You understand how the massive wrestling reveals all the time run these adverts saying ‘youngsters, don’t do this at residence’?
Nicely, the factor is, youngsters by no means pay attention.
And neither did Kyle Fletcher, when he was rising up on Sydney’s Northern Seashores.
With over a decade of expertise underneath his belt regardless of being simply 26 years previous, Fletcher is likely one of the brightest younger stars in all of professional wrestling, having damaged out within the final couple of years since signing with All Elite Wrestling.
Now Fletcher is again in Australia, serving to headline AEW’s down underneath debut in Brisbane, with AEW Grand Slam Australia anticipated to pack out the Brisbane Leisure Centre on Saturday night time.
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His match, a tag crew affair which sees him mix with Japanese sensation Konosuke Takeshita in opposition to long-time mentor Will Ospreay and the legendary Kenny Omega, is particular for various causes.
For Fletcher, it’s particular as a result of he suits in that quartet; his title belongs up in lights in opposition to three of the best wrestlers on the planet, with Ospreay most likely one of the best wrestler of the 2020s so far, and Omega not far behind.
However let’s return to the place it began. The place a sports-mad Aussie child, who grew up 5 minutes from Brookvale Oval and loves the Manly Sea Eagles, realised from an early age he was going to make a profession within the squared circle.
After moving into wrestling on the age of eight by means of watching it at a mate’s home, the second got here for Fletcher simply a few years later.
“I simply bear in mind, it was a very bizarre second. I used to be on vacation, and I used to be utterly faraway from wrestling, after which I simply had this sense like I missed wrestling a lot that I used to be like – ‘oh, that is what I used to be meant to do in my life’,” he advised Foxsports.com.au.
“So from that second, I believe I used to be 10 and I made a decision, all proper, skilled wrestling, that’s what I’m doing.”
Not lengthy later, Fletcher was again at residence, and realised there was extra to wrestling than what he noticed on TV.
“I used to be strolling down the road, and actually two streets over from my home, there have been these youngsters wrestling on mattresses of their entrance yard, and so they had been leaping off a ladder. They had been doing Batista bombs,”
“And I used to be like, oh my God – me and my one pal had been the one ones that I knew of that even appreciated wrestling. So this blew my thoughts.
“So I develop into mates with them. I begin wrestling on these mattresses on this entrance yard, after which from there, they’re like, oh, there’s this different yard wrestling promotion in Punchbowl.”
In a “random yard”, Fletcher met the then-23-year-old Robbie Eagles – who has since made a worldwide title for himself in Japan’s largest wrestling firm, New Japan Professional Wrestling – and ended up coaching with PWA Sydney, who’ve additionally produced the likes of WWE’s Grayson Waller.
“I began coaching at 14, which might be just a little bit too early, however, like, I used to be tall, they had been form of rolling with it just a little bit. After which it was simply off to the races from there. It’s loopy the way it all snowballed,” he defined.
Debuting at 15, it wasn’t lengthy till Fletcher started to make a reputation for himself within the Sydney wrestling scene, and he was already considering larger.
And whereas many Aussies graduate highschool after which head over to the UK on a working vacation visa, most do it planning to work in pubs – to not wrestle.
“I simply knew that that was what I used to be destined to do. So it was like, I didn’t actually focus an excessive amount of on how I used to be going to get there on the time, however I simply knew I used to be going to make it occur regardless. After which I knew somebody that had moved over to the UK for wrestling, and so they had discovered just a little little bit of success over there,” Fletcher mentioned.
“So I obtained by means of highschool, I turned 18, I saved up no matter it wanted to be. It was like, it’s essential have $2,000 in your checking account. After which I utilized for my working vacation visa, and I used to be off. I moved to a rustic the place I knew no one, didn’t have anyplace to stay, didn’t have a job, and I used to be simply decided to make wrestling occur. So I did.”
Shortly Fletcher was positioned in a crew with Queenslander Mark Davis, initially named The Aussie Assault however then changing into recognized across the unbiased wrestling world as Aussie Open.
