Wrestling In The Land Of Independence

From Sydney to St. Louis, Shazza McKenzie left behind a good life in her native Australia in the pursuit of true happiness.

TEXT BY KEVIN McELVANEY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMANTHA CRIM

IT WAS MEANT TO BE “one last hurrah.” So says Shazza McKenzie of her 2022 tour of the American indie circuit, which was chronicled in the two-part IWTV docuseries, Shazza Takes America.

The popular Aussie grappler—a former Heart of SHIMMER champion and longtime fixture of PWI’s women’s rankings—wanted to make up for lost time. After all, pandemic-era travel restrictions had kept her from wrestling abroad for the better part of three years. But that ambitious slate of bookings across the States, exhausting and exhilarating in near-equal measure, would be no farewell tour. Instead, those post-COVID shows strengthened McKenzie’s devotion to professional wrestling … and completely changed her life.

“If anything, the pandemic gave me more time,” McKenzie says. “Because all the nagging injuries that I’d had for years, that I had just been ignoring and working through, finally got some rest. Once I did a few matches and my confidence came back, I was like, Oh, no, I’ve got years left in me. Like, Age is just a number, b—es! We’re f— going!”

By the time her return flight landed in Australia, McKenzie had arrived at a profound realization. Tired of chasing a TV contract with a major promotion (and sick of basing her self-worth on that pursuit), the Sydney native also understood that her home country’s excellent grappling scene could only ever be a part-time gig. “At that time, I was 33 years old,” recalls McKenzie, now 35. “And I was like, I guess I’m 33, and it’s time to have babies, move on, and be a boring, little old lady. And then, I did the U.S. trip.”

From that point, Shazza McKenzie understood she could only be truly happy while making her living as a professional wrestler on her terms. And, to do that, she needed to move to America.

McKenzie made massive personal sacrifices, leaving behind her home, family, and even her marriage—the latter of which, she understood, couldn’t survive the gamble of being an unsigned wrestler in the States. “The goal for my entire career was always to live in America, but it was always under the understanding that we’d move to America if I got signed,” she told PWI. “Asking someone to follow you to another country because you’ve got your dream job and you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars is very different to asking someone to give up their life and what they’ve worked on in their professional career to follow you over here so you can wrestle in front of a couple hundred people every weekend.”

Though a bold move on the surface, McKenzie’s emigration was perhaps less surprising to those closest to her. Consider her parents, who, though supportive of her wrestling aspirations, were disappointed when she dropped out of high school to pursue them. “I said, ‘Mom, Dad, I’m going be a professional wrestler. I don’t need to go to school.’ And they said, ‘I think you do!’” McKenzie recalls. “But they never tried to stop me. Whenever I do something, they’re like, ‘Well, we can’t stop you. We know you’re just going to do whatever it is that you want to do.’ Trust me, I’ve made plenty of really dumb mistakes. I’m just going to do them, though, because I need to learn my lesson for myself.”

Lest anyone get the idea that Shazza McKenzie is flighty or capricious, her passion and ambition are supported by an incredible work ethic. Taking inspiration and advice from a fellow veteran wrestler, Canada’s LuFisto, McKenzie navigated the labyrinthine, costly process that comes with pursuing a working wrestler’s visa without the support of a major promotion. “It was a process that I started in June ’22, and then I got my visa in March ’23,” said McKenzie. “And that would’ve taken longer. Luckily, I had some OnlyFans money and I paid for some expedited service. I knew if I could suffice the money, I didn’t want to wait longer than I had to.”

A savvy businesswoman, who had previously managed a gym back in Australia, McKenzie has cultivated a strong brand as a professional wrestler— particularly through X (formerly Twitter) and other social media sites, which she admits to frequenting during downtime at her previous job. Like many other women wrestlers, she has sold 8×10 photos of herself alongside t-shirts at merch tables. Websites such as OnlyFans, BrandArmy, and Patreon have helped McKenzie stay afloat financially, while also keeping her in touch with fans from all over the globe. That’s something she doesn’t take for granted.

“People can s— on OnlyFans all they want to, whatever,” said McKenzie. “It gave my fans a way of supporting me. To me, it was the equivalent of doing a GoFundMe, but I was able to give something in return.”

Less than a year after her pivotal Shazza Takes America tour, McKenzie flew 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles) from Sydney, New South Wales, to begin a new life in St. Louis, Missouri. “It was stressful and scary,” she admitted. “It’s really scary to give up your entire life … especially in your mid-30s as a female. Because society has told us that we’re worthless once that 3-0 happens. In all aspects of life, society tries to tell us that there’s nothing for us once we’re over 30.”

Yet, as is often the case with seasoned wrestlers, McKenzie is only now reaching her peak. “I’m passionate about wrestling. You go to training, and you get really good at doing all these drills and all your fundamentals … but there’s this other part of wrestling that you can only learn from wrestling regularly in front of a crowd,” she said, during a recent Zoom call with PWI. “And I think that’s maybe why I’m so attached to wrestling in America. Because I’ve been training in wrestling for 15-16 years at this point, but the amount that I grow as a performer in three months in America would be the equivalent of about a year in Australia. You’re thrust into these situations, and you just have to figure it out. There’s no time to panic: Just figure it out.”

