MCW Ballroom Brawl Review (27/06/2026)

By Mick Robson

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Here on The Arena Media, I’m making a concerted effort to get outside the NSW bubble. We did it recently for PWL with The Fyre Rises, and we’ve done it a couple of times this year for MCW. In fact, we covered Melbourne’s premier wrestling promotion last month with the excellent High Stakes event, so anticipation is high for this one. 

The Ballroom Brawl. Melbourne City Wrestling’s take on the Royal Rumble. 20 of the best competitors in Australian wrestling battle for supremacy, a future shot at gold, and a place in MCW history. 

I’m keen. Not a whole lot more to say. 

Let’s do this! 

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We open on YouTube- just a single day after the event occurred live at the Melbourne Pavillion, a great quick turnaround- with rapid fire shots of some of the top talent- including Erika Reid, Adam Brooks, Matt Hayter and The Tuckman- among others. Truly gathering the best from around the country. 

A video package airs for the top matches on this show- including the Sacrament match between Erika Reid and Caity Luxe, Shay Kassidy vs. Aysha for the MCW Women’s Championship, Robbie Thorpe vs. Matt Hayer for the MCW Heavyweight Title, and of course, our Ballroom Brawl main event. Plus more. A stacked card to be sure! 

A promo by the Clydesdale airs further hyping the show before we go inside the Pavillion with commentators Nims Azoor and Simon Takla. 

Match 1: MCW Tag Team Championship- North Shore Wrestling (Sam Osborne & Will Kiedis) vs. Water Rapids (Mitch Waterman & Ryan Rapid) (c) 

Holy hell, immediate first impression is that everything looks beautiful- the lighting, the stage, the cameras... and then in walks North Shore. In seriousness, an incredible choice to start the show, the uber-talented North Shore are making their MCW debut as a team, I’ve been singing their praises for the longest time in PWA. They currently hold the PWA Tag Team Championship, in a reign exceeding 300 days. Also of note, the injured Scott Green has joined the commentary team here. 

Easy dynamic with the boos and cheers coming by way of ring announcer Lindsay Howarth announcing the hometowns of each team. Crowd strongly behind the champs from Melbourne. Huge “North Shore Wankers” chant as the match starts. 

Waterman and Osborne start with chain wrestling, before Mitch sends Sam reeling with a rana. Kiedis in and immediately grounded with an arm drag. Champs looking to set the tone with an early advantage. Ryan tags in and the Water Rapids clear North Shore from the ring. “I’ve done that to those gronks many times!” Scott says with glee in his voice. 

Kiedis drops Mitch with a cheap shot from the apron, giving Osborne the advantage. Osborne chokes Mitch with the apron skirt before Kiedis comes across with the Taker leg drop. North Shore settle into a beatdown on Waterman, who creates a little separation with a shotgun dropkick, but is intercepted by Kiedis before he can get to Rapid. He eventually breaks free and hot tags Rapid, who comes in with a springboard moonsault! The pace accelerates significantly. Rapid looks for a 450, rolls through, Kiedis looks for the Unprettier, Rapid counters into a crucifix pin for a near fall. 

Kiedis cuts Rapid off with a high knee. Osborne in with a sick double team move- an F5 into a cutter? Like a twisting 3D? Waterman breaks up the pin. Chaos breaks out as all four men get involved, tornado style. The champs hit a pump kick/German suplex combo. Fosbury Flop by Rapid on Osborne. Coast to Coast by Waterman on Kiedis. The Water Rapids are on fire! Moonsault by Waterman, 450 by Rapid, it’s over! 

Winners: Water Rapids (at 12:09) 

Thoughts: High octane start. Last MCW show, the Rapids had an insane tag title match that almost stole the loaded card, and they truly set the tone for this show with this display. As for North Shore, a hell of an impression in their MCW debuts. A frequent highlight of PWA cards, they were their usual excellent selves here. Absolute heat magnets. 

Scott Green leaves commentary following this. Seems he was just there to introduce/shit talk North Shore Wrestling. Not a bad way to add to the show honestly, it was fun. 

Match 2: MCW Intercommonwealth Championship- The Clydesdale vs. Adam Brooks (c) 

The Clydesdale is one of the most impressive newcomers I’ve seen in a while, but commentary with a great line as they refer to Adam Brooks as “the Phar Lap of MCW.” 

Clydesdale hits a leapfrog in the early going and is very proud of himself, gyrating his hips, but Brooksy’s having none of it and drops him face first to the mat before riding him around the ring! Insult to injury. The champ stays in early control, dropping Clydesdale with a kitchen sink knee, but gets tripped up by Clyde’s mate at ringside, Lucky O’Leary. Brooks doesn’t let it stop him though, scoring on a sunset flip for a near fall. 