Sure, just like the tennis event. And even Fletcher doesn’t fairly know the place it got here from.
“I can’t bear in mind who got here up with it, however it was a type of issues that was form of mentioned to us – ‘oh, yeah, that works, I suppose’,” he joked.
“After which surprisingly it simply sticks, you already know what I imply? Like, you don’t count on to nonetheless be wrestling underneath that title seven years in a while worldwide TV!”
Fletcher had excellent timing. On the time, British wrestling was booming, with a number of scorching unbiased corporations drawing curiosity from all over the world.
It was round this time WWE tried to take over with NXT UK, an offshoot of its developmental NXT model, which had some gentle success but additionally broken the native scene by plucking a lot of the area’s prime expertise (and paying a lot of them peanuts).
One firm, RevPro, was a notable exception in rejecting WWE’s curiosity and saved a powerful relationship with New Japan Professional Wrestling – prime Japanese stars would usually come for appearances, whereas the corporate’s developmental wrestlers generally known as ‘Younger Lions’ would come on conventional ‘excursions’ to RevPro, gaining information and expertise abroad earlier than returning to NJPW and graduating to develop into correct wrestlers.
This made it the proper setting for Fletcher to construct connections with the highest Japanese promotion.
“Me and (Mark) Davis (the opposite member of Aussie Open) had been fortunate sufficient to wrestle a bunch of New Japan expertise once they would come over to the UK,” he defined.
“And it was a type of issues the place it was simply, you’re employed with sufficient of their guys that they’ll return and go, ‘Oh, these guys are nice, they sorted us, they had been good to work with’. All this sort of stuff. And then you definately construct that rapport with them over time.
“We had been imagined to go initially (to Japan) in 2019 for the primary time, however Davis obtained harm, after which it was okay. As quickly as Davis is wholesome, we’ll deliver you over. And we’re like, okay, simply sitting and ready. After which COVID occurs.
“So all all through COVID, we hadn’t gone over to Japan but. We had been simply sitting and ready for that chance to come back. And so it took quite a bit longer than we had first anticipated, however yeah, after we lastly obtained there, it was the time my life. Man, love the nation. I really like the corporate. They handled us so nicely.
“And then you definately’re within the ring with these folks, these guys which were wrestling for 30 years each single night time, like they’re simply so so gifted, and so they’re so good at what they do. And due to the language barrier, all it’s important to do is simply sit there and allow them to inform you what to do loads of the time.
“And from that, you simply realise, oh, that is what wrestling is. That is what wrestling is meant to be. And thru that entire expertise, I got here out the opposite aspect and I used to be like, oh, that is wrestling. I understand how to wrestle now.”
However COVID impacted extra than simply Fletcher’s arrival to New Japan; it helped pressure his exit.
The corporate peaked simply earlier than the pandemic started, and struggled by means of Japan’s strict Covid insurance policies which included minimal crowds at occasions for a number of years, and the nation’s borders being closed till October 2022.
That mixed with the weakening of the yen in opposition to the US greenback, and meant NJPW couldn’t afford to pay many prime abilities. And with American corporations like WWE and AEW already eyeing their largest names, it turned an unwinnable monetary battle, with even firm stalwarts like Kazuchika Okada heading throughout the Pacific for profitable offers.
Fletcher was simply in search of his first large contract, after virtually a decade of toiling for little pay.
“We (he and Davis) simply wished an earnings. And we don’t need to be poor. I don’t need to be worrying about if I can afford my grocery invoice, that form of factor,” he defined.
“New Japan, I wouldn’t say that they had been unwilling. They had been identical to, ‘you’re gonna have to attend a bit longer’. So I don’t maintain any unwell will in opposition to them for that. They obtained messed round by COVID. They’re nonetheless getting messed round by the backlash of all of it.
“AEW, it simply got here on the proper time. It got here at the moment the place we had been in search of these alternatives, and we had labored with AEW just a little bit all through the Forbidden Door (cross-promotional pay per view) season the yr prior. So we had that form of rapport with the corporate. We knew loads of the folks there. We knew the way it labored backstage, and it simply appeared like the best match for us on the time.”
