IPW Heavyweight Championship | |||||||||||||||||
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Details | |||||||||||||||||
Promotion | Impact Pro Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||
Date established | 9 April 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
Current champion(s) | Jake Shehaan | ||||||||||||||||
Date won | 19 June 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
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IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling championship title in the New Zealand promotion Impact Pro Wrestling. It was the original heavyweight title of the Mania Pro Wrestling promotion, later used in IPW as its primary singles title. It was introduced as the MPW Heavyweight Championship on 9 April 2002. When a new promotion was founded by a core group of MPW wrestlers in 2003, the title was established as its new heavyweight championship.
The promotion became Impact Pro Wrestling and the title became the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship. On 29 May 2010, the title was won by former K-1 kickboxer and "New Zealand's strongest man" [2] Reuben de Jong. The current champion is Jake Shehaan who is in his second reign, which is the longest reign for the title.
The championship is regularly defended throughout New Zealand, most often in central Auckland, at live events such as the Armageddon Expo as well at monthly supercards and on its weekly series IPW Ignited . [3] In 2007, the title made its debut in the Northland Region, with the promotion's IPW Collision event in Whangarei. The title match featured Jon E. King facing off against the Samoan Silverback Alexander. [4] It has also been defended at several interpromotional events both in New Zealand and Australia. IPW Heavyweight Champion Jon E. King competed at the 2006 NZPWI Invitational with KPW Heavyweight Champion H-Flame where both men made it to the semi-finals and where King was eliminated by "Heartless" Alfred Valentine. The 2007 NZPWI Invitational saw the first ever "champion vs. champion" match when returning champions Jon E. King and H-Flame faced each other in a non-title match in the opening rounds. King went on to win the tournament.
The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted endings rather than contend in direct competition. The inaugural champion was The Machine, who defeated Jon E. King in Mangere, Auckland on 9 April 2002 to become the first MPW Heavyweight Champion; King had won a Royal Rumble-type match, eliminating "Superstar" Troy Daniels to earn a place in the championship decider. IPW recognized both MPW Heavyweight Championship reigns when the promotion became Impact Pro Wrestling in 2003. King and Davey Deluxeo hold the record for most reigns, with three each. [1] At 515 days, Deluxeo's first reign was the longest in the title's history. Vinny Dunn's second reign, which lasted mere minutes, was the shortest in the history of the title. Overall, there have been 21 reigns shared between 11 wrestlers, with one vacancy.
The promotion has often been represented by the reigning IPW Champion in the national media. In May 2005, TVNZ's Hadyn Jones conducted an interview with The Machine and then IPW Champion The Economist at their Auckland gym. [5] On 2 February 2006, Jon E. King was a guest on Ngati Hine FM where he was interviewed by disc jockey Darcy Edwards [6] and with fellow IPW wrestler Alfred Valentine on the TV One's morning talk show Breakfast by Kay Gregory that summer. [7] [8] Jordan Invincible was among the wrestlers featured on 10 October 2008 edition Television New Zealand's IAM TV and where Invincible wrestled the host in a mock battle at their IPW facility in Auckland. [9] IPW New Zealand Champion Dal Knox was interviewed at the 2008 Armageddon Expo, along with IPW colour commentator Dion McCracken, as part of an upcoming documentary on professional wrestling in New Zealand, A Kiwi Century On The Mat, in April 2009. [10] Knox was also profiled by 20/20 in a special report on professional wrestling in New Zealand, [11] as well as on the Māori Television sports show Hyundai Code. [12]
