Iron Jay talks AWF, Training in Canada, I&J Commercials & WWE Tryouts

Arguably the face of Australian wrestling at one point, Iron Jay Ben Coles began his journey in the Australasian Wrestling Federation. At a time when the AWF was considered one of the top promotions in the country his lengthy 1,142-day reign as AWF Australasian Champion (August 2010 – October 2013) solidified Coles as a major player in Australian wrestling but also someone with the look, character and personality that could grab the attention of the non-wrestling Australian audience. Ben Coles went on to hold the AWF Commonwealth Championship (147 days) and was a regular for Queensland based Pacific Pro Wrestling, holding their Heavyweight Championship.

His career took a unique turn when he became the charismatic face of I&J, a frozen food brand. As the star of the “It’s Crunch Time” campaign, he embraced a flamboyant, cape-wearing persona to promote I&J’s battered fish, gaining widespread attention across Australia. Appearing on the Caught in Conversation podcast, Iron Jay made the following comments:

Iron Jay on becoming the face of I&J as the star of the “It’s Crunch Time” campaign…

“One of the wrestlers from AWF had an agent, and it was his agent who said, ‘Hey, bring some wrestlers. They’re looking for a wrestler for this role.’ And yeah, I was one of the wrestlers; I just got lucky—right place, right look.”

“I ended up getting it. And again, there are people who work their asses off their whole lives trying to get something like that. But it was just, you know, the right place, right time, right look.”

“I never wanted to act. I never had an agent. It was a completely different world. And yeah, I just got lucky with it. But you know, obviously, I put in the time.”

Iron Jay on discovering pro wrestling here in Australia…

“It took me a long time. I was just so WWF focused. That was just my little tunnel and my little, you know, that’s all I’d watch.I remember looking on, you know, just Googling and having to look around and stumbled across like AWF and some other Australian companies.”

“It was literally just looked online, which ones jumped out at me. AWF jumped out and yeah. I just emailed and sent through, had the cash so I could pay for it. And yeah, just went off to learn. Like I didn’t even watch an AWF show prior to me joining the school.”

Iron Jay on training at AWF’s wrestling school…

“I didn’t know anybody, I didn’t know anything. I was very out of my element, but I trained. I knew I needed to look a certain way. So I was focused on that. So when I came in, you know, I really kind of was able to be pushed a lot further, I felt because I looked a certain way.”

Iron Jay connecting with people in wrestling…

“I think just meeting the boys and the crew, like it was just the connection you have, obviously with training, they hammer you, they test you. And anytime you go through some hazing or things like that, where you are tested physically, and you push through it, I feel like you get some great connections with people and you get some respect as well, obviously, as you start to put in the time, put in the work. And so the fond memories are obviously just doing the ring crew, putting it together. But the 3 a. m. drives and the pack downs and stuff like that, meeting new people that are on the same journey that you’re on. And it’s kind of that full circle kind of thing as you get older and more experienced and then you see the new ones come through.”

“You’re just building these fantastic relationships. And some people that you’ve only met with a month or you haven’t even met. Like you crash at my place, it’s fine. You just, all of a sudden you’re in wrestling and you’ve just got these great respect and these great friendships and connections that it’s just wild.”

Iron Jay on training in Canada…

“I went to Canada, I trained over there as well and same thing, you start from the start, you start from the basics and you learn all the way through that. And it’s minus 32 over there. It was freezing. It was freezing your ass off. And you see people who have paid like 10K to do this course. And in the first week they quit and they don’t get a refund and they’re gone.”

“We did Storm Wrestling Academy for how long was it there? A few months. And that’s all I did. It was just full- time doing that.”

Iron Jay on why he became a personal trainer and personal training…

“So for me, I learned PT just because I thought I would travel with wrestling, and that I could get free memberships at the gym if I was a personal trainer and could do casual work and things like that.”

“So if people do ask about PT and stuff like that, I’m always happy to help people out and give them directions and stuff like that. I’ve only got a real small handful of clients at this stage, because, yeah, and again, it’s always something I can do and I love helping people.”

Iron Jay on a WWE tryout being his last match in wrestling and retiring…

“My last match was actually with tryouts with WWE is when I wrapped it up. I got my teeth smashed in pretty severely. I had to spend about 12 K on my teeth. I’m just like, yeah, I think that’s it. So I never officially retired, but it was kind of, yeah.”

Ben Coles also wrestled for several Australian promotions, including International Wrestling Australia (IWA), Ultimate Wrestling Alliance (UWA), Rock ‘N’ Roll Wrestling Australia (RRW), Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA), Newcastle Pro Wrestling (Newy Pro), Championship Wrestling Australia (CWA), New Age Wrestling (NAW), Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), and Blue Mountains Pro Wrestling.