Brooks opts to wipe O’Leary out with a suicide dive, but Clyde catches him on the way back in, kicking the middle rope into his Loose Ledges. Clydesdale doesn’t maintain the advantage long though, as Brooks gives him a flatliner into the middle turnbuckle. O’Leary grabs Brooks behind the referee’s back and throws him into the barricade, allowing Clydesdale to nail a lariat for a near fall. 

Clyde then gets the MCW Intercommonwealth Championship belt to use as a weapon, but Brooks blasts him with a shotgun dropkick. He looks for a Swanton, but Clyde moves and smashes him with a horseshoe that Lucky slid to him! And it gets the 3! 

Winner: The Clydesdale (at 6:53) 

Thoughts: Wow, what a shocker! Clydesdale used every dirty trick in the book, and it was enough to beat the legendary Adam Brooks. From kissing Cava’s Mum to winning one of MCW’s most prestigious championships, hard to say what the bigger win is. Where does Brooks go from here? He’s done a good amount of work for major international promotions recently- AEW, ROH, TNA, was even a guest coach at the WWE PC... does he finally have his long-deserved opportunity overseas? Regardless, congrats to the Clydesdale. 

Match 3: MCW Women’s Championship- Aysha vs. Shay Kassidy (c) 

Shay Kassidy is a friend of The Arena, recently sitting down with me for a great interview, but I’ve long touted the immense ability of Aysha as well. She lives up to the First Class moniker, and I’m looking forward to a straight up match after the shenanigans of the Blindfold Match last month at High Stakes. 

Chain wrestling back and forth to start, evenly matched here. Shay with an early 2 count off a running cross body. The signature dancing boots to the head follow, followed by a brutal faceplant. Aysha begs off into the ropes, then rakes the eyes. Spinning kick follows. Extremely talented but not afraid to bend or break rules, is Aysha.  

Aysha works over the head and neck while mocking Shay. Aysha tries to mock the signature kicks of Shay, and that’s too far, as the champ fires up. A flurry of forearms and chops, followed by an Air Raid Crash, gets Shay back on track. She looks for Angels Wings, but Aysha reverses into a jackknife pin for a near fall. A bulldog attempt is shrugged off by Shay, and she hits a cutter for a near fall of her own. Pace picking up here with some strong back and forth.  

Aysha with a Backstabber for a great near fall. She sets up for the First Class DDT but Shay escapes. A sunset flip attempt leads to back and forth pin attempts- and Shay gets it! 

Winner: Shay Kassidy (at 8:11) 

Thoughts: High energy, back and forth match. Is this over, or do we continue? A sunset flip isn’t necessarily the most definitive end to things, and they have excellent chemistry together. Entertaining stuff, and whether things continue with Shay and Aysha, or Erika Reid and Caity Luxe enter the mix, the MCW women’s division is in a very strong place. 

Hearing audio of things that don’t quite match what’s happening on screen at the time- I think it may be replays of spots in the match on the big screens at the Pavillion? 

A promo airs for MCW Clash of the Titans, their next event on 29th August, back at the Thornbury Theatre. 

Match 4: MCW World Championship- Matt Hayter vs. Robbie Thorpe (c) (w/ Rocky Menero) 

Back to back to back to back championship matches. What a ridiculously loaded card!  

Thorpe knocks Hayter down with a shoulder block in the early going, as Menero mocks the challenger at ringside. Official Ego’s not having it, and takes a swipe at him. 

Hayter tries to work over Thorpe with a headlock, but the skyscraper of a man just picks him up and dumps him over the top rope! That’s one way to counter. Hayter gets back in after a few choice words with Rocky Menero and tries to use his agility to overcome the sheer size and power of the champion. 

Hayter gets aerial with a tope con hilo, wiping out Thorpe at ringside as Menero scurries away. Hayter tunes up the band back in the ring, but Menero causes another distraction, allowing Thorpe to flapjack him to the heavens. Adds an extra layer of frustration, because with all the physical tools Thorpe has, he shouldn’t NEED Rocky... but he’s there anyway. Great heel act. 

Almost as if Rocky time travelled, went interstate and heard my thoughts, he went to join commentary, saying, “Robbie’s got this!” And indeed, the champ is in firm control with devastating strikes. Hayter looks for a sunset flip, but Thorpe blocks it with pure power and drags him up for a fisherman suplex for a near fall. The beatings continue, but a defiant Hayter comes back with a flying European uppercut! It doesn’t last long though, and Thorpe grounds Hayter yet again. 

