Aussie Open reflect on their AEW debut, becoming first STRONG Openweight Tag Champions

United Empire's Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) look back on their AEW debuts and capturing the STRONG Tag Team Titles

Photo Courtesy: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Aussie Open discusses their accolades from 2022 and joining United Empire in 2021.

The duo known as Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) are the first-ever and reigning NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions.

Over the past several months, Fletcher and Davis have wrestled for PWG, RevPro, NJPW, AEW and they made their IMPACT Wrestling debuts at the ‘Lone Star Stampede’ taping. They were interviewed by NJPW1972.com and commented on their introduction to AEW TV on the lead-up to Forbidden Door.

Mark Davis shared that it came together quickly and they were informed of their debuts a week beforehand. They both were for ready for the moment and expressed that it was something they had been preparing for.

Davis: That whole experience came about really quickly. We had about a week’s notice before that first Dynamite, so we didn’t have the time to be nervous. There might be times where we’re a little anxious, but we’re hungry, we’re confident in what we can do and we’ve done it for so long now. So getting the opportunity to wrestle in front of all those people wasn’t nerve wracking, it was something we’ve been waiting for-for a long time. And to do it with two of my best friends in Kyle and Ospreay, there was no issues with chemistry. It felt like a home game for us, not overwhelming at all.

Fletcher: We were just ready. Just like we said about the pandemic, we were waiting and frustrated for so long, not able to get those opportunities that when it finally came around, we were screaming and ready to go. We know we’re the best tag team in the world and it’s just a case of showing everyone.

On the topic of becoming STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions, Fletcher said no one can take that away from them and they’ll always be the first duo to capture the belts. They defeated Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura in the finals.

Fletcher: Nobody can take away that we’re the first. We’ll always be in the NJPW history books now and the first STRONG Tag Team Champions, and now we’ve added STRONG to the list of tag divisions we’ve dominated.

At Revolution Pro Wrestling’s ‘High Stakes’ show in September 2021, Aussie Open aligned with Will Ospreay and joined United Empire.

Fletcher said they cannot say enough good things about Ospreay and added that it was his idea for them to join the group. He said Ospreay has stuck his neck out for them plenty of times and let them stay at his home.

Fletcher: Us joining the United Empire came about during the pandemic. We were stuck in Australia and couldn’t travel. Ospreay reached out to us and suggested the whole idea.

We can’t say enough good things about Ospreay. He’s done so much for us and stuck his neck out for us so many times. He’s let us live in his house, and use that as a base, and when we had nothing going on, he suggested joining the United Empire and given us more chances. So joining U.E. in RevPro really made everything click.

Davis: Like a light being switched on.

The August 31st episode of AEW Dynamite will see United Empire (Will Ospreay, Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) meet The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson) to determine who’s going to All Out to compete for the AEW World Trios Championships.

About Andrew Thompson 7988 Articles
A Washington D.C. native and graduate of Norfolk State University, Andrew Thompson has been covering wrestling since 2017.