Why We Fight II

[Poet Justice]

Hardcore wrestling floats within

a perpetual state of existential irony

. Proponents of professional wrestling are often enamored with its violence and counterculturalism, yet the performance art’s bloodiest, most iconoclastic subgenre remains an outlier within its industry.

 

In the beginning, they were angry.

The year was 2006

, and the Comedian was once again unemployed following the bankruptcy of the Aussie Rules Wrestling company. The already barren Australian professional wrestling scene became even more dismal; sporadic indy shows, scumbag promoters, and rampant drug-use had become the norm throughout the Commonwealth. By the end of the year, The Comedian was

all but completely out of wrestling

, living in his car and aimlessly drifting through Queensland, working odd, menial jobs.

 

Then, in 2007,

APW happened

. Australian Pro Wrestling, bankrolled by millionaire James J. McMinister, featured Australia’s most popular regional wrestlers. Most of the Comedian’s ARW peers, such as Debonair David Peterson, Harry “The Hitman” Simonson, and Lanny “Old School” Williams, were prominently featured in APW’s promotional materials.

But McMinister never reached out to The Comedian.

 

Two years later, Revolution Australian Wrestling

rapidly accelerated the demise

of the Australian independent scene, nearly monopolizing the market through pulverizing TV network money and ravaging local wrestling communities. The result was a diluted, contrived corporate wrestling product that the country mindlessly watched each and every week.

 

Following years of wallowing in isolation and self-destruction, the Comedian resurfaced a few months after RAW’s premiere.

He returned with a vengeance.

The moment Deep Impact Wrestling debuted, the promotion’s spark was instant and undeniable, producing a brilliant, authentic electricity that neither APW nor RAW could hope to replicate. Taking on not only the most powerful institutions within professional wrestling, but those throughout all of Australia, DIW defiantly fought to liberate the everyman. Each and every show was accompanied by packed auditoriums, blustering audience moshpits, and a massive police presence as

the great cultural awakening of Australian professional wrestling had officially began

.

 

It seemed like RAW and APW could do very little to halt the relentless movement that was brewing in DIW. But

reality did

. As Deep Impact Wrestling smashed through Australia’s social mores, its finances dwindled to concerning levels. Soon, the promotion

was relegated to running two to three shows a year

, and much DIW’s gravity consequentially dissipated.

 

In 2014, I had the privilege of covering the extant DIW. My documentary,

Why We Fight

, covered a year of the company’s most intimate aspects, as

the Comedian mulled ending the entire promotion

. For months, the shows seemed more like amateur, unadulterated passion projects rather than a raging social movement, but

I could see what made DIW so special to so many Australians

.

 

Recently, the coals of DIW’s revolution seem to have been re-stoked, as

Why We Fight

’s success and popularity seemed to help the public reinvest in the promotion. Two years after the first Why We Fight, I found it only appropriate to revisit this fascinating wrestling company.

My name is Josh Rosenberg

, and please join me as we witness the triumphs and tragedy of Deep Impact Wrestling in...

 

FROM THE PRODUCER OF 'WHY WE FIGHT'

SUNDANCE FESTIVAL WINNER

| Best Documentary