Kyle Fletcher has quickly become one of AEW’s top young stars. The current International Champion is getting ready to defend his title against Bandido at AEW Redemption. Still, he reminisced about how his career might not have panned out the way he did because of a concern shared by an influential figure. Fletcher recently shared how a comment about his Australian accent from former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon almost made him doubt his wrestling dream.
Speaking with TV Insider, Fletcher talked about growing up in Australia, where it was rare to see Australian wrestlers on the biggest wrestling shows. While discussing how more Australians are finding success around the world, he remembered an old WWE interview that stayed with him for years.
Kyle Fletcher remembers Vince McMahon’s comments on Australian accents
During the interview, Fletcher was asked if Australians are having a big moment right now, with people like Robert Irwin and several Australian wrestlers gaining worldwide attention. Fletcher praised Robert Irwin and said his father, Steve Irwin, is still one of Australia’s biggest icons.
The conversation then shifted to wrestling, and Fletcher explained how different things were when he was growing up.
“As far as Aussies, I look at professional wrestling. There’s so many great Australians smashing it all across the professional wrestling world, which is so cool for me. When I started out, even when I started watching wrestling as a kid, there were no Australians at the top level, literally zero. It just wasn’t even a realm of possibility,” Fletcher said.
He then remembered watching an old interview with Vince McMahon during a WWE tour in Australia. According to Fletcher, the interviewer asked McMahon if he thought an Australian wrestler would ever become a regular on WWE TV.
“Hearing an interview with Vince McMahon doing media loops for the house shows they would do in Australia. An interviewer asked Vince McMahon if he ever thought he’d see an Australian on WWE television? And he was like, ‘I hate that accent.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, awesome. Yeah, great. Cool.’ That feels really good as an eight-year-old to hear,” Fletcher added.
Fletcher’s story shows just how much wrestling has changed over the years. When he was growing up, there were almost no Australian wrestlers in major North American promotions. Today, things are very different.
WWE has stars like Rhea Ripley, Grayson Waller, and Bronson Reed, while AEW features Toni Storm and Kyle Fletcher. All of them have found success while keeping their Australian accents.
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