New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling

New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling
Acronym NZWPW
Founded October 2003
Founder(s) Martin Stirling
Formerly Wellington Pro Wrestling
Website nzwpw.com

New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling (NZWPW) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Wainuiomata, New Zealand.

History

Formation

Former NZWPW logo

NZWPW started in October 2003 by martial arts trainer, Martin Stirling. Wrestlers trained by Stirling first performed at the Armageddon Convention on 20 September 2003, as part of an Impact Pro Wrestling show, and the promotion was launched under the name Wellington Pro Wrestling (WPW). Their first show was held on 14 November 2003 in Petone. WPW then got re-branded to New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling in January 2005. This was partly because the domain name for WPW was already used and to reflect the growing interest in touring New Zealand (Christchurch, Masterton, Levin, Gisborne, Hastings and Auckland) as well as the Wellington area.

Expansion

NZWPW has performed shows in Christchurch, Palmerston North, Porirua, Otaki, Levin, Paraparaumu and many others major centres up and down the country making it the most widely touring New Zealand promotion and the only one to perform regularly in both New Zealand's North Island and South Island. Wrestlers from NZWPW have also wrestled for Australian promotion Impact Pro Wrestling Australia (formerly Major Impact Wrestling).[1] Female wrestler Misty also competed in the all women's Australian promotion PWWA.

In May 2006 a number of NZWPW wrestlers, led by former NZWPW booker The Punisher and WCW/ NWA star Rip Morgan, left to set up a rival promotion called Kiwi Pro Wrestling. Since then NZWPW has had an on-again-off-again working relationship with Auckland-based promotion Impact Pro Wrestling. In 2008 NZWPW featured on the television show 'Good Morning' which is a nationally seen show on TV One to promote Powerplay V with all profits being donated to the Te Omanga Hospice. It continued on its charity work in 2009 when it ran a show to raise funds for the Movember foundation. NZWPW also co-promoted a show with the Australasian Wrestling Federation featuring Raven. In 2009 Chris Masters featured at Powerplay VI, making numerous television appearances to promote the event including 'Good Morning' and '20/20'.

Martial arts

Thanks to Martin Stirling's martial arts background, NZWPW has made much of its links with New Zealand's martial arts scene. Many of their early shows featured demonstrations of fighting styles such as karate and kickboxing.[2] Shows have also been co-promoted with major Sumo events such as the 2005 Oceania Sumo Championships[3] and the 2006 New Zealand Open Sumo Championships.[4]

Also in 2006, NZWPW co-sponsored sumo wrestlers Sio Sakaria and Mark Tanu to attend the Junior World Championships in Estonia, where they won silver and bronze medals respectively.[5]

In 2009 NZWPW wrestlers Travis Banks and Tykade both won gold medals at the Oceania Sumo championships in Australia.[6][7]

This was backed up in 2010 when numerous NZWPW wrestlers took part in the Oceania Sumo Championships (this time held in Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand). With Tykade once again taking out the open and heavyweight divisions, Rufguts and Ben Mana were also in the medals in the heavyweight and open divisions.

Travis Banks, Tykade and Rufguts went on to compete at the World Combat Games in China in August 2010.

Triangle TV

Invasion

New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling Invasion previously aired on Triangle TV & Stratos.[8] The show debuted on 21 August 2008[9] at 11pm.[10] Invasion includes touring of NZWPW and was officially kicked off on 16 August in Wainuiomata and occasionally, Upper Hutt. The show ended prior to the New Year of 2009.

Championships

Current champions

Championship Current champion(s) Date won Days held Location Event Previous Champion
NZWPW Heavyweight Championship Bryant 14 September 2018 32+ Epuni, New Zealand Friday Night Live Pro Wrestling Wayne La Perfeccion
NZWPW Tag Team Championship The Wainui Express
(Hayden Thiele and Jade Priest)		 20 July 2018 88+ Epuni, New Zealand Friday Night Live Pro Wrestling Vacant
He Toa Cup "The Spartan" Sam Black 15 June 2018 123+ Epuni, New Zealand Friday Night Live Pro Wrestling Cam Owens The Third

NZWPW Heavyweight Championship

The NZWPW Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling championship title in the New Zealand promotion New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling (NZWPW). It was the original super heavyweight title of Wellington Pro Wrestling and introduced as the WPW Super Heavyweight Championship on 3 December 2004. The inaugural champion was Ruamoko, who defeated Les Barrett in a tournament final in Lower Hutt, New Zealand on 25 April 1992. The title became vacant when Ruamoko suffered an injury in early-2005 and, after the promotion became New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling, it was replaced by the current heavyweight championship first won by Island Boy Si on 25 March 2005.