No. | Overall reign number |
---|---|
Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
Days | Number of days held |
+ | Current reign is changing daily |
No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | ||||
1 | The Machine | 9 April 2002 | Slaughter in the South | Mangere | 1 | 242 | The Machine defeated Jon E. King to become the inaugural champion. King had previously won a Royal Rumble-style match to face The Machine. | |
2 | Davey Deluxeo | 7 December 2002 | Nightmare Before Xmas | Point Chevalier | 1 | 515 | The championship renamed the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship when IPW is formed in 2003. | |
3 | Lyte Playa | 5 May 2004 | Genesis | Point Chevalier | 1 | 105 | [13] | |
4 | Davey Deluxeo | 18 August 2004 | Rival Turf | Point Chevalier | 2 | 122 | [14] | |
5 | The Machine | 18 December 2004 | Nightmare Before Xmas 2 | Mangere | 2 | 123 | [15] | |
— | Vacated | 20 April 2005 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated due to The Machine suffering a hand injury. | [16] |
6 | The Economist | 23 April 2005 | Collision | Mangere | 1 | 189 | The Economist won the vacant championship in tournament final by defeating Joey Kinkade, Jon E. King and The Machine in a fatal four-way elimination match. | [17] |
7 | Alfred Valentine | 29 October 2005 | Unleashed | Lynfield | 1 | 147 | [18] | |
8 | Jon E. King | 25 March 2006 | Full Breaking Point | Lynfield | 1 | 21 | [19] | |
9 | Alfred Valentine | 15 April 2006 | Collision | Lynfield | 2 | 63 | [20] | |
10 | Jon E. King | 17 June 2006 | Breakdown | Lynfield | 2 | 71 | This was a ladder match. | [21] |
11 | Davey Deluxeo | 27 August 2006 | Unbreakable | Lynfield | 3 | 91 | [22] | |
12 | Jon E. King | 26 November 2006 | Extreme Measures | Lynfield | 3 | 384 | This was fatal four-way elimination match also involving Jordan Invincible and Alexander. | [23] |
13 | Dal Knox | 15 December 2007 | Nightmare Before Xmas 5 | Westlake | 1 | 196 | This was a Fans Bring the Weapons match. | [24] |
14 | Jordan Invincible | 28 June 2008 | Redemption | Lynfield | 1 | 98 | This was a no disqualification match. | [25] [26] |
15 | Dal Knox | 4 October 2008 | Rival Turf | Lynfield | 2 | 336 | [27] | |
16 | Joseph Kinkade | 5 September 2009 | Fallout | Lynfield | 1 | 98 | [28] [29] | |
17 | Vinny Dunn | 12 December 2009 | Nightmare Before Xmas 7 | Westlake | 1 | 168 | This was a Fans Bring the Weapons match. | [28] [30] |
18 | Reuben de Jong | 29 May 2010 | Genesis | Westlake | 1 | 85 | This was an open challenge match put out to any professional wrestler in New Zealand by Vinny Dunn. | [28] [31] |
19 | Vinny Dunn | 22 August 2010 | Rival Turf | Westlake | 2 | <1 | [32] | |
20 | Dal Knox | 22 August 2010 | Rival Turf | Westlake | 3 | 111 | [32] | |
21 | Vinny Dunn | 11 December 2010 | Nightmare B4 Xmas | Westlake | 3 | 91 | [33] | |
22 | Dal Knox | 12 March 2011 | Genesis | Westlake | 4 | 313 | [34] | |
23 | Alexander | 19 January 2012 | Mana Mamau | Westlake | 1 | 15 | [35] | |
24 | Kingi | 3 February 2012 | Mana Mamau | Westlake | 1 | 449 | [36] | |
25 | Travis Banks | 27 April 2013 | A Decade of Impact | Lynfield | 1 | 91 | [36] | |
26 | Vinny Dunn | 27 July 2013 | Revival of the Fittest | Mt. Albert | 4 | 189 | [36] | |
27 | Travis Banks | 1 February 2014 | The Good, The Bad and The Ugly | Lynfield | 2 | 175 | [36] | |
28 | Liam Fury | 26 July 2014 | Trial by Combat | Mt. Albert | 1 | 266 | [36] | |
