Unable to train during last year's lockdown period, Launceston's Charlie Jordan got to work on expanding her wrestling profile.
Jordan, who competes under the ring name Charli Rose, contacted wrestling promotions from all around Australia to broaden her horizons and open new doors, the first of which will come to fruition this weekend.
The 19-year-old former Riverside High School student is set to wrestle for Victorian promotion Deathmatch Downunder on their "Smashing Sandcastles" show in Carlton on Saturday.
"I am terrified, I'm so scared but it's all going to be very exciting," she said.
"It's going to be a very awesome learning experience for me.
"It doesn't feel real, it doesn't feel like I'm going to be seeing all these people that I idolise and who I watch as a fan myself, just to be in the same room and to learn from them."
The trip, which will see her take part a tag-team match alongside Caity Luxe against Mitchell Wright and Hector Jones, is her second mainland experience, having wrestled for Queensland's Venom Pro Wrestling in October 2019.
Her second journey was cancelled due to COVID-19 but this time she is paired with a familiar face, having wrestled Luxe at Tasmanian Championship Wrestling's "Annihilation 7" last year.
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"I guess the promoters saw what we did and thought 'you know what, they are better friends than enemies', so I'm really excited to see what we can do together," she said.
"She was one of my toughest competitors, I think we had a really good match so imagining what we can do together ... we'll smash."
Despite the match being against two male competitors, Rose isn't too concerned about her prospects, having wrestled many inter-gender contests and trained alongside men since her first day of training in July 2016.
"I was the only girl training for the longest time here at TCW, so obviously I had to get in there with all the guys and learn how to do it.
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"I honestly find it stranger wrestling with the girls ... but I'm feeling a lot more prepared now that we have two girls training at TCW."
Alongside her match on Saturday night, the Tasmanian talent is set to attend a seminar with New Japan Pro Wrestling star Robbie Eagles - one of the country's most-respected wrestlers.
She hopes she can bring aspects of the valuable experience back to the Tasmanian crew, with TCW owner and coach Beau Sayer proud of his rising pupil.
"It's nice to see someone from down here go out and actually go with the rest of the country," Sayer said.
"From when she first started, she didn't really want to group training with the rest of the roster due to the anxiety that comes with it.
"So to see her now be able to not just do our shows, but show that initiative and energy to want to wrestle on the mainland is great."
Tasmanian Championship Wrestling's major show, Annihilation 8, takes place on February 20 at Elphin Sports Centre.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
