New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling

History

Formation

NZWPW was formed in October 2003 by martial arts trainer, former New Zealand Sumo Wrestling champion and head of Petone's He Toa Sports Association, Martin Stirling. Stirling noticed a new generation of wrestling fans, brought up on WWF action. With a wrestling ring already set up at his He Toa gym, Stirling sent an invitation for prospective Wrestlers. Four men answered the call, X-Rated, Juice, Inferno and D-Hoya, with these four pioneers, NZWPW was born. 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). WPW's first show was held on 14 November 2003 in Petone. Throughout 2004, more wrestlers joined and small shows were held at community venues around the Hutt Valley. Soon, Stirling, was inundated with prospective wrestlers and had to hold training weekends to find the best talent.

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. By May 2005, NZWPW had a presence on the internet and thirty five active wrestlers. On 25 March 2005 NZWPW held the Powerplay 2 event at the Lower Hutt Town Hall with over 300 fans in attendance

Expansion

NZWPW performed shows in Christchurch, Palmerston North, Porirua, Ōtaki, Levin, Paraparaumu, Blenheim 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). 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 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. Shows have also been co-promoted with major Sumo events such as the 2005 Oceania Sumo Championships and the 2006 New Zealand Open Sumo Championships.

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.

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

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. The show debuted on 21 August 2008 at 11pm. 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

NZWPW Heavyweight Championship

Main article: NZWPW Heavyweight Championship

The NZWPW Heavyweight Championship was 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

Main article: NZWPW Tag Team Championship

The NZWPW Tag Team Championship was 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 was the oldest active tag team championship in New Zealand.

He Toa Cup

The He Toa Cup was 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 10 December 2011 in Petone, New Zealand. From 2011 – 2013, the cup was defended at every NZWPW show held in the He Toa Gym in Petone. The final champion was "The Spartan" Sam Black, who was in his first reign.

Title history

List of combined reigns

Powerplay history

Powerplay was NZWPW's biggest and longest running event. A Powerplay event had been held almost every year of the promotion's existence.

Powerplay (2004)

Powerplay II

Powerplay III

Powerplay 6

Powerplay VII

Powerplay XI

5 on 5 Elimination Tag Team match

Powerplay 2017

References

References

1. (April 2022)
2. [http://events.stuff.co.nz/auckland/2018/nzwpw-presents-friday-night-live-pro-wrestling3/lower-hutt Last Show]. 6 May 2020
3. Regional News. (13 November 2018). "In the ring for Mitchell". Regional News.
4. [https://www.kayfabia.com/Event/Details?id=385 Wrestling Revival]. 10 May 2005
5. [http://www.nzwrestling.com/news.php?id=231&page=1 New Zealand Wrestling Archive: NZWPW Stars in MIW]. 13 March 2006
6. [http://www.nzpwi.co.nz/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=408&Itemid=36 New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer: Report from first WPW show]. 18 November 2003
7. [http://www.nzwrestling.com/news.php?id=61&page=18 New Zealand Wrestling Archive: NZWPW – "Powerplay II" Preview]. 17 March 2005
8. [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SP0604/S00001.htm Sumo and Professional Wrestling Collide]. April 2006
9. [http://www.nzpwi.co.nz/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2578&Itemid=36 New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer: NZWPW Sumo Success]. 29 August 2006
10. (23 August 2009). "Wrestler home to show skills".
11. (February 2010). "Travis Banks: Potential Perfection".
12. "Invasion Times".
13. "NZWPW Invasion on Triangle (ARCHIVED)".
14. "Local Programmes".
15. (2018). "NZWPW Championship History". NZWPW.com.
16. (2013). "He Toa Cup tournament begins tonight". NZPWI.co.nz.
17. (2014). "Mana retains, Nobodies retreat at BDTH". NZPWI.co.nz.
18. (2014). "Rufguts becomes dual-champion at Beat Down". NZPWI.co.nz.
19. (2014). "Rufguts rejected, Dream Catcher wins NZWPW Championship". NZPWI.co.nz.
20. (2015). "Bringing Down the House – End of an Era". Kayfabia.com.
21. (2015). "Live Pro Wrestling Cosplay Contest". Kayfabia.com.
22. (2016). "Returns To Masterton". Kayfabia.com.
23. (2017). "Presents: Powerplay: 2017". Kayfabia.com.
24. (2018). "Friday Nights Live Pro Wrestling At Ngaio". Kayfabia.com.
25. (2018). "Friday Nights Live Pro Wrestling At Ngaio". Kayfabia.com.