29 | James Shaw | 18 April 2015 | The Rush for Gold | Mt. Albert | 1 | 84 | [36] | |
30 | Jakob Cross | 11 July 2015 | The Ultimate Prize | Mt. Albert | 1 | 99 | ||
— | Vacated | 18 October 2015 | — | — | — | — | The championship was vacated due to Jakob Cross attacking a fan. | [37] |
31 | James Shaw | 19 December 2015 | Nightmare Before Xmas | Lynfield | 2 | 112 | A Nightmare Championship Series was used to determine the winner of the vacant championship. The series involved Brook Duncan, Curt Chaos, Dal Knox, Johnny Idol, Liger, No Face and Shane Sinclair. Shaw defeated Idol in a Fans Bring the Weapons match to win the vacant championship. | [36] |
32 | Curt Chaos | 9 April 2016 | Championship Carnage | Mt. Albert | 1 | 378 | Chaos cashed in his Eliminator contract immediately after James Shaw had successfully defended the championship against The Dapper Agents. | [36] |
33 | Brook Duncan | 22 April 2017 | The Eliminator | Lynfield | 1 | <1 | [36] | |
34 | James Shaw | 22 April 2017 | The Eliminator | Lynfield | 3 | 78 | Brook Duncan defeated Curt Chaos but was then challenged and beaten by Shaw. Duncan's reign lasted exactly four minutes and sixteen seconds. | [36] |
35 | Reuben de Jong | 9 July 2017 | Bangers and Smash | Mt. Eden | 2 | <1 | [38] | |
36 | James Shaw | 9 July 2017 | Bangers and Smash | Mt. Eden | 4 | 41 | [38] | |
37 | Brook Duncan | 19 August 2017 | Ultimatum | Mt. Eden | 2 | 119 | This was The Ultimate match; A 30 minute Iron man match in which the first 20 minutes of the match contested under traditional rules, before the final ten minutes switches to no disqualification. | [36] [39] |
38 | Burns | 16 December 2017 | Nightmare Before Xmas | Mt. Eden | 1 | 154 | Mr. Burns defeated Brook Duncan following interference from the Young Nats. | |
39 | Liam Fury | 19 May 2018 | IPW XV | Lynfield | 2 | 91 | ||
40 | Liger | 18 August 2018 | Homecoming | Balmoral | 1 | 28 | Liger cashed in his Eliminator contract and defeated Liam Fury after interfering with Liam Fury's match against Henare | |
41 | Liam Fury | 15 September 2018 | Pride vs. Fury | Mangere | 3 | 91 | ||
42 | Jakob Cross | 15 December 2018 | Nightmare Before Xmas | Mt. Eden | 2 | 182 | This was a Fans Bring the Weapons match. | [40] |
43 | Jamie Tagataese | 15 June 2019 | IPW Winter Warfare | Mt. Eden | 1 | 413 | ||
44 | Jake Shehaan | 1 August 2020 | Fans Bring The Weapons: Tagataese VS Shehaan 2 | Mt. Eden | 1 | 140 | This was a Fans Bring the Weapons match. | |
45 | Jamie Tagataese | 19 December 2020 | Nightmare Before Xmas | Te Atatu | 2 | 182 | This was a Triple Threat Steel Cage match also featuring Cam Kaiba. | |
46 | Charlie Roberts | 19 June 2021 | The Eliminator | Mt. Eden | 1 | <1 | ||
47 | Jake Shehaan | 19 June 2021 | The Eliminator | Mt. Eden | 2 | 610+ | Shehaan cashed in his Eliminator contract which he had won earlier in the night. |
As of February19, 2023.
† | Indicates the current champion |
---|
Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns | Combined days |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dal Knox | 4 | 956 |
2 | Jake Shehaan † | 2 | 750+ |
3 | Davey Deluxeo | 3 | 728 |
4 | Jamie Tagataese | 2 | 595 |
5 | Jon E. King | 3 | 476 |
6 | Kingi | 1 | 449 |
7 | Liam Fury | 3 | 448 |
Vinny Dunn | 4 | 448 | |
9 | Curt Chaos | 1 | 378 |
10 | The Machine | 2 | 365 |
11 | James Shaw | 4 | 315 |
12 | Jakob Cross | 2 | 281 |
13 | Travis Banks | 2 | 266 |
14 | Alfred Valentine | 2 | 210 |
15 | The Economist | 1 | 189 |
16 | Mr. Burns | 1 | 154 |
17 | Brook Duncan | 2 | 119 |
18 | Lyte Playa | 1 | 105 |
19 | Jordan Invincible | 1 | 98 |
Joseph Kinkade | 1 | 98 | |
21 | Reuben de Jong | 2 | 85 |
22 | Liger | 1 | 28 |
23 | Alexander | 1 | 15 |
24 | Charlie Roberts | 1 | <1 |
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