Bronson Reed Returns To WWE
By Mick Robson
The Raw roster has received a Colossal boost this week, as JONAH has returned to WWE, under his Bronson Reed moniker. The 34 year old Australian made an impact during The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis ladder match, hitting Lumis with his Tsunami Splash, helping Miz win the bags of cash up for grabs.
Reed previously wrestled for WWE on the NXT brand, signing in 2019 and making his television debut in the Breakout Tournament that year. The pinnacle of his first run came when he defeated Johnny Gargano in a Steel Cage Match to win the NXT North American Championship. The reign was short, as he dropped the title to Isaiah "Swerve" Scott after just 42 days, but appeared set for a main roster call-up. After a dark match tryout, it was reported that Reed failed to impress Vince McMahon, and was released from his WWE contract shortly thereafter.
Back under his old ring name of JONAH on the independent scene, the South Australian native soon established himself in other promotions worldwide, making appearances in Impact Wrestling and NJPW. In New Japan, Jonah picked up perhaps the biggest name victory of his entire career, pinning Kazuchika Okada in the G1 Tournament in a critically acclaimed bout. Those performances appeared to spark the interest of WWE upper management, who no longer include Vince McMahon, but do include his old boss in WWE developmental, Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
Thoughts: Wishing JONAH/Bronson all the best in this second opportunity. I was fortunate enough to meet him earlier this year when he returned to Australia for the debut show of Renegades of Wrestling. The first thing I said to him was that WWE were crazy to let him go. Wrestlers that have that monster style are few and far between, and Reed proved himself with his NXT performances, in particular an epic showing in the NXT North American Championship ladder match. One of the few bright spots of pandemic era wrestling. Looking forward to seeing where this run takes Bronson Reed, and I'm very happy to see more Aussie representation on WWE programming.