NZWPW Tag Team Championship

The NZWPW Tag Team Championship is the top professional wrestling tag team championship title in the New Zealand promotion New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling. The title was first won by The Superlatives (Jean Miracle and Nick Silver), who won a tournament final at Power Play IV in Lower Hutt, New Zealand to win the titles on 14 April 2007. It was the first title of its kind to be established by a major promotion since the NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship during the early 1980s and remains the oldest currently active tag team championship in New Zealand.

He Toa Cup

He Toa Cup
The current He Toa Cup holder, "The Spartan" Sam Black
Details
Promotion New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling
Date established December 10, 2011
Current champion(s) "The Spartan" Sam Black
Date won 15 June 2018

The He Toa Cup is the secondary singles professional wrestling championship in the New Zealand promotion New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling. The cup was first won by Ben Mana on December 10, 2011 in Petone, New Zealand. From 2011 - 2013, the cup was defended at every NZWPW show held in the He Toa Gym in Petone.

Title history

# Order in reign history
Reign The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
Event The event in which the title was won
 — Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/A The information is not available or is unknown
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
Reigns
# Wrestlers Reign Date Days
held		 Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Ben Mana 1 10 December 2011 120 Petone, New Zealand Final Countdown (2011) Ben Mana became the first He Toa Cup champion [11]
2 Jakob Cross 1 8 April 2012 257 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House [11]
3 JC Star 1 21 December 2012 98 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House [11]
4 Dream Catcher 1 29 March 2013 35 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House [11]
5 Chad Howard 1 3 May 2013 168 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House [11]
— Vacated — 18 October 2013 — Otaki, New Zealand Right 2 Challenge (2013) Chad Howard exchanged the cup for a match against Ben Mana for the NZWPW Championship [12]
6 Mikey 1 28 February 2014 119 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House [13]
7 Mr Silver 1 27 June 2014 85 Petone, New Zealand Beat Down (2014) [14]
8 Axl 1 20 September 2014 167 Waikanae, New Zealand Road to Rescue (2014) Axl defeated Mr Silver in a Loser Wears a Dress match [15]
9 Chad Howard 2 6 March 2015 204 Petone, New Zealand Bringing Down The House - End Of An Era Chad Howard won a He Toa Cup Rumble [16]
10 Jade Priest 1 26 September 2015 181 Wainuiomata, New Zealand Live Pro Wrestling - Featuring A Cosplay Contest [17]
11 Axl 2 25 March 2016 595 Masterton, New Zealand NZWPW Returns To Masterton [18]
12 Kartik 1 10 November 2017 140 Epuni, New Zealand Powerplay 2017 Kartik won a Battle Royale for the He Toa Cup [19]
13 Cam Owens The Third 1 30 March 2018 77 Ngaio, New Zealand Friday Night Live Pro Wrestling Cam Owens The Third won a Royal Rumble Match for the He Toa Cup [20]
14 "The Spartan" Sam Black 1 15 June 2018 123+ Epuni, New Zealand Friday Night Live Pro Wrestling [21]
List of combined reigns
Rank Wrestlers # of reigns Combined days
1 Axl 2 762
2 Chad Howard 2 372
3 Jakob Cross 1 257
4 Jade Priest 1 181
5 Kartik 1 140
6 Ben Mana 1 120
7 Mikey 1 119
8 JC Star 1 98
9 Mr Silver 1 85
10 Cam Owens The Third 1 77
11 "The Spartan" Sam Black 1 123+
12 Dream Catcher 1 35

Roster

Current NZWPW Heavyweight Champion, Bryant & Former Champion Axl
  • Adam Avalanche
  • Axl
  • Ben Mana
  • Bryant
  • Cam Owens the Third
  • Chad Howard
  • Daniel Martins
  • Hayden
  • Jade Priest
  • Jay Marshall
  • Misty
  • "Logical" Mr Silver
  • "Rufguts" Roddy Gunn
  • "The Shooter" Shane Sinclair
  • "The Spartan" Sam Black
  • Umlaut

Others

  • Martin Stirling (Chairman)
  • "The Soul Man" Danny Sol (Referee)

Powerplay History

Powerplay is NZWPW's biggest and longest running event. A Powerplay event has been held almost every year since the formation of the promotion.