With more than 500 matches on her CV, Shazza McKenzie has synthesized the lessons of those months and years spent in the ring. She exudes confidence and personality because she is doing what she has always wanted.

Of course, there are still challenges. She needed to learn to drive on American roads—and, just days before this story was written, her car broke down on one in Iowa—while adjusting to the Midwestern weather, which is far less mild than what she’d grown used to in Sydney.

“The reality is that it’s a very hard country to live in,” said McKenzie. “Even if you are an American citizen, every single step of the way, every little thing that you want to do, this government makes it hard. Like, it shouldn’t cost you your entire life if you get sick. But when it comes to being the land of opportunity … it is.”

McKenzie noted that in Australia, driving from one major city to the next takes a good 10 to 12 hours. While the wrestling on offer is excellent, most promotions run shows once a month (if that). In the U.S., she finds weekly bookings from coast to coast and is continually growing her fanbase.

Though it’s not exactly the superstardom she envisioned when she first visited America in 2008, attending WrestleMania 24 with her mom and brother, McKenzie doesn’t dwell on what might’ve been. “I’m completely okay with my role in professional wrestling because I enjoy what I do,” she said. “I enjoy independent wrestling. I enjoy the freedom of it. I enjoy the creativeness of it. I even enjoy the s— travel sometimes. I enjoy the completely different people that you meet along the way.”

While she’s worked matches for WWE and AEW in the past—and isn’t opposed to inking a full-time deal somewhere— this independent contractor has made a conscious decision to focus on what is ahead of her. “I spent years trying to get signed, and I was miserable. I was starving myself, I was trying to look a certain way, it was expensive,” said McKenzie. “Being a girl’s expensive enough. Trying to be a diva is 20 times more expensive. It wasn’t fun, and it wasn’t for me. That’s not who I am as a person. And it’s not that I wouldn’t say yes to a job or whatever, I just know that I’m happy doing what I’m doing.”

Since moving to the States, McKenzie has brought her personal brand of “#HEARTBREAKcore” to quite a few of them, competing in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin … and the list continues to build.

It’s a busy life, between making towns, staying in ring shape, engaging with fans, and tending to her current, happily committed relationship. She misses her family and her circle of friends back in Australia—including notable wrestlers Charli Evans, Jessica Troy, and Madison Eagles. But if you ask McKenzie, she’s living the American wrestling dream. “We’re wrestling around, fake fighting in silly spandex outfits, and it is supposed to be fun,” she says. “We drive for hours, we get on 5 a.m. planes, throw our bodies into the ground … and, like, not for an obscene amount of money or anything. So, don’t do it if you’re miserable. You’re supposed to have fun, make some money. As long as everyone is safe and not hurt, it is not that serious.”

And it is this kind of attitude—coupled with an indefatigable charm, athletic ability, and unmistakable passion—that has brought Shazza McKenzie to this point. “Every day as a professional wrestler in America is completely different. Every show is different, every match is different, every crowd is different,” McKenzie says. “It changes so, so astronomically, show to show, day to day.

“It’s so much more fun if you’re just enjoying the journey. Because once I stopped worrying about the destination— other than the destination being America, so that I could wrestle regularly—it was so much more fun.” [ ]

BONUS PHOTO GALLERY [Photos shot by Samantha Crim expressly for Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Please use only with permission and proper credit.]

DDT’s Star Rookie Is A Triple-Threat: Dancer, Actor, And Now … A Pro Wrestler!

FEW WRESTLERS CAN SAY they’ve headlined the Tokyo Dome; even fewer can say they’ve done so ahead of their professional wrestling debut. But for Kaisei Takechi, who debuted in the main event of DDT Pro-Wrestling’s “Into The Fight 2024,” headlining arenas across Japan is nothing new. Indeed, it’s just part of his regular job as a performer in the 16-member J-pop group, THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE. 

That group, composed of three vocalists and 13 performers, debuted in January 2017 as part of LDH JAPAN’s male artist collective, EXILE TRIBE. Its debut single “Lightning” peaked at #2 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and earned a “Best New Artist” award at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards Japan.

Takechi began dancing at a young age thanks to his mother, a dance instructor who currently runs T’s-Box, a dance school in Hyogo Prefecture’s Takarazuka City, and an avid supporter of Takechi’s endeavors as both an idol and pro wrestler. The would-be grappler’s accolades in jazz and contemporary dance gained the attention of LDH Japan’s EXPG dance school, who offered Takechi, then a teenager, a scholarship to its school in Osaka. 

In 2014, Takechi participated in the EXILE PERFORMER BATTLE AUDITION, a tryout for new performers hoping to join LDH Japan’s flagship group, EXILE. Though Takechi was unsuccessful in joining EXILE, he, along with other unsuccessful finalists, was selected to form a new group: THE RAMPAGE.

