Okay, picture this. You are lying flat on your
back on a canvas mat. Your lungs are already
burning. You can barely breathe from the match
you've just wrestled. And you look up. And coming
down from the top rope, which is, what, five
or six feet in the air? At least. Is 330 pounds
of humanity. Gravity is doing its job. And this
man, this literal human boulder. is about to
crash directly onto your chest. It is not a pleasant
image. In fact, it's a terrifying one. It is
terrifying. But that is the daily reality for
anyone stepping into the ring with the man we
are talking about today. Bronson Reed. We are
doing a deep dive into the career of Bronson
Reed. And look, if you're tuning in right now,
in February 2026, you absolutely know the name.
He is everywhere on the Raw brand. Oh, yeah.
He's fresh off that chaotic Royal Rumble performance.
He's terrorizing the roster. He feels like a
final boss in a video game. He does. It feels
like he's finally reached the summit he's been
climbing for, what, nearly two decades now? He
is the king of monsters. Exactly. But what I
didn't realize until we dug into this stack of
sources, we have articles from Japan, interviews
from Australia, the whole nine yards. is just
how weird his path was. It's not a straight line
at all. Not at all. We're talking about a guy
who grounded out for 11 years on the independent
circuit, made it to the big leagues, got fired,
went to Japan to reinvent himself, and came back
to beat the biggest names in the industry. It
is a classic story of resilience, sure, but with
a very modern and honestly a very violent twist.
So let's unpack this. Our mission today is to
trace how a kid from Adelaide, South Australia,
went from wrestling in local community halls
to... pinning Roman Reigns. Where does this story
actually start? It starts in Adelaide, South
Australia, born Jermaine Haley in 1988. And right
off the bat, before we even talk about his training,
you have to look at his heritage. He is of Samoan
descent. Which in the world of pro wrestling
is practically royalty. It is. You look at the
Inouye family, the Rock, Roman Reigns, the Usos,
Olisakoa, there's a lineage of powerhouses there.
So Reed has that in his DNA. He does. But interestingly,
his athletic background wasn't just wrestling.
The sources mention he played Australian rules,
football, rugby, soccer. He was an all -around
athlete. Okay, for the listeners who haven't
watched Australian rules, football Aussie rules
is chaos. Complete chaos. It's fast, it's physical,
no pads, and you have to have incredible cardio.
Exactly. And that is key to understanding Bronson
Reed. When you see him now at 330 pounds, he
doesn't move like a lumbering giant. No, he's
adjunct. He has this explosive agility. He can
climb the ropes. He can move laterally. That
comes from those sealed sports. He learned footwork
before you learned how to take a bump. So despite
the sports background, wrestling was the goal.
He debuted way back in 2007. And for the next
11 years, 11 years, he was grinding as Jonah
Rock or J -Rock. 11 years is a lifetime in athletic
years, especially in wrestling, where every bump
is a minicar crash. And looking at the notes,
this wasn't exactly the glamorous life of private
jets and catering, was it? Far from it. We're
talking about the Australian independent scene
in the late 2000s. Promotions like WrestleRampage,
Explosive Pro Wrestling, Melbourne City Wrestling.
Right. At that time, Australia was effectively
an island. literally and figuratively isolated
from the major wrestling markets in the US and
Japan. So you were just stuck there in a way.
You were. If you were wrestling there, you were
doing it for the love of the game, not the paycheck.
But he wasn't just participating. He was dominating.
The notes say he hit triple crown status. What
does that actually mean in this context? It means
he won everything there was to win. The heavyweight
title, the tag team titles, the secondary titles.
He cleared the board. He was the big fish in
a small pond. Exactly. But he realized that to
get noticed by the global powers, WWE, New Japan,
he had to leave the island. I saw a note here
about him wrestling internationally during this
time, too. It wasn't just Australia. No. And
that's crucial. He started touring. He went to
Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, PWG in the U .S.,
RPW in the U .K. Hold on. Let's talk about PWG
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla for a second. That's
sort of the cool kids table of indie wrestling,
isn't it? It is the tastemaker. If you get booked
at PWG in Reseda, California, it means the hardcore
fans respect you. It means you have work rate.
