Hartley Jackson (born 17 April 1980) is an Australian professional wrestler. He is currently working as a freelancer. The main body of his career has taken place in Australia, USA and Japan. Between 2018 and 2019, he served as an official coach and producer for WWE NXT at the WWE Performance Center, before returning to Japan to wrestle for Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) in 2020.
Professional wrestling career[]
Early career (1999-2006)[]
Hartley Jackson began wrestling in Adelaide, Australia, training under retired regional champion Col Dervaney. Jackson made his in ring debut on 4 October 1999. His first appearance in the PWI Top 500 was in 2001. In his early years he captured the MPW and WrestleRock Championships. He wrestled across the country and competed in a Survival Of The Fittest event, a 60 Iron Man minute match, before heading off on his first international excursion overseas.
In Los Angeles, Jackson continued to further his professional wrestling training under WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki at the NJPW LA Dojo. Jackson wrestled on the NJPW Dojo events, co-produced with NWA Pro, that took place at the LA Dojo in Santa Monica, including a match for the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship against Fergal Devitt. After his time at the LA Dojo, Jackson was recruited into the ranks of Japan's wrestling scene, where he worked one show with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Return to Japan, Coaching and Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2006–present)[]
In October 2008, Jackson returned to Japan to take part in the "PROWRES EXPO 2008" in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. In 2010 Jackson participated in his first tour for Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he would remain a fixture for the company. He formed a tag team with Steve Corino where they battled Akebono and Shinjiro Otani for the Intercontinental Tag Team Championships.
Over the course of the next decade, he went on to train and mentor many of Australia's current top talents, in which some have reached the heights of WWE and international recognition, including the likes of Bronson Reed, Brendan Vink, Mikey Nicholls, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. Jackson is regarded as Australia's top pro wrestling trainer.
In 2019, Jackson amicably parted ways with WWE to continue his professional wrestling career in Japan. In 2020, Jackson returned to Japan where he is once again an active wrestler, but also took over head coach duties for Pro Wrestling Zero1 at their Dojo.
Between 2016 and 2018 Jackson moved to Japan full-time to work for Zero1. During this time, he became a member of the Voodoo Murders, where he went on to capture the United National Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, which he held with Voodoo Murders leader, Yoshikazu Taru. Also in this time, Jackson participated in a series of Exploding Bat matches, fighting against Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's Atsushi Onita.
Jackson returned to Zero1 in 2020 on a permanent basis. He has fought for the World Heavyweight Championship and was named as one of the participants in that year's Fire Festival.
In his career in Japan, Jackson has wrestled for Zero1, Hustle, BJW, IGF, SWF, Ganbare Pro-Wrestling and Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW) with one match for NJPW, along with earning championships to his name. He is a former two-time United National Heavyweight Champion and a former one-time Intercontinental Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Jackson competed in the 2013 Tenkaichi Jr., dropping to 99.9 kg to make the competing weight, competed in the 2017 Zero1 Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament and also competed in the 2018 Zero1 Fire Festival. In 2018, he also picked up an MVP award for his match against Yusaku Obata for the World Heavyweight Championship.On September 3, 2022, Jackson defeated Yumehito Imanari to win the Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Championship. He defended it two times before dropping the title to Mizuki Watase on December 27.
From April 18 and May 4, 2024, Jackson took part in All Japan Pro Wrestling's (AJPW) Champion Carnival, finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and five losses, failing to advance to finals of the tournament.
Appearances and media[]
Hartley Jackson appeared as tough guy in the 2008 Bollywood produced movie, Love Story 2050. In 2016, Jackson played the role of Connor in web series Runaway Moon and was a guest on the full episode of Talkn' Shop Live in Australia Presented by Talk is Jericho. In 2020 he appeared on WWE The Bump #36 and has appeared in multiple episodes of Samurai TV's Battlemen in Japan.
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling
- Spirit of Ganbare World Openweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 210 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011
- Pro Wrestling Zero1
- United National Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yoshikazu Taru
- Fire Festival (2020)