Just last night inside the Lower Hutt Town Hall Adam Avalanche put his NZWPW Championship on the line for what would turn out to be the last time against D-Hoya in an epic Last Man Standing match.

From the moment Chevelle’s “Still Running” blared out across the venue it was clear that Avalanche had spent the past month training vigorously for what could be described as the biggest challenge of his life. Weighing in a lean 145kg, Avalanche and the NZWPW Championship made their way to the ring where Adam basked in a vocal mixed reaction courtesy of the fans.

When D-Hoya made his entrance it was clear that he had also been preparing for this match, and was eager to get his hands on NZWPW’s premier title for a fourth time. Fans swarmed the barrier as D-Hoya tagged their hands before finally getting into the ring to go face-to-face with the NZWPW Champion.

The atmosphere was electric as fans began duelling chants for their favourite wrestler, and the bell rang to begin the biggest match in NZWPW history.

Locking up in centre ring, the two best in NZWPW struggled for position before Adam Avalanche’s marginal size advantage allowed him to shove D-Hoya backward, setting the foundation for a psychological advantage early on. D-Hoya rushed straight back to Avalanche though, and another lock up this time saw D-Hoya overpower Adam Avalanche and push him backwards. Avalanche forced another lock up and overpowered D-Hoya yet again, struggling back into the corner of the ring.

Adam briefly struck D-Hoya with some closed-fist punches, but D-Hoya used his clear agility advantage to slip behind the champion and began to hammer away at him instead. D-Hoya stepped onto the middle rope and rained punches down onto Adam, all with the crowd counting along. D-Hoya reached nine punches and looked for his tenth, but Avalanche stood up slightly and all of a sudden D-Hoya was in position for a powerbomb from the champion. Avalanche stepped out of the corner and began to heave D-Hoya to the mat, but D-Hoya hooked his legs behind Adam’s head and took him over with a hurricanrana instead.

Keeping on top of Avalanche, D-Hoya hammered away at his head before dragging him back to his feet and slumping him in the corner again. D-Hoya drove his muscular shoulder into Avalanche’s abdomen then armdragged him out of the corner and locked in a side headlock on the mat. Adam Avalanche forced himself back to his feet and spun his way out of the headlock into a headlock of his own. Adam disorientated D-Hoya by transitioning to a hammerlock, and then flat out slapping him repeatedly in the back of the head. D-Hoya stumbled away, but appeared to be fooling Adam as he suddenly took out his ankle with a drop toehold and slapped him hard in the face.

D-Hoya kept Avalanche down temporarily with a shoulderlock, but after a few shots to the face Adam flipped D-Hoya over and stood on him - concentrating 145kg directly onto his chest. Avalanche pulled D-Hoya back up and tied him up in a perfect abdominal stretch, even more effective due to the multiple punches Adam delivered to D-Hoya’s ribs. D-Hoya fought fire with fire though, and a few stiff punches to Avalanche’s face broke his concentration enough for a hiptoss to send Adam to the mat.

As D-Hoya tried to build some momentum, Adam Avalanche stopped everything with a blatant eye gouge - which is perfectly legal in a Last Man Standing match. D-Hoya fell back into the corner as he tried to regain his vision, and Adam Avalanche took control with a combination of a shoulder, knee and then elbow strike. Avalanche then scooped D-Hoya onto his shoulder, and dropped him chest-first onto an inadvertently exposed top turnbuckle.

The crowd willed D-Hoya to get back to his feet but some overhanded clubs from Avalanche grounded his opponent yet again before he tossed D-Hoya back to the corner and sat him backwards on the top rope. Avalanche clambered onto the middle rope and heaved D-Hoya up into a super backdrop, but somehow D-Hoya rotated his body and landed on top of Adam as though he had executed a crossbody press! Showing that he still had plenty left in the tank, D-Hoya lifted himself into a handstand position before bringing his knees down into Avalanche’s elbow, and then pulled off another handstand which he turned into a legdrop of sorts over Avalanche’s arm.

At this point in the match, D-Hoya attempted to take out Adam Avalanche’s legs for good and render him literally unable to stand with some form of submission on his legs, but Adam thrust his feet out and drove his opponent back into the corner. Before Avalanche could try anything similar to his super backdrop D-Hoya punched his way back to the centre of the ring and struggled to hold onto a waistlock around the behemoth of a champion.

Adam Avalanche quickly reversed into a waistlock of his own, and suddenly turned it into a German suplex! The champions’ desperation to retain his title was clear, and Adam tried for another German suplex - a move that he hadn’t previously used in competition. This time being off-centre in the ring meant D-Hoya could grasp the top rope and smack Avalanche in the abdomen to break his hold.

With Adam Avalanche hunched over, D-Hoya sprung off the ropes and leapfrogged over his back to land in a modified fameasser. Adam lay motionless in the middle of the ring, and the NZWPW referee prepared to begin his ten count until he noticed D-Hoya standing on the top rope. D-Hoya leapt backwards and sailed through the air to deliver a moonsault, but Avalanche rolled towards the turnbuckle to avoid the contact, leaving D-Hoya to come crashing down onto his knee.

