The longest-running feud in New Zealand professional wrestling comes to a definitive end this Friday, July 16, when Inferno and Jonnie Juice meet one-on-one for the tenth and final time in a career vs. career match.

After nearly seven years spent in the ring, one man will be forced to hang up their boots and walk away from the squared circle, while the other will have accomplished the biggest feat of their storied career: retiring their archrival and claiming the last laugh in this storied feud that has been raging on since February, 2005.

If you’ve taken to following New Zealand wrestling in more recent years it may come as a surprise to you, but Inferno and Juice were not always bitter rivals. In fact, when they first began wrestling in 2003, the two were close friends.

In the early days of WPW D-Hoya, Inferno and Juice made up The Youngbloods - a supergroup of athletic fan favourites that lit up the promotion. The Youngbloods wrestled in the main event of the first ever WPW show, Live Pro Wrestling, taking on Def Sentence, The Punisher & The Ram. While they didn’t always wrestle together over the coming year, Inferno and Juice remained close as they took on all comers in WPW. The two even tagged together to defeat Disturbed & The Ram at Colossus, the last WPW show of 2004.

With a successful year behind them, there were no signs that things would be any different for Inferno and Juice in 2005. However, when the pair wrestled one another in a singles match at the Te Ra o Te Raukura festival in February of 2005, Juice’s actions ignited a fire between the two men that has yet to be put out.

Juice takes on Inferno at the Te Ra o Te Raukura festival.

Inferno’s one-on-one match with Juice shouldn’t have been anything historically significant - just an exhibition bout between friends for the sake of competition. It became apparent that Juice was willing to trade in his friendship for a win though, and by the time the match was over the former friends were now bitter enemies.

Juice shook Inferno’s hand as the match began and the two set out wrestling a clean match. Juice’s desire to win soon reared its rule-breaking head though when he used an eye-rake to stop Inferno from applying an armbar, and grabbed a handful of Inferno’s hair to trap the Fiery One in a headlock. Juice’s actions could have been forgiven as heat-of-the-moment indiscretions, but when The Ram appeared at ringside and helped Juice to break out of a surboard, it was clear that something big was happening.

Shocked and confused to see a man he considered his friend calling on The Ram from the despicable Def Sentence for help, Inferno brought the match to a halt for a moment, calling Juice a cheat and demanding an explanation. Juice answered with an illegal right-hand that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for his friendship with Inferno. Inferno used the anger he was feeling to set Juice up for an Afterburner Chokeslam, but Juice countered into the Simply Squeezed and pinned Inferno with his feet on the ropes, just out of the referee’s line of vision.

Shortly after Te Ra o Te Raukura, NZWPW announced the Orientation Tour, visiting various university campuses during their orientation week. The tour proved to be the perfect place for Inferno and Juice to settle their difference in a series of matches, most of which saw Juice defeat Inferno by bending the rules, whether it be by low-blow or a pin with his feet on the ropes as seen at Te Ra o Te Raukura. The tour did give Inferno an opportunity for a measure of revenge though, when the two were pitted against one another in a submission match in Lincoln.

Submission Match: Inferno def. Jonnie Juice
NZWPW Orientation Tour
Lincoln University Campus, Lincoln
February 22, 2005

Inferno requested the submission-only stipulation to combat Juice’s underhanded tactics, taking away the opportunity for Juice to win via a sneaky roll-up or from a quick pin after a low-blow. Jonnie was undeterred though and set about taking Inferno’s knee out in preparation for an Indian deathlock. Inferno stayed calm and weathered the storm on his leg before eventually catching Juice and locking him in a surfboard for the submission victory, the same move that he had been so close to winning with at Te Ra o Te Raukura.

A few months passed after the Orientation Tour, but it was clear that Inferno and Juice had more chapters to add to their storied rivalry. As such, the two met again in the heart of Lower Hutt at NZWPW Pacifika.

Juice elbow drops Inferno at Victoria University.

With most of the nation being given the opportunity to see Inferno and Juice’s matches at university campuses around the country, it seemed only right that the pair’s seventh one-on-one bout would be held at NZWPW’s stronghold, the Lower Hutt Town Hall.

Inferno and Juice wrestled a fast-paced match, with Juice playing by the rules. A surprise tombstone piledriver from Juice almost brought things to an end, but Inferno managed to kick out and gave as good as he got with an Afterburner Chokeslam. It was then that Juice’s Def Sentence allies, The Punisher and The Ram, made their way to the ring and things took a turn for the worst for Inferno. The Ram distracted the referee and The Punisher guillotined Inferno over the top rope, leaving him gasping for air and prone for the Simply Squeezed from Juice, giving Jonnie yet another win.

Following his loss at Pacifika, Inferno took Max “The Axe” Damage under his wing and the two found themselves caught up in the tag team scene, winning the first ever New Zealand tag team titles. Meanwhile, Juice and Def Sentence concocted a plan to get Jonnie the NZWPW Championship, which he won, unconscious, from IBS at NZWPW Eruption II.

With Juice and Def Sentence running rampant over the NZWPW roster, Inferno parted ways with Max Damage and once again stepped up to challenge Juice, this time with the NZWPW Championship on the line.

NZWPW Championship: Jonnie Juice (c) def. Inferno
NZWPW St. Patrick's Day Bash
Otaki Memorial Hall, Otaki
March 17, 2006

In their eighth one-on-one encounter, Juice and Inferno met with more than just bragging rights on the line. Jonnie Juice’s NZWPW Championship was at stake at St. Patrick’s Day Bash, and Inferno was going to do everything he could to get a taste of the gold.

Juice began the match with a side-headlock takedown, grounding Inferno and taking away any advantage he could have had because of his height. With Inferno on the mat, slightly out of his element, Juice set about destroying the challenger’s right arm which would in theory prevent Inferno from using his weapon of choice, the Afterburner Chokeslam.

