Hartley Jackson

Hartley Jackson began wrestling in Adelaide, Australia, training under retired regional champion Col Dervaney. Jackson made his in ring debut on 4 October, 1999.[7] His first appearance in the PWI Top 500 was in 2001.[8] In his early years he captured the MPW and WrestleRock Championships. He wrestled across the country and competed in a Survival Of The Fittest event,[9] a 60 Iron Man minute match, before heading off on his first international excursion overseas.

In 2007 he began his rise to a heavyweight wrestler and teamed with Shane Haste to take on NWA Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, Karl Anderson and Joey Ryan[10] in a set of matches for NWA Pro, which took place in Australia.[11][12] Jackson got involved in an altercation with Australian sports journalist and news presenter, Mark Aiston, where the two would eventually square off in a pro wrestling match.[13][14]

In 2011 Jackson would simultaneously hold the Zero1 UN Heavyweight Championship, PWA Heavyweight Championship and the EPW Australian national Championship titles.[15] In 2014, Jackson wrestled NJPW's Shinsuke Nakamura during his first tour of Australia for Wrestle Rampage.[16][17] Jackson continued to travel across Australia, winning the NWA Australian National championship.[18] He formed the South Australian Serial Killers (SASK) tag team in 2014.[19] Teaming with Jonah Rock, they went on to capture the MCW Tag Team Championship and WR Meltdown Tag Team Championship. Jackson was also part of The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK) in 2015 and 2016.[20][21][22]

In his career in Australia, Jackson is a former two-time Wrestle Rampage Australian National Champion, former one-time AWA Heavyweight Championship, former two-time WrestleRock Heavyweight Champion, former one-time Professional Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Champion, former two-time MPW Heavyweight Champion, a former one-time Melbourne City Wrestling Tag Team Champion, former one-time Explosive Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion, former one-time Pacific Tag Team Champion and former two-time PWSA Hardcore Champion.[23]

In the later half of 2005, Hartley Jackson travelled to the USA on his first international excursion with Mikey Nicholls where they were a tag team known as The Kerrigan's in All Pro Wrestling.[24] In Los Angeles, Jackson continued to further his pro wrestling training under WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki at the NJPW LA Dojo.[25][26] Jackson wrestled on the NJPW Dojo events, co-produced with NWA Pro, that took place at the LA Dojo in Santa Monica,[27] including a match for the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship against Fergal Devitt.[28] After his time at the LA Dojo, Jackson was recruited into the ranks of Japan's wrestling scene, where he worked one show with New Japan Pro Wrestling.[29][30]

In October 2008 Jackson returned to Japan to take part in the “PROWRES EXPO 2008” in Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan.[31] In 2010 Jackson participated in his first tour for Zero1, where he would remain a fixture for the company.[31] He formed a tag team with Steve Corino where they battled Akebono Tarō and Shinjiro Otani for the Intercontinental Tag Team Championships.[32][33] Between 2010 and 2016 Jackson split his time competing in his home country of Australia, along with locales like Nepal, New Zealand and Myanmar.[34] Myanmar held their first ever pro wrestling event at the Thein Phyu Stadium. The Myanmar Martial Arts Wrestling featured Hartley Jackson up against Masato Tanaka in a singles match.

Between 2016 and 2018 Jackson moved to Japan full-time to work for Zero1. During this time, he became a member of the Voodoo Murders,[35] where he went on to capture the United National Heavyweight Championship (Zero1) and the Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (Zero1) which he held with Voodoo Murders leader, Yoshikazu Taru. Also in this time, Jackson participated in a series of Exploding Bat matches, fighting against Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's Atsushi Onita.[36][37]

Jackson returned to Zero1 in 2020 on a permanent basis. He has fought for the World Heavyweight Championship and was named as one of the participants in this years 2020 Zero1 Fire Festival.[38][39]

In his career in Japan, Jackson has wrestled for Zero1, Hustle, BJW, IGF, SWF and Real Japan Pro Wrestling with one match for NJPW, along with earning championships to his name. He is a former two-time United National Heavyweight Champion and a former one-time Intercontinental Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Jackson competed in the 2013 Zero1 Tenkaichi Jr. Tournament,[40] dropping to 99.9kg to make the competing weight, competed in the 2017 Zero1 Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament and also competed in the 2018 Zero1 Fire Festival. In 2018 he also picked up an MVP award for his match against Yusaku Obata for the World Heavyweight Championship.[32]

In 2006 Jackson became head coach of what is now called the Wrestle Rampage Dojo in Adelaide, South Australia. Over the course of the next decade, he went on to train and mentor many of Australia's current top talents, in which some have reached the heights of WWE and international recognition, including the likes of Bronson Reed,[41] Brendan Vink, Mikey Nicholls,[42] Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.[43][44] Jackson is regarded as Australia's top pro wrestling trainer. [45]

After a series of guest coach appearances, Jackson officially joined the WWE Performance Center as a part of the coaching staff in 2018.[46] Jackson taught classes at the WWE Performance Center.[47] Jackson helped recruit and scout wrestlers for the WWE both at the PC in Orlando and internationally.[48][49] This included coaching at the first ever WWE Tryouts held in India, with over 70 participants.[50][51][52][53][54] Jackson also helped train the talent from local independent promotions for WWE's recruitment camps.[55][56] In 2019 Jackson amicably parted ways with WWE to continue his pro wrestling career in Japan. [57] In 2020 Jackson returned to Japan where he is once again an active wrestler, but also took over head coach duties for Pro Wrestling ZERO1 at their Dojo.[58]