Fans braved the winter chills and helped Impact Pro Wrestling make their debut in the Auckland suburb of Pakuranga this Saturday night a sell-out crowd.
Team Charisma’s quest to dominate IPW hit a small speed bump as the “Bigger Figure” Tykade failed to collect the IPW Heavyweight Championship from Kingi in the night’s main event.
With the captain of Team Charisma, “The One” Vinny Dunn at ringside, the former NZWPW Heavyweight Champion Tykade dominated Kingi in the opening moments of the match, choking the champion to his mercy with a sleeper hold before the bell had even sounded.
Kingi made a small comeback against the “bigger figure”, taking the big man to ringside, sending him crashing into the ring barriers. The champion continued his assault, unleashing a series of knife-edge chops leaving the former NZWPW champion breathless.
Buying his protege some time, “The One” Vinny Dunn confronted his former “Iwi” tag partner, distracting him long enough to allow Tykade to capitalise by throwing Kingi head first into the turn post.
Tykade returned the action back to the ring, wearing Kingi’s arm down with a wrist lock. The big man continued to control the match over the IPW Heavyweight Champion, locking Kingi into another sleeper hold. Kingi eventually powered out, ricocheting into the ropes before being cut off by a huge shoulder block from the “bigger figure”.
The 6’9″ powerhouse continued to work Kingi’s left arm, adding further injury by smashing it into the canvas. As Tykade pulled the champion to his feet, Kingi exploded with a series of left and right shots, Irish whipping the big man into the turnbuckle. Kingi followed up, leap frogging over Tykade onto the ring apron in the corner. Tykade attempted a powerful left shot but was countered by Kingi with a strike of his own before heading up to the top rope. Kingi launched himself from the turnbuckle but the former NZWPW Champion countered, hitting the champion with a massive capture t-bone suplex for a two count.
Kingi gained momentum after neck whipping Tykade on the top rope. The champion attempted to knock the big man down with a series of shoulder blocks before sending Tykade crashing to the ground with a high kick. The champion then hit his trademark springboard moonsault to the crowd’s delight, but failed to collect a three count.
In attack position, Kingi signaled for the silencer superkick, stalking the former NZWPW champion as he gained his composure. Kingi attacked but failed to connect after Tykade caught his boot, countering him with a modified anaconda vice.
With the IPW Heavyweight Championship in the balance, Kingi quickly began to look for an escape route as Tykade tightened his iron grip. In an act of desperation, Kingi shoved Tykade into referee Lloyd Morgan into the turnbuckle, causing him to break the hold. With the referee dazed, “The One” Vinny Dunn attempted to storm the ring but the monster Reuben de Jong grabbed his ankle, preventing him from entering the ring. Tykades attention quickly changed to the altercation at ringside, allowing Kingi to roll him up with a schoolboy for a two count. Kingi took to the top rope, launching himself into Tykades arms. The big man caught the champion again but Kingi squirmed out of his arms, hitting him with the silencer superkick to gain the three count.
The IPW Women’s Championship tournament continued to heat up as IPW Commissioner Dion McCracken granted Megan-Kate a rematch after she appealed her loss to Britenay at Collision Course last month. McCracken announced that the rematch will take place at Taranaki Turmoil on July 14 to determine a definitive place in the finals of the tournament. The winner of the rematch will wrestle Evie, who defeated Olivia Shaw in her debut match to advance into the finals at Destiny on August 18.
The strained relationship continued to boil between former Fire Mountain members Elias and “Handsome” Danny Jacobs. Jacobs and Pro Fitness Guru, Justin Decent, challenged the newly formed alliance of TJ Rocket and Elias in one of the nights bouts, only to be disposed of very quickly by the “man mountain”, who had a vendetta to settle with his former mentor. Following the match, Elias made the challenge to Jacobs, who finally granted him his one on one confrontation to take place at Destiny in the second ever Taranaki Tethering.
“God’s Gift” Brian Saint James proved he could chop down a mountain and slay a giant at Unleashed, defeating the former IPW Heavyweight Champion Reuben de Jong but not without controversy. Team Charisma’s captain, “The One” Vinny Dunn made his presence felt throughout the match, distracting de Jong from successfully executing his finishing chokeslam to the righteous one. Saint James then capitalized on the monsters distraction, wrapping his arm in chain and delivering a destructive “Arm of God” lariat, finishing the former heavyweight champion for the three count. While “God’s Gift” soaked in the rays of light from the Pakaraunga crowd, Dunn began his calculated assault on the giant to a chorus of boos. The monster de Jong shrugged the attack off, staring “The One” in the eye causing him to retreat to ringside.
NEO Justice Double continued their dominant run as the IPW Tag Team Champions, successfully defending the gold against T.N.T in a instant classic. The new ruthless, aggressive attitudes of Brother T and Lil T shined through at Unleashed, dominating the tag champions with a calculated gameplan that saw them isolating the tag champions and executing a flurry of double team moves but failed to conquer the match after NEO Justice Double hit their acclaimed Ultra Spiral to retain the championships.
IPW Unleashed Results:
- Joel Clementson, Pirate Burns & Travis Banks def. “A-Class” Aaron Henry & Project Mayhem
Banks hit a flapjack to Johnny Idol, catching him in mid air with the Lion clutch causing him to submit. - Jordan Invincible def. Pat Schisk
Schisk dominated the Onehunga Dragon but failed to make a comeback after receiving a stiff clothesline from Invincible. Invincible took to the top, hitting a huge moonsault to gain the victory. - Space Mountain (Elias & TJ Rocket) def. Justin Decent and “Handsome” Danny Jacobs & Justin Decent
Elias dominated Decent throughout the match, hitting the Sugar Rush for the three count. - IPW Tag Team Championship:
NEO Justice Double def. TNT
NEO Justice Double hit the Ultra Spiral on Brother T to retain the IPW Tag Team Championship. - “The One” Vinny Dunn def. Peter Lane
Peter Lane gave Dunn a dose of his own medicine prompting the former IPW Heavyweight Champion to hit his former mentor with Le Fauce’s steel crutch, rolling him up for the three count. - IPW Women’s Championship Tournament Semi Final:
Evie def. Olivia Shaw
Project Mayhem injected themselves into the match to help Shaw pick up the victory but failed after Idol accidentally knocked James Shaw to ringside with a closed fist. With a little help from Megan Kate, Evie ejected Idol to ringside before hitting a brutal TTYL to Olivia Shaw, advancing into the finals of the tournament. - IPW Heavyweight Championship:
Kingi (c) def. Tykade
Kingi pinned Tykade after a superkick to retain the IPW Championship.
