'Australian Suicide' Broderick Shepherd Dead, Former AAA Champ & Indie Star Dies At 32

On Thursday morning, the world of lucha libre was dealt with a crushing blow. In a post on X, luchablog revealed that Broderick Shepherd, better known as Australian Suicide, El Australiano, and Hexagon Black, had died. He was 32 years old.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Shepherd began wrestling as a teenager in late 2008, wrestling under the name Ryan Rollins. He would spend the first six years of his career in his home country, working for promotions such as Melbourne Championship Wrestling, before heading to Canada in 2013. There, according to lucha libre expert RobViper, he was noticed by Konnan, who offered him a chance to work with  AAA. Shepherd would take him up on that offer, debuting in AAA in September 2013, as the masked Australian Suicide.

Over the next seven years, Shepherd established himself as one AAA's most exciting, creative, and innovative high flyers, frequently teaming with future AEW/ROH stars Angelico and Jack Evans, while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Penta, Santos Escobar, and Rey Fenix. In 2016, he was unmasked by Daga following a lengthy feud, but continued to find success, winning the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship from Lanzeloth in January 2018. He held the title for 211 days, before dropping it to Sammy Guevara.

Though he primarily worked in Mexico during this time, Shepherd seemed poised to break out in the U.S. when he joined Lucha Underground at "Ultima Lucha Cuatro: Part 2," portraying Hexagon Black. The long-teased character had been set up as the master to lucha legend Vampiro, and a foil to Penta for future seasons. Unfortunately, Lucha Underground would never air another episode again after "Ultima Lucha Cuatro," ending Shepherd's run as Hexagon Black before it even began.

Shepherd's time in AAA abruptly ended in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He moved to Puerto Rico with his wife, former AAA luchadora Vanilla Vargas, where she gave birth to their daughter. During that time, he wrestled two matches on "AEW Dark" as El Australiano, first teaming with future TNA star KC Navarro to face Alex Reynolds and John Silver, then later facing old rival Guevara in singles action. Shepherd also wrestled some in Puerto Rico, but was inactive in comparison to his AAA days. He later stated that he and Vargas had been looking to return to Mexico during that time, but had been hindered due to visa issues.

In 2024, Shepherd was finally able to return to Mexico and briefly appeared in AAA in May when he challenged for the AAA Latin American Championship, making waves with a death-defying Shooting Star Press off a balcony. For the most part, however, Shepherd kept to the Mexican independent circuit, wrestling Ricky Marvin for BIG Lucha, and making several appearances in DTU, where he teamed with old friend Evans. His last match is listed as taking place on November 16 for DTU; he had been scheduled to wrestle an independent show in San Jose, California, but had dropped out beforehand for unknown reasons.

In a Facebook post, Vargas revealed that Shepherd's wish was to be buried with family in Australia, and asked for help in raising the $10,000 needed to preserve Shepherd's body in order to fly him back home. Details on how one can help are provided in Vargas' post. Wrestling Inc. offers its condolences to Vargas, her and Shepherd's daughter, and Shepherd's other family and friends during this tragic time.