Following hot on the heels of the six new women coming to the WWE Universe, WWE continued its global scouting with WWE tryouts being held during the NXT tour of Australia and New Zealand this past week. With Triple H in town to take in the camps, the NXT management and training staff – including William Regal, Matt Bloom and Sarah Stock – were looking hard at some of Australasia’s top indie talent.
Australia is no stranger to the WWE Universe of late. While for years Australia and New Zealand were more known for their gimmick characters like The Fabulous Kangaroos, The Sheepherders/Bushwhackers and Outback Jack, the Land Down Under has provided NXT and the WWE with some bright new stars: Emma, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Buddy Murphy (of Blake & Murphy) and TM61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne) have all had success of late.
This round of tryouts featured another bumper crop of talent. Here’s a look at some of the notable names who attended, confirmed by the WWE on their website.
JONAH ROCK & SLEX
These two guys are interesting in that they were both part of the global Australian faction The Mighty Don’t Kneel, who has already seen the group’s top two stars, Nick Miller and Shane Thorne, head to NXT to become TM61. It will be interesting if the WWE is interested in bringing these guys in to be the backup for TM61, perhaps in their feud against the Authors of Pain.
SHAZZA McKENZIE
Shazza is quite well known to fans of women’s indie wrestling, as she’s a regular in Shimmer and Shine, as well as her work in the Australian indies, where she’s previously faced the likes of Emma, Evie, Billie Kay and Kellie Skater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuoZl8V1LTE
KELLYANNE ENGLISH
KellyAnne has wrestled all over the world, from Canada to Mexico, as well as her home country in Australia. She’s been taught by some of the technical greats, such as Lance Storm, Paul London and Teddy Hart – she’s the real deal and an 8-year veteran of the circuits.
ADAM BROOKS
A veteran of Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), this six year veteran was the protege and former tag partner of Buddy Murphy.
JXT
This 23-year old has been wrestling for five years and is already a veteran of the Australian indie circuit. He was a late cut for the 2015 reboot of Tough Enough and appears to be getting another look from the WWE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMiKLLJt5zs
MR. JUICY
An 11-year veteran of the Aussie indies, Mr. Juicy is a little like Australia’s answer to Scotland’s Grado.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8JxH4zTExY
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Main Photo: WWE.com