This wouldn’t be a straightforward shift, going from the bodily Japanese type in entrance of crowds who don’t converse Fletcher’s native tongue, to weekly American TV reveals.
Whereas AEW nonetheless prioritises wrestling, having not adopted WWE down the trail of pre- and mid-match promos being probably the most closely featured component of the present, to develop into a star Fletcher would wish to speak to the viewers to develop into a preferred character.
Fortunately, he had main assist from AEW higher-ups who noticed the promise inside him and was given the time to develop his craft earlier than actually coming to the fore in 2024.
“Earlier than coming to AEW, I by no means actually needed to do promos, and by no means actually needed to do any of that aspect of stuff. So all of that’s new to me, wrestling on TV, working with business breaks,” he defined.
It’s laborious, however I’m now on the level the place I’ve obtained it down pat, and I’m actually beginning to hit my stride with it – and I believe it took just a little little bit of time, however once I’m on the market with this entire new character, this new persona, I really feel so comfy.
“And I believe a part of that’s simply constructing this character that’s me. And once I’m on the market, I really feel like I’m simply myself. I may be myself, I is usually a little prick, I can annoy folks. That’s simply me. That’s who I’m in a nutshell.
“So once I’m on the market, I’m simply having a lot enjoyable, man. I’m actually, actually having fun with myself and I believe that interprets now and once I’m within the ring, you possibly can inform I’m not pressured about it.”
Whereas Fletcher hates to confess it, as a result of he now despises the person, he’s had the assistance of arguably one of the best wrestler on earth alongside the way in which.
He and Davis had been linked up with Will Ospreay’s United Empire faction in late 2021, and the pair debuted in AEW whereas nonetheless sharing each an on- and off-screen bond with the Brit. All three signed with the corporate halfway by means of 2023 and had been often seen collectively till Fletcher turned on Ospreay on the October WrestleDream pay per view.
This was the beginning of Fletcher’s push into the primary occasion scene, together with consecutive pay per view matches in opposition to Ospreay in November (a win at Full Gear) and December (a loss within the semi-finals of the Continental Basic at Worlds Finish).
It was the proper introduction to changing into a singles star for the Aussie.
“I’m gonna hate giving him his credit score. However Will Ospreay has been a fair larger mentor than he most likely even realises,” Fletcher conceded.
“I very a lot consider that if it weren’t for Will, I might not be ready that I’m now – which as a result of I hate his guts, I hate giving him the credit score, and I can’t wait to punch him within the face – however not even simply as a pal, however being within the ring with him and him being my first large singles pay per view match.
“Like, the truth that it was him made that entire expertise a lot simpler, as a result of once I was within the ring, I virtually wasn’t pressured, as a result of I simply know him so nicely. He is aware of me so nicely. I do know the place he’s going to be earlier than he’s even there. That was simply one other factor that I didn’t even must be fearful about, I may simply be in there and concentrate on me and do my factor.”
That results in Brisbane, and Fletcher’s first main match again residence in Australia.
He arrived within the nation a couple of days early permitting him to spend time along with his mum, who has flown north earlier than a big group of his household and mates attend the Grand Slam present on Saturday night time.
“It’s so surreal in loads of methods, I don’t suppose it’s going to most likely really feel actual till I’m within the enviornment, till it’s really occurring,” Fletcher mentioned.
“I bear in mind my mum saying to me years in the past, that it’s going to sink in for her once I get to come back again to Australia and wrestle in an enviornment. And I don’t know if I utterly agree with that, however it’s positively a factor in my mind.
“And I’m getting to come back again, attending to do all this sort of stuff, chat to all of the media, and everybody simply being excited, to be within the ring with three of the best skilled wrestlers of all time – and for my title to be, to not look misplaced subsequent to that, and for everybody to only be so excited for it. Like all of it, simply feels so surreal.
“That is what I dreamed of my entire life, this second, this match, this chance.”