Australia’s First Professional Wrestling Art Exhibition

By: Wyatt Medlin

Since 2019, Rockhampton has been the home of Professional Wrestling in Central Queensland. While under the banner of another Queensland company W.A.R had undergone 2 name changes (CQWA and QWAR). At the end of 2022 we decided to go out on our own and launch the first non for profit Wrestling company in Queensland. By going non for profit we ensured the longevity of our company and also helped put us in a position where we could finally give back to the community that helped make us what we are today. This is when Wrestling Allegiance Rockhampton (W.A.R) was born.

Just as W.A.R finalised it’s final non for profit registration, another visionary in Rockhampton was beginning to make a life long dream of his a reality. The director of ‘Rockhampton Museum of Art’ (RMoA) Jonathan McBurnie revealed his burning passion for not only art but Professional Wrestling, and revealed his vision of running Australia’s first Professional Wrestling Art Exhibition. Once hearing this it was like all of our prayers had been answered, RMoA had everything they needed besides an actual Wrestling company and W.A.R was ready to put in the ground work to launch our new company in Rockhampton. After a few meetings, RMoA had its live wrestling exhibition, W.A.R. had it’s first home and that’s when the WRESTLE MANIA exhibit was no longer a dream, but a reality.

The first time the W.A.R team walked in to the exhibition, we were like kids in a candy store (better yet we were life long wrestling fans in a pro wrestling art exhibit)! There was incredible wrestling themed paintings, pictures of artists in wrestling attire, incredible interpretations of Lucha masks which some were knitted and others were made from the body parts of baby dolls, wrestling lingo and explanations plastered on every wall (the look on fans faces when they read the definition of blading was priceless), wrestling video projections and right in the center of it all was the W.A.R wrestling ring. The memory of walking into that venue for the first time will stick with us forever, for the first time in our life we felt as though Pro Wrestling was getting the respect and recognition it deserved in our community.

November 18th was the official launch of the exhibition and W.A.R, and we all arrived early to make sure the stage was set for the big day. As we were tightening the ropes we were provided with the incredible news that W.A.R and RMoA had just officially sold the final ticket, we were officially a sell out! This was a first ever for RMoA, and for us to launch W.A.R in this way made every sleepless night worth it. What followed was one hell of a night, there was tag team action, a David vs Goliath battle, a violent championship defence and even one of the art works being taken of the wall and put over a wrestlers head! The crowd of wrestling fans and art enthusiasts left with smiles on their faces and memories of a night they’ll never forget.

After the success from the launch we were provided with the opportunity to run another event at RMoA, and we were excited to deliver a night of entertainment that would rival our first event, and boy did W.A.R deliver. On January 21st W.A.R presented ‘Art of W.A.R’ our second sold out show. This was the first show in the history of Rockhampton where there wasn’t a single ticket available on show day, our community had seen and heard about what we had delivered in November and knew they couldn’t miss out. Headlining this show for the first time ever was Colt Winchester vs Dante Rage, two of the biggest local talent that fans had been begging to see lock horns since 2019. The card from top to bottom was stacked with some of Queenslands best performers, and to say we blew the roof off is an understatement. For those that want to check it out, the whole show is currently on our Wrestling Allegiance Rockhampton YouTube channel, free to view.

So as the exhibition comes to a close, Wrestling Allegiance Rockhampton would like to thank RMoA for this once in a lifetime opportunity, this exhibition will forever hold a spot in our heart and history. RMoA’s Wrestle Mania display may be coming to a close but Wrestling Allegiance Rockhampton is only just warming up. Queensland Wrestling is finally starting to get the respect and recognition it deserves and W.A.R plans to be on the front line of making sure it does. Follow us on our socials, and help us keep fighting the good fight!