Charli Evans
Photo: New Photography Studios
When it comes to the push for gender equality within independent wrestling, specifically here in Australia, there is one particularly outspoken woman - Charli Evans. So, as we celebrate our fourth annual Women's Month edition of Pario, Charli was the perfect person to speak with. We discussed the shifting culture of Australian wrestling, how Charli came to be involved in the male-dominated deathmatch wrestling space, & finally the one clear goal that has still eluded her.
Over her nearly decade-long career, Charli has established herself as a world traveller, competing all over Australia, the UK, Japan & now even the US with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW). In her travels, Charli has held multiple singles championships & multiple tag team championships, as one-half of Medusa Complex with her partner Millie McKenzie.
Very early on in Charli's career she was mixing it up with the men in the ring & proving that she not only belonged, but was better than some of them. Despite this, it has taken almost a decade for promotions to also come to the realisation that some of their most talented performers are women.
The end of 2023 finally saw women, Jessica Troy in Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA) & Delta in Riot City Wrestling (RCW), capturing the top championships in their promotions. Two historic moments that Charli described as "fucking incredible", before adding, "It's about time, it's been a long road paved for generations before me & the girls that are getting these opportunities now."
As we continued to discuss these championship wins & the push behind the scenes for these shifts Charli was particularly grateful to two of her mentors.
"We are so grateful that we have the ultimate icon in Madison Eagles to look up to & learn from because she has been fighting for this since she began," Charli glowed. "I’ve been so blessed to have such positive, supportive & incredible women as leaders around me in Madison & Meiko Satomura."
Charli's pride in seeing her best friend, Jess Troy, win the PWA Championship goes to show that her outspoken fight for gender equality was never some self-aggrandising agenda to elevate herself up the card. For Charli, this movement has always been about ensuring that every wrestler is simply judged by their talent, regardless of whether they're male, female, transgender, or non-binary.
"I don’t want companies to just lobby onto this shit because they think it’s the flavour of the month or because it’ll get them good publicity! I want promotions & promoters to truly see how incredible the talent they have is, & that they just happen to be female," Charli explained authoritatively. "This isn’t just a gimmick to use to make yourself look good. Book women correctly.
Photo: JIWC
One women’s match per show is not a division. Booking things under the title of 'intergender' isn’t progressive. Book people based on their talent!"
One particular area where Charli's gender has helped her to shatter boundaries is the world of deathmatch wrestling. For those unfamiliar with this particular style of wrestling it is a graphically brutal & bloody form of wrestling that incorporates a range of dangerous objects including, but not limited to, glass, barbed wire, & one of Charli's favourite weapons, skewers.
Even before Charli began training to become a professional wrestler deathmatch wrestling had a special allure for her.
"I’ve loved deathmatch wrestling since I first discovered it around 2012-13," explained Charli. "I was intrigued by the theatrical aspect of it, & how much it pushed the boundaries. Once I began wrestling though, I honestly didn’t even think about deathmatch wrestling because it wasn’t a thing in Australia at the time."
Once Charli moved to England to continue to pursue her wrestling passion she rediscovered her long-lost love, as it was a more common feature in the UK.
"When I moved to the UK I began training & wrestling with Fight Club: PRO in Wolverhampton. Then I saw my first deathmatch live," recalled Charli. "From that moment I was like 'oh, I wanna do this!'"
Although she was incredibly keen to perform in a deathmatch, once again Charli's gender presented a hurdle in the eyes of promoters.
"I saw that there was a massive gap in the market in the UK because no girls were doing it! So it took a while to convince anyone to give me a shot," Charli told Pario. "My first one almost came around as a joke because a show I was doing had to massively change the card around due to cancellations. So they asked me, 'What do you want to do?'. I said, ‘A deathmatch with Chris Brookes', went to sleep & woke up to a message saying, 'You got it, & then it happened the next day!"
Since her first deathmatch experience, Charli has embraced the violence, adopting the moniker 'Violence Artist' as she continues to make a name for herself in the deathmatch scene.
"I have been blessed to share the ring and locker rooms with the best deathmatch wrestlers in the world, including Ricky Shane Page, Rina Yamashita, Alex Colon, Nick Gage, John Wayne Murdoch, Drew Parker & so many more... They all welcomed me in, took really good care of me, & have taken their time to help or mentor me."
To close out our chat with Charli we asked her to look ahead through 2024 & beyond, to which we discovered there is simply one major goal that she is laser-focused on.
"Eddie Kingston, that’s the goal!" Charli said with fiery determination. "I want it & I will do anything to make it happen. That match has been on top of my list for 10 years & that’s where my focus is."
Follow Charli's creative journey on social media at: @CharliEvansPro
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