Adelaide pro wrestler Jermaine ‘Bronson Reed’ Haley makes waves in WWE
Adelaide’s Jermaine Haley dreamed of joining WWE since he was a child but says he’s had to make some big adjustments after turning his lifelong ambition into a “weird” reality.
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It was a boyhood dream for Adelaide’s Jermaine Haley (ring name Bronson Reed) to become a professional wrestler for WWE.
The 31-year-old had taken up the sport fresh out of high school with the Wrestle Rampage Dojo, and had his sights set firmly on making it to the top.
“For me, I was a big fan in the 1990s, it was Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock as my aspirations,” he said.
“I now work with Shawn Michaels every week which is quite surreal.
“It’s weird at times, he’s my coach at the performance centre, I learned from him every week, we have chats at times and I have to pinch myself sometimes that I’m talking to HBK, Mr WrestleMania.”
Haley has wrestled all across Australia and over the world, including the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany before making it to the United States.
Despite waiting a decade to get his chance, he said he wouldn’t change his pathway for the world.
“I’m happy I had that journeyman experience in Australia, the Australian wrestling scene is something close to my heart,” he said.
“I think Australian wrestling is in the best condition we’ve seen,”
“Especially in the last five years, we’ve had a lot of people going around the world and learning more, whether it's the UK, US or Japan.
“What it is now than 10 years ago, it’s more polished than it used to be.”
Haley signed with WWE in January 2019, and he said he had to get used to a new way of life and so did his wife.
“It’s getting used to a different training schedule, a different way of doing things, it’s wrestling on a different scale,” he said.
“It’s learning little aspects and then getting me and my wife’s life set up here.
“She’s been super supportive, I’ve always been very lucky, we’re high school sweethearts and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“In this line of work, family and friends sometimes come second because you get busy, or you have to travel and she was so supportive it almost became her dream to see me here in WWE and NXT.”
Seven months after he signed for WWE, Haley made his debut under the name Bronson Reed with the company’s talent development brand, NXT.
“It’s one of those things you have to pinch yourself and again in front of TV, it’s something you’ve always worked for and want,” he said.
“I remember my first match on TV, it felt like it went for 20 seconds and it was done, but it went for about 10 minutes.
“Some people I think perform better under pressure, whenever I’ve wrestled in front of a new crowd, something kicks in and you switch gears.
“I felt like I did that on that night.”
During his time in Australia, Haley won multiple championships and on Sunday, he’s in a six-man ladder match for the NXT North American Championship, which would be his greatest accolade to date.
From his years on the independent scene, Haley is no stranger to ladder matches.
“It’s a tough one, all these styles of matches like ladders, tables, there’s always a higher risk,” he said.
“I’ve been involved in those style of matches on the independent scene, but it’s a whole new level.
“You can try and prepare for it as physically as possible in the gym every single day, but things can just happen.
“I know I’m going to be sore for the next couple of weeks at least.”
Despite many injuries occurring during these specialist matches in WWE, Haley is eager to test out some of the company’s exclusive matches.
“Obviously there’s things here that no-one else does in the world like an elimination chamber or a hell in a cell and I’d love to do one of those one day,” he said.
Moving forward, Haley has two aspirations, and one of those is to help develop Australian wrestling.
“I’m looking forward to showcasing Australian wrestling in a good light and that it opens up more for others as well,” he said.
“I think anyone that starts a wrestling career also has an aspiration of getting to WrestleMania.”
Watch WWE SummerSlam LIVE Monday 24th August from 9am AEST on Foxtel’s Main Event