Takechi’s professional wrestling debut isn’t as unlikely as it might seem. A lifelong athlete, he spent much of his youth as a competitive swimmer and has since challenged himself in such physical pursuits as bodybuilding and judo. The DDT rookie’s physical conditioning—developed over his years as a dancer—has undoubtedly given him an advantage as a wrestler. The height he achieves leaping into the air is just as impressive on the stage as it is in the ring.

Takechi’s first foray into the world of professional wrestling came when he starred in the 2022 ABEMA drama, Fukumen D, alongside GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE member Mandy Sekiguchi and BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE member Riki Matsui (who joined the DDT commentary team for Takechi’s debut).

Fukumen D spotlights the wrestling promotion Brave Battle Truth, the fictional counterpart of DDT Pro-Wrestling (formerly Dramatic Dream Team). DDT participated in the production on screen and behind the scenes. Its talent appeared in the drama while helping to train Takechi and Sekiguchi, who chose to perform the drama’s wrestling action rather than rely on stunt doubles.  

Recognizing Takechi’s star potential, DDT approached the pop idol with the idea of appearing for the promotion. Takechi’s wrestling debut was later announced on December 2, at the final stop of THE RAMPAGE’s 2023 tour, “16” NEXT ROUND.

The art of fanfare was not lost on DDT, which embraced the inevitable viewership that would come from the idol’s fanbase. Takechi was catapulted to the main event in a six-man tag team match, where he teamed with DDT Extreme champion Shunma Katsumata and KO-D openweight champion Yuki Ueno (with whom he previously worked on Fukumen D) against Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani, and Takeshi Masada.

People were raving about the pro wrestling debut of Kaisei Takechi, part of the Rampage from Exile Tribe, a subgroup of Exile Tribe, a J-Pop song and dance group. He worked the DDT show at Korakuen Hall and drew the company’s biggest Korakuen Hall crowd in years. I haven’t seen it but was told this was among the best celebrity debuts ever in wrestling. Takechi has a great physique, a good look and is a great athlete, noted for great looking dropkicks and hurricanranas.

—Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline

Fans showed their support with merchandise, including an official collaboration t-shirt with THE RAMPAGE and a special “Takechi Camera” following the idol during his debut. Takechi’s highly anticipated debut trended on social media platforms, with official videos from the match pulling in thousands of views. The cheers and applause of his supporters, packed into a capacity crowd at Korakuen Hall, were readily apparent in video footage of the match.

With THE RAMPAGE’s busy schedule—including its upcoming jaunt, THE RAMPAGE LIVE TOUR 2024 “CyberHelix” RX-16, which begins April 2024 and is scheduled to end July 2024,—it’s uncertain when Takechi will re-enter the squared circle. But according to the crossover star himself, his wrestling ambitions haven’t ended with the well-received debut performance. 

The Popular YouTube Host, Wrestler, & Actor Will Face Multiple Opponents At PROGRESS Wrestling’s FREEDOM WALKS AGAIN event.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated can confirm, exclusively, that Simon Miller is the first announced participant for the Multi-Man bout taking place at PROGRESS Wrestling’s upcoming FREEDOM WALKS AGAIN show in Philadelphia, PA, on Friday, April 5, 2024.

Known to many for his work as a host for outlets such as Whatculture, along with his emceeing for PROGRESS itself, the charismatic Miller is still fighting tirelessly to prove his mettle as an in-ring performer. To that end, he is ready to take on all comers at the BritWres institution’s first U.S. event since 2019.

“I’m super excited about PROGRESS returning to the US for what will be the first of many shows Stateside and feel privileged to be part of it all,” Miller told PWI. “As for FREEDOM WALKS AGAIN, the way I see it is simple. I’m part of the multi-man scramble match, which just means there’s more than one person for me to beat.”

Of course, the calamitous environs of a multi-person contest won’t make things easy for Miller. “It also means there’s more people who can try and beat me,” he admitted. “But I’ve decided to ignore that part … Positive mental attitude!”

PROGRESS co-owner Martyn Best, who, along with Lee McAteer, took charge of the PROGRESS brand in late-2021, further elaborated on the distinct uphill that Miller faces in the Multi-Man Match. “Your great President Theodore Roosevelt wrote stirring words about the difference between a critic and the man who is in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,” Best wrote. “Simon Miller has been the PROGRESS main ring host for two years, and was so much more than a critic, but his ever-improving transition to one who strives valiantly will be seen to great effect in Philadelphia. I am sure he will take the great Rocky tradition, and in his intriguing Multi-Man Match, if he fails, at least he will fail while daring greatly.”

With the rest of the Multi-Man Match participants yet to be announced, fans will soon know the steepness of the hill (or Art Museum steps) Miller must climb. The card, which takes place in South Philadelphia as part of GCW’s Collective series, is set to include defenses of the PROGRESS Women’s and tag team championships, currently held by Rhio and the Cheeky Little Buggers (Alexxis Falcon & Charles Crowley), respectively.

More information on the event can be found here.