Okay. But honestly, Japan is where I think the
Bronson Reed we know today was actually forged.
Why Japan specifically? Because of the style.
In Japan, specifically in NOA, they wrestle what
is called strong style. Define that for the listener
who might just watch WWE casually. What is strong
style? So in a lot of American wrestling, the
emphasis is on the show, the character, the drama,
the facial expressions. The catrics? Right. Strong
style is about the struggle. The hits are harder.
They are snug, which is industry speak for that
actually hurt. Oh, wow. It's about showing fighting
spirit. You don't just sell a move by rolling
around. You absorb it, you grimace, and you keep
coming forward. So for a guy like Jonah Rock,
who is naturally thick and durable. It was perfect.
He learned how to use his mass as a weapon, not
just a visual. He learned how to inflict pain
realistically. By the time WWE finally called
in 2019, he wasn't a rookie. Not at all. He was
a seasoned veteran disguised as a new recruit.
So 2019 rolls around. He gets the call. He signs
with WWE, reports to the Performance Center in
Florida, and becomes Bronson Reed. Was it smooth
sailing from there? Not exactly. His debut was
a loss to Riddick Moss. Yeah. He had a bit of
a slow start. Yeah. He bounced around the midcard,
had a brief feud with L .A. Knight, who we know
becomes a major player later. But Reed really
started to find his groove in 2020 and 2021.
I remember this era. He wasn't the monster he
is now. He was marketed as the Thick Boy, spelled
with two Cs. Yes, the Thick Boy era. Right. He
leaned into his size. But in a fun, almost babyface
way, he was the big, lovable guy who could fly.
The crowd rallied behind him because he was unique.
And that leads us to the steel cage match. This
felt like the moment he finally arrived. May
18, 2021. He's in a steel cage against Johnny
Gargano for the NXT North American Championship.
Gargano is a genius. Technically brilliant, a
smaller, faster guy. It's the classic David versus
Goliath dynamic. But in this story, Goliath wins.
And the sources highlight this as a historic
moment. First Australian, first non -American
to hold that specific title. It was huge. And
if you remember the visuals from that night,
it was incredibly emotional. His wife, Paige,
came into the ring to celebrate with him. I remember
the confetti. There was confetti. It was presented
as this deeply emotional, boyhood, dream come
true moment. He had arrived. He was a champion
in WWE. It felt like tenure. Like, okay, I made
it. I'm safe. Exactly. The record scratch. The
fall. August 2021, just a few months after winning
that title and only 42 days after losing it,
he gets released, fired, contract terminated.
This is where the story usually ends for a lot
of guys, or at least where the major league story
ends. Why did they cut him? He was popular. He
was a champion. It didn't make them to a lot
of people at the time. Well, you have to look
at the corporate context. At that specific time,
WWE was going through a massive restructuring
regarding NXT. Oh, right. NXT 2 .0. They were
changing their philosophy on who they recruited.
They wanted younger, taller, collegiate athletes
they could mold from scratch. Reed, despite being
great, was an indie veteran in his 30s. He didn't
fit the new spreadsheet. That has to be devastating.
You grind for 14 years, you get the title, you
get the confetti, and then you get a phone call
saying, sorry, we're going in a different direction.
It breaks people. We see it all the time. Guys
get better, they go on podcasts and complain,
or they go back to the local indies and just
phone it in because they feel the dream is dead.
But Bronson Reed didn't fade away. This is the
part of the story that I think is the most impressive
and honestly the most instructive for anyone
listening. For sure. He didn't just go back to
the indies and do the same old act. He reinvented
himself. He went back to the name Jonah, and
he went straight to New Japan Pro Wrestling and
Impact Wrestling. And he didn't go there to be
a good hand. He went there to be a monster. There
is one specific match in the notes here that
jumped out at me. The G1 Climax 32 tournament.
He faces Kazuchika Okada. Okay, we need to pause
on this because it cannot be overstated. Okay.
For the listener who might not follow Japanese
wrestling closely, the G1 Climax is the most
prestigious tournament in the world. It is grueling.
