Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW), also known as New Zealand Impact Pro Wrestling, is a New Zealand professional wrestling promotion. It has promoted regular events throughout the country and abroad in the last several years and is credited for being the first to bring live wrestling shows to cities, such as Hamilton and Whangārei, in over two decades.
A staple of Armageddon Expo since 2002, its annual "Armageddon Cup" supercard was a major attraction at the event in subsequent years. IPW frequently visited Australia during the early 2000s, in conjunction with Peter Ball's Gold Coast-based Major Impact Wrestling, and the two companies merged to form a sister promotion, Impact Pro Wrestling Australia, in 2007.
That same year, the promotion signed a deal with Sky Network Television's ALT TV to broadcast a weekly television show, IPW Ignition, which aired throughout the country as the first wrestling programme seen in New Zealand since Steve Rickard's On the Mat during the 1980s. It was later picked up by Canterbury Television and Triangle TV in late 2008, shortly before ALT TV's demise, and remains the longest-running wrestling series in New Zealand.
In 2011 IPW began a new weekly show entitled Mana Mamau which aired on Maori Television to replace Ignition. Mana Mamau aired its final episode in 2012.
The promotion has been home to several of New Zealand's top independent wrestlers including Jamie Tagataese, Candy Lee, Reuben de Jong, Kingi, and Vinny Dunn, all of whom having been featured in the New Zealand national media, as well as appearances from major American stars such as Christy Hemme, Rob Van Dam, Raven, Disco Inferno, The Sandman, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
History
Mania Pro Wrestling and the Armageddon Expo (2000–2003)
IPW’s origins date to the year 2000 when a group of aspiring independent wrestlers began training under Steve Hodgson at Mania, an Auckland-based gym which specialised in training female martial artists and stunt actors, promoting events locally under the banner of Mania Pro Wrestling. After running two house shows in 2001, MPW held an exhibition show at the Aotea Centre during the 2002 Armageddon Expo. Their performance proved popular with the crowd and were invited back by promoters for the 2003 expo. Wrestling would eventually become a regular feature attraction at the pop culture event holding its annual "Armageddon Cup" every year since then.
The beginning of 2003 saw a management change take place at MPW, resulting in an exodus of talent and a commitment to start a new promotion, IPW. The new brand made its debut at Armageddon in May 2003. At this time Peter Lane, a former New Zealand wrestling talent from the 'On the Mat' era, was introduced to the company as a new training figure. Peter's years of experience proved an invaluable asset to the maturing wrestling of the new breed of New Zealand Professional Wrestler.
Early years of Impact Pro Wrestling (2003–2004) In 2003, the new promotion was formed by a core group of MPW wrestlers under Cameron "The Economist" Bailey, Chuck "The Machine" Warner and Nick "Daddy Kool" Fergusson who pooled their money to start Impact Pro Wrestling. After a year's worth of fundraising, they were able to purchase a custom-built wrestling ring and a training facility where they began running monthly shows soon after. In 2003 IPW held its first event outside Auckland appearing at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington for 2003 Armageddon Expo. It was at this event that the promotion held its first-ever "Armageddon Cup" supercard with The Economist eliminating Joey Kinkade in an interpromotional battle royal between wrestlers from IPW and New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling.
National expansion and IPW Ignition (2004–2007) With the acquisition of a new ring and training facilities, IPW was prepared to achieve its first goal of running regular house shows in the Auckland area. Beginning with Genesis at Pt. Chevalier in May 2004, IPW began staging monthly shows in central Auckland. Within two years, IPW was holding regular shows not only in Auckland but throughout the country. They also had one of the largest rosters with approximately 25 wrestlers in Auckland. In May 2005, TVNZ's Hadyn Jones conducted an interview with The Economist and The Machine at their Auckland gym.
Taking its show on the road, IPW hosted New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling at Capital Punishment in Wellington in March 2006. Five months later, they participated in the 2006 NZPWI Invitational, a major interpromotional event promoted by NZPWI.co.nz founder Dion McCracken, which included New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling, Kiwi Pro Wrestling and Australia's Major Impact Wrestling. Held on 12 August 2006, at the Lynfield YMCA, McCracken served as IPW's colour commentator at the event. A legitimate black belt in tae kwon do, he knocked out IPW wrestler "Handsome" Danny Jacobs with a superkick during the "Eliminator" battle royal. This incident was voted by NZPWI.co.nz visitors (22.9%) as the "Best Moment" for the New Zealand wrestling category.
IPW enjoyed rousing success when it presented Coastal Assault in October 2006 at Stanmore Bay on the Hibiscus Coast, the North Auckland town which is home to "The One" Vinny Dunn. At the end of the year, IPW stars Alexander and Ricky DeVinal appeared in a television commercial for Primo, a brand of flavoured milk popular in New Zealand. In January 2007, "Double D" Davey Deluxeo appeared with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dave Batista in Auckland's Central Leader newspaper ahead of the 2007 WWE Road to WrestleMania 23 tour. This marked an IPW wrestler's first official interaction with an active WWE wrestler since MPW hosted former WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield for a morning in 2002.
