| Off the Ropes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | KPW |
| Starring | KPW wrestlers and staff |
| Country of origin | New Zealand |
| Production | |
| Running time | Approx. 28 mins per episode (plus commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Prime TV |
| Release | 15 November 2009 |
Off the Ropes was a professional wrestling television program for Kiwi Pro Wrestling (KPW). The show debuted on Prime TV in New Zealand on 15 November 2009.
In October 2009, KPW announced the launch of a flagship TV show on its website and that the show was to be named Off the Ropes. Later that month, the commencement date and transmission time of the show were announced.
KPW management made the decision to name the show Off the Ropes so that the title format would be similar to Steve Rickard's famous New Zealand professional wrestling TV programme On The Mat , broadcast some 25 years earlier. [1]
The show is significant in New Zealand professional wrestling history in that Off the Ropes is the first show featuring New Zealand professional wrestling show to be broadcast on a nationally available free-to-air television channel since On The Mat ceased transmission by South Pacific Pictures circa 1984. [1]
Off the Ropes began transmission of its 13-episode first season on Sunday 15 November 2009.
The show aired every Sunday at 1:30 pm – 2:00pm on Prime Television New Zealand, a free-to air national television network. Each episode was approximately 24 minutes in length (produced for a 30-minute time-slot) and featured usually two matches (two singles matches, or one singles match and one tag team match), wrestler interviews in the Backstage Pass segment hosted by KPW staff member Ilex Bell, and backstage vignettes that reveal more of the wrestlers' personality and motivations.
| Wrestler | Defeated | Date | Place | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-Flame | Jonnie Juice | 21 July 2006 | Taitā, Lower Hutt | Eruption | Tournament final for the vacant championship |
| Inferno | H-Flame | 13 December 2009 | Wellington | Off the Ropes | Episode broadcast 13 Dec 2009 |
| Max Damage | Inferno | 31 January 2010 | Wellington | Off the Ropes | Episode broadcast 31 Jan 2010 |
| The Technician | Max Damage | 16 July 2010 | Wellington | Make Or Break |
| Team | Defeated | Date | Place | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Renegades (The Technician and Kade Morgan "3G") | Whetu and Jade Diamond | 8 May 2009 | Newtown, Wellington | Rise of the Champions | Tournament final for the vacant championship |
Backstage Pass, host by Ilex Bell
Off the Ropes was previewed and promoted in the National Business Review on 25 September 2009, [2] the Otago Daily Times on 6 October 2009 [3] and also on 13 October 2009, [4] the New Zealand TV Guide on 5 November 2009, [5] the Truth on 13 November 2009, [6] the Herald on 14 November 2009 [7] and also on and 25 September 2009, [8] the New Zealand Listener on 14 November 2009, [9] The Sunday Star-Times on 15 November 2009 [10] and the Sunday News on 15 November 2009. [11]
Off the Ropes was also promoted on the New Zealand website Throng on 25 September 2009 [12] and on 15 November 2009. [13]
KPW mainstay H-Flame was also the subject of a cover story for the internationally distributed Fire & Rescue, the official New Zealand Fire service magazine, [14] and was also featured in the Wanganui Chronicle on 6 November 2009, [15] and the New Zealand Herald on 2 November 2009. [16]
KPW wrestler the Technician was interviewed by the Waikato Times on 11 November 2009. [17]
KPW wrestler Jade Diamond was interviewed by The Northern Advocate on 3 November 2009. [18]
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 7,900 episodes and 32 years. It is one of the most watched television programmes in New Zealand.
Michael Laws is a New Zealand politician, broadcaster and writer. Laws was a Member of Parliament for six years, starting in 1990, initially for the National Party. In Parliament he voted against his party on multiple occasions and in 1996 defected to the newly founded New Zealand First party, but resigned from Parliament the same year following a scandal in which he selected a company part-owned by his wife for a government contract.
