WWE fans around the world are buzzing this week about the return of the WWE Draft. To capitalise on the excitement, NZPWI’s David Dunn and Steve McCleary went head-to-head in a fantasy draft in their attempt to build the best brand possible. Every member of the WWE roster—including WWE NXT—was deemed...
It’s July, which means 2016 is halfway over. The NZPWI Staff bring you our thoughts on the matches that should be in the running for “match of the year” polls thus-far. In addition to our regular contributors, we’re joined by “That Young Warrior” Paul Sayers. Sayers shares his thoughts on...
Heat and Velocity; not the name of a terrible early 90s WWF tag team, but secondary programming at its finest. For a decade, Heat was the home of Monday Night Raw’s lesser names. For about half that time, Velocity was SmackDown’s counterpart. In essence, these were the reserve grades of the WWE wrestleopolis. ...
In light of the news that another brand-split could shake up the WWE Universe in July, Grady Hooker remembers the major WWE Draft in 2008. *** It was June 23, 2008, the time of year to shake-up the rosters of Raw, SmackDown and ECW in a massive (at the time)...
On May 25, 2003, the first ever live pro wrestling pay-per-view broadcast from New Zealand emanated from the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland. The show, WWA The Reckoning, was the first time that a lot of Kiwi wrestling fans had the chance to see live professional wrestling, including some...
WWE NXT continues to set new standards for itself, with the first steel cage match for the brand taking place in the near future. Should NXT still be thought of as developmental? Charlotte and Natalya headlined Raw with the contract signing for their Extreme Rules match. Could there be a...
John Cena will be back on Raw, and back in New Zealand, within the next couple of months. Has Cena been missed? What grade do we give Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows’ first month in WWE? Which tournament is more interesting: WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic, or NJPW’s Best of the Super...
UFC fighter Conor McGregor caused a stir on social media this week when he announced a potential retirement from MMA, and followed several key WWE figures on Twitter shortly after. Is McGregor the right fit for pro-wrestling? How is New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) holding up after losing the likes of...
With WrestleMania 32 right around the corner we take a closer look at WWE’s marquee event in this week’s Gimme Five. With at least three matches worthy of top billing which will—and which should—go on last at AT&T Stadium? In addition to WrestleMania 32, NXT TakeOver: Dallas and a series...
The card for WrestleMania 32 is taking shape after WWE Fastlane and this week’s Raw broadcast. Are the three announced matches the best they could be? Both ROH and Shine had pay-per-view events—with pay-per-view prices—this weekend. Can companies continue to charge big money for one-off broadcasts in an age of...