Hayter battles out of the corner with right hands and scores with the springboard tornado DDT for a near fall. As Hayter tries to gather himself after the kickout, Thorpe locks in the Chickenwing! Hayter battles to his feet and drives Thorpe into the corner. Hayter fires up but Thorpe hits him with a vicious neck twist! Triple powerbomb follows, and somehow Hayter has enough life to roll out of the ring. Hayter beats the 10 count but is immediately met with a leg drop off the second rope! Near fall. 

Hayter intercepts a flying Thorpe with a superkick, followed by a pair of moonsaults for a 2.99 count! The MCW faithful are right behind Hayter. Thorpe ducks a superkick, goes for a clothesline, and takes out the referee instead! Hayter nails the superkick, but there’s no one to count the pin. Thorpe nails a clothesline and goes for his own moonsault- but Hayter intercepts him again mid air with a superkick! Shades of this year’s PWA Colosseum. A ref slides in, 1, 2... and the count stops. It’s Edward Dusk in a referee shirt! Great camera work hiding who the ref was before the reveal moment. 

Dusk kicks Hayter in the Ego right before blasting him with knuckle dusters. Then he hits Thorpe with them too! Referee Edwin gets booted in the nuts too! This is madness. Rocky Menero slides in and uses Edwin’s limp arm to count the 3. 

Winner: Robbie Thorpe (at 21:54) 

Thoughts: That was insanity. Incredible match that made Thorpe look like a monster, gave Hayter sympathy and displayed his heart, then we had a boatload of shenanigans to wrap things up, firmly establishing Edward Dusk as a threat in the title scene. As good as it gets across the board. 

Match 5: The Sacrament- Caity Luxe vs. Erika Reid 

Caity enters wearing all white. Normally when a wrestler wears white gear for a gimmick match, it means there’s going to be blood. Let’s see. The Sacrament match means anything goes. 

No chain wrestling to kick this one off, as both women throw knees and clotheslines. Erika hot shots Caity off the apron- she takes a nasty spill that makes the ref check on her. Erika grabs a bin and Caity grabs a chair. Chair wins this round. So we get a few more chairs thrown into the ring. 

Caity Luxe grabs a screwdriver and screws it into the head of Erika Reid! Then we get the Jeff Hardy spot through the ear lobe. Oh, this one is going to be nasty. A body slam on the steel chairs by Caity. She goes up top but Erika throws a chair at her head. Superplex by Erika on the chairs!  

Erika grabs a staple gun. Jesus. And right to the groin! And the ass! Not a good time to be Caity Luxe. She does come back with a bin lid shot to Erika’s head though. And she’s got a thick steel chain and decks her with it. Then chokes her with it! This is living up to the billing! 

They brawl into the crowd. Big credit on the lighting- so often when indies do crowd spots, the lighting is really poor and it’s hard to see what’s happening. Not the case here. They brawl through the bar and into the rows of fans. Caity takes one of their seats, then Erika hits her with a bottle, I think- and gets the 3! 

Winner: Erika Reid (at 9:43) 

Thoughts: I didn’t realise it was falls count anywhere! They probably said it and I just missed it, so the ending was very unexpected. I’ve seen past Sacrament matches but it’s been a while. But anyway, that was awesome. The right level of violence for that stipulation and its history in MCW. The first one without Edward Dusk, the first one with women, and they did the Sacrament justice. It was top tier. 

A video package airs on the Ballroom Brawl, going through the history and the stats of the match. 

Main Event: 20 Man Ballroom Brawl 

Entrant #1 is Lucas Fantasia, due to his loss last month at High Stakes. Entrant #2 is... The Tuckman! He enters from the bar, hands a fan a free beer, and the crowd is rocking. We had Sandman at Hammerstein, now we have Tuckman at the Melbourne Pavilion.  

We Dagger all the way to #3 as we run it back... I missed when the bell actually rang, but anyway, here comes Mitch Ryder from QLD! We’re getting the best of all Australian wrestling converging on Melbourne for this one. He takes the fight to both Lucas and Tuckman. Entrant #4 is... The Physicals? Like both of them? Johnny Jetts and Jimmy Castle, welcome to the Ballroom, gents! The tag team hit Lucas with a double hip toss. They drop Mitch Ryder with an assisted tornado DDT. Jimmy Castle wipes out everyone with a top rope cross body! 

#5 is the new Intercommonwealth Champion, The Clydesdale! He’s smashed half a bottle of champagne, apparently. #6 is Anth Cava. What a strange coincidence! Cava hits him with a spinebuster and throws him out for our first elimination. Clydesdale is pissed, but he goes to get his bottle of champagne back from the commentary desk so he can get... pissed, I guess. #7 is Nate Hunter, the man who beat Lucas Fantasia at High Stakes. So he got a better spot... but not by that much, really. He hits a Neutraliser on Johnny Jetts. Ryder dumps out the Physicals. #8 is JAB. He immediately nails Tuckman with a wild spin kick and drops Fantasia with a Death Valley Driver. It might not be the Twerkrate that kills in this one!  

