Top 10 Australian WWE Wrestlers

Australia has produced some of professional wrestling’s most memorable performers, from larger-than-life personalities of the 1980s to modern world champions. Several Australian stars have reached WWE’s biggest stages, while others built impressive careers across NXT, AEW, NJPW, and the independent circuit.

This list ranks 10 of the best Australian wrestlers to compete in WWE based on their accomplishments, popularity, longevity, and overall impact. Rhea Ripley takes the top spot, followed by Toni Storm and Grayson Waller.

1. Rhea Ripley

• Born in Adelaide, SA, on October 11, 1996
• Former WWE Women’s World Champion
• 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner

Rhea Ripley has established herself as one of the most recognizable and successful Australian wrestlers in WWE history.

After a notable career on the independent circuit and in NXT, Ripley debuted on WWE’s main roster in March 2021. She soon defeated Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37.

Ripley helped Edge defeat A.J. Styles at WrestleMania Backlash 2022 before joining his dark faction, The Judgment Day. The group soon ousted Edge, leaving Finn Bálor, Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest as its core members.

The Judgment Day became one of WWE’s hottest acts, with much of its heat coming from Ripley’s on-screen romance with “Dirty Dom” Mysterio. Ripley’s real-life husband, Buddy Matthews, who competed in WWE as Buddy Murphy, also appears on this list. The couple married on June 23, 2024.

Although Damian Priest claimed to lead The Judgment Day, Ripley emerged as the group’s de facto face.

Revenue generation is the name of the game in professional wrestling, and Rhea reached the top of hers. She appeared twice on WWE’s list of top merchandise sellers in 2023, both as an individual and as a member of The Judgment Day. No other member of the group accomplished that feat despite its overall popularity.

2. Toni Storm

• Born in Auckland, New Zealand, on October 19, 1995
• WWE Mae Young Classic Tournament semifinalist
• Former AEW Women’s World Champion

Toni Storm had already built an accomplished career before joining WWE in 2017, with stops in major independent promotions such as Progress, EVE, and wXw.

Storm also enjoyed a notable run in Japan’s Stardom promotion. She captured the SWA World Championship and World of Stardom Championship while also winning the Cinderella Tournament and Five Star GP.

Her success continued in WWE, where she reached the semifinals of the inaugural Mae Young Classic Tournament and later captured the NXT UK Women’s Championship. Storm requested and received her WWE release in December 2021 before joining All Elite Wrestling in March 2022.

“Timeless” Toni Storm later became the first four-time AEW Women’s World Champion, cementing her status as one of the defining performers in the promotion’s women’s division.

3. Grayson Waller

• Born in Sydney, NSW, on March 21, 1990
• Former Australian Survivor contestant
• Once portrayed Ric Flair on Young Rock

Grayson Waller quickly established himself as one of WWE’s most confident and entertaining microphone performers after reaching the main roster.

The charismatic Australian even received his own WWE talk show, The Grayson Waller Effect.

Waller has also shown that he isn’t afraid to draw nuclear heat. He once suggested that Travis Kelce had settled for Taylor Swift, one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Swifties bombarded Waller’s inbox with negative comments, and the exchange attracted mainstream attention.

Waller later took a photo with Kelce’s mother, adding even more fuel to the fire.

More recently, Waller has also been the subject of major online discussion following a “pipebomb”-style promo during an NXT appearance, where he broke character to deliver a scathing, reality-blurring rant that referenced his frustrations, his critics, and his place in WWE. The promo quickly went viral among fans, with many calling it one of his most intense moments to date.

4. Nia Jax

• Born in Sydney, NSW, on May 29, 1984
• Member of the famous Anoa’i wrestling dynasty
• First wrestler to compete in two Royal Rumble matches in one night

The next entry is one of the most dominant Australian wrestlers WWE has ever seen.

Born in Sydney and raised in Hawaii, Nia Jax belongs to the prestigious Anoa’i wrestling dynasty. The famous family also includes The Rock, Roman Reigns, The Usos, Rikishi, and many others.

Jax earned PWI Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 before bursting onto the main roster with high-profile feuds against Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss. “The Irresistible Force” has won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship twice and defeated Bliss at WrestleMania 34 to capture the Raw Women’s Championship.

Jax’s imposing frame gives her a powerful moveset that includes a Samoan drop, a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and the Bonsai Drop made famous by her late cousin, WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna.

5. Indi Hartwell

• Born in Melbourne, VIC, on August 17, 1996
• Former NXT Women’s Champion and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion
• Ranked No. 83 in the 2020 PWI Women’s 100

Melbourne native Indi Hartwell joined NXT in 2019 and soon became part of The Way, a faction featuring Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Austin Theory.

Hartwell and LeRae unsuccessfully challenged for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship several times before finally capturing the titles in a street fight on May 4, 2021.

Hartwell later began an on-screen romance with the silent Dexter Lumis. She proposed after the pair won a mixed tag team match, and their storyline culminated in a wedding where Lumis spoke his first words: “I do.”

Hartwell won the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 1, 2023. However, she relinquished the title 31 days later after receiving a call-up to WWE’s main roster.

6. Bronson Reed

• Born in Adelaide, SA, on August 25, 1988
• Former NXT North American Champion
• Participated in the 2022 G1 Climax tournament

Bronson Reed enjoyed a distinguished run on the independent circuit before arriving in NXT in 2019. His previous stops included Revolution Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, wXw, and the prestigious American promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Reed defeated Johnny Gargano on May 18, 2021, to become the first non-American wrestler to hold the NXT North American Championship. He lost the title to Swerve Strickland a few months later and was released shortly afterward during one of WWE’s pandemic-era rounds of cuts.