And Kazuchika Okada. He's the guy. He is the
Michael Jordan of modern Japanese wrestling.
He is the standard bearer. He's the former IWGP
World Heavyweight Champion. So ex -WWE guys don't
just walk in and beat him. Never. It doesn't
happen. Foreign talent usually loses to the ace
of the company. But Jonah, Jonah pinned him.
He pinned Michael Jordan. Clean. In the middle
of the ring with the tsunami splash. It was an
upset of massive proportions. What's fascinating
here is what that win signaled to the rest of
the world. It was a fax sent directly to Stanford,
Connecticut. It said, you made a mistake. It
proved he wasn't just a developmental talent.
He was a world -class heavyweight capable of
beating the very best on the planet. And he's
doing crazy stuff in impact wrestling too, right?
I see Monsters Ball match here. Yes, against
PCO. A Monsters Ball match is exactly what it
sounds like. It's a hardcore match. Weapons,
thumbtacks, darkness, violence. Okay. He also
had a debut where he left Josh Alexander. The
face of Impact Wrestling bloodied in the ring.
He was stripping away that nice guy, thick boy
persona and building a reputation as a guy who
genuinely hurts people. So he proves his point.
He dominates Japan. He dominates impact. And
inevitably, when you make yourself undeniable,
the phone rings again. It always does. December
2022, he returns to WWE Raw. But this time he's
different. Yeah. He's not smiling. He came back
as a mercenary. He helped the Miz win a ladder
match purely for the money, essentially. Yeah.
But you could tell he wasn't there to be the
Miz's sidekick. No, he was just using that spot
to get back in the door. Exactly. He had a pretty
solid run through 2023. He won the Andre the
Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2024, which is
fitting given his size. Right. Fitting. But let's
be honest, that trophy often sits on a mantle
and doesn't lead to main event success. It's
a nice accolade. But it's not a world title.
Not at all. He was briefly branded as Big Bronson
Reed, which, well, thankfully they dropped that.
Yeah, we can see he's big. We don't need him
in the chyron. But let's fast forward to August
2024. This is the moment where I think the nice
guy was completely erased from history. The attack
on Seth Rollins. This was visceral. Seth Rollins
is a top -tier star, a former world champion,
and Reed didn't just beat him in a match. He
executed him. The notes emphasize the number.
Six. Six tsunamis. Let's break down the physics
of the tsunami again. We talked about it in the
intro, but six times. Think about it. He climbs
up. He jumps. He lands flat, chest to chest.
That is 330 pounds of mass accelerating downwards.
Taking one knocks the wind out of you. Taking
two probably bruises your ribs. Taking six, that
is intended to cause internal bleeding. That
is intended to crack ribs. He was overkill. It
was a statement. It took Rollins out of action
and established Reed as the most dangerous man
on the roster. It wasn't about winning. It was
about ending a career. A crucial turning point.
For his brutality, yes. And that brutality caught
the eye of some interesting people. Late 2024,
he links up with the bloodline. Briefly, this
is for war games. Solisakoa needed a fifth man,
a heavy hitter, to go to war. Reed fit the bill
perfectly. Okay. But, and this is a key detail,
he suffered a foot injury during that match.
Which explains the gap in the timeline. He vanishes
for a bit to recover. Exactly. And when you're
a guy like Reed, sitting on the shelf while the
world keeps turning, while other people are getting
your TV time, I think that's stewed in him. So
now we get to the Vision era. This is 2025. He
returns in May. And this alliance, it just sounds
like a dream team on paper. Seth Rollins, Braun
Breaker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman. The Vision.
Okay, we have to talk about Paul Heyman. If Paul
Heyman is standing next to you holding a microphone,
it is the ultimate stamp of approval in this
industry. It really is. Look at his client list.