D-Hoya appeared to have injured his left leg, and the NZWPW referee began to count. Adam Avalanche got back to his feet in time to watch D-Hoya rise at a mere count of seven. Avalanche went downstairs and set D-Hoya up for a powerbomb but fatigue had set in, and when he was unable to lift D-Hoya up, Avalanche fell back in a sort of modified piledriver. Battling to his feet Adam Avalanche tried to punch D-Hoya back down to his, but instead had to send him to the mat with a side Russian legsweep.

Propping himself up by leaning on the top rope, Adam Avalanche informed the fans that “It’s not over until I say it’s over”, and then picked D-Hoya up for a huge sidewalk slam. The NZWPW referee began to count, and reached nine before Adam Avalanche hauled D-Hoya back to his feet - forcing the match to continue.

More closed fist punches to D-Hoya’s skull staggered the former champion, and Adam Avalanche sent him off the ropes into a big powerslam. Adam stepped back and allowed the count to begin, but D-Hoya managed to stand up by eight. The crowd began to cheer for D-Hoya and he mounted a comeback with some hard elbows while both men used the ropes to remain standing. D-Hoya grabbed Avalanche’s arm and contorted it in all sorts of ways before yanking down and flooring the champion.

Adam held his upper arm as he struggled back to his feet. He soon would have wished he’d stayed down though, when D-Hoya ducked under him and heaved him up into position for the K-Kwon bomb. Somehow D-Hoya successfully connected with the move and narrowly pulled the 145kg man over his head to slam him to the mat with the devastating K-Kwon! The crowd went wild and the NZWPW referee’s count got all the way to nine, but yet again Adam Avalanche defied the odds and stood up just in time.

D-Hoya backed Avalanche into the corner and sat him on the top rope to lift him into position for the K-Kwon bomb again, but Avalanche fought out of what would have been a match ending situation and shoved D-Hoya into the ropes. As he came rebounding back, Adam powered him into a devastating Wave of the Avalanche! However, D-Hoya was back to his feet after a count of six.

A big boot to the face sent D-Hoya straight back down to the mat and gave Adam Avalanche time to dismantle the ringsteps on the outside, before bringing the bottom segment back into the ring. Avalanche positioned them dead-centre and kicked away at D-Hoya until h stood up ready to be powerbombed. However like earlier in the match, D-Hoya proved too difficult to be lifted, and thrust himself upwards to backdrop Avalanche onto his own steps!

The crowd erupted and D-Hoya watched as Adam Avalanche struggled up at nine and a half. Realising he would have to inflict more damage than he had originally planned, D-Hoya ran towards Avalanche and elbowed him in the side of the head. Once more, and Adam stumbled out of the corner to be hit with the Liquidiser - sending and echo throughout the venue. D-Hoya thought for sure that he had won the match, but once again Adam Avalanche was standing at another count of nine.

D-Hoya tackled Adam to the ground and tied up his legs before stepping over into a Texas cloverleaf, which Avalanche thrust his way out of. Persistently D-Hoya went back to the Texas cloverleaf, and this time sat down once he flipped Avalanche over, meaning there was nowhere for the champion to go. Racked with pain, Avalanche tapped out for the first time in his career - but it was no good. D-Hoya relinquished the hold eventually and Avalanche tried to stand. He eventually did so at the NZWPW referee’s count of nine yet again, and D-Hoya angrily punched away at his head. When trying to whip Adam Avalanche into the ropes, D-Hoya was met with a hard STO from the champion, and Adam Avalanche slipped to the outside of the ring to return with a folding chair.

Avalanche dropped the chair and positioned D-Hoya before falling down to piledrive him. The champion then used the chair as a catalyst and DDT’d D-Hoya. The NZWPW referee began the count and came dangerously close to ten before both men were standing. D-Hoya had used the corner to get back to his feet, and Adam Avalanche delivered a crushing splash to him. However, D-Hoya moved out of the way when Avalanche attempted a second splash and hauled the behemoth over his shoulders.

Adam Avalanche wriggled his way out of the fireman’s carry and dropped behind D-Hoya to nail him with an Edge-O-Matic. Avalanche looked around at the crowd - who were now split over who they supported - and moved over to the corner of the ring. He began to climb the turnbuckle, and escalated all the way to the top rope. In an unbelievable feat of grace and agility, Adam Avalanche hurtled through the sky to land on D-Hoya with an awe-inspiring top rope moonsault.

The NZWPW referee began to count as both men lay motionless on the canvas. Reaching five, there were still no signs of movement. At eight, Adam Avalanche tried desperately to move, but was unable to do anything more than grab at D-Hoya’s foot. The referee discontinued his count - almost as if he couldn’t bare to let such an epic battle end in a draw - but when no one moved any further, he reached ten and declared the contest a draw - meaning Adam Avalanche retained his championship.

NZWPW Chairman Martin Stirling appeared on stage and borrowed one of the commentators’ microphones. Stirling seemed to share the referee’s sentiment “Last Man Standing, no draws”. As such, the match was re-started, and both men tried desperately to end it as soon as possible.

Adam Avalanche picked up his folding chair and swung wildly at D-Hoya against the ropes. D-Hoya dropped to the ground quickly and caused Adam’s chair to hit the ropes and fly right back into his face! With that D-Hoya powered Adam Avalanche into a fireman’s carry before flinging him into a spinebuster with the Lowrider - a move not seen for many years from D-Hoya. The crowd went ballistic and D-Hoya regained his footing as the NZWPW referee finally reached a count of ten, making D-Hoya the new NZWPW Champion of New Zealand.