The release didn’t slow Reed down. He entered New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax, a grueling month-long tournament widely regarded as featuring many of the world’s best wrestlers.

Reed performed exceptionally well, finishing just behind Kazuchika Okada in the Group A standings. He even scored a victory over Okada, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of his generation.

Bronson Reed rejoined WWE as a member of the Raw brand in December 2022. Since his return, he has re-established himself as a dominant force on Raw, engaging in high-profile feuds with Seth Rollins, competing in Survivor Series WarGames, and later aligning with Rollins as part of The Vision while continuing to showcase his Tsunami finisher.

7. Outback Jack

• Born in Victoria, Australia, on February 4, 1958
  
• Began his career in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling
  
• Lost sight in one eye following a helicopter crash

Peter “Outback Jack” Stilsbury began his wrestling career in Stu Hart’s famous Stampede Wrestling promotion in Calgary, Alberta.

The WWF called him up within a month to capitalize on the success of Crocodile Dundee, the popular fish-out-of-water movie about a rural Australian navigating the streets of New York City.

Outback Jack wore a vest and crocodile-tooth necklaces while starring in promotional vignettes that showed him driving a Jeep around the Australian Outback and drinking beer.

Most of Jack’s victories came in squash matches against enhancement talent. However, he also scored wins over notable wrestlers such as The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.

8. Buddy Murphy

• Born in Melbourne, VIC, on September 26, 1988
• Has wrestled for WWE, NXT, AEW, NJPW, and MLW
• Married to Rhea Ripley

 

Melbourne’s Buddy Matthews, known as Buddy Murphy and later simply Murphy in WWE, takes the next spot on the list.

Matthews is a physical powerhouse with an extremely athletic moveset. His accomplishments include reigns as NXT Tag Team Champion, WWE Cruiserweight Champion, and WWE Raw Tag Team Champion alongside former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

WWE granted Matthews his release in June 2021 following several awkward storylines. One involved a romance with Aalyah Mysterio, the daughter of Rey Mysterio Jr., and included an on-screen kiss that Matthews later admitted made him uncomfortable.

Matthews later joined AEW, became a member of House of Black, and captured the AEW World Trios Championship alongside Malakai Black and Brody King.

His in-ring work has also earned high ratings from Cagematch.net users, with several of his Cruiserweight Championship defenses in WWE and later AEW Trios Championship matches earning standout user ratings on the platform. Matthews married fellow Australian wrestler Rhea Ripley in June 2024 after the pair announced their engagement the previous year.

9. The IIconics

• Cassie Lee, known as Peyton Royce, was born in Sydney, NSW, on November 10, 1992
• Jessie McKay, known as Billie Kay, was born in Sydney, NSW, on June 23, 1989
• Lee and McKay have been friends since high school

Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay performed in WWE as the memorable tag team The IIconics.

The real-life friends debuted on NXT television in October 2016 and won Breakout of the Year at that year’s NXT Year-End Awards. They spent the next two years in NXT before joining the main roster in April 2018.

The IIconics made an immediate impact by attacking Charlotte Flair, which allowed Carmella to cash in her Money in the Bank contract and win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

The duo didn’t wait long to claim gold of their own. They won a fatal four-way match at WrestleMania 35 to capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, beginning a 120-day reign.

Lee and McKay later disbanded as part of a stipulation after losing to The Riott Squad. WWE soon drafted Royce to Raw and Kay to SmackDown before releasing both members of The IIconics on April 15, 2021.

The pair later appeared in Impact Wrestling and became the first team to win both the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship and the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship. After losing the titles, Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay announced in April 2022 that they were stepping away from in-ring competition but have since returned to wrestling and are currently signed to AEW.

10. Emma

• Born in Boronia, VIC, on March 1, 1989
• First Australian female wrestler signed by WWE
• Ranked No. 51 in the 2015 PWI Female 50

Tenille Dashwood, known as Emma in WWE, began training for professional wrestling at 13. At 18, she moved to Canada to study at Lance Storm’s Storm Wrestling Academy.

Dashwood signed with WWE in 2011 and later debuted in NXT after shoulder surgery kept her out of action for most of a year.

The next two years saw Dashwood compete in NXT alongside the “Four Horsewomen” of Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. WWE called her up to the main roster on January 13, 2014.

Her first WWE run most notably featured an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella. Dashwood also challenged AJ Lee in a 14-woman match for the WWE Divas Championship.

WWE released her in October 2017, but she returned to the company in 2022 after notable stops in Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling. During her time in Impact, she became a one-time Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion alongside Madison Rayne.

Emma was released again in September 2023 and subsequently returned to the independent wrestling circuit, making appearances across various promotions, including Ring of Honor and other international indie events. While she has not been re-signed by WWE, she has continued to compete sporadically and remains a respected veteran presence whenever she steps into the ring.

Regardless of what comes next, her career has already secured her place among the best Australian women to compete in WWE. Emma completes my personal top 10, but plenty of other talented Aussie wrestlers also deserve consideration.

Read More: The best WWE heels of all time.

Betting on Australian WWE Stars

Australia continues to shape professional wrestling through stars who combine athleticism, personality, and championship success. Rhea Ripley leads this ranking, while Toni Storm, Grayson Waller, Nia Jax, Bronson Reed, and other standout names showcase the country’s lasting influence across WWE and beyond.

Each wrestler brings a distinct style, memorable moments, and an impressive career story to the list. Fans can also bet on wrestling at WWE betting sites, which offer odds on matches, premium live events, and championship outcomes, among others.