Aussie fighter creates remarkable WWE history at MCG

Buddy Murphy has become the first Australian to hold a WWE title after winning the cruiserweight championship at the MCG.

The 30-year-old from Melbourne provided the highlight of the WWE Super Show-Down event for the 70,309 fans in attendance.

Arriving with an Australian flag wrapped around his waist, Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander in the seventh fight of the night.

“It’s pretty indescribable,” he said later.

“It was WrestleMania for me. I captured what I said I was going to capture, the cruiserweight championship, and I did it in front of my friends and my family.

“And everyone that didn’t believe in me, everyone that laughed at me for wanting to pursue this career of professional wrestling and as a sports entertainer.”

Murphy has spent much of his WWE career on the developmental NXT program, which has separate titles to the main roster.

He made the jump to the cruiserweight show 205 Live this year, and a night at the MCG provided the perfect moment to take out his first title.

“This was a special moment for me, and I wanted to share this with the people I love,” he said.

“That proved that all the blood, all the sweat, all the tears were worth it.

“Going through NXT and being lost in the dark, so to speak, not really having a direction or seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Tonight was the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Murphy joined Australian women’s duo Billie Kay and Peyton Royce as winners at the MCG.

Originally from Sydney, Kay and Royce – ‘The IIconics’ – defeated Asuka and Naomi as they continued their rise as SmackDown wrestlers.

“It’s just a mixture of emotions and we are feeling over the moon,” Royce said.

“We sacrifice so much being away from home, we miss Christmases and birthdays and seeing our family members grow up.

“But it’s moments like these that make us feel so happy that we get to share with them. And we just hope we’re doing them proud.”