 Two months later, on 11 June, he defeated Fred Wright in Christchurch for the then vacant NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship.Later that year, he travelled overseas to wrestle in NWA Hawaii and Stampede Wrestling; he lost to Stan Kowalski in Honolulu on 19 October and went to a draw with Reggie Parks in Edmonton, Alberta on 4 November 1958.Hrstich returned to the US a year later, this time farther east in Kansas City, Kansas for Central States Wrestling, where he defeated "Butcher Boy" Lee Henning at Memorial Hall on 23 April 1959.