Inferno began to get comfortable on the mat and threatened to claim the NZWPW Championship with an unexpected roll-up. Juice quickly kicked out and struck Inferno with a Starscream Superkick though, buying him some more time to work on a game-plan.

Juice used a blatant choke to squeeze some of the life out of Inferno before propping him up in the corner and mocking Inferno by using his trademark corner splash. Inferno wasn’t interested in a taste of his own medicine though and moved out of the way - leaving Jonnie Juice to fly over the top rope and crash to the unprotected floor below.

Unable to win the NZWPW Championship on a count-out, and looking for a definitive win over his archrival, Inferno dragged Juice back into the ring and surprisingly set him up on the top turnbuckle. From there, Inferno climbed to the top rope himself and wowed the crowd with a top-rope hurricanrana, drilling Juice into the mat for a near fall.

When both men managed to get back to their feet Juice scooped Inferno up for a tombstone piledriver out of nowhere, but looked to end the match with the Simply Squeezed. Inferno was ready for Juice’s finisher and struggled into position for an Extinguisher instead that almost brought the match to an end.

With momentum clearly on his side, Inferno waited for Juice to stand up again and planted him in the middle of the ring with the Afterburner Chokeslam. He wasn’t given the opportunity to make a cover though, as The Ram hurried to the ring to distract the referee from the match. With both the official and Inferno looking at The Ram, Juice leapt into action and struck Inferno with a crippling low-blow before following up with the Simply Squeezed and a tainted pin to retain the NZWPW Championship.

Inferno slams Juice at KPW Afterblaster. Photo Credit: Kiwi Pro Wrestling

Jonnie Juice def. Inferno
KPW Ring Rampage
Taita Community Hall, Taita
July 7, 2006

Proving their hatred for one another raged on regardless of promotion, Inferno and Juice wrestled their ninth singles match at the second ever KPW show, Ring Rampage.

Things were not exactly fair though, with Juice’s Team Pretty cohorts, Hollie & Jessie, surrounding the ring and Inferno competing with a shoulder injury sustained at the first KPW show, Storm Warning. Juice honed in on Inferno’s shoulder to ensure he wouldn’t be able to use the Afterburner Chokeslam, and sure enough when Inferno grabbed a hold of Juice‘s throat he was unable to lift Jonnie.

Inferno changed his tact and instead looked to submit Juice in the Cinderlock, which he successfully applied in the middle of the ring. Seeing that there was no way for Juice to escape, Hollie and Jessie climbed onto the ring apron and threatened to get into the ring. Inferno released the Cinderlock and attempted to head the ladies of Team Pretty off, but in a second Juice caught his opponent with a roll-up to steal yet another win in their feud.

Later that night Juice won a battle royal (featuring Inferno) and the right to face H-Flame for the vacant KPW Championship at Eruption. Jonnie was unsuccessful against H-Flame, but put on a strong enough showing to be in contention for the KPW Championship for much of 2006. Meanwhile, Inferno had his own plans to wear the KPW Championship around his waist, and after both men unsuccessfully challenged H-Flame for the title in separate matches at Eve of Destruction, the first KPW show of 2007, a triple threat was set for Kaos Theory.

Initially, Inferno and Juice managed to work together against H-Flame, taking turns beating down the reigning KPW Champion. However, their hatred for one another soon got the better of them and the match was truly every man for himself. Juice broke up the Cinderlock with his Simply Squeezed and then nearly took Inferno’s head off with an errant Starscream Superkick meant for H-Flame. In the confusion H-Flame tossed Juice out of the ring and nailed Inferno with The Nuke, retaining the KPW Championship.

Inferno and Juice had come so close to the KPW Championship, and a fire was lit inside both men, who would next meet each other in a #1 contender’s battle royal at KPW Afterblaster in 2007. Both men put their differences aside for a moment to eliminate Graham Hughes from the match, making them the final two. In the end it was Inferno who would leave victorious, tossing Juice over the top rope to claim the #1 contendership.

Inferno couldn’t win at Halloween Howl 3 against H-Flame though, and his desire to hold a title saw the Fiery One and Jonnie Juice form an unholy alliance, temporarily returning to their roots as friends to compete for the KPW Tag Team Championships at Rise of the Champions. Inferno & Juice came up against H-Flame & Max “The Axe” Damage in the one-night tournament quarter finals, and after their hard-hitting bout ended with a double-count-out, as all four men lay exhausted on the floor outside the ring, neither team was able to advance.

Juice cuts Inferno's hair at KPW Wanganui Hometown Challenge.

Moments after Max “The Axe” Damage dubiously retained the KPW Championship against H-Flame, Inferno took to the ring with scissors in his hand, looking to take a chunk out of Damage’s hair and hopefully wind up with another shot at the KPW Championship for his efforts. Inferno’s plan was foiled when Juice hit the ring though, knocking his rival down and taking the scissors from him. Juice then grabbed onto Inferno’s hair, as he had done so many times in the past, and cut off the former KPW Champion’s luscious locks in the middle of the ring, humiliating him in front of the Whanganui crowd.

Irate at what had happened, Inferno stormed into the KPW office and demanded a tenth singles encounter with Jonnie Juice, but with higher stakes than all their other matches combined. With all participants in agreement, the match was made, and this Friday someone makes good on their promise to banish their archrival from KPW, while the other man will be left broken and defeated in the worst way.

Career vs. Career: Inferno vs. Jonnie Juice
KPW Make or Break
Wellington High School, Wellington
July 16, 2010

This Friday, the historic career of one of the founding fathers of the New Zealand wrestling scene comes to an end. Where will you be?