Hartley Jackson[a] (born 17 April 1980)[2] is an Australian professional wrestler who primarily works as a freelancer for various Japanese promotions, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
After working on the independent circuit in his native Australia, followed by a short stint in the United States, Jackson has spent the majority of his career in Japan.
[6] Hartley Jackson began wrestling in Adelaide, Australia, training under retired regional champion Col Dervaney.
He wrestled across the country and competed in a Survival Of The Fittest event,[9] a 60 Iron Man minute match, before heading off on his first international excursion overseas.
[11][12] Jackson got involved in an altercation with Australian sports journalist and news presenter, Mark Aiston, where the two would eventually square off in a professional wrestling match.
In the latter half of 2005, Jackson travelled to the United States on his first international excursion with Mikey Nicholls, where they were a tag team known as The Kerrigans in All Pro Wrestling.
[20] In Los Angeles, Jackson continued to further his professional wrestling training under WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki at the NJPW LA Dojo.
Also in this time, Jackson participated in a series of Exploding Bat matches, fighting against Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's Atsushi Onita.
[38] On August 15, 2024, during G1 Climax 34, Jackson returned to NJPW for the first time in eighteen years, replacing the injured Kosei Fujita and partnering Zack Sabre Jr. in a tag team match against Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay and Gedo).
Over the course of the next decade, he went on to train and mentor many of Australia's current top talents, in which some have reached the heights of WWE and international recognition, including the likes of Bronson Reed,[42] Duke Hudson, Mikey Nicholls,[43] Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
[60][61] In 2016, Jackson played the role of Connor in web series Runaway Moon,[62] and was a guest on the full episode of Talkn' Shop Live in Australia, presented by Talk is Jericho.