The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has been held as a pro-am in February or March.
Sir Roger Leighton Hall is one of New Zealand's most successful playwrights, arguably best known for comedies that carry a vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.
Leigh Hart is a New Zealand comedian, radio announcer and performance artist who is also known as "That Guy". He has made various appearances on New Zealand television, including SportsCafe and his own show, Moon TV.
Marc Christopher Gwynne Ellis is a New Zealand businessman, television presenter, and former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A graduate of the University of Otago, his primary business interest was in Charlie's, a juice company. During the 1995 Rugby World Cup he scored six tries in the game against Japan, which is the record for the most tries by an individual in a Rugby World Cup match.
Joseph Afamasaga, better known by his ring name Samoan Joe, was a New Zealand professional wrestler who competed in the Australasian and South Pacific region during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Jonnie Juice is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler. He is currently contracted to the Wellington based promotion Kiwi Pro Wrestling.
Robert Bruce, born John Charles Young, was a Scottish-born professional wrestler and talent agent in Auckland, New Zealand.
The NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won by Gisborne Katene, who defeated Frank Findlay in 1919. The title has generally been defended in New Zealand, most often in Christchurch, Tauranga, Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand.
Professional wrestling in New Zealand has been promoted in the country from the early 20th century. In 1919, Gisborne Katene became the first national heavyweight champion, though the title was not recognized by the National Wrestling Association until 1925, and promoter Walter Miller began running events under the Dominion Wrestling Union banner ten years later.
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.
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 current champion is Horus who is in his second reign.
On the Mat was a professional wrestling television programme for the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro Wrestling (ASPW), or simply NWA New Zealand, that aired on Television New Zealand's TV2 from 1975 to 1984. One of the most popular and the longest-running weekly sports series in the history of New Zealand, the show featured some of the country's top wrestlers and international stars from throughout the world during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt, best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970s, often visiting countries where professional wrestling was unknown such as southeast Asia, and was one of the top competitors to come from New Zealand during that era. Rickard was a frequent opponent for many foreign wrestlers travelling overseas including NWA World Heavyweight Champions such as Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race and "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. He also had high-profile matches with Karl Gotch, Killer Kowalski, The Destroyer, André the Giant, Abe Jacobs and King Kong as well.
Rebecca Scown is a professional rower from New Zealand. Together with Juliette Haigh, she won the bronze medal in the women's coxless pair at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Previously they had won gold in the women's pair at the World Rowing Cup regatta in Lucerne, 2010 and at the 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro and the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled. After winning a bronze medal with the New Zealand women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Championships, she is having a break from rowing in the 2017/18 season.
Allan "Al" Hobman was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. Hobman was one of the first homegrown stars to emerge from the Dominion Wrestling Union, and later Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling, during the 1960s and 70s such as Tony Garea, Peter Maivia and The Sheepherders. Hobman twice won the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship from John Da Silva in 1960 and Steve Rickard in 1964 with a combined reign of nearly 6 years as champion. He and Rickard were also the first New Zealand Tag Team Champions.
Bryan Ashby is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler and trainer, known by his ring name Bruno Bekkar, who competed for Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling and for other promoters in New Zealand and Australia from the early 1960s until his retirement in 1992. One of the country's biggest stars during the 1970s, he is a three-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion and a former NWA Australia Heavyweight Champion. He also teamed with Don Kent in the Puerto Rico-based World Wrestling Council as the fourth incarnation of the Fabulous Kangaroos and together twice won the WWC North American Tag Team Championship in 1981.
Rick "Ricky" Rickard is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star-Pro Wrestling, promoted by his father Steve Rickard, as well as touring Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was a mainstay on his father's wrestling programme On the Mat and briefly held the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship in 1983. Rickard also had a successful 10-year amateur career representing New Zealand as an amateur wrestler in the United States.
| Promotions |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand championships |
| ||||
| Television programming | |||||
| Other | |||||
