TEXT BY KRISTEN ASHLY / PHOTOS BY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIOS
CHARLI EVANS IS READY to face anyone for her first Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA Black Label) championship—including her soul sister.
PWA brings back its Colosseum two-day tournament event on October 12 and 13, 2024, showcasing eight of the best of Australia’s wrestling empire. The elimination-style tournament starts on Night 1 with four first-round matches. Night 2 hosts the semifinals and final of the tournament. The last grappler standing wins the honor of holding the coveted Colosseum Sword.
As if the tournament wasn’t reason enough to tune in, Night 1’s main event will turn up the volume. Charli Evans challenges her self-confessed “soul sister” Jessica Troy for the PWA heavyweight championship.
If Evans wins, this will be her first PWA heavyweight championship; and winning it from someone she considers practically family ups the stakes.
“I think it’s kind of beautiful in a way, and poetic that we started so close to each other,” Evans tells PWI. “We clicked instantly, and our paths have always mirrored each other in some way. And no matter what, we’re always brought back together … and you hit your friends a little harder.”
Night 1 has completely sold out at the iconic Metro Theater in Sydney. Brawling in the main event in front of a sea of passionate Australian fans would be understandably stressful, but Evans stands firm in her relationship with Troy.
“There’s a little more room for forgiveness, but this is the biggest match of my career,” Evans shares. “This is the biggest match of her career, and there’s no stress going into it, which is crazy when you think about it. We are main-eventing the show, and we are both not stressed in the slightest. And I think that’s amazing, because anyone else, I would be petrified. But I know her, she knows me, and we’re ready to literally tear the house down.”
In the Fall 2024 issue of PWI, “The Main Event: Australia’s Women Wrestlers Shine Bright” details how special Australia’s scene is for women, allowing them to be wrestlers first and foremost. The result is more eyes on Australian wrestling, and the payoff is a stronger grappling landscape.
“I think we have, collectively, a little chip on our shoulder, do you know what I mean? And we’re ready to prove a point,” says Evans. “We’re so far from the rest of the world, so it’s either go out and get noticed or be so good that they notice us. And I think we’re finally getting to the point where people are just noticing us from being here.”
Evans continues, “And 10 years ago, you had to go to America, you had to go to England, you had to go to Japan. Not saying you shouldn’t, and not saying that that isn’t great, because I’m blessed and I have loved every second of traveling and wrestling in different countries. But to have eyes on us in our home country is just an unreal feeling.”
The excitement is boiling, but Evans is keeping her eyes on the prize. Troy has held the PWA heavyweight championship for more than a year now, defending it against some of Australia’s top competitors. The possibility of ending Troy’s historic reign as the first woman PWA heavyweight champion adds a little extra spice to the match.
“I’ve put so much pressure on myself this whole year,” Evans reveals. “I don’t know, I’ve just had a resurgence of going after [what] I want, and I’ve done so much that I never would’ve even imagined. I didn’t plan to go back to England, and it just happened. And I didn’t think I’d ever get to get the Wrestling Resurgence title back, but I did. And I’ve laid out very specific things that I want, and every single one I have knocked off. This is the last one to do, and it’d be crazy of me to not do it.”
The 2024 PWA Black Label Colosseum event will offer wrestling fans a look at Australia’s finest, and it’s only fitting that two women are battling for a heavyweight title in the main event. If you’ve been paying attention, it should come as no surprise. Win or lose, as Evans tells it, she’s never been more ready than now to announce her supremacy.
If you can’t make it live, catch 2024 PWA Black Label Colosseum for free on PWA’s YouTube channel on October 12 at 5am ET/8pm AET and October 13 1am ET/4pm AET.
