into the WWE as a response to the overwhelming success of Crocodile Dundee, portraying Outback Jack, a very stereotypical bushman from Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory. Missing a few teeth, and with a signature catchphrase of “no worries”, his appearance was hyped with a series of vignettes depicting his everyday life. In one, he pals around with a bunch of blokes and a beer-drinking cow in a pub, and in another he explains the local threats in Australia – roos, crocs, and apparently, “the aborigine fellas running around there”.

While a clear product of the time, even coming out to Rolf Harris’ “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” Stilsbury was the very first Australian wrestler to make it over in the then WWF. His debut was strong, managing to claim wins over established stars like Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik with his Boomerang finisher (a clothesline from behind), but his limited in-ring ability led to him very soon becoming a lower-card character, simply competing to take losses from other wrestlers and make them look strong.


His run with WWF lasted two years, before he mysteriously disappeared from television, and was never seen in the company again. Sadly, in recent interviews Stilsbury has revealed that he is now almost completely blind, due to both physical injuries in a helicopter crash and complications from diabetes.

Nathan Jones (Debuting 2003)

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It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the WWE decided to give it a go with another Australian wrestler. Once again, the 7 foot tall Nathan Jones was billed as a big deal early on, with a set of vignettes that played heavily upon his real-life stint in Boggo Road Gaol after being charged for armed robbery in 1987. These tasters for his character indicated he was a Goliath of a man, hardened by ten years of prison, with an incredible appetite for violence.  

During his time in jail, Jones got into power lifting, eventually becoming champion of Australia, and prior to WWE was quite active in World’s Strongest Man and mixed martial arts competitions. When he eventually debuted for the wrestling promotion, the traits of the character that had been featured in the vignettes seemed diluted, and he ended up in a storyline as the Undertaker’s tag partner and protégé at Wrestlemania XIX.

While this pairing gave audiences the impression the promotion had great faith in Jones as a mainstay, it was rumoured that due to his very limited in-ring ability at the time, they did not want him to compete on the grandest stage of them all. Subsequently, in the storyline, he was attacked prior to the Wrestlemania match and would not compete, leaving the Undertaker to face two men on his own – Jones was part of the finish however, interfering late in the match to secure a win for the Deadman.

He was sent back to WWE’s developmental program for further training, and then returned later in the year. In this incarnation, playing a "heel" (or "bad guy" character), he was managed by one of the best mouthpieces in WWE, Paul Heyman, as an ally to the equally colossal Brock Lesnar. However, not playing a particularly pivotal role, and reportedly frustrated with the travel schedule, Jones waited until the WWE toured Australia, and quit the company.  Since leaving WWE, Jones has taken his monstrous presence to the silver screen, starring in Troy with Brad Pitt, and more recently Mad Max: Fury Road.

Emma (Debuting 2012)

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Perhaps having been burned twice already, it was a long time in between drinks for WWE in terms of bringing another Aussie on board. Melbourne girl Tenille Dashwood, going by the ring-name Emma, has the distinction of being the very first Australian WWE Diva, and is arguably the most successful wrestler from the country thus far. Having fallen in love with wrestling at eight years old, she was training in-ring at the age of 13. The prodigious talent wrestled for Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia under the ring-name Valentine, before eventually celebrating her 19th birthday by moving to Canada to train with former WWE wrestler Lance Storm.  She would return to her home country, and then travel around the globe to compete, before approaching Storm for further training in 2011.

After attending a week-long tryout camp in Florida, WWE gave her a contract. This led to her eventual debut on WWE’s NXT developmental product in 2012, where her character became a fan favourite well-known for her goofy dancing and “Emmalution” movement. While she would not capture the NXT Women’s Championship during this tenure in developmental, she was in a number of high-profile feuds with women’s wrestlers Paige, Summer Rae and Natalya.

She made her main roster debut on Raw in January 2014, to a significantly positive response. She was teamed up with male comedy character Santino Marella, forming a mixed-gender tag team with a “friend-zone” storyline that appeared to become reasonably popular with fans. However, the success of the team was cut short, as Marella retired halfway through 2014, leaving Emma directionless. On top of this, only a few days before, Emma was charged with misdemeanor larceny for stealing an iPad case. While her lawyers maintained she simply forgot to pay for the item, she was forced to undertake a day of community service for the crime. Media tabloids picked up the story, and Emma appeared to suffer the consequences, mostly disappearing from episodes of Raw.

Emma returned to NXT in 2015, using her original character's frustration with her setbacks on the main roster as a catalyst for the debut of a darker, no-nonsense “heel” persona – one that was in stark contrast to the happy go-lucky Emma that had been seen on the program previously. The 26-year-old has since then been consistently teamed with fitness model turned wrestler Dana Brooke. Outside of the ring, Emma was completing a nutritional therapist certification in 2015, and in the same year developed her own Food Network-style YouTube show called Taste Of Tenille, with almost 19,000 subscribers smelling what she's cooking.

Buddy Murphy (Debuting 2014)

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With Emma’s relative success in comparison to their two previous experiments, the door appeared to open to Australian wrestlers after 2012. Matthew Adams, often going by the ring-name Matt Silva, had been competing and winning championships in Melbourne promotions Professional Championship Wrestling and Melbourne City Wrestling, along with others around the country since around 2007. He signed a WWE developmental contract in 2013, and made his TV debut on NXT as Buddy Murphy only a year later.

His most successful stint has been teaming with Wesley Blake, a duo fondly named the “Dubstep Cowboys” by internet commenters, after the combination of their entrance music and conspicuous ring attire. The tag team managed to win the NXT Tag Team Championships in early 2015, making 27-year-old Murphy the first Australian to take championship gold in WWE.  The team’s reign lasted 219 days, before they were defeated by The Vaudevillians.

Peyton Royce (Debuting 2015)

While her early life was spent in Sydney, another Melbournian, Cassie McIntosh, would join Emma and Murphy in the company last year, with the two having already paved the way for Aussie talent at this point in time. McIntosh competed from age 17 in Australia’s only women’s professional wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance (PWAA), and similar to Emma, eventually found her way to Lance Storm's training facility in Canada.

While WWE toured Australia in 2014, McIntosh managed to get to a tryout, and was announced the following year as a developmental talent in NXT, being re-branded with the name Peyton Royce. While she has only competed on television a handful of times, she has already begun developing a seemingly self-absorbed "heel" character in her recent matches.

Billie Kay (Debuting 2015)

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Sydney-born Jessica McKay traveled along a similar trajectory to high school pal Peyton Royce, making her wrestling debut on her 18th birthday, and spending much of her early career competing in PWWA. She would eventually make her way to the US to compete for another female promotion in 2008, Shimmer Women Athletes, before making further appearances in indie wrestling mainstays Ring of Honor and Chikara. Entering the WWE in the same intake as long-time friend Peyton, she also debuted on television on the NXT brand, having been re-named Billie Kay, and recently competing as a "heel" character.

Chris Atkins (Future Prospect)

Shazza McKenzie (Future Prospect)

In late 2015, while not contracted to the company, Shazza McKenzie made an appearance on NXT to face Emma, who she has a storied history with back in the homeland. McKenzie actually defeated the first female Australian WWE Diva in her final match in the country – a point that was directly acknowledged by commentators during their NXT face-off. While Emma won the rematch, the appearance was a great look for the 27-year-old wrestler from Sydney, who turned her success in the Australian circuit into a number of appearances in both Shimmer and Shine, some of the most high-profile all-female indie promotions.

Daniel Vidot (Future Prospect)

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