#9 is Ryan Rapid. Straight to JAB with a springboard moonsault and an elevated DDT. Halfway there with #10, JJ Furno! Immediate springboard Stunner on JAB. Massive cross body on Hunter. He faces off with Ryan Rapid, who he teams with at Renegades as Rapid Fire. Furno drops Rapid with a springboard destroyer and almost eliminates him, but he hangs on. #11 is Jamie Tagataese! The Big Man has arrived in MCW! He drops Furno with a back suplex and levels JAB with a spinning sidewalk slam! Tuckman approaches him doing the Dagger, but Jamie throws him out. Lucas Fantasia goes next. Then Anth Cava. What a statement! As Cava flew to his doom, #12, Matty Romano, entered. Shotgun dropkicks sends Tagataese reeling. Big Codebreaker on JAB. Satellite DDT and a 619 on Furno! Romano’s shining- then Tagataese mows him down. It was fun while it lasted. 

At #13, it’s Mitch Waterman! Slingblade on Hunter, then throws him out. It looks like the Water Rapids can join forces, but Ryder immediately ruins that plan by clotheslining Rapid to the outside. Entering from the balcony, with a $2000 bounty from Rocky Menero, is Jarvis at #14! Everyone targets him for that sweet cash. Jarvis goes for a handspring cutter but Tagataese drops him with a powerslam. He charges, but Jarvis low bridges, and the Big Man is gone! Great showing by Tagataese though. He doesn’t take the elimination well, dragging Jarvis under the ropes and destroying him. 

Stevie Filip comes out at #15. Furno drills him with a springboard spear. Filip comes back with a front flipping kick, eliminating him! Matty Romano eliminates JAB with a headscissor counter! #16 is Lucky O’Leary! Big back suplexes all around.  

At #17, it’s a massive return with Caveman Ugg! The former MCW Champion is back from injury to a thunderous response. Edward Dusk attacks him during his entrance with a steel chair, smashing his knee! I guess he’s not back after all. Entrant #18... is Edward Dusk himself, looking mighty pleased about his actions. He throws Jarvis- who was never actually eliminated- back into the ring, and starts laying the boots into the rest of the field. O’Leary eliminates Romano. Murdoch is #19. He drops Dusk with a Claymore. Dusk comes right back with a German suplex and eliminates him. Short night at the office for Murdoch. Jarvis takes out O’Leary.  

Entrant #20 is Gino Gambino! First time in MCW since 2019. With all entrants in, we need to clear some bodies now. Spin kick on Dusk by Jarvis, and Dusk is eliminated! Gambino smashes Jarvis in the corner with a splash- I guess he’d like that $2000 bounty. Ryder gets rid of Gino with assistance from Jarvis and Waterman. Final 3 now. They trade shots and everyone’s down. Ryder’s been in virtually since the start. Jarvis almost goes out, but hangs onto the bottom rope by his toes! He lifts himself back in, then back drops both Waterman and Ryder out to win! 

Winner: Jarvis (at approx. 40 minutes) 

Thoughts: An incredible Rumble match. Surprises, storylines furthered, debuts, wrestlers looking strong, great action sequences, and an inventive finish to the match! Love it for Jarvis, going from being runner up in the Ballroom Brawl to winning the thing this year. After his classic back at MCW Anniversary with Robbie Thorpe, I can’t wait to see where this goes next. 

Nims Azoor and Simon Takla sign off by hyping MCW Clash of the Titans in August, as Jarvis celebrates with the adoring crowd to end the show. 

Overall Thoughts 

An absolutely fantastic show top to bottom. I’ve frequently said that Aussie wrestling at its best is up there with any wrestling scene in the world- well, this was Aussie wrestling at its best. The level of production, talent, entertainment and atmosphere here was world-class. Not a single weak point, every match delivered. We had great tag wrestling. We had great character work. We had men and women both highly showcased. We had a main event level banger for a world title. We had a wild gimmick match which went around the arena. Tons of action, tons of drama, a little comedy here and there, whatever you watch wrestling for, Ballroom Brawl had it all. There might be shows in the rest of 2026 that have a better match or two here and there, but the level of start to finish consistency MCW gave us here is going to be tough to beat. But as a fan, I’d love to see every Aussie promotion try. 

Overall Score: 10/10 

Until next time, take care.