By Colin MacGillivray
MITCH Waterman’s reign as the Melbourne City Wrestling, MCW, heavyweight champion may have come to an end, but the Kilmore product lost no supporters in an epic title match against international star Buddy Matthews on Saturday.
Waterman has made a name for himself as one of the rising stars of Australian professional wrestling since claiming the MCW championship last year, but found himself pitted against arguably the country’s greatest ever export at the weekend.
Matthews, whose real name is Matthew Adams, previously wrestled in Australia under the ring name Matt Silva before relocating to the United States and signing with World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE – the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
Matthews adopted the persona of Buddy Murphy during his eight-year stint with WWE, which culminated when he captured the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in front of 70,000 fans during 2018’s Super Show-Down event at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 2021 he was released from his WWE contract and he signed with All Elite Wrestling, AEW – the second-biggest wrestling promotion in the USA – last year.
Matthews’ AEW contract gives him more leeway to make appearances around the world, including his home country of Australia.
He returned to MCW in December, earning the right to face Waterman for the heavyweight championship.
It was a surreal experience for Waterman, who was in the crowd as a teenager for Matthews’ final fight in Australia before departing for the USA in 2013.
During Saturday’s standing-room-only event at Melbourne’s Thornbury theatre, Waterman and Matthews squared off in a contest that brought the crowd to its feet.
Waterman was covered in blood after reportedly breaking his nose early in the contest, but the pair wrestled on, even vaulting over protective barriers and taking their fight into the audience.
The physical contest took its toll on both wrestlers, but it was Matthews who eventually pinned Waterman after slamming him to the mat, regaining the MCW title he last held nearly a decade ago.
Waterman was not available to the media after the match, but Matthews stayed to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans, speaking of his admiration for Waterman and Australian wrestling in general, which he said had grown considerably stronger in his near-decade absence.
He said the fact that Waterman had grown up watching him wrestle was inspiring.
“It’s one of those things where you realise the journey that you’ve gone on over 10-plus years,” he said.
“Who knew Mitch was going to be where he was today? Now he’s the poster-boy of MCW, and to come back and mix it up with new talent is fun for me.”
Matthews said he would endeavour to return to Australia as often as his schedule would allow, including to defend his MCW title.
He said he wanted to share his knowledge of the industry with younger wrestlers and grow the sport in Australia, with a goal of getting wrestling shown on free-to-air television.
“The shows have gotten a lot better [since I’ve been gone]. It is a true, full spectrum of entertainment,” he said.
“I want to be a part of that – I want to jump on the train. This is early days, and eventually my goal is to show Australian wrestling on Australian free TV.
“The talent is here, the production is here, it’s just about ironing out the little creases. That’s the goal – dream big, right?
“To see my family is everything. My schedule is very hectic, but [with] AEW I’m very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to go and see my family and come over to help [MCW] out.”
