From ‘crowds of 10’ to the MCG: WWE star’s Melbourne success story
MELBOURNE’S own WWE superstar is set to live his dream and fight at the MCG when the WWE comes to town next month, but it wasn’t too long ago he was wrestling in a Chinese restaurant on weekends while working in construction.
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MELBOURNE’S own WWE superstar is ready to ‘blow people’s minds’ as he chases a fairytale finish to his inspirational rise in the world of professional wrestling at next month’s WWE Super Show-Down at the MCG.
Matt Adams, 29, who competes for the WWE as Buddy Murphy, will be competing on Saturday, October 6 in front of a hometown crowd as he vies for the company’s Cruiserweight Championship, the prize in a division for competitors under 93kg.
“It’d be massive if I’m able to capture it in Melbourne,” he said.
“The Super Show-Down is going to be the equivalent of WrestleMania and not only in my home country, but my home city. To win the Cruiserweight title would be absolutely massive for me, it doesn’t really get any bigger than that.
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“I used to always want to go and play football on the MCG but I’m getting to do something better ... I’m getting to wrestle for the biggest company in the world.”
While Murphy is set to live out his childhood dream this October, it was no cakewalk getting to this juncture in his career. Starting his career in 2007, Murphy – then wrestling as Matt Silva – spent his weekends travelling the country to wrestle while trying to hold down a job in Melbourne. Finding a balance between his dream and making a living was difficult.
“I did construction and a bit of everything, but wrestling was my main focus. It was hard to nail down a full-time job when wrestling’s your priority and weekends are kind of taken up,” Adams said.
“I understood that it was hard to get a job but I had a goal in mind and it was wrestling. No matter what, how hard it was, how much money I didn’t have, it didn’t matter. Wrestling was the number one goal.
“Whether I was wrestling in front of 10 people or 500 people, that’s the feeling I was addicted to and you can’t put a price on that.”
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That addiction to performing no matter the crowd fuelled Adams’ unlikely rise from wrestling in a Tullamarine Chinese restaurant to stadiums for a television audience of millions.
It was 2013 – six years into his career – that Adams took the chance of a lifetime, quitting his job and travelling to Florida for a shot at a WWE contract. The gamble paid off, after he beat out 84 other contenders to earn a chance with the professional wrestling giant.
“When I went over and officially moved, it was hard and difficult,” Murphy said.
“It was an adjustment period, but I was there for work and I was there to make the biggest ame I could for myself.”
Murphy would taste first success in the WWE’s developmental brand, NXT, where they produce weekly episodic content that showcases the company’s emerging talent.
Both @WWE_Murphy & @KalistoWWE pulled out ALL the stops in their physical showdown on #205Live! pic.twitter.com/Y09M9NPZIv
— WWE (@WWE) April 5, 2018
In January 2015, Adams became one half of the brand’s tag-team champions, making him the first Australian to hold a championship in the WWE.
Seven months later, Murphy’s team lost the championships and dissolved, leaving his character off television and ‘lost in the shuffle’ of the company’s roster of wrestlers jostling for the chance to get noticed.
“In NXT, I was being under-utilised. I felt like my potential hasn’t even been scratched, I felt like the people within the WWE Performance Centre knew just how good I was but none of the fans really got to see what I had to offer,” he said.
This February – nearly three years after his maiden championship win, Buddy Murphy was given an chance to show the fans all he had to offer, debuting on 205 Live, the WWE’s third brand behind flagship shows SmackDown and Raw that specialises in performers under 93kg.
“Once I had the opportunity and I cut the weight, they gave the thumbs up – ‘okay, you’re going to be in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament’,” Murphy said.
His tournament slot ended in the second round, but Murphy’s talent and dizzying blend of size, speed and strength had turned enough heads to turn one opportunity to a regular role on the show.
“My nickname in the WWE is the ‘Best Kept Secret’, that’s because I have a lot to offer and when I perform, I blow people’s minds and steal the show,” Murphy said.
“Every time I’m performing, I’m performing to make a name for myself, I’m performing to put Australia on the map.
“Until I get that Cruiserweight Championship, that chip on my shoulder is just going to get bigger and my ego is just going to get more and more intense, so there’s only one thing to do and that’s become Cruiserweight Champion at Super Show-Down.”
WWE Super Show-Down is on October 6 at the MCG.
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