World Series Wrestling (WSW) is an Australian professional wrestling promotion. Originally founded in 2005, the promotion was in business for two years before going on hiatus, resuming operations in 2017.[1] The company is founded, promoted and owned by Adrian Manera.[2]
History
The first tour in 2005, titled International Assault, visited three cities – Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle – in early October.[3] In Melbourne the first WSW heavyweight champion was crowned in a one-off match between Rhino and Jeff Jarrett, with Rhino gaining the victory.[4] Also on the same night the first of a three match series was contested between A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels with Styles winning a 30-minute iron man match 1 fall to none. Rhino successfully defended his title against Jarrett in Sydney while Daniels leveled the three match series in Sydney,[5] but on the final night of the tour Jarrett defeated Rhino in Newcastle while Styles won the three match series.[6] The 2005 International Assault Tour also featured the final wrestling matches of ex WWE star, Australia's Nathan Jones.[citation needed]
The second tour in 2007 was also titled International Assault and took place in early June – again visiting the same three cities.[7] The WSW heavyweight title was vacant and another one-off match in Sydney was held to fill the vacancy. Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness for the title in a match for the ages. Local Sydney promotion the Australasian Wrestling Federation allowed its Australasian title and tag team titles to be defended on the show, with then AWF champion TNT defending successfully against Billy Kidman.[8] In Melbourne, Danielson successfully defended his title against McGuinness,[9] but in Newcastle Danielson lost the title to Kidman in an amazing match the first and last time the two competed in a singles match. .[10] The tour also featured Kid Kash and the Australian debut of Austin Aries.
Following on from International Assault 2, the next tour which took place in August 2007, entitled Global Attack rocked a near sell out crowd in Adelaide's Thebarton Theatre which featured Billy Kidman successfully defending the Heavyweight Championship against Heidenreich, and the Australian return of Kid Kash as well as the Australian debut of Masato Tanaka.[citation needed]
After a hiatus from promoting live events, World Series Wrestling planned to return with 3 live events planned for 2010 in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The tour was to feature Balls Mahoney, Tommy Dreamer, Daivari, Petey Williams, Heidenreich, Tajiri, Sonjay Dutt and more. Unfortunately as a result of the main sponsor pulling out only weeks prior to the tour, World Series Wrestling was left with no alternative but to cancel the planned event. WSW returned in November 2017 after a 10-year hiatus. Their first tour featured top independent wrestlers Ricochet, Austin Aries, Zack Sabre Jr., Tessa Blanchard, Joey Ryan and Brian Cage. On 25 November, Ricochet defeated Aries to become the new WSW Heavyweight Champion after the title had been vacant since mid-2007. During the following months, the promotion hosted more tours in Australia.[11][12][13] On 17 March, The Young Bucks became the inaugural WSW Tag Team champions. On 10 March, Jordynne Grace defeat Kellyanne and Shazza McKenzie in a triple threat match to be crowned the inaugural WSW Women's Champion.[14]