Powerplay (2004)

Powerplay (2004)
Promotional poster
Promotion WPW
Date June 25, 2004
City Petone, New Zealand
Venue Petone Central School
Tagline(s) Showtime
Powerplay chronology
← Previous
First		 Next →
Powerplay II
No. Results Stipulations
1 Les "The Slammer" Barrett defeated Chrome Singles match
2 H-Flame defeated "Silencer" Jean Miracle Singles match
3 The Ram defeated Creed by disqualification Singles match
4 Gold & Dal Knox defeated Inferno & Jonnie Juice Tag team match
5 X-Rated defeated D-Hoya (c) Singles match for the WPW Catchweight Championship
6 Jonnie Juice defeated Les "The Slammer" Barrett, Blade, Chrome, Creed, D-Hoya, AJ Freely, Gold, H-Flame, Inferno, Dal Knox, "Silencer" Jean Miracle & The Ram 13-man Crusade match
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match









Powerplay XI

Powerplay XI
Promotional poster
Promotion NZWPW
Date November 15, 2014
City Levin, New Zealand
Venue Levin Memorial Hall
Tagline(s) A Battle For The Heart And Soul Of NZWPW
Powerplay chronology
← Previous
Powerplay X		 Next →
Powerplay 2017
No. Results Stipulations
1 The Wainui Express (c) defeated Rodeo Drive Tag team match for the NZWPW Tag Team Championship
2 "The Standard Hero" Graham Hughes defeated Kade Morgan 3G Singles match
3 Franke Quinn defeated Scarlett (c) Singles match for the KPW Women's Championship
4 Charlie Roberts defeated Shane Sinclair Singles match. Hughes Academy Champion vs. KPW Champion
5 Misty (c) defeated Krystal Kayne Singles match for the Hughes Academy Women's Championship
6 Team Warriors (Ben Mana, Paul Sayers, Hayden Thiele, Jade Priest & Mr. Silver defeated Team Nobodies Drive (Bryant, Chad Howard, Axl, XXX-Rated & "Dreamcatcher" Phil Woodgate) 5 on 5 Elimination Tag Team match
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

5 on 5 Elimination Tag Team mtch

Elimination Wrestler Eliminated by
1 Bryant Disqualification
2 Ben Mana Countout
2 Axl Countout
3 Mr. Silver Pinfall
4 Jade Priest Pinfall
5 Hayden Thiele Pinfall
6 Chad Howard Pinfall
6 XXX-Rated Pinfall
6 "Dreamcatcher" Phil Woodgate Submission
Survivor(s): Paul Sayers

Powerplay 2017

Powerplay 2017
Promotional poster
Promotion NZWPW
Date November 10, 2017
City Epuni, New Zealand
Venue Epuni Community Hall
Powerplay chronology
← Previous
Powerplay XI		 Next →
TBA
No. Results Stipulations
1 Cam Owens the Third defeated Sam Black Singles match
2 Shane Sinclair defeated "Rufguts" Roddy Gunn via Disqualification Stirling Rules match
3 Wayne la Perfeccion defeated Paul Sayers Singles match
4 Katrik defeated Bryant, Misty, Umlaut, Jay Marshal, Axl (c), Robbo "The Aussie Dreamboat" Smith, and "The Standard Hero" Graham Hughes Battle Royale for the He Toa Cup
5 The Beast Jade Priest defeated Dan "Thunderbird" Martins Singles match
6 Charlie Roberts defeated Chad Howard (c) Singles match for the NZWPW Heavyweight Championship
7 Axl defeated Charlie Roberts (c) Singles match for the NZWPW Heavyweight Championship
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References

  1. ↑ New Zealand Wrestling Archive: NZWPW Stars in MIW. 13 March 2006
  2. ↑ New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer: Report from first WPW show. 18 November 2003
  3. ↑ New Zealand Wrestling Archive: NZWPW - "Powerplay II" Preview. 17 March 2005
  4. ↑ Sumo and Professional Wrestling Collide. April 2006
  5. ↑ New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer: NZWPW Sumo Success. 29 August 2006
  6. ↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/sport/2747490/Wrestler-home-to-show-skills
  7. ↑ http://www.nzpwi.co.nz/2010/02/travis-banks-potential-perfection/
  8. ↑ "Invasion Times". NZWPW (ARCHIVED). Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "NZWPW Invasion on Triangle (ARCHIVED)". NZWPW. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Local Programmes". Triangle Television (ARCHIVED). Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "NZWPW Championship History". NZWPW.com. 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "He Toa Cup tournament begins tonight". NZPWI.co.nz. 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Mana retains, Nobodies retreat at BDTH". NZPWI.co.nz. 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Rufguts becomes dual-champion at Beat Down". NZPWI.co.nz. 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "Rufguts rejected, Dream Catcher wins NZWPW Championship". NZPWI.co.nz. 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Bringing Down the House - End of an Era". Kayfabia.com. 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Live Pro Wrestling Cosplay Contest". Kayfabia.com. 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Returns To Masterton". Kayfabia.com. 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Presents: Powerplay: 2017". Kayfabia.com. 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "Friday Nights Live Pro Wrestling At Ngaio". Kayfabia.com. 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "Friday Nights Live Pro Wrestling At Ngaio". Kayfabia.com. 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
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