A month later, it was announced that IPW had achieved its first long-term goal by securing a television deal with Auckland's ALT TV. The first episode of "IPW Ignition", which featured footage from its recent IPW New Year's Bash supercard, aired on 10 February 2007. Appearing nationwide on SKY Network Television, it was the first weekly wrestling series to be broadcast in the country since Steve Rickard's "On the Mat" in the 1980s. It was later made available for a worldwide audience via the internet thanks to Alt TV's shift to live online streaming. A year later, it was also shown on Canterbury Television and Triangle TV; the first episode on CTV premiered on 5 October 2008. As of 2010, it remains the longest-running wrestling series in New Zealand.
On the same night "IPW Ignition" aired, IPW made its Whangārei debut staging IPW Collision at the Forum North venue to a sold-out crowd. Dion McCracken, who was instrumental in bringing IPW to Northland, made a guest appearance during the show as a referee, officiating in the match between "The Deal" Dal Knox and "Handsome" Danny Jacobs. It had been over 25 years since wrestling had been held there. Notable New Zealand wrestler of yesteryear Jock Ruddock was present in the live audience. Bruno Bekkar, a one-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion, also made a guest appearance at a sold-out show in Auckland on 15 March. On 24 March, IPW made its first appearance in Hamilton at The Meteor, which hosted the event "IPW Breaking Point" in which featured a battle royal for the #1 Contendership match which was won by Roger Ventura. McCracken joined the promotion as a full-time colour commentator that year and assisted in arranging shows in various cities. Mema Maeli, the first women to become a ring announcer for Samoa's boxing association, also joined the promotion as IPW's sole female announcer.
In October 2007, at the 2007 Armageddon Expo, Kid Liger won a 25-man battle royal to win the "Armageddon Cup". On the final day of the convention, at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, Raven made a surprise appearance by attacking Joseph Kinkade after his match against John Questions. Kinkade's manager Gary O. Davis had insulted him earlier in the show. Christy Hemme and Rob Van Dam also attended the show, Hemme being involved in a storyline with Danny Jacobs. Later that month, IPW wrestlers "Double D" Davey Deluxeo, Vinny Dunn and Alfred Valentine were profiled by the New Zealand Herald. Troy Rawhiti-Forbes, another New Zealand independent wrestler known to MPW and IPW audiences as "Superstar" Troy Daniels, was also interviewed and discussed both the early history of the promotion as well as professional wrestling in New Zealand itself.
At the house show "Nightmare B4 Xmas" in December 2007, IPW also saw the rebirth of the women's division. Long Dormant since the Mania Pro Wrestling days in the early 2000s, the intergender tag match between Handsome Danny Jacobs and Britenay vs The Samoan Silverback Alexander and Evie saw the first two females competing within the revamped IPW. The following year saw the return of two females that were involved with Mania, Just Plain Evil and Alita Capri.
IPW also began expanding oversees as well and frequently visited Australia during the early 2000s. Closely associated with Peter Ball's Major Impact Wrestling in the Gold Coast, the two companies were involved in interpromotional events and talent exchanges for five years before eventually merging to form a sister promotion, Impact Pro Wrestling Australia, in the summer of 2007. IPW would continue exchanging talent between New Zealand and Australia during the next few years.
Recent years (2008–present)
2008 On 19 April 2008, Raven and Disco Inferno attended the 2008 Armageddon Convention in Wellington. Disco Inferno won the Armageddon Cup in a battle royal but lost the cup to Davey Deluxeo at the Christchurch convention a week later. He also wrestled a tag team match on 27 April 2008 at the same convention. His partner was IPW Champion "The Deal" Dal Knox.
In May, Davey Deluxeo and Jordan Invincible were interviewed by the New Zealand Herald. The two wrestlers, referred by the publication as the "best tag team partnership since Kiwi tag team The Bushwhackers", talked about impressing WWE road agents when World Wrestling Entertainment when the organisation came to New Zealand for shows in Auckland and Christchurch the next month. At IPW's Redemption, Jordan Invincible defeated Dal Knox to win the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship for the first time. His victory was partially due to outside interference from Davey Deluxeo who used his Armageddon Cup as a weapon or foreign object against Knox.
On 5 October 2008, the promotion took part in "Connecting Families Day" at the Ellerslie YMCA. Attended by an estimated 1,500 people, the four-hour event included demonstrations from IPW wrestlers as well as an appearance from New Zealand children's entertainer Linda Adamson as part of her upcoming DVD "Love to Sing". Several IPW wrestlers were also featured on 10 October edition Television New Zealand's IAM TV where the host took part in training sessions at their IPW facility in Auckland.
The Sandman appeared at the 2008 Armageddon convention in Auckland, New Zealand, wrestling for Impact Pro Wrestling NZ between 25 and 27 October 2008. He defeated Joseph Kinkade in his first match and The Machine in his second match, both with the White Russian Legsweep. He then teamed up with IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship holder "The Deal" Dal Knox in a tag match against Kinkade and The Machine, which saw Knox take the win with a Knox Out on Kinkade.
Pro Wrestling Entertainment invasion (2008–09)