Nathan McCarter, aka Newcastle wrestler Carter Deams, will leave for New Zealand next month and embark on a journey that could end with a pro-wrestling contract in Japan.
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Despite only taking up the pursuit two years ago, McCarter has landed a dream opportunity to train with the world’s second-biggest wrestling league, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
The 20-year-old will cross the Tasman Sea on June 2 to spend three months living in New Zealand for what he describes as a “scholarship-style” training camp.
At the end of the camp, if all goes well, a full-time professional contract and a move to Japan awaits. It would be an express climb up the wrestling ladder for the part-time cafe worker.
“There was an invite-only tryout that happened before a show I was on,” McCarter told the Newcastle Herald at Darby Street’s Core Espresso, his nine-to-five workplace.
“They were doing a tour to Australia and a tryout for people to star on that tour.
“They came back the next day and announced three people for the tour, but then they said they were impressed by somebody on the day and opened up an availability to go and train in New Zealand at one of the affiliate dojo’s for this company in Japan – hoping to prepare me to go and then sign a rookie contract.”
McCarter has spent almost every weekend in 2018 at wrestling shows across three separate leagues between Newcastle and Sydney. Locally, he is a member of Newcastle Pro Wrestling, as well as a rookie with PWA – Pro Wrestling Australia.
As wrestling is only amateur in Australia and offers “very little” financial reward, serving coffees, cooking food and clearing tables helps fund McCarter’s dream.
Majority of the customers at Core Espresso would be unaware of his weekend exploits, but that temporarily changed when the Herald asked him to don his wrestling outfit for a photo.
“The cafe have been very good with my unavailability on the weekends,” he said.
“It’s sort of helping me fund the dream, keeping in mind that I have to move oversees for an unknown period of time.”
Annual sales of NJPW reached ¥3.859b ($47.2m) in 2017 and they regularly attract crowds of over 30,000, making it an attractive landing for the budding wrestler.
“The goal for me, as a wrestler, has always been to go to Japan,” McCarter said.
“When people think of wrestling, they think of the WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment, USA], but New Japan Pro-Wrestling is the next big thing.
“There’s a lot more freedom. They love different, so me being six-foot-four and white with bright blonde hair, I would be quite popular. They do love foreign characters there.”
