Report: WWE Signs Two Australian Stars To Developmental Contracts
The two join WWE’s growing list of stars from Oceania
PWInsider has reported that two wrestlers from Australia’s independent circuit - Matty Wahlberg and Steph De Lander - have signed for WWE. These new signings come after WWE’s latest crop of talent that was announced in February 2021, with De Lander and Wahlberg believed to be heading to NXT.
Wahlberg - real name Matt Farrelly - was trained by Madison Eagles, and Robbie Eagles of NJPW’s Chaos stable. Considered one of the best wrestlers in Australia, Wahlberg was also a contestant on Australia’s Survivor in 2019.
De Lander was also trained by Madison Eagles, and like Wahlberg, debuted in 2017. It is believed De Lander attended a female-only try-out at WWE’s UK Performance Center in 2019. As such, it has not yet been revealed if Wahlberg and De Lander will be reporting to NXT or NXT UK.
The two are the latest WWE signings to come from the Oceania region, with other stand-outs currently in WWE including Rhea Ripley, Brendan Vink, The IIconics, Dakota Kai, Indi Hartwell, and Toni Storm, amongst others.