Brock Lesnar. Yeah. CM Punk. Roman Reigns. Paul
Heyman does not manage mid -carders. If he is
advocating for you, the company sees you as a
main eventer. It's instant credibility. But wait,
he aligned with Rollins, the guy he crushed with
six tsunamis the year before. That's the nature
of the business. The enemy of my enemy is my
friend. They had a common goal, likely centering
around the power vacuum left by Roman Reigns
and the shifting landscape of WWE. And speaking
of Roman Reigns, this leads us to the biggest
win of Bronson Reed's life, October 2025. Crown
Jewel. The venue matters here. It was in Australia,
Reed's home country. The homecoming. He had lost
to Roman Reigns in Paris a few months prior,
a clash in Paris. But in Australia... The atmosphere
changes. Oh, yeah. You have 50 ,000 people chanting
for the hometown hero. Even if he's a bad guy
on TV in Adelaide or Melbourne, he is their guy.
And that night, Bronson Reed did the unthinkable.
He defeated the tribal chief. He pinned Roman
Reigns. That is a long way from the community
halls in Adelaide. It's the full circle moment.
The kid who grew up watching, who grounded out
for a decade, finally standing in the center
of the ring in his home country, having beaten
the face of the company. It should have been
the happy ending. Should have been. You'd think
they would ride that wave of positivity forever.
The hero returns home, wins the big one. But
Bronson Reed, he just can't help himself, Kenny.
He is not wired for happy endings. Literally
the next night on Raw, the confetti has barely
been swept up. The nature of the Scorpion, right?
The very next night on Raw, Reed and Braun Breaker
turn on Seth Rollins. They beat him down, kicking
him out of the vision. It's brutal. Why? Why
destroy the most powerful alliance in the company
immediately after the biggest win of your career?
Because Bronson Reed isn't looking for friends.
He's looking for the spotlight. I think he realized
that as long as Seth Rollins is in the group,
Seth Rollins is the leader. Reed would always
be the muscle, the number two. And monsters don't
like being number two. Exactly. By taking out
Rollins, Reed, and Breaker assert dominance.
It cements his reputation. He serves only his
own ambition. He doesn't care about the group.
He cares about the gold. Which brings us right
up to the present day, early 2026. He enters
the Royal Rumble at number 16. A solid showing.
He tossed out some names. Royce Keyes, Dragon
Lee, showing that dominance over the smaller,
faster guys again. Before getting eliminated
by LA Knight. Which is a nice callback to their
NXT days, actually. Wrestling loves a callback.
True. And now he's heading toward WrestleMania
season, presumably with a very angry Seth Rollins
hunting him down. It's a volatile situation.
He has enemies everywhere. But honestly... That's
where Bronson Reed thrives. He wants the chaos.
So what does this all mean when we look at this
trajectory released, reinvented, returned champion?
What is the takeaway? The takeaway for me is
that Bronson Reed is a study in betting on yourself.
When the WWU system spat him out in 2021, the
easy path would have been to change, to lose
50 pounds or change his style to be safer or
try to be what they wanted. To fit the mold.
But he didn't. He doubled down on who he was.
He amplified the size. He amplified the violence.
He forced the industry to change for him. He
proved that you can take the long road, the hard
road, and still end up at the destination if
you are undeniable. It's that refusal to be defined
by a failure. He took a firing and turned it
into the fuel that got him a win over Roman Reigns.
Precisely. It's inspiring, but there is a darker
side to it, too. Here's where it gets really
interesting for the listener to think about.
We've seen him align with the bloodline, and
that ended. He aligned with The Miz, moved on.
He aligned with Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman,
and then stabbed Rollins in the back. He has
proven he can beat the best, sure. But he's also
proven that his loyalty has a price tag or maybe
no price tag at all, just an expiration date.
He burns bridges for sport. Exactly. So here
is the provocative thought for you to chew on.
In a business that is historically built on factions,
on having people want your back, on I scratch
your back, you scratch mine, is Bronson Reed's
mercenary mindset actually the smartest strategy?
That's high risk, high reward. Is looking out
for number one the only way to survive? Or has
he burned so many bridges that when he inevitably
stumbles and everyone stumbles, there will be
absolutely no one there to catch him? That is
the question. When you climb to the top by stepping
on everyone else, it's a very lonely view and
usually a very long fall. A long fall or maybe
just a giant tsunami splash waiting to happen.
That's all we have for this deep dive into the
Monster of Oz, Bronson Reed. Thanks for listening
and we'll catch you on the next one.